You Won't Believe Your Eyes

So I am officially the worst blogger of all time.  It has been so long since I posted!  I will simply claim busyness and my family definitely keeps me busy.

So onto Anna.  She is doing so well I don't even know where to start!  First of all she is now 36 pounds!  When she arrived in the US on April 5, she weighed 22 pounds.  That seems to me like an almost impossible gain, but it's true.  She looks much more like the almost five year old she is. 

You can easily see her gain here next to her two year old brother.  The first picture is when they met in May.  The second was taken a few weeks ago:

Her lungs are doing terrific.  She has not had any supplemental oxygen in over a month.  This too is miraculous.  Her lungs were very damaged by years of eating lying down. 

She now has a low profile g-tube which is such a blessing.  Her first one hung out a good ways and was easy to catch.  She tolerates her feeds mostly.  She has vomiting episodes probably three times a week.  Not really sure why, but it seems to be related to her having a lot of congestion.  I know from my other children that adjusting to an all new environment tends to cause allergies for a while.

She is also eating some by mouth!  Just a little, but it encourages us that one day she might be able to get some of her nutrition that way.

She is much stronger.  She can hold her head up to a certain extent.  Her core strength has really improved.  She does very well in her therapy sessions.

She is still a little delight, happy and smiling almost all the time.  We have gotten into a routine and caring for her seems almost easy now.  It is like having a big baby (I have to lift weights on a regular basis to stay strong enough to lift her rapidly increasing weight!) that has some medical needs.

Anna has not had to return to the hospital for any stays and her doctors appointments have become few and far between.  Her GI doc confided the other day that he thought for sure she would have been readmitted by now and is stunned by her good health.  God is so good and we are beyond grateful for his mercy.

Please feel free to ask any questions you might have about Anna or adopting a special needs child. I will do my best to answer!  Thank you for your continued prayers and continuing to follow our journey.