This may be short, I am completely exhausted. I will go into more detail about all these things in a later postToday was a crazy day! Hiwot is such a trooper though. She hung right in there. They first thing on our agenda was to meet the boys. We went to the orphanage where they were and where Hiwot spent most of her time (when we got her she was in the tansition house). Everytime a nanny tried to take her, she would cry. Once she got back to us, she was fine. It was wonderful to know that we were the only ones that could console her.
The boys were wonderful! They are both so beautiful! And so skinny! Hiwot probably weighs more than Kenenisa. We played soccer and catch and had a great time. They are awesome football(soccer) players. Chera was doing some pretty fancy things. Justin was having a great time and coaching them! I have some great video that I can't wait to show everyone. They took us on a tour of the orphanage and the children performed a few songs for us. Chera led the group in a prayer. So precious! I have video of that too. The goodbye was rough. Justin explained that we would come back to see them as soon as we could. Chera told us that he was "happily waiting." He is so mature for his age and Kenenisa is just your typical 3 year old, into everything. We ended everything on a happy note, playing more football!
Next Hiwot had a doctor's appointment. The neurologist wanted Hiwot's birthmom to come so he could get more information for us about her medical history. To have a doctor facilitate this was such a blessing! I was very impressed with the doctor although the clinic was extremely primative. In the end he believed that her delay was caused by an infection that she had while in the first orphanage. This is what we thought, so it was no big surprise. He believed that she would improve greatly once she started receiving PT. Spending time with the birthmom was hard, but wonderful. My heart ached for her thinking about her saying goodbye to Hiwot for the last time. I think that it was reassuring for her to spend so much time with us today. We learned so much about her and about Hiwot. I am very thankful.
I know I have made many tying errors and might not even make sense in parts of the email. I am a little delerious from being so tired! No emotional rollercosters planned for tomorrow!
PS: our computure broke, so not skype for us this week!
Tuesday, August 10, 2010
Monday, August 9, 2010
Update
Hiwot is doing so great today! She woke up smiling and giggling! She is giving us cuddles, smiles and kisses. She has a bit of chest congestion and we think an ear infection. Thankfully the doctor gave us some antibiotics that we have started. Today is a big day. Hiwot has a checkup and we are meeting bher birthmom. I am very excited and anxious to meet her. I know that one day Hiwot will have lots of questions. I would love to tell her as much as I can about her family.
We received some wonderful news about the boys. The director was very reassuring that the boys will be home soon. He said that their file is 80% complete and believes they will be filed for court in the next couple of months. With this good news, we are panning on meeting the boys today. We are not going to make it a big deal, just play witht them along with the other kids. Being here in Ethiopia has really shown us God's timing. We are thankful that we are getting the time to spend with Hiwot and take care of her needs.
I will update again soon. I can't post pictures on the blog, hopefully I can put a few on Facebook.
Zoey Hiwot Day!!
Hello! So sorry that we have not been updating the blog. The internet has not been working at all here. We had not idea what was going on. Justin solved everything and reset the wireless for the hotel!
Now on to the important stuff! We went to the transition house this morning to fill out paperwork and meet Hiwot. It was torture sitting in the office while I knew she was right there in the next house over. There is another couple with us, the Marcums. They will be getting their five kids(yes five!) tomorrow. They graciously offered to video tape and take pictures as we met Hiwot.
After paper work, we were led into the baby transition house. We scanned the room and found our Hiwot(not hard to find, she's huge!!). We picked her up and there were a few moments of her just blankly staring. Then the crying!! The nannies were easily able to calm her and constantly reassured us. Even though it wasn't the best meeting moment, I am so happy that she wanted her nannies and cried out for them. We were so impressed by the care and love Hiwot was given. They do such a great job of loving and nurturing the children. This will make it so much easier for her to attach and bond to us. She cried off and on until around 5:00. Then it was like she suddenly felt comfortable. Ever since she has been babbling and laughing!
She is doing much better developmentally. She is rolling all the way over now, pushing with her legs and putting pressure on her legs. She seems to be tracking very well with her eyes. Other than sometimes being slightly crosseyed, I do not see any evidence of any vision issues.
Justin has been pooped on and thrown up on already! He takes it good though, he is completely in love with her!
Overall, our trip has went very well. The hotel is wonderful and the food is great! Thankfully we have not gotten sick at all! We are hoping to find out more about the boys tonight at dinner. Please pray for our meeting! You never know how the internet is going to work, but I will try to post more soon!
Sunday, August 8, 2010
We are here! Having a rough time with internet right now. This might be the only
time we can post. Blogspot, Insight, and Facebook are not working at all even though we can get on the internet.
Everything has gone very smoothly. Flight went great and the hotel is wonderful. Today we went to church and to the market. We have met many other families who are also adopting. Keep us in your prayers as we meet Hiwot tomorrow! Sorry so short. I
hope that the internet starts working better soon!
time we can post. Blogspot, Insight, and Facebook are not working at all even though we can get on the internet.
Everything has gone very smoothly. Flight went great and the hotel is wonderful. Today we went to church and to the market. We have met many other families who are also adopting. Keep us in your prayers as we meet Hiwot tomorrow! Sorry so short. I
hope that the internet starts working better soon!
Thursday, August 5, 2010
Leaving Soon!
It has been a crazy week! We have been running around like crazy trying to get everything done before we leave to get Zoey Hiwot. We have had so much going on including refinancing our house, getting a security system installed, crazy work stuff, showers, finishing Zoey’s room, and lots more. It will be nice to have some downtime in the airplane.
We are leaving tomorrow at 10:20 and will be back in Louisville on Sunday August 15th at 6:00. I will try to give updates through out the week. Pray that the internet works well! We are going to try to Skype while we are over there. Justin’s skype name is justinbrown33. So keep an eye out for us! Lots of people have asked for our fligth itinerary and our schedule while we are in Ethiopia. Here it is:
Saturday evening - Arrive in Ethiopia, check into our hotel and get some sleep
Sunday- Go to church with Endris, an incounty social worker. We will also do some touristy things and go to the market
Monday- Big Day! We will meet Zoey Hiwot, probably around 10:00am their time (they are 7 hours ahead of KY).
Tuesday and Wednesday- These will be open days that we will be doing paperwork and visiting a couple other orphanages.
Thursday-Our embassy appointment! Here we will get Hiwot’s visa so she can enter the US.
Friday-We hope to meet Hiwot’s birthmom.
Saturday-Begin the journey back home
06 AUG 10 - FRIDAY
UNITED 5843 COACH CLASS EQUIP-ER4
LV: LOUISVILLE 1051A NONSTOP MILES- 286 CONFIRMED
AR: CHICAGO/OHARE 1114A ELAPSED TIME- 1:23
ARRIVAL TERMINAL-2
LUFTHANSA 431 COACH CLASS EQUIP-BOEING 747 JET
DEPART TERMINAL- 1
LV: CHICAGO/OHARE 340P NONSTOP MILES- 4342 CONFIRMED
AR: FRANKFURT 650A ELAPSED TIME- 8:10 ARVL DATE-07 AUG
ARRIVAL TERMINAL-1
MEAL
07 AUG 10 - SATURDAY
LUFTHANSA 598 COACH CLASS EQUIP-AIRBUS A340-300 JET
DEPART TERMINAL- 1
LV: FRANKFURT 1045A NONSTOP MILES- 3319 CONFIRMED
AR: ADDIS ABABA 635P ELAPSED TIME- 6:50
MEAL
14 AUG 10 - SATURDAY
LUFTHANSA 599 ECONOMY CLA EQUIP-AIRBUS A340-300 JET
LV: ADDIS ABABA 1140P NONSTOP MILES- 3319 CONFIRMED
AR: FRANKFURT 555A ELAPSED TIME- 7:15 ARVL DATE-15 AUG
ARRIVAL TERMINAL-1
MEAL
15 AUG 10 - SUNDAY
LUFTHANSA 430 ECONOMY CLA EQUIP-BOEING 747 JET
DEPART TERMINAL- 1
LV: FRANKFURT 1040A NONSTOP MILES- 4342 CONFIRMED
AR: CHICAGO/OHARE 1240P ELAPSED TIME- 9:00
ARRIVAL TERMINAL-5
MEAL
UNITED 7627 ECONOMY CLA EQUIP-E70
DEPART TERMINAL- 1
LV: CHICAGO/OHARE 401P NONSTOP MILES- 286 CONFIRMED
AR: LOUISVILLE 609P ELAPSED TIME- 1:08
When we first learned about Zoey Hiwot #2
On to part two. I don't have quite the time that I would like to finish this story out, but I will do the best I can. I apologize if there are lots of grammar errors, spiderwebbing, and rambling. I am trying to do it quick!
I would like to say one the first. In no way are we posting Zoey's story to shine a light on "what good people we are." There is absolutely nothing special about us, we are just trusting God. Our first intention is to give God all the glory for how he brought us here and how he has healed Zoey and taken care of her. Secondly, we want to highlight that Zoey is just one of millions of babies in Africa who are sick or who will die of very preventable and treatable illnesses.
After Justin and I watched the video of Hiwot. We spent the next couple of months praying, consulting with doctors and therapists.Thinking about adopting a third child was very overwhelming. It really wasn't the prospect that she was blind with other special needs, it was more: Can we handle getting three small children at once?
We immediately decided that we would pay for her medical expenses. We knew that it had been suggested that she get a CT scan to find out more about her possible vision problems, so we went ahead and paid for that to be done(which is very cheap in Ethiopia!). In December, we decided to go ahead and officially start the process to adopt her ( I think we always knew we were, we were just terrified!) but decided not to tell anyone until a family had seen her and we had more info about her health. Around this same time we received the report back from the CT scan. Of course we had no idea what any of it said. Through Susan, a local doctor read the report for us. He told us that she was diagnosed with a disorder called "Dandy Walker." This is a brain malformation that causes fluid to build up on the brain. He told us that there is a large spectrum and she could be a vegetative or she could live a normal life. She would more than likely have to have a shunt and said that he guessed that she had a larger head circumfrence. This was very overwhelming, but for some reason neither Justin or I really ever believed she had it. I learned everything I could on Dandy Walker and even found a local family who has experience with it.
In early January, our friends Brittney and James were able to go to Ethiopia to get their precious boy Dawit. They were able to spend so much time with Hiwot. We were so thankful for all the pictures and videos. Best of all, they were able to bring back films from her CT scan! A friend of ours Dustin, who is a doctor was able to take her films to work and have a neuro-radiologist look at her films. We were so happy when Dustin called to tell us that she does not have Dandy Walker and there was nothing structurally wrong with her brain! We were so thankful that it was a mis-diagnosis. We just needed to have faith and trust that God had us on the right path.
Those are the highlights of our journey that not everyone knows. We don't have a specific diagnosis as for why she is so delayed. Right now, the doctors are assuming that it is because she was so ill early in her life. The encouraging thing is that she has progressed in Ethiopia. In January, she couldn't hold her head up or roll. Now, she can hold her head up very well and roll side to side. I know that if she is improving there, she will do even better here once we get her into therapy.
I can't wait to post in Ethiopia! I will post more about our itinerary later!
I would like to say one the first. In no way are we posting Zoey's story to shine a light on "what good people we are." There is absolutely nothing special about us, we are just trusting God. Our first intention is to give God all the glory for how he brought us here and how he has healed Zoey and taken care of her. Secondly, we want to highlight that Zoey is just one of millions of babies in Africa who are sick or who will die of very preventable and treatable illnesses.
After Justin and I watched the video of Hiwot. We spent the next couple of months praying, consulting with doctors and therapists.Thinking about adopting a third child was very overwhelming. It really wasn't the prospect that she was blind with other special needs, it was more: Can we handle getting three small children at once?
We immediately decided that we would pay for her medical expenses. We knew that it had been suggested that she get a CT scan to find out more about her possible vision problems, so we went ahead and paid for that to be done(which is very cheap in Ethiopia!). In December, we decided to go ahead and officially start the process to adopt her ( I think we always knew we were, we were just terrified!) but decided not to tell anyone until a family had seen her and we had more info about her health. Around this same time we received the report back from the CT scan. Of course we had no idea what any of it said. Through Susan, a local doctor read the report for us. He told us that she was diagnosed with a disorder called "Dandy Walker." This is a brain malformation that causes fluid to build up on the brain. He told us that there is a large spectrum and she could be a vegetative or she could live a normal life. She would more than likely have to have a shunt and said that he guessed that she had a larger head circumfrence. This was very overwhelming, but for some reason neither Justin or I really ever believed she had it. I learned everything I could on Dandy Walker and even found a local family who has experience with it.
In early January, our friends Brittney and James were able to go to Ethiopia to get their precious boy Dawit. They were able to spend so much time with Hiwot. We were so thankful for all the pictures and videos. Best of all, they were able to bring back films from her CT scan! A friend of ours Dustin, who is a doctor was able to take her films to work and have a neuro-radiologist look at her films. We were so happy when Dustin called to tell us that she does not have Dandy Walker and there was nothing structurally wrong with her brain! We were so thankful that it was a mis-diagnosis. We just needed to have faith and trust that God had us on the right path.
Those are the highlights of our journey that not everyone knows. We don't have a specific diagnosis as for why she is so delayed. Right now, the doctors are assuming that it is because she was so ill early in her life. The encouraging thing is that she has progressed in Ethiopia. In January, she couldn't hold her head up or roll. Now, she can hold her head up very well and roll side to side. I know that if she is improving there, she will do even better here once we get her into therapy.
I can't wait to post in Ethiopia! I will post more about our itinerary later!
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