Sorry for the delay, but it has been a LOOOOONG week. We got an email at the beginning of the week with new pictures of Owen's burns and a video. It was in an unusual format so it took our agency 2 days to open it. Essentially, his burn is healing well. The pictures look really good so now all we can do is pray they continue follow up massage and physical therapy to keep the scar tissue as loose as possible. He does not appear to be in any pain so we are thankful for that information. The video was just to much people!!! 2 full minutes of him crawling around being absolutely adorable!!!! I mean seriously he is so stinkin cute!!! I just can't wait to kiss those little cheeks.
Monday night our online auction ended. It was a HUGE success. Thank You seems insufficient, but THANK YOU to everyone who donated, bid and spread the word. We made enough to cover about 80% of our hotel costs in China which is a huge blessing (try living in a hotel for 2 weeks, it gets pricey!). I still have a few things to mail out, but this fundraiser is almost complete.
The bad news is we still don't have our LOA : ( Today is day 93 of the LOA wait. At this point in Konnor's adoption process we were just a few weeks away from traveling to bring him home. I am just heartbroken right now with how long this is taking. Our agency is appalled and they are constantly requesting updates on our status. Unfortunately there is a real possibility we won't travel to bring Owen home until May (I am sick just typing that sentence). The problem is that Chinese New Year is coming up and the government shuts down over there for a couple weeks to celebrate. We will also run into to the Trade Fair in April that starts 4/15? During that time hotel prices skyrocket and we just can't afford the additional money to travel during those two weeks. I am still crossing fingers that if our approval comes this week we might be able to squeak in at the beginning of April to travel, but I am trying not to get my hopes up about that.
So right now we are just waiting. I will keep you posted as soon as we find something out (I am sure you will all hear me screaming when we get LOA). Don't forget to check out our essential oils fundraiser!
http://www.selahessentialoils.com/?ref=54a3408826d23
Sunday, February 8, 2015
Monday, February 2, 2015
Progress!!!
Hallelujah!!! Keep praying everyone! Today we found out that whatever computer glitch made our paperwork disappear after the upgrade has been fixed and our paperwork is officially being reviewed. Our in China representative has forwarded Owen's hospital discharge information along with photos of his burns asking that our LOA be expedited. I have been listening non-stop to the Chris Tomlin song "Our God" and he nails it "and if our God is for us, then who could ever stop us, and if our God is with us, then what could stand against." We are coming Owen!
Sunday, February 1, 2015
Emotions
It has taken me a few days to find the will to write this post. For those that follow us on Facebook you know what is going on, but for everyone else let me fill you in on the events of our week.
Thursday morning we received a call from our agency. I of course grabbed my phone and ran to the break room at work anticipating that our caseworker was calling with the much awaited LOA news. Unfortunately the first words our of her mouth were, "Ashley I'm not calling about your LOA." It was her tone of voice that tipped me off that whatever was about to come was not good. My stomach hit the floor as I pushed out the words "what's wrong." I came to find out that our son Owen sustained a burn injury on December 11. It was a hot water burn injury sustained at the foster family's home. It was an accident. An accident that could have happened to any of us on any day in our own homes. It wasn't malicious and the foster family got immediate treatment for him.
Of course we were horrified. On so many different levels that it has taken me awhile to actually sort out my feelings on this issue. I have gone through every level of emotions in the last 4 days, fear, worry, anger, confusion, sadness, anxiety, the list could go on and on. At first I was just physically sick with worry for Owen. I have had just minor household burns and they are extremely painful. The idea of my 14 month old Son dealing with pain even worse than what minor burns I had experienced is beyond me. Then the Mama Nurse set in...is his pain controlled, did he get an infection, are they keeping it moist, are they doing dressing changes correctly, is he doing PT, let's just say my Nurse brain went into overdrive. Amidst all of this all I could think was "we need to get him home right now." That is easier said than done in the adoption world. We received a report that was basically his discharge summary from the hospital. After having read through it and having some other's review it I felt a lot better. It did sound severe, but the report sounded as if the actual area involved was fairly small. At this point all we knew was that the majority of the burn was on the right arm. Our agency requested pictures, but we knew it would be a day or more before we got them to help give some clarity to the situation.
This is the point where my anger sets in. Owen's injury happened on December 11 and our agency was not notified until January 29. He was in the hospital for over a month and the orphanage never considered to notify our agency even though they knew he had a family pursuing his adoption. Do I know realistically I wouldn't have been able to physically do anything for him?? Yes, I know that, but we could have been praying about this specifically, we could have expedited his adoption immediately and been traveling now to get him instead of the complete standstill we are now experiencing. I know that in their minds we have no rights to this child yet, but how do they not notify us?!?! This is not a minor thing. This will require life long care in addition to his other medical needs. I can honestly say I don't think I have ever seen Mark so angry, and for those that know my husband you know that "Mr. Levelheaded" doesn't get angry all that often. I just have no words for this part of the story, b/c honestly there is still a part of me that wants to scream at the people who made the decision not to tell us. That is my baby. I may not have held him yet, but I have all the love, hope, fears and dreams for him that anyone expecting a child would develop.
Friday morning we woke up to pictures from our agency's in China coordinator. Thankfully we had been corresponding with him regarding a care package so he knew we where in process to adopt Owen and sent the pictures directly to me. Unfortunately they were in a format I couldn't open so I sent them on the agency with an Urgent message to get them open so I could start showing them to providers and we could get a plan together. I went about my day stopping by the Pediatricians with all the information I had on Owen to date. While walking back to my car the Director of our agency called. "Ashley, it's bad." She was sending me the pictures, but wanted me to be prepared for what I was going to see. The report we had gotten was more than a little bit misleading and his burn is significant. I sobbed. There is no other word for it. I cried harder than I have in my entire life. His burns encompass 80% of his right forearm, part of his hand and extend above his elbow. This is not a small area that will heal and barely be noticeable. This is a life long scar that will forevermore be apart of his life story. My heart aches just thinking about what he must have gone through. I spend my work days caring for patients, and frankly I micromanage my children's healthcare so to see these pictures and to not have any control over when/how, etc... is harder than I would like to admit. To make matters even worse there was more bad news coming. Our agency had been requesting updates for 3 1/2 weeks as to the status of our LOA (Letter of Acceptance). This is the piece of paper from China that says "he's yours, finish your paperwork and get over here." They had been told repeatedly that our paperwork was "on it's way." Well on Friday they received notice that our LOA was not on it's way, but in fact when the computers were upgraded at the end of December our paperwork was lost. LOST! I just can't even....
All I can really say on the situation right now is that our agency is doing absolutely everything they can to help. They are committed to getting Owen any and all care he needs until we can bring him home and are pulling all strings to get this paperwork issue fixed. We love our agency. They truly love these kids as much their families love them. Neurotic Nurse Mama is already all over the burn care aspect. I have reached out to other families that have adopted children with burns, I have sent our information on to our current plastic surgeon (who we found out does have experience with burn victims) and we are trying to reach someone as Shriner's in Cincinnati to have them consult on Owen's case. I am researching creams, essential oils, soaps and anything else I can think of to help him heal and have optimal use of that arm. He will need long term Physical Therapy. We are looking for books on burns that are directed at siblings for Konnor. Ideally we will try to expedite Owen's adoption from this point on, but realistically until our paperwork issue is resolved there is really nothing we can do at this point. So for now we just ask for your continued prayers. Prayers for healing for Owen, for compassion and wisdom for his caretakers and guidance with our paperwork.
Thank You
Thursday morning we received a call from our agency. I of course grabbed my phone and ran to the break room at work anticipating that our caseworker was calling with the much awaited LOA news. Unfortunately the first words our of her mouth were, "Ashley I'm not calling about your LOA." It was her tone of voice that tipped me off that whatever was about to come was not good. My stomach hit the floor as I pushed out the words "what's wrong." I came to find out that our son Owen sustained a burn injury on December 11. It was a hot water burn injury sustained at the foster family's home. It was an accident. An accident that could have happened to any of us on any day in our own homes. It wasn't malicious and the foster family got immediate treatment for him.
Of course we were horrified. On so many different levels that it has taken me awhile to actually sort out my feelings on this issue. I have gone through every level of emotions in the last 4 days, fear, worry, anger, confusion, sadness, anxiety, the list could go on and on. At first I was just physically sick with worry for Owen. I have had just minor household burns and they are extremely painful. The idea of my 14 month old Son dealing with pain even worse than what minor burns I had experienced is beyond me. Then the Mama Nurse set in...is his pain controlled, did he get an infection, are they keeping it moist, are they doing dressing changes correctly, is he doing PT, let's just say my Nurse brain went into overdrive. Amidst all of this all I could think was "we need to get him home right now." That is easier said than done in the adoption world. We received a report that was basically his discharge summary from the hospital. After having read through it and having some other's review it I felt a lot better. It did sound severe, but the report sounded as if the actual area involved was fairly small. At this point all we knew was that the majority of the burn was on the right arm. Our agency requested pictures, but we knew it would be a day or more before we got them to help give some clarity to the situation.
This is the point where my anger sets in. Owen's injury happened on December 11 and our agency was not notified until January 29. He was in the hospital for over a month and the orphanage never considered to notify our agency even though they knew he had a family pursuing his adoption. Do I know realistically I wouldn't have been able to physically do anything for him?? Yes, I know that, but we could have been praying about this specifically, we could have expedited his adoption immediately and been traveling now to get him instead of the complete standstill we are now experiencing. I know that in their minds we have no rights to this child yet, but how do they not notify us?!?! This is not a minor thing. This will require life long care in addition to his other medical needs. I can honestly say I don't think I have ever seen Mark so angry, and for those that know my husband you know that "Mr. Levelheaded" doesn't get angry all that often. I just have no words for this part of the story, b/c honestly there is still a part of me that wants to scream at the people who made the decision not to tell us. That is my baby. I may not have held him yet, but I have all the love, hope, fears and dreams for him that anyone expecting a child would develop.
Friday morning we woke up to pictures from our agency's in China coordinator. Thankfully we had been corresponding with him regarding a care package so he knew we where in process to adopt Owen and sent the pictures directly to me. Unfortunately they were in a format I couldn't open so I sent them on the agency with an Urgent message to get them open so I could start showing them to providers and we could get a plan together. I went about my day stopping by the Pediatricians with all the information I had on Owen to date. While walking back to my car the Director of our agency called. "Ashley, it's bad." She was sending me the pictures, but wanted me to be prepared for what I was going to see. The report we had gotten was more than a little bit misleading and his burn is significant. I sobbed. There is no other word for it. I cried harder than I have in my entire life. His burns encompass 80% of his right forearm, part of his hand and extend above his elbow. This is not a small area that will heal and barely be noticeable. This is a life long scar that will forevermore be apart of his life story. My heart aches just thinking about what he must have gone through. I spend my work days caring for patients, and frankly I micromanage my children's healthcare so to see these pictures and to not have any control over when/how, etc... is harder than I would like to admit. To make matters even worse there was more bad news coming. Our agency had been requesting updates for 3 1/2 weeks as to the status of our LOA (Letter of Acceptance). This is the piece of paper from China that says "he's yours, finish your paperwork and get over here." They had been told repeatedly that our paperwork was "on it's way." Well on Friday they received notice that our LOA was not on it's way, but in fact when the computers were upgraded at the end of December our paperwork was lost. LOST! I just can't even....
All I can really say on the situation right now is that our agency is doing absolutely everything they can to help. They are committed to getting Owen any and all care he needs until we can bring him home and are pulling all strings to get this paperwork issue fixed. We love our agency. They truly love these kids as much their families love them. Neurotic Nurse Mama is already all over the burn care aspect. I have reached out to other families that have adopted children with burns, I have sent our information on to our current plastic surgeon (who we found out does have experience with burn victims) and we are trying to reach someone as Shriner's in Cincinnati to have them consult on Owen's case. I am researching creams, essential oils, soaps and anything else I can think of to help him heal and have optimal use of that arm. He will need long term Physical Therapy. We are looking for books on burns that are directed at siblings for Konnor. Ideally we will try to expedite Owen's adoption from this point on, but realistically until our paperwork issue is resolved there is really nothing we can do at this point. So for now we just ask for your continued prayers. Prayers for healing for Owen, for compassion and wisdom for his caretakers and guidance with our paperwork.
Thank You
Tuesday, January 27, 2015
Day 81....no words
So now I am just depressed. Many Oreos have been consumed in this house in the last few days. So today is day 81 of our LOA wait. Konnor's LOA took 70 days and I thought that was bad, but now that we are "in the 80's" it just sucks. Here is what we know is happening so far. Our in China coordinator has checked on our status several times and has basically been told that there is nothing wrong with our paperwork and in fact that our LOA was issued about 2 weeks ago. Ummmmmm, so where is it??? Our agency has not received it so what??? It's lost it limbo land somewhere??? This does NOT give me warm and fuzzies. Our agency has said they are basically bugging the CCCWA every day to get a status update on us or to see if they will just reissue the LOA since they have not received it, but so far no word. Maybe it will magically appear today! Hey, it could happen. In the meantime I am trying to remind myself that God's plan is greater and that this little bump in the road is necessary for some reason that I just don't know about. Maybe Owen needs some more time with his Foster Family before coming to us to help him adjust to family life. Who knows. I am trying to be patient, but really I am just sick to my stomach.
On a great note.....we did get some updated measurements last Friday and Owen is now 17.6 lbs!!!!! That is Huge! He is 14 1/2 months so even at 17 lbs he is still pretty tiny, but that means he has gained about 4 lbs since moving in the his Foster Family which tells me that he is getting more one on one time to help him eat and grow. He also has 6 teeth right now. He is getting so big. We sent a photo album with pictures of us, a blanket and little toy last week through the in China coordinator so hopefully he will be getting that soon and will be seeing pictures of his Mama, Papa and Big Brother Konnor for the first time.
Our Silent Auction on Facebook at www.facebook.com/owenstravelauction is going strong. We have been so blessed by the generosity of others and have already surpassed our original goal for the auction. There are still ALOT of items with no bids and I think we will be adding a few more later today so please stop by and check it out. Auction ends Monday 2/1 at 9 pm cst.
For now just keep praying. Mostly for us to have peace that God's timing is perfect and for Owen to be healthy and well cared for while he waits for us to travel.
Thank You
On a great note.....we did get some updated measurements last Friday and Owen is now 17.6 lbs!!!!! That is Huge! He is 14 1/2 months so even at 17 lbs he is still pretty tiny, but that means he has gained about 4 lbs since moving in the his Foster Family which tells me that he is getting more one on one time to help him eat and grow. He also has 6 teeth right now. He is getting so big. We sent a photo album with pictures of us, a blanket and little toy last week through the in China coordinator so hopefully he will be getting that soon and will be seeing pictures of his Mama, Papa and Big Brother Konnor for the first time.
Our Silent Auction on Facebook at www.facebook.com/owenstravelauction is going strong. We have been so blessed by the generosity of others and have already surpassed our original goal for the auction. There are still ALOT of items with no bids and I think we will be adding a few more later today so please stop by and check it out. Auction ends Monday 2/1 at 9 pm cst.
For now just keep praying. Mostly for us to have peace that God's timing is perfect and for Owen to be healthy and well cared for while he waits for us to travel.
Thank You
Sunday, January 18, 2015
Day 72 : (
So today is Day 72 of our LOA wait. Needless to say that it seems things have waaaay slowed down since the computer upgrade. I know they are still working out the bugs in the system so I am trying to be patient, but it is time to get on with getting this little man home so COME ON LOA!!!!! Praying this is the week we get approval. The Immigration paperwork that will be the next step is all filled out and just waiting on that beautiful piece of paper from China that says we are approved to proceed with the final steps of Owen's adoption.
In other news we have started a Facebook Page called Owen's Travel Auction. The auctions starts Tuesday January 20 at 4 pm cst and ends Monday Feb. 2 at 9pm cst. Rules for the auction are on the page so feel free to check out all the great items. All proceeds of this auction go towards our travel expenses so BID away!! Hopefully the next post will be that we have received a special piece of paper from China!
In other news we have started a Facebook Page called Owen's Travel Auction. The auctions starts Tuesday January 20 at 4 pm cst and ends Monday Feb. 2 at 9pm cst. Rules for the auction are on the page so feel free to check out all the great items. All proceeds of this auction go towards our travel expenses so BID away!! Hopefully the next post will be that we have received a special piece of paper from China!
Sunday, January 11, 2015
Waiting and waiting and waiting.....
So today is day 65 of our LOA wait : ( It's not totally unexpected since the average wait is around 70 days, but truthfully it is frustrating since I know many families whose paperwork was logged in after ours have already received their LOA. The other kink in the road is that the last week of December China upgraded their computer systems. It seems that there is still a lot of information missing from the new systems and agencies are not able to get updates on paperwork status as easily. Early last week our agency asked their in China coordinator to try to get an update on us and several other families that should have LOA any day, but so far they haven't been able to get an update. So right now we are just crossing our fingers that one day this week our final LOA magically appears at the agency. Once we get the final LOA we are looking at roughly 6-8 weeks until we travel, so hopefully we will still be able to travel in March. Fingers Crossed.
On a fundraiser note....our coffee fundraiser is now closed. Thank you to everyone who ordered. We are down to only 27 pieces that need sponsored on our puzzle fundraiser and on the 20th we will launch an online silent auction. Phew....chugging right along on that front. We also have started an essential oils fundraiser. If you purchase from the link below we get a very generous portion of the proceeds. Thanks for following along. Hopefully we will have good news this week!!
selah-essential-oils.myshopify.com/?ref=54a3408826d23
On a fundraiser note....our coffee fundraiser is now closed. Thank you to everyone who ordered. We are down to only 27 pieces that need sponsored on our puzzle fundraiser and on the 20th we will launch an online silent auction. Phew....chugging right along on that front. We also have started an essential oils fundraiser. If you purchase from the link below we get a very generous portion of the proceeds. Thanks for following along. Hopefully we will have good news this week!!
selah-essential-oils.myshopify.com/?ref=54a3408826d23
Thursday, January 1, 2015
It's name time!!!!
First off......Happy New Year Little Man!!!!! 2015 is the year that we become a Forever Family and we can't wait to bring you home!! So as of a little while ago we are officially down to 48 pieces that need sponsored in our Puzzle Fundraiser, which means........it's name reveal time!!!!! We have chosen the name Owen for our new son. We are on day 55 of our LOA wait : ( It seems that people with Log In Dates just days before us are getting their approval so we are keeping fingers crossed that it will come next week. Happy New Year everyone!! BIG things are coming in 2015!
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