Sweet Sophie Mei
What's in a name?/Sweet
Sentiments |
Update!
“Be
assured that if God waits longer than you wish, it is to make
the blessing all the more precious.” ~unknown
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May 13,
2008
The day began as it typically would on any ordinary
Tuesday morning with just a little more excitement than usual as
Christian and Michael were anxiously anticipating field trips
that day at school. I hustled the kiddos out the door, loaded
everyone into the van, double checked to make sure everyone had
their extra-special-field-trip sack lunch, had their backpacks
packed, their learning plans signed, sweatshirts on…and we were
off. Off to school that is. As I backed out of the driveway, I
saw something catch the sun in the street in front of our home.
I gasped as I realized it was my cell phone! I must have dropped
it getting out of the car the day before. It looked only
slightly damaged. Ugh! I hate it when things like that happen! I
dusted it off the best I could, checked to make sure I had
remembered all the necessary immigration-update paperwork for
our social worker…and we were off, again. The boys chattered
incessantly and had smiles ear-to-ear as they jumped out of the
van and practically ran into school. It’s not every day you get
to go to the landfill on a fieldtrip to learn about recycling!
:)
Right about that time, as I pulled away from the school, my cell
phone rang. I tried to answer, but realized I couldn’t. My newly
damaged phone could ring, but wouldn’t let me pick up the call.
I also could no longer see on the screen who was calling. A
little on the grumpy side, I drove to the phone center and
pulled into the parking lot. They wouldn’t open for another
hour. Ugh, again. But, it was inevitable, I needed a phone and
would have to wait until they opened to replace it. My phone
rang again. It rang and rang and rang during that hour. What was
going on? From the ring tones, I knew most of the calls (coming
in approximately every two minutes) were from my husband and a
few from my mom. Little did I know, I was missing “the call”!
As I left the phone center, I called Ian who, in a very calm
voice said, “Where have you been”? I had hardly begun to recount
the phone drama of the morning, when he interrupted me and said,
“Kim” (patiently waiting for me to stop talking) “we’re going to
China”!
Everything from that point on is a bit of a blur. The tears just
came. My hands shook. I managed to choke out a few words as Ian
recounted the conversation he had with CCAI. Funny thing is, the
only information Ian could remember from that conversation with
our agency was our sweet daughter’s age. She’s 2 ½ years old.
With only that much information, we knew. Without a doubt. She
was our daughter. |

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Somehow, through the tears, I
managed to get myself home and was able to call Denise at CCAI.
I wished at that point that I had thought to print out one of
those “call” sheets. You know, the ones that have all the
carefully thought out questions on it with space to write down
your daughter’s information. I know so many who have done
this--so many who have carefully planned this special moment
down to the smallest detail. But that’s not the way it happened
for us. Amidst breakfast dishes and toast crumbs, on the back of
a school newsletter with a Sharpie marker that was almost out of
ink, I scribbled down those first precious details about our
daughter. It didn’t matter. It was perfect. And it was one of
the most beautiful moments of my life.
“Life doesn’t have
to be perfect to be wonderful.” ~unknown
Ni Lu Qian was found at the gate of the Yiwu Social Welfare
Institute on July 11, 2007. She was almost 20 months old at the
time with a birthday of *November 18, 2005. The growth report we
received indicated that Lu Qian was found to be in “bad spirit”
and running a high fever. She apparently cried a lot and had
“bad appetite”. She was sent to a local hospital on July 17,
2007 and it was determined that she had a congenital heart
condition. In an effort “to save this little life”, the
orphanage contacted the Tomorrow Plan office who approved the
surgical repair of her heart condition. Her heart was repaired
on July 20, 2007. She was hospitalized for 20 days and was
discharged on **August 9, 2007 “healthily”. She has resided at
the Yiwu Social Welfare Institute in the Zhejiang Province of
China since that time.
Since her surgery, Lu Qian has gained weight and “her face
became rosy and she got chubby cheeks”. Her appetite has grown
and “she looked the same as healthy children”. She eats mostly
“rice, noodle, steamed and supplemented with rice powder and
milk powder…in addition, we often feed her some nutrients like
bone soup, seasonal fruit juice to increase the nutritional
contents in her body”. Lu Qian’s development has been slower
than other children her age as a result of her congenital heart
disease. At twenty-four months, she stood without support and
could walk with one hand held. “It seems that she can walk
without help soon.” In regards to her speech, she is “burbling”.
The speech pathologist in me loved that word! We’ll definitely
have “burbling” practice when she’s home.
The nannies at the orphanage report that she is introverted,
quiet, timid and does not often smile. They say that “her
greatest wish is the hope for adults to cuddle her more”.
She
is perfect. She is beautiful.
She is…Simply Sophie!
*Our sweet daughter, Ni Lu Qian was born November 18, 2005. When
Denise at CCAI told me her birthday, the tears began to flow
again. Our little one was born 3 days after I had first attended
an informational meeting for prospective adoptive parents being
held by CCAI. It was the one and only meeting that CCAI has ever
held in our area. At least the only one I have ever been aware
of. At the time of this meeting, I literally knew nothing about
the process of adoption from China. But, I do distinctly
remember the feelings I had as I listened to the information
they presented. Feelings that were strong and overpowering and
made me know in my heart that we had a daughter somewhere in
China.
**Last summer, Ian and I wrestled with the decision whether to
change directions and pursue a special needs adoption. After a
lot of prayer and research, and some direct answers to questions
we had, we submitted our medical conditions checklist to CCAI in
August…the same month our daughter returned to the orphanage
after her surgery. I have felt overwhelmingly blessed and
humbled through this entire process. |
“Never let the
odds keep you from doing what you know in your heart you were
meant to do.”
~Jackson Brown, Jr.
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myadoptionwebsite.com
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