I thee wed

We are home! the flights were long and boring. We were so anxious to get home! Lindley wasn't feeling well, so she slept quite a bit. When we reached the Tokyo Airport, they were boarding the last call for our flight. Luckily we made it! The flight attendant said the pilot wanted to board early since it was a Friday and there would be a lot of air traffic. Even though we boarded early, we left on time. We sat on the plane for nearly 30-45 minutes. Not easy with a young toddler! We like to tell Lindley she is a toddler and not a baby because we think it makes her feel all grown up, but in reality, she has no idea what we are saying!!!

We got to St. Louis about 5:00 p.m. on Friday. My sisters, Carol and Elaine, met us at the St. Louis Lambert Airport. Lindley went right to them! She is a little shy, but loves to be held and played with.

She doesn't like the carseat at all!!!! She cried all the way to my sister's house then cried for another hour! We finally calmed her. We fed her some snacks, visited with her new aunties and then we were on our way home. We arrived home and got ready for bed and she screamed because she didn't like her new crib. We were up some of the night. This parenting thing can be exhausting! The next day, she slept until about 2:00 p.m. She still wasn't feeling well, so we took her temperature. It was 102 degrees. We called the doctor's office we were going to use. I talked to a nurse who was on call, but since Lindley wasn't an official patient of the doctor nor did I have her on my insurance yet (wouldn't allow it until adoption was complete) she would not give me any advice and the urgent care center was closed until 9:00 a.m. the next day. We decided to go to the ER and they were wonderful! We got right in and the doctor said Lindley had pneumonia. He admitted Lindley and she spent two nights in pediatrics. She didn't like it at first and it took three staff plus Brian to hold her down to put an IV in her hand. It about broke our hearts. They were really impressed how strong she was. Once we got to the hospital room, her oxygen was low, so they hooked her to the oxygen machine and I was by myself watching this. It was so hard to watch. Brian had just left to get us something to eat and stop by the house. My mom, bless her heart, was at our house doing all of our laundry and washed all of Lindley's bottles and things from the trip. It was nearly 11:00 p.m.

Not even 24 hours in America and Lindley is being traumatized! When asked about her records, medical history, etc. we told the ER and hospital staff we just got back from adopting her in China. The staff was great and really handled the situation and Lindley with gentleness and care.

My sister, Mary and niece, Jennifer, came to the hospital to stay with Lindley so we could go home and get some Zs! We weren't sure how Lindley would do, but she did great! She went right to them and they played and read books. My sister, Joyce and brother-in-law, Marshall came later and played with her too. Again, Lindley went straight to them. It was awesome to see. She is such a trooper. By Monday, she had everyone including the nurses and doctor wrapped around her finger! The doctor was updating us on her condition and out of the blue, Lindley held her arms like she wanted the doctor to pick her up! Yeah, she is spoiled!

It is now 1:00 a.m. and she just went to bed in her crib without a fuss! Brian and I are both sick too with colds. Brian has been running on less than 10 hours of sleep since Thursday. I, on the other hand, crawled in bed with Lindley at the hospital and got a few Zs! We didn't sleep at all on the airplane rides, except maybe an hour from Detroit to St. Louis. On our flight from Tokyo to Detroit the airline moved us to the bulkhead seats which was nice because they had a little more room (no seats in front), but they were right next to the bathroom and kitchen area. It was very noisy and busy. While stretching their legs or waiting for the bathroom, passengers would stop and chat about Lindley. They thought it was awesome that we were coming back from China with her. We found mixed comments in China. On one of our excursions to a bookstore, someone asked me where Lindley came from. I said Nanchang. He immediately took off. Our guide told us later to say orphanage. Even when we were in a group, people would stop, stare, and sometimes laugh and point because our group all adopted special needs. When we reached Guangzhou, the feeling wasn't as noticeable because they are used to seeing Americans adopting Chinese children.

It was an experience, but it is glad to be home!!!!!