Tuesday (day ten)

Late last night I was feeling tired, overwhelmed, worried, and just plain down. When doubt and fear started to creep in and the tears began to fall, I knew my emotions were heading down a dangerous path. Luckily, my husband can wake at the drop of a hat in the middle of the night. So when our daughter's restless sleep turned to drowsy whimpers, he sat up to check on her. And when he noticed that I was also upset, he stayed up longer and talked some sense into me. Thank goodness.

The morning came too soon since we had a string of early hospital appointments. I was worried about how Jun Lan would do and how the visit would affect her bonding with me, especially since the hospital setting would likely seem scary to her. Plus, she wasn't allowed to eat beforehand. Try explaining that to a child barely three weeks out of an orphanage. In baby sign language.

Luckily, hunger didn't seem to be an issue, since it was so early and because she has slowed down her eating considerably from her hungry caterpillar days. The tests - though not painful - did terrify her at first. She took one look at the med tech, hospital bed, and machinery and burst into tears. I vaguely remembered a Mandarin phrase that someone told me meant "it won't hurt you". I knew that the first half sounded like "boo" and I wracked my brain to remember the rest. She continued to sob. So, I held her hand, stroked her wet cheeks, and the only comforting thing I could think to say was "Booyah!"

Of course, that was totally not right. It took me another hour and a second round of tests to remember "bu tong". By that point, however, our little gal was cheerfully drinking coconut milk and directing the technician to use the echo wand as a microphone again. Three and a half hours of medical tests later, she exited the hospital like a champ.

And slept like a champ this afternoon. As did I. Double bonus.

Even better, she met our new friend named Melatonin tonight. Our new BEST friend.

She also met the vegetable garden. And she liked it, as you can see. :)