10.31.2008

Treat More!

Mommy and Bei trick or treating. At first, he kept saying "hooome" and after about two houses, he caught on real quick and kept saying "Treat More"!


Bei is excited to visit his daddy at work.


Bei loved his Larry the Cucumber costume. What Cucumbers don't have legs or antenna?




10.27.2008

Carving Pumpkins


It was a beautiful sunny day, but "warm" is not a word that you use to describe the weather today. He refuses to wear a stocking hat, hence I need to bundle him in a blanket to keep his little head warm.

Bei "helping me" out by putting all the inards back into the pumpkin


Bei surprised at all the fun stuff in the pumpkin!



Bei is recovering really well! Last night he had his first bath in two weeks! He was so exhausted tired that he didn't even mind that the water wasn't up to his neck, like he usually likes it. What was so cute about giving him a bath was that I noticed that he is getting a Buddha belly. The heart surgery is working its magic on him. I thought that his eating habits might change once his heart was fixed, because he wouldn't need all the calories, but he is still an eating machine. I am amazed at how much he eats. Yesterday, I had to cut him off because he wanted to eat three Honey Crisp apples! They are absolutely delicious, but I was worried that number three would put him over the edge and give him a tummy ache or worse (I won't spell it out for you).
Today, Bei and I spent the morning carving pumpkins. It was really fun. Being the Felix Unger that he is, he didn't want to touch anything inside of the pumpkin. He took the pumpkin inards and seeds, separated them into a zillion different tupperward containers and then would dump each one back into the pumpkin. He thought it was quite fun, I on the other hand, thought it was quite messy.
This afternoon we went to the library and I let Bei play over in the toddler area. There were several other mom's there with their kids and their kids names were Hensley, Huxely and Bruno (serious!). And I was inwardly rolling my eyes and thinking to myself, "doesn't anybody name their kid a normal name any more? Like...B...oops...I guess as a mother of a child named Bei, I need to keep my mind open and trap shut!


10.24.2008

Chicken Little

While Bei was in the hospital I learned really quickly that the medical field is not for me. I am way to emotional and highstrung for that type of business. Here is why: For the first 24 hours after Bei's open heart surgery there are stringent guidelines for his blood pressure. It needs to remain between 70 and 90. The nurse that we had was wonderful and walked us through what all the machines were that Bei was hooked up to and what each one was monitoring. The first 8 hours or so went really well. If Bei's blood pressure would creep up past 90 the nurse would adjust the meds and you could watch on the monitor it coming down quickly to within the guidelines. Things were going along as usual and Bei's blood pressure started to creep up, ...no worries, the nurse will adjust the meds and it will come back down...no problem...uh oh...it's not coming down, it is going from 93 to 99 to 103 to 110...., I'm watching the nurse...he is looking at all the machines, trying to figure out what is going on. Now it is 121...126....147, Oh boy, I'm ready to jump out of my skin, my first instinct is to call 911( "Help! Help! we need a doctor!!!...oh yeah, we are already were we are suppose to be!)...I can tell the nurse can't figure it out...he is conferring with the charge nurse...(I want to shout at the top of my lungs, "Blue Light Special! Blue Light Special"...oh no, that is K-Mart!, "I mean "Blue Men's Group", "Blue Men's Group...oh no, that is a band that plays really bad music and actually charges people to actually listen to it. "Walk the blue line! Walk blue line"...okay, I give up, I can't think of "Code Blue"under pressure). I finally can't restrain myself any longer and I said, "I just saw Dr. O, do you want me to run and get him?" Now I'm envisioning myself running down the hall, sweeping this 6'2" doctor up into my arms and throwing him over my shoulder and running back to Bei's bedside. I think I could have done that easily, my adrenline was pumping so fast. Instead the nurse on charge said "I'll go get him". Now I look at this woman who is as round as she is tall and realize that if her butt was on fire, she would still meander to a bucket of water....I want to shout "NO!" I ran track over 25 years ago and I use to be fast! Get out of my way! I didn't give her enough credit, surprisingly, Dr. O was there within seconds. Just as he got there, my nurse, realized the pump that injects the medicine had turned itself off. He was embarrassed and felt bad, but he was an excellent nurse and we requested him for the next day. Anyway, unless I'm scrubbing toilets, that hospital business is not for me!

10.22.2008

Bei's Post Op Visit

I knew Bei was feeling better by Tuesday night because he really wanted to spend alot of time with his Aunt Jeannine. Prior, it was always "Momma do it".
My sister Jeannine started to call Bei "Ham Bone". The picture speaks for itself.

"I thought I told you to get rid of that guy!"


This is such a cute picture of Bei. We were getting ready to leave for his post op appointment on Tuesday and my sister shot this picture. Where is my lipstick when I need it?



Bei is such a trooper of a kid, he gives himself his own medicine




On Tuesday, they did an EEG, EchoCardiogram and took an X-ray of Bei's chest and he is healing perfectly. There was no fluid in his chest and he only has to take the diruretic once a day. I lied about the bath, it isn't that he can't take a bath for 2 months they just don't want him soaking in a tub. He can take a bath this Friday. We think we are going to just sponge bath him, since he likes to have the water up to his neck. It is too hard to explain to a 2 year old why he can't have the water where he wants. All is well at our home. We feel very blessed!





10.18.2008

Bei's Recovery


I wanted to send a quick note just to let everyone know that Bei continues to do really well in his recovery. He lost 4 lbs while in the hospital and is down to 18 lbs, so we are trying to fatten him up. The most noticeable difference for me, since the surgery, is Bei's heartbeat. Prior to the surgery, his heartbeat was so fast and hard that if you touched anywhere on his chest you could feel it. You could actually feel the extra blood whooshing through from one side to the other. It was creepy. Now, he has a very regular heartbeat. The other new thing is, he refuses to take a nap. I'm trying to figure out why. It could be that he is most uncomfortable when he is lying down or he is afraid that I'm going to leave him. Or maybe his body doesn't need it now that his heart is working properly. No naps these past two days. His restrictions are few, he can't be around crowds of people for the next two weeks, they said to keep him away from little kids for two weeks and he can't take a bath for 2 months. Yep, you read it right, 2 months! On Tuesday, we meet with the cardiologist again. He is quite clingy to me, but I would imagine that is par for the course for a kid that just went through major traumatic surgery.
Thanks again for all the support! It is so very appreciated by us!

10.16.2008

Open Heart Surgery Picture Progression



Mom, Bei and Dad celebrating at home (Thursday, October 16, 2008)

Bei was visited by his close and personal friend Melissa Gilbert and her co-star of the Little House of the Prairie play which is now showing in the Twin Cities. Bei also made the 5:00 news. If the link doesn't work, go to www.wcco.com and look for a story on Bei...just kidding on Melissa Gilbert. It was a video on the top right hand corner when we searched for it.
(Thursday, October 16, 2008)









Thursday morning Bei woke up and definitely wanted to go home...along with my sister Nanette we strategized all morning long on the best way to convince the doctors that we should go home. The surgeon was the final decision maker and he laughed when he saw us because he said I heard that you guys would be meeting me at the elevators with your bags packed. We thought of it but didn't go that far. Seriously, we had the best care and I was very impressed with everyone, but a hospital is no place to get any sleep! And our little guy needs some sleep to heal!
(Thursday, October 16, 2008)



Bei's first meal was 24 hours after they pulled the ventilator, it was Cheerios. We are waiting to go to the step down unit, where we finally will have a private room. We were in a bay with 4 other beds with only curtains separating which they didn't draw. Tuesday night neither Bei or I got any sleep because it was loud and the lights were on the entire time. (Wednesday, October 15, 2008)







I crawled in bed with Bei and pretty much didn't get out til it was time to leave the hospital. I reminded Sam, our nurse, to tell the new nurse on-duty about the hourly feet massages he gave me and if she had time she could also paint my nails...who said High Maintenance??? (Tuesday Afternoon, October 14, 2008)






Bei mouthed the words Momma...momma, but his voice was so hoarse from all the tubes. 20 minutes after the ventilator was pulled he said clearly "ee aa aa", aka Veggie Tales.

Hence, he is pointing to Veggie Tales on the TV screen and dancing with the celery stalks. (Morning Tuesday, October 14, 2008)








Tuesday morning they are weaning Bei off of the ventilator (Morning Tuesday, October 14, 2008) and getting ready to pull the tubes to see if he can breathe on his own.








Post Open-Heart Surgery, Bei is in ICU and on a ventilator. (Monday, October 13, 2008)











The night before the big surgery, Bei is helping Dad with a few last minute chores around the house. (Sunday, October 12, 2008)










Prayers have been answered!

Believe it or not we are home!! I can hardly believe it myself! Bei is a superstar! Everybody fell in love with his very sweet demeanor. He was a model patient in every way. So thank you everyone for your support!! I'll follow up with a picture progression of this past week.

10.15.2008

Bei's Remarkable Recovery - Part II.

Bei has been moved from ICU to an intermediate care unit, with plans to go home on Friday! He continues to do remarkably well. Thanks for all your prayers, and please continue to lift him in prayer during the coming days and weeks.

10.14.2008

Bei's Remarkable Recovery

Bei was removed from the ventilator this morning and is scheduled to be moved out of ICU tomorrow morning 10/15/08. Our little guy is not only impressing Dan and I with his amazing recovery, but also the physicians and nurses here at Children's Hospital. When one of Bei's nurses was asked if she believed Bei was doing well, she stated he was "flying through his recovery". Dan and I thank you for your prayers and ask that you continue to pray for a successful recovery.

10.13.2008

Open Heart Surgery

Hi Everyone,

We don't have access to the blog at the hospital, but we wanted to let all of you know that Bei has made it through his surgery and is currently in Pediatric ICU. He is currently on a ventilator and has alot of tubes coming out of him. He is fully sedated and won't come out of the sedation until tomorow morning. I will keep you all updated as we go through this process.
Thanks again for all your prayers!

Dan, Liz and Bei!

10.11.2008

Slow Talking Sheriff from Fargo

Bei pretty much single-handly ate an entire box of fresh strawberrys


Friday we went to the pre-op appointment in the morning. Poor Bei! He see's the nurses and his little lip just starts to quiver, it breaks my heart. It was a very emotional appointment for all of us, but we made it through it. My sister Nanette and I were talking prior to the appointment and she observed the hardest part is giving up control of your child. At first I didn't know what she meant, but after the appointment, I understood exactly her meaning. I was fine when they did the blood draw even though Bei was screaming, and rightly so, because the guy was having some difficulty with it and he had to be poked twice. Now, it bothered me, however I could handle it because I was there to comfort him and hold him, as was Dan. But then he had to get a chest x-ray and they wanted to take him from me...uh oh...here is where the tears and that control thing came in for me. Tears rolled down my face and Dan gently reminded me of what our guide in China told us about having a Chinese face, so we don't upset Bei. Man, it is hard but he is right!!! It is so wonderful to have Dan there because he is such a great stabilizer. Yeah Dan! Anyway, all three of us took a nap today because I think we are all so emotionally exhausted. Bei's nap lasted 4 hours, he was a very tired little boy!

So onto more fun things, our friend Malcolm from Australia came for a 24 hour visit and we had a really nice time with him. It was a great diversion from thinking about the surgery.
A few blogs back, Stephanie Pomonis asked on the comments section how Bei was coming along with his Minnesota accent. I had to laugh because the kid is either going to end up sounding like the "Sheriff from the movie Fargo", which is the way my family in Chicago refers to me or he is going to be a "slow talker" like Dan's side. Now the reason I say this is because I am amazed at how much of a copy cat he is, but it makes sense, we are the people he is around all day. Recently, he told me a shirt that I wanted to put on him was "icky poo"...oops...that lovely language is from me...I guess I need to clean it up a bit...if he is frustrated because he is trying to figure out how a gadget works, he will say "Hmmmm....." with a questioning scandahoovian lilt at the end. Now, I never realized it until I heard him do it, but I do that ALL the time...For those of you who have talked to him on the phone, you know that he yells into the phone at top volume "mototycles, boot (his Canadian version of boat), I miss you, bye"...well you all know who that is...Dan! Bei is really into the "Butt Song" or you might recognize it as the "Bus song", we sing it 9 zillion times a day. I was singing the wipers part where they go "swish, swish, swish" and Dan said to me, "Could you sound anymore Minnesotan? You sound like Rose from the Golden Girls". Now, I think a more fair question is "Why does Dan know the character's names from the Golden Girls sitcom?
Peace! Keep praying for our little sweetie Bei!

10.09.2008

Thankful and Grateful!

Bei helped daddy take down the crib, he was quite proud of himself. (Note his work boots)
Our goal is to get Bei into his own bed by the time he goes away to College.

Bei enjoying his time with his friends

Bei racing Huckleberry on his tractor, Huck was on a scooter...it was too tight of a race to call a winner.


I want to start off today's blog by thanking everyone for their support with Bei's upcoming surgery. Once again we are touched by people's inherent kindness and warm thoughts. Going through the entire process of the adoption and now the open heart surgery, has renewed my faith in mankind. I know it sounds corny, but it is true! We appreciate the emails, phone calls, notes, comments on the blog, all of it is supportive and helpful to know that there is lots of prayer and positive energy going towards Bei. He has touched alot of peoples lives, but alot of people have touched his life and ours, so we humbly thank you.
We have had a really busy week which is probably good in light of the fact that we are facing the surgery next week. On Tuesday, we had our post adoption visit with our social worker. I didn't realize this until we got back home, but China requires a 6 month and 12 month post adoption report with pictures! Well, I think we passed.
Tomorrow, we have our pre-op appointment and we will tour the Children's Hospital, meet with the anesthesiologist and life-specialist. Then tomorrow afternoon we have a friend from Australia, whom we met while vacationing in Germany, staying with us and he flies out on Saturday.
Then Sunday, my sister Jeannine is coming from Chicago to be a support for us during the Surgery.

Of course, I have to leave this blog with a little humorous tale. On Wednesday, we played with Huckleberry and his sister Curly Locks. (Brother Max has been AWOL since the railing incident). We ended up going to the park and on the way back, Bei had a meltdown. I had tried a few various things, including trying to just pick Bei up and carry him, but he slithered out of my arms. Ole Huck was getting frustrated because we weren't making any progress towards home. I was real open to suggestions at this point, since everything I tried didn't work, so I asked Huck what he thought I should do. Ole Huck knew exactly what to do! He said "let's make funny faces at him". Okay! Sounds as good of a plan as any! So the kids ran back to where Bei was laying on the ground tossing himself and they started pulling their faces every which way, once I caught up to them, I joined in too. Bei didn't know what else to do but get his shy little grin on his face, get up and walk home with us...problem solved! Way to go Huckleberry! Whenever I have a discipline problem, I'll give you a call.
I plan on updating the blog during Bei's hospital stay, granted that there is internet access at the hospital.
Please keep praying for our little Bei's recovery!!

10.05.2008

Eating Habits

Bei clapping after Grandpa Builder Bob sang the "Itsy Bitsy Spider Song" with him.

Bei playing with his Green Bay dinosaur that has a very noisy and very loud 1970's disco song that we can't figure out what it is saying. Doesn't matter...Bei loves it!



Bei and I spent a rainy afternoon painting, his body was the canvas.


Bei got me in trouble with my mom the other morning...I was talking to her on the phone and she asked me what Bei was doing, and I answered, "he is doing what he always does, he is eating, he is eating his breakfast". She then proceeded to ask what he was eating for breakfast...oh no...it's a trap...but it is too late to back out now...So I answered honestly and said "Cheetos"...Okay, I instantly knew...how ridiculous it was for me to let Bei eat Cheetos for breakfast. But then I continued to dig a hole for myself by bragging about what a phenomenol kid Bei is, and he never has tantrums and I see other two year olds and they are kicking and screaming and I just don't get it...before I know it, my mom's right foot came through the receiver and hit the left temple of my head! She said "maybe their mom's are just saying no to them when they want to eat Cheetos for breakfast"....OUCH! Point taken, I get it! I get it! We laughed and I promised no more Cheetos for breakfast. He normally has a bowl of oatmeal or his other favorite is waffles, but the one time we are naughty we are caught by Grandma Sandy!!! Moral of the story: When being naughty, don't answer the phone or blame it on the two year old!!
Anybody who has spent any time with us, can attest to Bei's HUGE appetite...believe me the Cheetos were just an appetizer to the bowl of oatmeal that he ate later and the three hot dogs at lunch and the can of green beans, plus the animal crackers for a snack, etc, etc. I'm telling you that kid is an eating machine, he packs more food in one day than I could put away in three days. It will be interesting after his heart surgery to see if I have to put him on a diet.
I think I have mentioned he LOVES salt, which makes sense for the fact that he had the thyroid condition and it was due to a lack of iodine salt in China. It seems natural to me that your body craves the nutritional things that it needs to survive. The good news is that his thyroid numbers were good at his last check-up, and I think one of the side effects is that his hair is finally growing thicker, darker and is more shiny!! Not that it would matter to me, because I think he is absolutely beautiful right now! I'm just CRAZY in LOVE with my little guy!!!!