Discharged!

After 5 days in the hospital, Isaiah was discharged last night.  We're so glad to be home, especially Dave who spent every night with Isaiah.

Thank you to everyone who sent us food and treats.  Loretta and Tony, that rigatoni came in very handy and was so delicious.  Jess and Nick, thanks for the home-made soup and goodies for Isaiah.  You guys were so sweet to spend all that time going back and forth to the hospital.  Barb and John, thanks for sending along food for David in the hospital.  I know Dave really appreciated that.  Nancy, thanks for giving Dave a break at the hospital.  Mom, thanks for buying me groceries.  Amanda and Peter, thanks for sending us food when we got home with Victoria!

Thank you also to all those who offered to help.  We feel so blessed to have such wonderful family and friends who always support us during these times.  This was such tricky timing for Isaiah to be in the hospital because we just got home and were trying to adjust to a family of five, not to mention that we were all sick and  it was Christmas.

Glad it's all over....or so I hope.  We are supposed to stay isolated at home and have to go for blood work on Friday as Isaiah is 8 points away from needing a blood transfusion.  We went for a walk today, despite everything.  I found it so humorous how someone almost needing a blood transfusion could climb all the way to the top (see picture below).  I guess that was my job to stop him but he was having so much fun.  Don't worry, we have spent the whole day inside building Lego and resting so that his body can recover.  

  

Merry Christmas in the hospital

I thought we were all getting better but things took a turn for the worse on Christmas day.  Adam and Isaiah both had fevers again which meant for Isaiah that he had to go to the hospital.  He was admitted because of low blood counts.  Dave is staying with him.  I can't even visit him because he's in the oncology ward and we're all sick.  It's too risky to be walking through the halls with the other vulnerable patients.  It's been such a rough go since we've been home.  I hope Isaiah won't be in hospital for too long.  I also hope that my other little ones get better.  I was really looking forward to these 4 days off as a family.  What a bummer.

Isaiah was really mad that he had to miss turkey dinner at my mom's house.  He cried.  I was sad to miss the dinner as well.  I love turkey.  I guess this will motivate me to cook the turkey I have in my freezer.  

Recent happenings prior to Victoria's birthday (last post)

We've all been so sick these past few days.  Being sick and having to look after three kids who are sick is not fun.  During this sick period, we still managed to celebrate Isaiah's fifth birthday.  We literally sang, had two bites of cake, turned off all the lights and went to bed.

Thankfully we are all on the upswing.  We managed to make it to Christmas Eve service tonight.  Family photo didn't turn out too well.  Victoria isn't looking in the first one, is crying in the second one and Adam is mining for gold in the third.  Oh well.  

Happy 1st birthday Victoria!

One year ago today, at 10:40pm, a small package was found near the front gates of an orphanage.  Wearing white infant clothing, a white hat and wrapped in a red felt blanket was a beautiful little girl.

One year later, my Christmas gift:

I know that it must have been hard for Victoria's birth mother to leave her.  I'm thankful that she chose life for Victoria and gave her the opportunity to enjoy God's beautiful world.  

Happy 1st Birthday Victoria

First picture of all three

Clearly not picture perfect.  I think it will be impossible to ever get a photo of all of them looking at the camera.  

All three at the hospital.  It was a bit challenging but we did it.  Isaiah is sick with a nasty virus.  He still got his chemo and is getting IV antibiotics as well (even though it is a virus).  Protocol.  We go back again this afternoon.  

We’re home!

It’s so nice to be home.  We arrived late Sunday evening.  The boys were waiting for us at the airport when we arrived.  They were really happy to see us and were anxious to hold their new little sister. 

Victoria has been very jet-lagged and has had trouble sleeping during the night.  It’s been challenging for me to stay awake during the day since I've been up with her.  I am hoping her schedule flips around soon.  She was such a great sleeper in Vietnam.  Twelve hours minimum at night and a few naps during the day.  

Last night was a bit better except that Isaiah spiked a fever and had to go to Children’s Hospital at 2am.  Thankfully Dave took him so that I could catch up on my sleep  and meet them at the hospital in the morning.  Fortunately, Isaiah was not admitted last night and returned home around 8am.  We will have to go back to the hospital later today for his regular chemotherapy visit however I'm not sure if he will get it being as sick as he is.  Hopefully we won’t see a repeat of last year and be admitted to hospital. 

Victoria has been full of smiles and seems so happy to be with us.  She still wants to be held constantly and cries when I put her down to get something done.  This morning I had to vacuum with her in my arms.  It was very challenging.  Overall, she's a very content little girl.  

Coming home tomorrow!

We're so excited about coming home tomorrow.
I can't wait to hug my sweet boys.  I'm amazed that I survived 21 nights without them!  We have a lot of catch-up cuddling to do.  Thank you so much to the grandparents for taking good care of them.

This has been an amazing journey and we feel so humbled that God would entrust us with this beautiful little girl.

Day 16 & 17 - Paper work completed!

I`ll make this quick and post again tomorrow.  Just wanted to give an update that Victoria was granted Canadian citizenship yesterday and received her temporary Canadian passport this afternoon.  We feel so relieved that everything is in order.  We`re so excited to come home on Sunday and can`t wait to see the boys and introduce them to their baby sister.

Day 14 & 15 - Waiting for the paper work

We're still here in Hoi An, waiting for our paper work to be completed in Singapore.  Time is passing by slowly and we are feeling very anxious to travel home.

Victoria is becoming more and more comfortable with David and I.  Look at that cute smile!

She plays this little game with us where she squints her eyes and makes a sniffing sound.  It's adorable.

Apart from that one day where we were able to walk along the beach, it has continued to rain.  We are still trying to get out of our hotel room and go for walks despite the weather.

Day 12 & 13 - Hoi An

These past two days have been brighter.
Victoria finally pooped.  We were feeling very concerned that we'd run into bigger problems without medical insurance for her.  No one would cover us because she is not yet a Canadian citizen.  Even though she is a Vietnamese citizen, we are responsible for her medical care.  We are going to lay off the bananas and rice for a while and introduce new foods slowly.

My vegetable soup diet

My mom was able to drop off my birth certificate to the passport office in Surrey on Friday.  I'm hoping to find out tomorrow if our file is moving along according to schedule.  We've sent the original with another family who will be arriving in Vietnam this week to adopt their child.  Thanks moms for doing all that running around for us.
Despite the colder weather, I found it to be nice today.  It was a bit too breezy to swim but we found a nice beach to walk along.  It was nice to get out of the busy town and enjoy a quieter spot.
We tried to find a church to go to today but it seems that there really aren't very many in all of Vietnam.  We were reading up on it a bit more and it seems that Christians are very persecuted here.  Church's need permits to have gatherings and are often not granted these permits.  We've read stories of church buildings being destroyed and pastors being imprisoned for practicing Christianity.  All printing of religious materials need government approval.  Import licenses are virtually never granted.  It must be difficult for people here to even have access to a Bible.  Most Christians meet in house churches.  I feel grateful that I can freely attend church on Sunday mornings.

Did you know Vietnam is only 1 of 5 remaining communist countries?  Can you name the other 4? 

Lanterns in Hoi An

      

Day 10 & 11 - Some minor (as of now) hiccups

Yesterday, everything was perfect.  We sent off the last of our paper work and were ready to spend the rest of our time here relaxing.  We decided to book a last minute flight to Danang/Hoi An.  We were getting tired of being in Hanoi and since we had to be here until our paper work was completed, we figured it would be nice to see another part of Vietnam.  So, the closest touristy spot was Hoi An, only an hour flight from Hanoi.

Unfortunately, right when we got here, I checked my email to see that the lady from the Canadian embassy had sent me an email telling me that my original birth certificate was needed to complete the paper work.  I was so annoyed because I already knew that this document was forgotten in Canada and was going to have it sent here by rush mail over a week ago but was told that this was not necessary, including the lady from the embassy herself.  So frustrating!!  We've been told that someone from Canada can bring it to a passport office in BC to have it looked at instead of sending it here.  That's what the embassy here said.  Who knows what is actually required on the Canadian end of things.  Thank you mom for running to Surrey for me tomorrow on such short notice.  I'm so worried that this will delay our process.  I really don't want to have to change our flight home because I'm so home sick and don't want to pay another couple thousand dollars on airline tickets.  
Please pray that everything would come together and that we would not be delayed in coming home.  I'm missing my boys so much.  

On top of that, Victoria hasn't pooped at all, not once since we've had her.  I'm so worried something is wrong with her.  Maybe it's because we started her on solids, I don't know.  She doesn't seem to be in pain but didn't eat normally this afternoon.  Some Vietnamese staff here at the hotel made a vegetable concoction for her and she drank it down.  Hopefully we'll get a poop soon!

On another sour note, the weather has been terrible.  It's been raining and it's cold.  None of us packed for this weather so we've been wearing the same thing every day.  I haven't even had the chance to go swimming and there's such a nice pool at our hotel!

Sorry this post is so negative but it's been a bad day.  Hopefully things will look brighter tomorrow.

Day 9 - Vietnamese passport received

We received Victoria's Vietnamese passport
Now we apply today for Canadian citizenship and her temporary Canadian passport.  This is the paper work I'm worried about because it gets sent to Singapore.  I'm so worried that I will have filled something out incorrectly.

Day 8 - First full day together

Victoria did very well today and so did we! :)  She experienced many new things including morning cuddles with a mama and a daddy, solid foods and Hanoi's crazy traffic.

Trying banana for the first time

Exploring the Old Quarter of Hanoi

We are learning a lot about our little girl and doing all that we can to love her and bond together.  Her skin is starting to look a little bit better but there are still many bites and bumps.  She seems to be pretty content though.  There is one sad behaviour that has resulted from her institutional care that makes me cry.  We've discovered that she rocks herself back and forth periodically to self-soothe.  This is not uncommon for children in institutional care who do not get the nurturing love they need to develop.  She has learned to depend on herself for comfort since she has not had a consistent caregiver to attend to her needs.  I'm sure she rocked herself to sleep many nights.  I wish I was there to hold her those nights.  I hate that she had to experience such loneliness at such a young age.  What torment!  It makes me sick in my stomach to think of all the children who have no one to care for them tonight.  I'm just happy there is one less orphan and am so grateful that God would spare Victoria from such a dreadful environment.  I know it will take time for Victoria to rely on us for love and comfort.  We are going to work very hard to develop a strong bond.

The good news is that she now cries whenever I'm more than two feet away from her.  I can't even go to the bathroom without her bursting into tears.  I'm so happy for this.  She is bonding already.  What a blessing!  I tried to get a picture of her in front of the Christmas tree but she was upset that I put her down.  So we took a picture together instead.  I'll cherish this photo forever because I think this is the first moment when Victoria wanted me to be her mom.

We finished off the night with room service again, this time mashed potatoes and pumpkin.  We also had some bare skin time.  I don't think she had much bare skin time in the orphanage because she was fascinated with her belly button.  It was really cute watching her play with her tummy and her toes!  I love her!

Such a cute giggle.  Watch the video clip.

Day 7 - Gotcha Day!

What an amazing day it was.  We drove about an hour and a half to Thai Nguyen province where Victoria's orphanage was.  We were not allowed to look around the orphanage but were ushered right into the ceremony room.  Victoria was brought to us.

Meeting Victoria for the first time:

Ceremony and pictures with the officials:
I got our translator to take pictures of Victoria's room in the orphanage since we were not allowed inside.  I know one day she will ask about where she spent the first year of her life.  It definitely isn't an ideal nursery for a little baby.  We were told that she does not get held very much which I already expected for a child living in institutional care.  Apparently all orphanages in Vietnam are run by the state.  Seventy to eighty percent of children in the orphanages are girls.

Where she slept for her first few months

They watch a lot of TV

When she was given to us, she whimpered for a little bit but then clung to us tightly.  When we tried to distance ourselves from her to get a good look at her face, she would pull closely again and bury her face in our chest.  

She has marks all over her body.  I'm not sure what they are but they look like big bites.  She also has two very large bruises on her back and bum that look very painful :(  We gave her a nice warm bubble bath (which she loved!) and got her all cozy for bed.  

Bath time

New toys

We ordered room service, played and then went to bed.

Story time

What a day!

I have the cutest video of her giggling as I'm playing with her feet.  I'll try to upload it later.
One of the happiest days of our lives!  We love you Victoria!

Day 6 - Lots of running around

We did a lot of running around today and met with Dat (the man who will be facilitating the adoption tomorrow).  We are feeling very excited but also very nervous and anxious about all of the paper work.  Please pray that everything will go smoothly.

So excited to meet our daughter!!

Day 3,4,5 - Halong Bay

David and I have been without internet connection for the last few days.  We travelled east to cruise Halong Bay.  We had a wonderful time together.  It was nice to be away from the busyness of Hanoi and see another part of Vietnam.

Some of the highlights of our cruise included exploring a cave, visiting a fishing village, kayaking and swimming.  Here is a video of us jumping off our boat together.  

Day 2 - Old town Hanoi

It's 4am and we're jet-lagged so here we are blogging.  We began our day with a cyclo ride around town.  It was nice sitting in the cyclo, not having to worry about where to walk.  Despite the lawlessness on the road, I somehow felt safe under the red umbrella of my cyclo.  We stopped at a tailor where David will have a suit made.  It was fun picking out fabrics and colours.

I'm still amazed at what people can carry on their scooters.  We talked about this on the phone with Isaiah and Adam so these next few pictures are for you boys.  

Day 1 - We've arrived!

Here is a picture outside our hotel.  As you can see, scooters are a very popular form of transportation.  I've seen many families riding with their babies on their scooters.  I find this fascinating considering I just tossed my infant car seat because it expired.  Very different standards.

 
We're staying in old Hanoi.  It is very lively and exciting to explore.  We can't walk on the side walks because there are street vendors and that's where people park their scooters.  This leaves us to walking on the street which is very intimidating but I think I'll get the hang of it.  No one really stops.  It's a sort of weaving skill.  No sudden movements.  Make your way to the other side of the street one step at a time.  When in doubt, we shadow a local, especially crossing the big intersections.  

I love the hats.  I love seeing people sell fruit on the back of their bicycles.  It's so exciting to be here!

This is troubling.  How does it all connect?

We are just waking up now for our first full day in Hanoi.  I feel much better than yesterday and am ready to explore.  We have a few days to ourselves before we pick up Victoria so we will take advantage of some kid-free time.