4 weeks since surgery

Lilly loves her "Cozy Coupe". Her favorite part is getting in and out.

Lilly loves to play peek-a-boo. We were doing that here around the kitchen chair.

A sweet moment between Lilly and Fulton. Fulton said "Mom take a picture of this."

Lilly loves riding in the Barbie jeep. Ethan's getting used to being a big brother. He wants to help Lilly every chance he gets.

Praise the Lord! Lilly had surgery 4 weeks ago today and has had no complications. She is so much more active now than before surgery. She is walking about 3 to 8 steps on her own. She is pushing herself up to standing from the floor without holding on to anything. Of course we all cheer for her, and this really delights her. She just laughs and smiles. She is also learning several new words. She says - ball, baby, mama, dada, Bubba (for Fulton which is what Ethan calls him because he can't say Fulton) and up. When we pray she says "am" for Amen. She is working on saying "mine" and "no". She has also learned to squeal which is not necessarily a good thing. She squeals VERY loudly. So much for taking her into worship. Now we will begin transitioning her to the church nursery.

We are going to see the Barbees next weekend. It will be a reunion for Lilly and Lainie who shared the same room at the orphanage. Due to Lilly's illness in China, we did not get to let them interact much or take many pictures. We are all very excited about seeing them together again. Also we are delighted to have the opportunity to meet Bobby's family and to see his mom, Mrs. Jackie again.

I am so amazed by God's goodness and faithfulness. This journey has been difficult, but it has taught me so much. I have realized the importance of relying on God for all things. I have been reminded that God does indeed supply exactly what we need for each moment. And I know that when I am weak, He is strong! What a mighty God we serve.

As my friend Jennifer said, adoption is truly a miracle! I am thankful that our family was chosen by God to experience this miracle through our adoption of Lilly.

Thank you once again for all of your prayers. I will try to update the blog about once every month.

2 weeks after surgery

Enjoying a Friday night on our porch. Lilly loves to be outside- even in this heat!

Lilly's first time in a pool. Not much water because her incision can't soak in water yet. Katie and Ethan had to try it out with her.

Laundry day at the Bryant house. Shelby gave Lilly a ride on top of all those dirty clothes.

One week after surgery. Having a pre-breakfast snack of Cheerios while Daddy cooked a special breakfast on July 4.

Lilly is starting to pull-up on furniture. She loves our kitchen bar stools for this purpose.

Lilly is doing great! The check-ups last week with her pediatrician and her cardiologist both went well. The small amount of fluid around her heart is still present, but it had not become any larger. This was good news of course. Another ECHO will be done next week to again assess this pocket of fluid. Hopefully her body will have absorbed it by then. If it persists, her doctor said he will put her on Prednisone.

Today marks 2 weeks since surgery, and we are so grateful to God for healing our precious Lilly. If she continues to be free of complications, we plan to resume our "normal" life starting Sunday which will be 2 weeks after her discharge from the hospital. Again thank you for all of the prayers that you have lifted up on behalf of Lilly and our family.

We're home

Glad to be home - a huge balloon from Lilly's siblings that plays music!

6/30/07- Thankfully, our last night in the hospital.

We are so thankful to be home now with Lilly. We were discharged today around 11:30. Lilly is doing well. Her appetite is not quite back to normal, but she is very active and is so glad to be free of tubes and wires so she can go where she wants!! We will follow up with our pediatrician tomorrow and will see her cardiologist on Friday. The small pocket of fluid around her heart did not change size over the weekend, and her body should absorb it over the next several weeks. There is a common condition that occurs in some patients during the second week after surgery where the amount of fluid actually gets larger. We pray that this does not happen to Lilly and that the fever does not reoccur!

We are so grateful to God for His protection of Lilly and for sustaining our family through this time. We are grateful that Lilly now has a healthy heart. She is already breathing slower and her heart rate is also much slower. Her body no longer has to work so hard just to live! We can not say enough good things about MUSC. SC is blessed to have such talented and skilled pediatric heart surgeons.

Thank you for following along and for your prayers. What a journey this has been these last 6 weeks! Lilly has been admitted to 4 different hospitals in that short period of time. No wonder I'm so tired- LOL!! Hopefully, our life is going to return to normal soon, and I will not have much to share on this blog! Looking forward to a good night's sleep in our own beds!