Isolation Room

Friday night went fine.  Surprisingly, Gracelynn took to her new room and her own bed just beautifully!  I laid her down and allowed her to play with a book and her "JingJing" (the Olympic Panda mascot) with only the soft nightlight on.  She fell asleep just fine with no tears.  That was one of our biggest fears was that she wouldn't like to sleep alone.  Whew!  After just 3 hours of sleep for myself (felt a cold coming on plus had jet lag), I went in to check on Grace at 6am.  She was lying there awake.  I encouraged her to get up.  She did and started to play at her little desk with her Color Wonder markers and books.  Tommy came in and joined her.  Then Reagan.  It was like they'd all known each other for years.  She blended in beautifully with the kids.  We got dressed and came downstairs for some muffins. 

A short time later, my mom arrived to meet Gracelynn and pick up my dad.  Only she also surprised me by bringing my sister Tracy and brother-in-law Tim.  I was so excited... I really had hoped they'd come soon to meet Grace.  Grace took well to everyone... at least on a casual basis.  She did have a minor fall (down 3 steps outside) when she slipped on bubble mixture that had spilled.  Uncle Tim and my mom were able to pick her up and bring her inside to me.  She was fine... just a little shook up.

During my 29 hours of travel, I sneezed a lot.  I figured my seasonal allergies were just aggrevated, so I blew it off.  By the time we got home, I started in with a runny nose.  So I took Nyquil at 2:30am on Friday.  By 6am, I was wide awake and took more cold medicine since it wasn't getting better... and began Zicam every 3 hours.  A few hours later, I started with a wicked sore throat, so I started on Zithromax (a prescription I had gotten for our trip... just in case) since it was a Saturday morning, and I knew I couldn't get to a doctor till Monday.  Within another hour, I had serious chills, a fever, and felt sick to my stomach.  After a few false alarm runs to the bathroom to throw up, I finally gave in.  Mom took me to the emergency room.  I was really sick.  

We got in quickly... fortunate that no one else was in the waiting room.  The nurse took my vitals and got the story from me.  After a few tests (flu and strept), she put me in a bed in the back.  Within a few minutes, another nurse brought me a mask.  "My prize" for having flu-like symptoms, she said.  I laughed.  Next thing I know, I was being wheeled away from that main room.  Isolation!  All it took was me saying I just arrived from China to scare everyone.  So, I was placed in a solitary room.  The doctors and nurses from then on out arrived in my room wearing masks and gowns.  They even gave my mom a mask too.  I told my mom, "If they return wearing the spacesuits from ET, run!"  The doctor said he was calling the Infectious Diseases Department to see what tests they needed to run.  Next time a nurse came in with a rolling potty (oh what fun) and a table full of blood cultures, needles and bandages.  They inserted an IV, took two bottles of blood and had me pee.  Since I wasn't allowed out of the room, I had to use the rolling toilet.  I told my mom.... "Geesh... I can't get a normal toilet to save my life.  First the squatty potties, and now a non-flushing one!"  

The Xray technician brought the Xray machine to my room and did a chest Xray in the room (since I wasn't allowed to leave).  Oh man.   I asked the tech if I was giving them all some excitement today.  He laughed.  I said, "Now how often does a scare like this occur?"  He said, "Oh not often.... maybe once a year."  I told him I really didn't want to be in the papers!  

I think I had told 4 people that day my story.... 2 weeks in China.... in Beijing, in Guangzhou, stopover in HongKong, etc., etc.  No, my daughter wasn't sick.  No, I wasn't in rural China... only major cities.  No, I didn't come across anyone who was sick at least not like this.... blah, blah, blah.

About 2.5 hours after I arrived, I was sent home.  The flu test, RSV test and strept test were all negative.  The other scary tests were still not back, but they didn't think there was a problem.  The doctor said it was probably just some virus I picked up on the plane or from someone in China.  No biggee.  My fever had dropped a little with the Tylenol, so he said to just keep up with a fever reducer and cold medicine to help me feel better.  

So, I finally was allowed to leave my little isolation room.  LOL

I called Mike on our way home to say that they were transporting me to the nearby bigger hospital for more tests.  He didn't like my little joke.

I came home to find Grace filthy from playing outside so much.  Apparently it didn't bother her one bit that I was not home.  She played just great with the kids and her uncle, aunt and grandparents.  We decided it was best not to introduce the neighbor kids just yet... maybe today or tomorrow.

Today I'm feeling rather miserable.  Nothing bad, just a cold or something.  Mike's parents took the three kids to church.  Mike and I and Grace slept pretty much non-stop from 4pm yesterday till about 6am today.  I guess Mike was up for a couple of hours last night... but all in all, we got a lot of sleep!  Whew!  

The kids are taking well to Gracelynn.  At 6am, Tommy crawled into bed with me and said, "I love Gracelynn."  It was so cute!  Oh, how I missed his little hugs and cuddles!

Thank you to everyone for the good wishes and prayers.  It seems as though we're going to do fine.  Gracelynn obviously has a long way to go to be 100% comfortable and to get the hang of our American ways, but she's doing great so far.  She's been little Miss Nosey lately and getting into all sorts of things.  She just knocked all sorts of papers on the floor... because she can, I guess... and she's eating an apple.  She has successfully gotten apple juice all over our coffee table.  How can one even do that with a little apple?

She's quickly learning that Aspen (our Westie) is not a child-lover.  :)  Aspen is a good dog... don't get me wrong.  But her tolerance for kids is long gone.  If a child approaches her while she's trying to rest or touches her while she's eating or pulls on her fur, she snaps at him/her.  Grace happened to bump Aspen (accidentally) while Aspen was dozing off on the sofa, and she snapped at Grace.  That's good... she'll learn quickly to leave her alone.  Grace has been fascinated by Aspen, but doing things like throwing toys at her and such.  Maybe this will calm her down.

She still takes to Mommy more than the others at certain times (bedtime, baths, potty), but she plays well with all the family.

Feel free to comment or express your wishes for her.  We plan to print out this blog one day for Gracelynn to keep as her adoption story.