The "Five O's" Grows!

"Dear God, I am so thankful for everyone who has loved me. Amen" This time of year reminds us to reflect on all the things to be thankful for. Wouldn't it be wonderful if we could think this way year round? Ruby is doing great! She continues to be more comfortable with us and others as they come to the house. She enjoys therapy more and going to stores to see the big world out there. A trip to the store with Ruby is never quick as so many curious people stop and ask me about her story. I never tire of talking about her and she never minds saying"Hi" to the new faces! Last week Ruby had her first sickness. Yucky congestion which lead into an ear infection. She is on the mend and we are seeing smiles again. Ruby had her appointment with the holistic doctor again this week. She is very pleased with the progress in her leaky gut. She has added a few more foods she can eat and took a few away. Ruby will eat anything you give her and likes t...

It has been nearly a month since I posted and in that month we have seen so much change! Ruby continues to be more comfortable each passing week. She is less hesitant to show excitement and assurance. When she awakens for the day, we are sometimes greeted with a smile or excitement to show us the stuffed animals she shares a bed with. When she sees one of us across the room she will now run to us with arms up. Before, we had to encourage her to come. Her beautiful smile is shining more everyday, often still takes some work to get, but she will surprise us every now and then with a spontaneous smile. Ruby enjoys playing with toys but has recently taken a liking to books. She prefers the ones with textures and flaps to lift as she likes to be busy. She does not have the patience yet to listen to a story in a book, even the short ones. She likes turning the pages faster than one can read. And when she has flipped all the pages, she gets another book, and another, and ano...

Monday was Ruby's follow up appointment with the holistic doctor. She re-tested her and was pleased with the progress even though it's slow. We had to decrease some of the supplements she wanted her on due to restlessness and getting up 4-5 times/night. This was a huge change from sleeping 12-14 hours/night. She took a few more things out of her diet but then added a few as well. She added a few more supplements and wants to be more aggressive with the amounts we are giving her so we can get her gut healed. She said it could take up to a year!! The next visit is in 6 weeks.  Today was the day we met with Ruby's genetics counselor and doctor. What we heard was not shocking news. It was something I thought of often, just chose not to dwell on it. First they told us Ruby has microcephaly. It's a big scary word that means "little head." Those of you that have met her are not surprised.  The genetics team also came up with 5 different chromosomal concern...

As I sit and reflect on all the changes our family has had in the past 3 months, I realize it is nothing compared to the changes that Ruby has endured in her two years of life. Tomorrow marks three months since we left for our trip to China. Three months ago we knew this transition would change our lives but words cannot describe how incredible the journey has been. Three months ago we left our busy lives to go half way across the world to finally meet the little girl we have been praying for long before she was even born. Ruby was abandoned. She was left on the front steps of a government building, found by police, and taken to the orphanage. She was only three pounds and we were told by several people in China that it's a miracle she survived. "Three pound orphans in China do not survive." She spent several months at the orphanage and then was taken to a foster home. A few months later she got very sick and had to be in the hospital for over a month. Then she went bac...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY RUBY!!!!! Yesterday we celebrated Ruby's 2nd birthday. It was such a fun celebration and I am convinced she knew the day was about her. She had a lot of fun playing with her cousins, opening presents and eating 'Ruby-O's' that her brother gave her for a gift. She was very good about sharing them as well and shoving them by the handful in our mouths. And thanks to the girls she was able to sport 4 different outfits during a 3 hour party!! Every time they brought her back to the living room she was in a different outfit! Girls!!! Ruby enjoyed opening the gifts and was surprisingly good at it. I cannot imagine they got too many presents in the orphanage. I would like to say she enjoyed her big piece of cake with lots of frosting, but I decided I didn't want to be up all night with her and an upset tummy so she just had two scoops of coconut whipped cream (dairy and soy free). She seemed to enjoy it ok, but is not too fond of sweet ...

Ruby lost 5 ounces again but they still let us go; not that I was going to stay anyways, but it's nice to not have to leave against medical advice. I was very grateful that my mom came down to keep us company as the discharge takes forever! She helped feed and play with Ruby so I could pack up last minute items and get discharge information. I was also grateful for her help while I stopped at the pharmacy and with loading up all our stuff. I sent a lot home with Steve last night but somehow there still was a lot! Ruby waved at the nurses as we were leaving and waved at everyone in the skywalk as we left. It was pretty funny. We could read her mind, "I'm outta here!!!" We are finally home and it feels sooooooooo good!! Ruby was very excited to have room to run and play! She did lots of exploring inside and out. And smiled more than I have ever seen. Our game plan for Ruby is to love her, feed her and watch her grow. We will have to continue to giv...

Today was another good day. Ruby's job was to eat, drink and grow! She did just that and the scale worked in our favor today and she was a whopping 11 pounds 6 ounces. Yeah Ruby!!! We spent the day playing and for those that have met Ruby, she plays hard and probably burned off all the calories she ate! We had another wonderful visit from friends Carrie and Megan, Papa and Nana Olson and Steve. She wasn't as fun for Papa, Nana and Daddy's visit because she was tired. In rounds today, they said she could go home tomorrow if she continues to gain weight and drink. I told them she will and we WILL go home tomorrow. All the testing is done and we can work on growing at home. She will need to go home with the NG tube and I'm fine with that. Her goal is to drink 14 ounces of liquids/day and if she doesn't make it, I will need to supplement through the tube. Not too concerned about it. They are setting up home health to check on her and to have some...