We are HOME and it has unfortunately been very eventful....

Well, our arrival in the U.S. and home started out good...

We arrived at JFK airport on Wednesday evening, and spent the night at the Fairfield Inn. A very special family met us to welcome Sarah to the U.S. She received an absolutely adorable Minnie Mouse Costume with Minnie ears! I know she will love wearing it! After settling into our room, we went downstairs to the hotel restaurant, Mediterranean Grille, and met our special friends down there. We enjoyed a really nice visit with them. We hope to see them again soon! Although they live on Long Island, they have a place at one of the Vermont ski resorts, and we would love to visit them there!

A special family greeted us at the JFK Fairfield Inn Hotel! (We are delirious after 18 hours of flight, during which Sarah slept about 4 hours, but not at one time, Rupert slept about 6, and Nicole slept about 15 minutes...)

First meal at an American restaurant. She loved spaghetti!

It looks like she's aiming that silly laugh at Minnie but it was across the table at her new friends!

 We all slept from about 9 pm until 4 am. We ate breakfast around 5, and headed to the JFK airport at 6. I enjoyed using a CLEAN bathroom at the JFK airport (as opposed to the bathrooms in China, the worst being one at the Guangzhou airport, which I believe had not been cleaned since April 2010 when I used it when we were flying home with Aaron - it was that bad! Sarah screamed when she saw the inside of the bathroom and I wanted to cry. But at JFK airport it was all I could do to not kiss the floor. And I have high cleanliness standards, believe me!)

The flight home was a mere 45 minutes! Sarah SCREAMED on the descent and became hysterical (and we now know why, but did not then).  We drove home (Sarah vomited in the car, and we are hoping it was a result from so much crying and not from motion sickness...Many of you may recall that Aaron suffers from SEVERE motion sickness. For 2 years, just a 5-10 minute car ride resulted in vomiting, almost every time. It has improved a bit, but it is something we still deal with.). We arrived home around 11 am. The boys were very eager to see Sarah. Here are some photos.

Giving Sarah presents they bought

 Sarah discovered the grocery shopping cart.

A kiss from Aaron

About to kiss Donovan

Sarah has grown so much during our time in China, but she is very, VERY frightened of new people and places. And unfortunately after the events of Friday and Saturday, that has become even more so. Her whole world has changed and she is just learning to trust her new family. This will be a very long process for all of us. The language barrier makes everything more difficult. Sarah's smiles and laughter are infectious, and we see more and more of them in our own home, when she feels safe. 

We slept okay on Thursday evening, and Friday morning enjoyed a great morning and lunch as a family of 5. That all changed about an hour after Sarah got up from her nap. She suddenly started hysterically crying/screaming, and could not be distracted, consoled, or calmed down by anyone or anything. At first we thought it had to do with jet lag. (But she has slept okay during the night and during her nap. When it had been about 2 hours and dinner was on the table and she continued screaming - this child with an incredible appetite, we knew something was quite wrong.) Unfortunately our pediatrician's office had just closed so the pediatrician on call directed us to the ER. He suspected she might have an ear infection (and that made sense to us given she had cried on the plane descent), and also wanted to be able to rule out a hernia and other things that could be causing such a serious and sudden response of what seemed like pain/discomfort from her.

Our experience at the ER was horrific. ABSOLUTELY HORRIFIC. We were there a total of 11 hours, 4 in a waiting room, 7 trying to figure out what was going on and 4 of those 7 hours (so more than half) was spent by Sarah actively screaming hysterically. They needed to do some bloodwork and had tremendous difficulty with her tiny veins (and she was perhaps a bit dehydrated from the plane ride - and all the crying). After many attempts (and little did we know that she would be "poked" with needles between 20 and 25 times in the next 6 hours) I suggested a vein on the side of her hand. Although they told me they felt it was too superficial, they got a line in, drew the blood, and then started IV fluids. (They were not able to put the saline on a pump because her veins were so tiny they feared the vein would "blow" from the rate/pressure, so they slowly just dripped the saline, which took 90 minutes instead of the 30 it would have with the pump...but in the end this superficial vein that I suggested allowed the saline to run in.) About 30 minutes into the saline drip, we received word that the blood had clotted before the lab could run the bloodwork. The line that was bringing the saline in ended up not being able to be flushed, and would not allow blood out. This resulted in the countless (between 20 and 25) "pokes" or "sticks" with needles attempting to get another line it. TWO MORE TIMES THE BLOOD THEY GOT OUT CLOTTED BEFORE THE LAB COULD RUN THE TEST.  Sarah was hysterical. She was easily held down/ restrained for at least 3 of the 7 hours we were in that room as they attempted the blooddraws. It was about 2 in the morning when it seemed there were very few options left. They could not get the tiny amount of blood they needed to run the bloodwork. During this time also, 2 residents examined Sarah, and felt they could rule out hernia and GI issues. That was reassuring. They were unable to see into her eardrums due to wax buildup. (Aaron had this same issue with earwax when he came to us. We had to use Debrox drops and have them irrigated.). One resident was able to clear enough of the wax in one ear to see enough of the eardrum to rule out an infection in that one. He tried to get the wax out of her left ear, but after a few moments, said he was not going to keep trying, and said he felt confident there was no ear infection, because she did not have a fever. (Note: This was the biggest error of the night. A little persistence on his part would have gotten a diagnosis. Attempts at blooddraws could have been halted and we would have gone home with antibiotics.)  Later I also realized I had mentioned she was very, very upset anytime we change her diaper, and specifically clean her. Not typical for a 2 year old. I wondered about as UTI. They never got a urine sample. In our final hour there, a wonderful nurse came in. He asked if he could try to access a vein using a "butterfly" needle. I am familiar with these and couldn't believe I had not asked about them earlier. He had another male nurse come in and hold Sarah down, along with two others who had been with us most of the night. He worked so hard to find veins that might work. In the end he used THE VEIN that I had pointed out when we first arrived that I knew China had drawn blood from for her TB test as part of her medical exam just a week before. After a few tries, he got it in. He drew the blood and they literally RAN the blood tube down to the lab with prayers from everyone that it could be processed before clotting.

Words cannot describe how hysterical Sarah was through all of this. She is an ABSOLUTE FIGHTER for sure. They could not believe how STRONG she was. This tiny, 24 pound peanut, had so much strength, that even wrapped tightly in a blanket restraint, she had to be held down by 2-4 people every time. It was at least 4 1/2 hours of screaming and fighting by her. No one could believe she did not just collapse from exhaustion.

When the results came back, her white blood cell count was elevated, which likely meant infection. However, they felt they could not find the source of it, and SO THEY SENT HER HOME. We got home at 5 am. 11 1/2 hours after we left. 

And so it seemed we were back on China time! I gave her "breakfast" and she devoured a hard boiled egg, banana, and cheerios. Knowing she was in pain and would be in pain (and bruised) from all the pokes and restraints, I gave her Tylenol. I gave her a bath, and put her to bed at 6 am. All hopes of getting her on US time anytime soon were abandoned!
I took a shower and made breakfast for the boys. And then Saturday began. Our pediatrican and I spoke and he directed me to go to the pediatrician's office where we saw the on call pediatrician. He was wonderful. Sarah is so fearful now of all things medical. What happened at that ER was absolutely traumatic - for any child - especially one who is just barely learning to trust her parents, and who knows nothing about her surroundings and can't speak or understand English.  In any case, he quickly cleaned out the wax from her left ear and that revealed a huge ear infection. THAT was the source of the elevated white blood cells/infection, and her pain. SO SIMPLE. If ONLY that resident had taken the necessary 2 minutes to get the wax out, we would have KNOWN what was wrong and gone home with the antibiotic.

With two doses in her of antibiotic and Tylenol, Sarah is back to her happy, smiling self. But she is still very fearful of people and places beside our home. 

We are looking forward to many, many wonderful experiences as a family, and hopefully no more trips to the ER!