The Road to Recovery

Maya has been unbelievable with her recovery.  She slept well the first couple nights.  The only time I had to get up with her each night was to give her more pain medication.  She isn’t enjoying her liquid diet, but we’re trying our best.  She likes cream of chicken soup, chicken broth and yogurt.  She’s never been a milkshake, ice cream, smoothie or popsicle girl, so she’s been snubbing those things.  I’ve tried every smoothie concoction in the world, but she refuses to drink any of it.  She loves to help me put all the ingredients in the blender, but that’s about it.  We go back to Dr. Shaheen this Tuesday for him to look over her mouth.  I’m beyond stressed that she’s popped a hole in her palate.  Dr. Shaheen told us it happens a lot and there’s nothing we can do about it.  He would just have to go back in and repair it.  I can’t even imagine going through this surgery process again.  Keep your fingers crossed everyone she hasn’t used her tongue to pop through her palate!  I’ve looked at her mouth quite a few times but it’s hard to see anything because she still can’t open her mouth up that wide.  Last Thursday, Ryan & Patrick (Will’s buddies) came over and ended up having a Nerf gun battle in our house.  Guess who was in the middle of it all?!  Yes, my little post-op baby ran around trying to shoot the boys.  Thankfully the boys knew to be careful around Maya.  She had a ball!  It’s amazing to me how quickly children can recover from a surgery.  The first couple days after Maya’s surgery I must have read “Good Night Moon” 1000 times.  I thought I was going to lose my mind.  I will do whatever it takes to keep Maya happy, but I have to say, I was happy when she ran off on her own and I could read my own book!  On Friday I left the house for the first time since Monday.  Grandma & Papa Rose watched Maya so I could run some errands.  I ran through Costco like a kid in a candy shop.  I was so excited to get out and shop in peace.  Usually I’m keeping an eagle eye on Maya because she’s either trying to climb out of the shopping cart or put everything under the sun into the cart.  John booked a trip for us to go to Florida over spring break.  We’re all excited.  I can’t wait to see Maya on the beach for the first time.  We found a beautiful condo to rent right on the ocean.  We have a private pool and beach for our use.  Whoo Hoo!  We’re going to plan a day trip to Key Largo one day while we’re down there.  What a great trip for Maya after all of this surgery craziness!  My sister, Nan, had surgery on her hernia on Saturday.  She’s still in a lot of pain but recuperating well at home.  My brother-in-law, Murray, and I have joked that we should get a “tri-fecta” discount at Beaumont for my father-in-law, Maya and Nan’s surgeries! 

Maya's Big Surgery Day! 2/28/11

Maya woke up the morning of her surgery at 5:15 AM rearing to go!  You would think we had a trip planned to Disney!  She was smiling, laughing, dancing.  It made my heart break more because I knew what was in store for her.  We got to Beaumont by 6:15 AM and waited for about 15 minutes until they called us back.  Madeline missed school in the morning so she could be with her little sister.  I’m so happy Madeline was there because Maya loves her so much.  Madeline laid with her in the bed up until they took her to the OR.  About 20 minutes before Maya went into the OR they gave her a little “kiddy cocktail” to loosen her up.  At first she was laughing then about 10 minutes into it, she started looking like she was a hippie child from the 60’s!  Life was groovy!  We were all cracking up watching her.  When they took her back to the OR, she went to the nurse Anesthetist, Tamara, with no problem.  Then as they walked away, Maya looked at me and started calling out, “Mama!”  Yes, it was the hardest thing I’ve had to do since becoming Maya’s mom, but she needed this surgery.  I bit my tongue so I wouldn’t cry.  I kept saying to myself, “Pull it together Kris, you need to be strong for Maya!”  The wait began…Luckily for us there’s a Starbucks inside of Beaumont, so I was able to have a Chai Latte and chill out for a while.  The ENT came out of the OR about 20 minutes after Maya was whisked away and told us when he put the tubes in her ears, tons of fluid came out.  I’m thinking Maya will now think we’re all yelling since she’ll be able to hear us better!  Her surgery to repair the palate took about 2½ hours.  Dr. Shaheen came out and told us he was able to repair the entire palate and it was quite frankly, huge and her mouth was a bit of a mess.  He also told us that there is no way her palate would have been repaired correctly in China, it would have been too big of a job for them.  Can I say again how thankful we are that a skilled U.S. surgeon repaired her palate?!  Once they took John and I into recovery, I honestly will say it took my breath away when I saw Maya.  Her mouth was full of blood and she was not a happy camper.  I held her as she thrashed and cried.  When they gave her another dose of Tylenol 3 that seemed to take the edge off of things.  She HATED the IV in her foot so the one nurse looked at her said, “Maya – do you want me to take that out?!”  Maya looked at her and nodded yes!   She finally relaxed and fell asleep in my arms.  We had the BEST nurses in recovery.  They were all so sweet and just loved Maya.  Every nurse in that area actually came back to see her.  The nurse Anesthetist came back to check on her and we chatted for a bit.  She has 2 daughters adopted from China.  Her youngest, who is 21 months old, is from Maya’s province (yea for the Spicy Girls)!  The BIG news we got in recovery is that Dr. Shaheen put her down as an outpatient and we had orders to take her home.  I was surprised but honestly, much happier that she would be able to recover in her house.  Dr. Shaheen came back to check on Maya and told us the reason he wanted her to go home was because she would rest much better and it was better for all of us sleep wise.  He could not have been more right!  When I took Maya to our bed she just collapsed into the pillows and crashed out.  I had beach towels everywhere because her mouth and nose were leaking blood so much.  She looked so pathetic but I know she felt better in her own house.  John and I lied with her and tried to keep her as comfortable as we could.  She didn’t want to drink anything but we managed to get some liquids into her.  Thank goodness for Tylenol 3.  The minute that stuff starts wearing out, you can tell.  It was a long day and my nerves were frazzled, but we got through it.  I can’t say enough to all my awesome friends for texting me nonstop throughout the procedure and afterward to check up on Maya and send us their prayers.  And a big thank you to my sister, Nan, for picking Madeline up at the hospital to take her back to school.  My sweet mom, God love her, came to our house at 5:30 AM so we could take off for the hospital and she got Will off to school.  Then she came right to the hospital to sit with us during the operation.  I was happy she got to come back in the recovery and see her little Maya.  Grandma Rose came to our house after to bring Maya a “get well” gift.  That perked her up for a bit.  And my friend Vicki, who is in China right now adopting her little Molly Kate…Maya’s friend from the orphanage.  In the midst of her crazy adventure, she took the time to let everyone know about Maya’s surgery and ask for prayers in her blog!  THANK YOU EVERYONE!  I can’t say enough about how lucky our Maya is to have all of you in her life!  

Maya didn't like her hospital bracelet- Not pretty enough!











She liked the teddy bear she got!





Being cute and cuddling with Mama!





Poor baby!

Craziness!

Hello Everyone!  Once again it seems it takes me a million years to update our blog.  All is well at our end!  My father-in-law’s surgery was a success!  YEA!  THANK YOU everyone for all your kind thoughts and prayers!  He came home today (Sunday, February 20, 2011)!  He’s unbelievable how well he has recovered.  Maya’s surgery is still set for February 28^th!  We had her pre-op appointment with her surgeon this past week.  John and I decided we literally need to move all of the crackers, chips and cereal into the laundry room during her 3-week recovery because she will have a fit if she can’t eat her favorite foods.  We figure out of sight, out of mind, right?  Somehow with our smart little Maya, I don’t see that flying.  I’m sure she’ll figure out a way to scale the washing machine and get to her snacks.  What a recovery period this will be!  Madeline and Will are on mid-winter break this week.  Yea for Maya!  She loves having her sister & brother around.  The Spring girls are coming for a visit on Tuesday.  We can’t wait to host them at our house finally!  We’ll be sure to take photos of the girls for our next blog post.  We registered Madeline at Marian High School this past week.  Wow – I still can’t believe I’ll have a child in high school in September.  I still remember taking Madeline to preschool.  I’m going to remember this with Maya…time just seems to fly!  Will and his best buddy Patrick had a project in the science fair this past Thursday!  I actually think they had more fun seeing everyone else’s projects rather than standing at their post!  What an evening!  Maya was able to meet all of the teachers and parents who have not met her yet.  She was the hit of the fair!  We were hit with a lot of snow today!  We went to Will’s flag football game this afternoon.  Came out and it was snowing like crazy!  Maya still doesn’t enjoy it so she didn’t exactly welcome the sight of it!  Maya’s vocabulary continues to grow everyday!  She’s starting to put together two words now!  We’re so proud of her.  She’s come so far in such a short period of time!  This past week she purposely dropped something, looked at me and said, “Oh Maya!”  I couldn’t help but crack up.  I probably say it to her 100 times a day so it was bound to cross into her vocabulary!  Stay tuned for more “Maya Adventures”!  Something new seems to pop up each day! 

The sisters love each other so much!





 



Maya and Grandma Pat





Will and Patrick, the science "nerds" :)



Guang Hey Fat Choy!!!

HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR!!! It is the year of the rabbit! In the year of the rabbit the main goal of Chinese people is to create a safe, peaceful lifestyle so they can calmly deal with any future problem that may arise. Today Maya finally put on her silk dress!!! She looks ADORABLE. We are going to a Chinese restaurant for dinner and are hoping she will wear the dress to dinner. Maya clearly knows what "Guang Hey Fat Choy" (Happy new year) means. She smiles everytime we say it, and was singing the words to a Chinese New Year song. On the other hand, we have been trying to get Maya to enjoy the snow. She really does not like the cold, wind, or snow at all. The only time she smiled is when William pushed Madeline into a snow mound. After coming inside, Madeline asked Maya if she liked the snow and she looked right at her and shook her head and said "NO!" Haha! Here are some cute pictures from this week...

Maya and her cousin Abbey

Madeline and Will holding Maya in a lego box...

10 inches of snow!

Acting like the ham she is :)

See what we mean by really not liking the snow?

At least Will and his best friend Patrick love being outside!

The Chinese warrior pose!

Crazy February!

I sincerely apologize for not updating our blog sooner.  My days with the kids seem to fly by so quickly.  I hardly have time to think most days!  But, I wouldn’t trade it for a million years.  Maya continues to be a little live wire.  She’s the ultimate Energizer Bunny!  John and I took Maya to her surgeon, Dr. Shaheen, on January 20^th.  He suspects they started to repair her cleft palate in China but it was too large & complex.  Honestly, I'm glad they didn't fix it because I'd rather it was fixed the right way by a skilled surgeon here since her cleft palate is so large.  He went through a lot of Maya's prognosis with us.  She will probably be in store for 5-6 more surgeries until she's 21.  An entire team works with our surgeon so every year, we will meet with them and they will decide the next step for her.  Dr. Shaheen said by the time she's 21, she'll probably be done with everything unless some problems emerge.  Her surgery is set for Monday, February 28^th.  Keep our little one in your prayers!  On another note, my father-in-law suffered a heart attack last Saturday while he was walking our dog back to our house!  By God’s grace, John got him to the hospital quickly.  He will need open heart surgery, which as of right now is slated for February 16^th.  So, the month of February should be a bit crazy for our family (what’s new?).  We were hit with a huge snowstorm last night, which meant no school for the kids today!  Whoo Hoo!  We bundled Maya up and took her out in the snow.  I don’t think she quite knows what to make of all this cold, white stuff.  Madeline and I were like cheerleaders trying to get her to crack a smile while we pulled her on a sled down our driveway.  We were able to get a few photos, but she doesn’t look too happy!  Oh well…I know next year she’ll be running around out there freezing her butt off.  Will and his buddy Patrick decided to both be “Kings of the Hill” on the snow mound that is in the middle of our court.  John, Madeline, Maya and I watched them from inside as they tagged team each other keeping the other boys off the top of the hill.  It was pretty funny!  You could tell they were all laughing and having a blast.  Ahhh…to be young again and enjoy rolling around in the freezing snow with a runny nose!  We got Maya’s blood work back.  Everything was a normal other than she’s a bit anemic.  So, she has to take a multi-vitamin with iron every day!  She actually loves them and would eat half the bottle if I let her!  Her eating is getting better and Madeline finally got her to eat grapes.  She still wants to snack 24/7, so John thought he’d curtail her snacking habits by putting a rubber band on the pantry doors.  It took one tug by Maya and that band snapped!  I think I’m just going to have to hide all the snacks right after her surgery since she has to be on a soft diet for 3 weeks following the surgery.  How much fun will that be?!  The kid who lives for crackers and chips?!  Do you think I can liquefy them in a blender?!!!  Take care everyone and stay tuned for further updates!  Sorry I’m not quicker!

Busy, Busy, Busy!

It’s been a busy couple weeks with Maya.  Last Monday, we visited the Spring Girls – Cassie & Chloe.  They were also adopted from China and are around the same age as Maya.  To say we had a fun day would be an understatement.  Maya loved being with funny, silly girls like herself.  As for me, I always enjoy picking Sherry’s mind for advice and feedback.  She has been a HUGE source of information and help for me with Maya’s adoption and transition to our home (THANKS Sherry!  You’re the best)!  Maya also had her first visit with Dr. Kim, her pediatrician.  All went well.  Maya wasn’t too happy about receiving some needed vaccines, but she got over it quickly.  Dr. Kim gave us orders to get some blood work and some “poop” samples (thanks Dr. Kim – it was such a pleasant experience)!  Maya has a small ear infection so she is now taking an antibiotic for it.  The visit to the lab was a little stressful for Maya.  The ladies were so sweet who work in there.  Unfortunately, they could not get blood to come out of Maya’s one arm so they had to switch to the other arm.  Yes – this meant TWO pokes and a bunch of tears.  Maya was happy to get a sucker afterward.  I was just happy to get out of there!  Maya has enjoyed all the visitors who come to see her.  The Gomez clan gave Maya a Panda Bear from Build-a-Bear.  She loves taking her panda on a walk throughout the house with her doll stroller.  Mary, Caroline & Mitchell brought over a purple “Pillow Pet” for her.  Not only does she love it, but also so does our dog, Lola!  Karin and Emma brought her a play cell phone & gift card to Build-a-Bear (that should be an interesting shopping trip).  She carried the phone around for 2 days and even slept with it.  And Mary Perri and Steven bought Maya the most kick butt Baby Gap outfit.  I think I like Maya’s clothes better than my own!  And thanks Mary for the wine – it’s much needed some evenings!  The Srock Clan came over the other night to hang out.  Maya loved stealing Mr. Srock’s cell phone and proceeded to call all his friends that evening (thanks for being a good sport Mr. Srock)!  Uncle Kevin & Aunt Donna came over and Maya fell asleep in her high chair in the middle of her dinner.  Yes – it’s been a revolving door in the Rose Household.  Maya has also figured out the Grandma Pat, Grandma Rose and Aunt Nan are “almost as good as” mom!  Everyday she amazes us with her language skills and silly antics.  She loves following Madeline and Will around.  To see her playing in the middle of a bunch of 9-year old boys cracks me up.  Maya loves hanging out in her big sister’s room and of course gets into Madeline’s stuff.  We’re seeing her get more & more comfortable each day with her new life.  She went to Ms. Wendy’s house this past Friday and got a singing stuffed puppy.  Wendy got a kick out of seeing Maya dance with it.  Maya also enjoyed mutilating every muffin Wendy made that morning (sorry Wendy – we love you)!  We can’t wait for Maya to meet more of our friends and family.  She will greet you with an enthusiastic “Hi!” then will proceed to give you the stare down for about 15 minutes.  Tomorrow we are going to meet with Maya’s surgeon for her cleft palate.  We’ll keep everyone posted with his conclusions.  I’m sure Maya will scream when he starts examining her but that will give him a good opportunity to look into her mouth, right?!  Please send good thoughts & prayers our way! 



Maya and Chloe!



Maya's favorite way to dress!

Maya and Dad

♥



She finally sits in a high chair!



Madeline, William, and Maya in the snow...Maya did not enjoy it!





Maya and Cassie



Cassie!



 P.S. We would post more pictures, but Blogger is acting up. Sorry!!!













10 Things About Maya

Life has been busy in the Rose household.  Maya continues to entertain us and keep all of us on our toes every minute.  I forgot how busy a 2-year old can be!  I have been able to take her to the grocery store on my own.  She finally allows me to put her in the large section of the grocery cart.  As long as she’s surrounded by food, she’s happy!  I’ll never be able to do a huge shopping trip, but at this point, I’m happy to be able to run some quick errands with her.  I compiled a “Top 10 List” of things to know about Maya…

#10.     She loves to feed Lola her extra snacks.  And of course Lola has figured out that the best place in the house is to be right next to Maya.  It’s an avalanche of snacks some days!

#9        Bath time can actually be fun!  Maya has finally figured out that taking a bath isn’t so bad…especially when there are toys!

#8        Ugg boots rock!  Maya is so in love with her pink Ugg boots that she wears them to bed!  Thanks Aunt Missy for buying Maya her first pair!

#7        Mom doesn’t need to hold me 24/7.  FINALLY Maya is starting to play in the house on her own.  And thank you, will let mom walk out of the room without a complete meltdown. 

#6            McDonalds isn’t every kid’s favorite place to eat in America.  We’ve tried twice now to give Maya some McDonald’s fries, cheeseburger & chicken nuggets.  No go!  Trust us, we’re not complaining, and it probably won’t last forever, but not liking french fries?!  Are you kidding me?!

#5            Hardboiled eggs and Gerber Graduate meat sticks.  Maya can’t eat enough of this stuff.  Can I say it again?  No McDonald’s French fries?!

#4        Mom’s makeup is the best thing in the world to play with…and the hardest thing to scrub off of a little face!

#3            Infectious laugh and smile…That’s our Maya!  We can’t get enough of her!

#2        It’s pretty cool having a big sister and brother.  Who else can I play with, wrestle with, bug and run to when mom is not happy?! 

#1        Diva!  Yes, our Maya is a complete diva.  Watch out J. Lo and Beyonce!  There’s a new girl in town.  From clothes to makeup to crazy demands…Maya wants it all!