Somewhere out there

We are thinking of you baby girl....We are somewhere out there.

October Fun

Updated Pictures

Be still my heart!!!!!  Here are some updated pictures of Juliet, she is almost 2 in these photos.

Juliet's Special Heart

We are adopting Juliet as part of Ch*na's special needs adoption program.  Right now there is a 6 year wait to adopt a non-special needs or "healthy" infant from Ch*na.  The families receiving referrals right now for a healthy infant have been waiting since September 2006!  Most of the Children in Ch*na's special needs program have minor and correctable needs.  With the non special needs program virtually coming to a standstill (with wait times projected to reach 10 years) most families wishing to adopt are opening their hearts and minds to a child with a special need.  We felt that with our backgrounds in medicine and service we were more than capable of caring for a child with a special need like Juliet's.  

Juliet was born with a special heart.  Shortly after she was found and taken to the orphanage she got very sick.  During her hospital stay they found out she had a heart defect.  She has two holes in her heart known as an ASD and VSD with bi-dirrectional shunting.  She has hole between her two atrium and a hole between her two ventricles that allows the blood to flow back and forth between.  The pulmonary artery and aorta do not appear to be switched (Transposition of the Great Arteries) but are in a slightly abnormal position.  She has not had any further echocardiograms since she was 4 months old.  

Based on her medical updates we do know that she is developmentally on track and very active little girl.  A child in the US would have  had this defect repaired and the holes closed as an infant.  God has been protecting her heart for her to be growing and playing with no major illnesses.  We do know that she is a tiny girl, often seen in heart babies.  

We have talked to a few specialists in the US who have graciously reviewed the information we have on Juliet's heart.  There is some information they feel is "lost in translation" but overall based on the old echo believe her condition is operable and will be successful in Juliet living normal life.

We of course are praying that God has completely healed her heart and when she is tested in the US all will be well.  We are however prepared for a heart surgery and healing.

LID!!!

Today we found out that our Dossier was officially "Logged in" and received by Ch*na on 10/19/12.  Now begins the official Letter of Acceptance wait (LOA).  This could take anywhere from 30 to 90+ days with no rhyme or reason for the length of wait.

We are praying for a short wait!

The current estimates show that Travel Approval (TA) in given about 2 months after LOA.

It's a Girl

Below is a link to a documentary called "It's a Girl"  It very powerfully documents the plight of millions of girls in countries like Ch*na and India.  After watching this trailer I'm so thankful that Juliet's birth mother chose life for her.

Today Ch*na and India eliminate more girls each year than are born in the United States

The United Nation estimates there are nearly 200 million girls "missing"

www.itsagirlmovie.com

http://youtu.be/ISme5-9orR0

DTC!!!

On October 12th we reached a huge milestone in our adoption process called "DTC" which means our Dossier was sent to China.  The Dossier consists of hundreds of hours of chasing down official papers, completing a homestudy and having all of it notarized, certified and authenticated by the Chinese consulate in Houston.  It took us just about 3 months to complete the process from scratch which is actually a pretty fast time frame in the adoption world.  We are very lucky that J is home a lot right now and was able to help move along with our paper chase.

Jackson was able to go to FedEx that day and kiss our package goodbye.  The FedEx folks are familiar with us by now with our many trips.  I felt like I was sending off Juliet with that package and was nervous for its travel across the world.  Now we wait for our official LID (Logged In Date) that China has received and processed our paperwork to the translation department.

It is certainly a sigh of relief to have it all done and out of our hands.  The hard part now is the wait because it is entirely out of our control at this point.

We can only hold tight to our pictures and pray that our paperwork moves through the process quickly.