Trip #2

I have so many blog posts in my head and am so excited to finally start updating you on all the past 3 weeks have held for our family.

We left on February 7th to head to Ethiopia to bring our son to his forever home.  The trip there was pretty uneventful.  As soon as we arrived at the transition house, Chris couldn’t stand it.  He was ready to get Haven in our arms.  He waited for all of 3 seconds before walking back to Haven’s room to retrieve him.  It was so sweet.  We didn’t do much this trip, which was nice.  We spent most of our days hanging out at the transition house and just getting to know Haven.  The only time we left the transition home was to go to embassy, to have dinner with some friends, and to go to a market.

We were amazed at how well he looked!  On Monday, February 11th, we had our embassy appointment.  It was really a lot easier than we expected.  They asked us a few questions and we were in and out of there in no time.

We were able to spend some time talking with the in-country director on this day.  We were so anxious to get some answers on Haven’s health.  When we left him in November, he was 4 months old and weighed 7 ½ pounds.  They had been feeding him consistently for 2 months.  Everything was just going straight through him and his little body just wasn’t absorbing any nutrients and he was unable to gain weight.  He had been in and out of the hospital 4 times and they honestly couldn’t figure out exactly what was going on with him.  We were obviously very concerned and hated to leave him knowing he needed medical care.  We prayed and asked all of you to pray.  Now, here we are 2 months later.  Haven is 6 months old and weighing in at almost 15 pounds.

I asked the in-country director what happened.  What changed in his little body that he finally was eating and gaining weight?  I was really hoping to hear some medical answers.  All the in-country director could say was, “This cannot be explained.  Only God can do this.”  SO, thank you!  Thank you to those of you who prayed so fervently and faithfully for our little man.

We were so excited about his weight gain and had hoped that meant he was 100% well.  That was not quite the case.  He was gaining weight and eating and obviously absorbing some of the nutrients.  However, how do I put this?  Well, I’m just going to say it.  He was/is having explosive diarrhea.  I mean like we were changing his clothes (and often times ours) about 12 times a day.  I had packed only about 3 outfits a day for him, so I was hand washing clothes in our bathroom sink every day and hanging them outside to dry.   It’s hard enough to have a baby in your own home that you’ve prepared.  But it was not fun to be in a foreign country with no washer and dryer with a sick baby.

Because the nurses were so concerned about his weight, they had been working very hard with him.  They were feeding him every 2 hours to get him to try to gain weight.  We’re so very thankful for their care for him.  Haven got very used to eating every 2 hours and does this throughout the day and night.

We were so tired and just ready to get Haven home.

Thankfully, Haven’s visa was ready to pick up on the morning of the 13th and we were flying out that evening.  The transition home gave us a coffee ceremony before our departure.  One of the hardest parts was saying goodbye to all the nannies and nurses who had been caring for him.  I was not prepared for the emotions that flooded me to see them kissing on him and so excited for him.

Then we headed to the airport to begin our 17-hour journey home.  And it was one of the hardest things I’ve every done.  More details to come soon!