Recovering (and still watching Frozen)

We're still camped out at the hospital and it's been an interesting few days.  

We met another mommy whose daughter has a special
heart like ChinaBean's.  The mommy had been saving this
Lambie (from Doc McStuffins TV show) for a special
little patient and she gave it to ChinaBean.  It says
several things including "You fixed my heart!"

ChinaBean likes that Lambie can sing & dance.

ChinaBean was making steady progress until yesterday morning.  She had started to point to her chest tube sites and say "ouchie", but we weren't quite sure what was going on.  By early morning it became evident that she was in pain and that there was something more significant than just some soreness.  In the process of notifying the attending physician, I could hear a new sound that wasn't there before.  I almost dismissed it as the sound of ChinaBean's chest tube bulbs rubbing on the inside of her pajama shirt.  As Jamie and I listened more closely it sounded like a faint bubbling/gurgling sound, almost like when you're drinking through a straw and hit the bottom of the cup.  And, the sound only happened when ChinaBean would take a breath.  

A second chest x-ray was ordered and it showed that ChinaBean's left chest tube had slipped out some.  The physician looked at it and determined it had slipped out enough that the chest tube had to be removed all together.  Normally the removal of a chest tube is a cause for celebration because it means that the fluid around the lungs has decreased enough that the tubes are no longer needed.  However, in ChinaBean's case her left lung was still putting out a decent amount of fluid.  

We were told that we needed to watch ChinaBean's breathing and that fluid in her lungs could build-up over the next day, which we require inserting a smaller drain tube.  It was really difficult to see ChinaBean in that kind of pain, especially after she had made such great progress.  On top of that, my parents had brought LBean and EBean to the hospital for a visit.  I had really hoped to have everyone in the same room and to enjoy having us all together.

This is what happens when I tell her
she can't watch Frozen again, she
falls asleep.

About 30 minutes after the chest tube had been removed ChinaBean started to calm down and I felt like I could leave the room to see LBean and EBean.  I hadn't seen them in a week and I couldn't wait to wrap my arms around them.  They had some exciting things to tell me about their week with both sets grandparents and their Aunt Michelle.  I decided it was worth trying to bring LBean and EBean into ChinaBean's room for a visit.  We talked about how she wasn't feeling well and that if she was upset we would leave the room and go play in the activity room.  My prayers were answered because ChinaBean was calmly watching Frozen (again) and the older sisters were excited to watch too.  

My friend Cara had given us muffins earlier in the week and I had some fresh fruit.  We joked about having Sunday brunch and watching a family movie,which is very normal, but the setting just happened to be at the hospital.  Before the big sisters left, we used them as motivation to encourage ChinaBean to walk part of the way to the activity room.  It worked!  She walked a good distance and we all enjoyed playing together.  The big sisters and my parents left and headed north to the Wisconsin Dells for a few days.

After they left, we got the news that a room had opened up on the other side of the hallway, which meant would officially be on the PIC side of the 4th floor.  ChinaBean's new room is 2 doors down from the activity room and we are excited that it has a real door (yay for more privacy).  Uncle Matt came later on Sunday afternoon and he was our first visitor in the "new" room.

Removing the chest tube greatly improved ChinaBean's mood and appetite and that continued today.  She is showing more of her normal personality...laughing, giggling and talking more.  We made it to the activity room twice today and she walked all the way there, instead of riding in the wagon for part of the trek.  One of the fun things we did today was to paint ChinaBean's toenails and fingernails.  That started a running joke about how the hospital was the most expensive spa we've ever been too.  In fact, it is so exclusive that you have to be invited to come.

Getting a sponge bath and hair wash.

Time to be clean.

Pedicure anyone?

We had another visit from some special friends.  Some of the associates from Kohl's came to the 4th floor for a visit today.  They found us in the activity room and gave ChinaBean a stuffed monkey and a book.  

Enjoying her new book and stuffed
animal from Kohl's.

Grandma DiDi & Grand Larry came for a visit this afternoon.  ChinaBean enjoyed seeing her grandparents and she took them on a very long tour of the PIC floor in the early evening.  She scooted herself around for over an hour.  That's the longest she's been active since her surgery.

Hoping on the tricycle and ready to ride.

She wore herself out!

There is a rumor going around that ChinaBean might get her other chest tube out tomorrow.  Let's hope the rumor is true!

What's That? Wednesday: My Daughter's Mandarin...She's Got Skills!

Since moving to China, our entire family has taken language training in one form or another.  Jamie has had private lessons at work.  I took about 9 months of private lessons in our home.  We met twice a week for an hour at a time.  I took a very looooong break (18 months) and I happy to say that I've restarted my lessons after the new year.  LBean's school teaches Mandarin 30 minutes a day 4 times a week.  Even ChinaBean hears a good amount of Mandarin from our Ayi (housekeeper) and now at her new preschool where all the teachers are native Chinese speakers.

However, it's EBean that is the most impressive.  She has attended the same school for two years now.  Half of her day is presented in Mandarin (and about half her class are native Mandarin speakers) and the other half is presented in English.  Last year she would tell us that she didn't understand or speak Mandarin.  She would not speak it at home.  This year is a completely different story!  She is our most fluent speaker in the house (and she knows it).  I've been told by my Chinese friend that EBean's tones are correct when she is speaking and even she is impressed.  EBean is much more confident in her skills and now she speaks Mandarin to our Ayi, sings and talks to herself in Mandarin when she is playing at home, and if she is being particularly ornery, she'll speak it to us at the dinner table (and we have no idea what she is saying).

Some time ago a family member shared with me that they would like to hear EBean (our 5  year-old) speaking Mandarin Chinese.  The family member had a hard time imagining what EBean might sound like speaking another language.

About two weeks ago, I was finally about to take a decent video of EBean speaking Mandarin to her best friend.  They are looking at a coloring book about the movie Frozen. Enjoy the video!