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Friday, July 21, 2006

Our Jia is a very resilient girl. She had an incredibly rough landing home. We left China with great hopes for a good trip, being that Jia has proved to be a good traveler. We were also looking forward to our homecoming with Jia meeting the family for the first time.

The flight from Guangzhou to Tokyo was fairly uneventful. We had all developed a cold, with a deep cough, but everyone was managing. The Tokyo-Minneapolis flight was far more difficult. Jia did a great job of sleeping, eating and playing on the first half of the flight, even though it was horribly turbulent. In fact, our flight attendant, who had been at the job for 30 years, said it was the most turbulent flight he’d ever flown. Not good for the fear factor either. Jia was patient with me as I tried to prepare her food and bottle while things were falling everywhere. She only had a couple of outbursts. (On a flight full of people who think they know exactly what your child needs, this ended up being problematic for her as people would run over and pull out her pacifier, try to take off her clothes, clap in her face, try to feed her and grab her away from dad. It was frustrating for us as well. We decided that you know you’re a parent when you catch your child’s vomit in your hands, as both of us did.) She still did fairly well until the end of the flight. About 40 minutes before we were to land, we noticed that she was developing dark red spots all over her body and that her ears were swelling purple, and she had big lumps on her neck. We realized that she was having an allergic reaction. The flight crew called for any doctors on board, and two came by. Her condition was worsening rapidly, and we were delayed in a holding pattern, so we ended up making an emergency landing. Paramedics came on the flight and we rushed out with her. We were then transported to a children’s hospital. We all know how much Jia likes doctors. The poor thing received so many shots and pokes and prods. It was very upsetting for everyone. The doctors at the hospital got her allergic reaction under control and we spent the rest of the day there while she was monitored. The only things she had eaten recently were bananas and Cheerios, two of her favorites, so we still don’t know the culprit. The whole situation was terrifying and we are so thankful to the doctors on the plane, the paramedics at the airport, and the folks at the hospital.

Needless to say, this wasn’t the homecoming that we had anticipated. Jia, though, is pulling through with flying colors. Her health is almost back to normal. We were worried though that this would make the transition even harder. We needn’t have been concerned! She has been the happiest little girl since she entered our home. We arrived home and Joe needed some rest. I played with Jia, bathed her, fed her, and rocked her to sleep. She woke up completely cheery. She loved meeting her family. Especially her little cousin Han. Han is a sturdy four-month-old, and Jia used him as a launching pad to help herself scoot around the floor by pushing off of him. She also likes our kitties! She thinks they’re so funny. The best part - no more frequent frantic screams for Joe. She seems much calmer here. We took her on her first walk yesterday. She loved it! She just relaxed and enjoyed checking out all the street action. She also adores her toys, the noisy, flashy ones in particular. When we both woke her up this morning, she was all smiles and squeals of delight. She clearly didn’t know that we were taking her for a check-up, which resulted in five more little band-aids. She really is amazing though, she was smiling and dancing in the lobby on the way out of the clinic. She is a tough little kid. We are still trying to get our schedule in order, but everything else has been fantastic!

Thanks to everyone for following our journey. Thanks, too, for the guestbook comments. The support we received means so much to us.

We’ll post another update in a couple of weeks!

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