Almost 4 months with Mia!

Mia continues to do well post-surgery.  She had her follow up appointment with her cardiologist, Dr. Yaya, as Mia calls him on Thursday.  She continues to amaze everyone with her strength, but he was very clear that we are not done with her medical interventions.  This is just the first step and he said she may need another surgery next year.  When they went in for the surgery the surgeon found that she has collateral vessels (or vessels that her body created to pick up more oxygen from her lungs) that are larger than her pulmonary artery.  So the next step may be to move those arteries to be direct links from her Right Ventricle to her lung, but we shall see.  He wanted us to know that she is not out of the woods yet, she has a very complex heart and will require many more surgeries.  But for now they are going to leave her alone.  The doctor told me he just wants her to play and be a normal kid and we don't see him again until July and at that time we will most likely schedule another heart catherization.  This will give her vessels time to grow and they will have a better idea of how her vessels are responding the the surgery she just had.  We know that the surgery is successful at this time, because she is so pink and does not loose her breath as easily.  The boys are really happy too because she can play with them.   When she came home from the hospital Jacob asked me if she was going to live a long time now... he is a very sensitive boy and I think that loosing another sibling would be very difficult for him as well and Matt and I.  Both boys were so happy to see that she looked and felt better. 

The boys have restarted dirt bike riding and so far only one collision that resulted in Jacob being run over by his brother, but Jacob was OK.  They will start racing soon as well.  The boys love to be outside, and are typically outside from the time they get home, until it gets dark.  Mia also LOVES to be outside.  I can do yard work for hours and she is content playing with toys outside or simply exploring the property.  We think that she must not have been allowed outside for long periods of time at the orphanage.  When we take her outside, she will tantrum when we bring her inside, even if we had been outside for 4 hours or more.

It truly amazes all of us how far she has come in 4 months. 
This is the little girl we got at the orphanage...

And this is our girl now...

From this....

To this!

She not only looks different, but her personality is really starting to come out.  The orphanage staff reported that she was quiet.  She is not quiet... she is actually quite loud.  And did I happen to mention that she is quite stubborn!  Matt and I are already seeing that we will really have our hands full with her during the teenage years.  She will roll her eyes when we tell her something she is not happy with!!  She is also a real girly-girl, who loves shoes and dresses. She is  intelligent and is picking up the language faster than we ever could have imagined.  She loves to look at and have books read to her.  Her favorite TV shows are Kai-Lan, Little Bill, Olivia, Wonder Pets, and Dora.  We were trying to keep Dora away from her, only because we did not want to confuse her more with different language, but she is obsessed with her and loves the show.  Here are some of the things that Mia says to use daily...

"What's dat?"
"Whatcha doin?"
"Beena" or Banana
I love that Mia calls beds "nappy time"
"Can I help you please"- which really means that she wants help
"I want this one"   "I NEED this one" - we hear that a lot
"This is mine" or "this is meyaya's"
When we get dressed in the morning and we are all done she says "Mia pretty"  and if anyone else gets dressed they become pretty too... daddy, jacob, and logan included
When she plays with her dolls she says to them "It's OK baby.. Mama help you"
Her consistent way of counting right now "1, 2, 3, 6, 4, 7"  and then she days "I did it!"
After she completes an activity she says "TADA!!"
"Oh cap" which means oh crap... that is my fault  I say that a lot
There is some stiff competition when the boys are in school with Mia and George.  If George comes over for pets she will tell him "No George!  That's MY mama"
Mia loves to name all the members of her family and "gammie" is always on the list.


We are all very excited to celebrate Mia's first Easter with her.  Our family has become quite chaotic, but it is a really fun chaos!

March was a busy month!

Well the month started off first with a big 4th birthday party for Mia!  She had such a great time!  Lots of present and a celebration with family was lots of fun for her and us.  For the first week after her party, she would come to me daily and say "Happy birthday?"  and she still occasionally asks me.   So we are pretty sure that she enjoyed herself.

The next weekend we were able to celebrate Matt's cousin's wedding.  It was a lot of fun and it was wonderful to see his cousin so happy and in love and he married a wonderful woman.  Mia had so much fun being carried all around by her cousin Tess and also spent a great deal of time on Tony, or yeye's, lap.  The boys enjoyed playing on the golf greens finding golf balls and tees.  Mia did poop out quickly by the end of the night and was quite blue in color.  The dress didn't help much, but she did look cute.

Two weeks later was surgery.  She had open heart on the 29th of March and was discharged April 1st.  The surgeon and her cardioloist told us that this quick of a recovery is amazing and they expected her to be in for at least 14 days... not 4.  Since she has been home she has been quite comfortable and her spirits have really lifted.  She is still sore, but her pain is managed by alternating tylenol and motrin.  How crazy is that?  The best part about this whole ordeal is Mia does not get out of breath anymore.  She runs around the house and can walk long distances without any problems.  And she looks so much better.  She is pink.  Look at the pics below at the changes....

Finger's before surgery

Fingers after surgery

Mia before surgery

Mia after surgery

We find her pinkness amazing!  The next steps are to let her heal for a good 6 months... YEA a summer with no medical procedures... and then a heart catherization to see how she is progressing and if their is more they can do for her.  Thank you for everyone who supported us through this surgery.