Doctor's Appointment

We were able to see Isaiah's doctor today. She stayed late for us and we were thankful to talk with her.
She gave him a breathing treatment and did a full exam. Right now we have to do a scabies treatment tomorrow night at bedtime and start antibiotics for an ear infection and possible pneumonia. We also have an inhalor to help with breathing when he is upset. We have a lot of stool to collect for testing as well, not fun, but we are glad to have everything checked.
Tomorrow we will head to Spectrum for blood work, turn in our stool samples and get a chest ex-ray.
We will need to see a cardiologist due to the doctor's concern over his breathing/sweating issues.
We also will see a hearing specialist to check his hearing.
Later this week we will start vaccinations after the doctor feels his breathing is better.
I am exhausted and the boys are both sleeping so I better take advantage of this time. Just wanted to update everyone on today's appointment!
We are thankful for our friends and family who are supporting us so much.
Thank you for praying for us and all the adjustments.

We are Home!

Never have we been this happy to be home. What a long trip it was and thankfully we were able to come home a day early. We are dealing with lice for now. We will laugh about this some day, right? I have never seen so many bugs in a little guys hair and then of course crawling on me after we applied that lice shampoo last night. We had to take clippers to Yetagesu's hair and I don't think Matt will be making a living as a hair stylist anytime soon. It was quite traumatic for him so I pray he will grow to trust us.

Right now we are waiting to hear from our doctor's office. Do we need to bring the boys in today or not? Does Isaac need to continue antibiotics or not? We had to dump ours in New York.
Emotionally I feel like I had a baby, same type of hormones going on. Lots of tears and prayers in adjusting.
Yetagesu is playing and eating, we are learning a lot. We are skeptical of whether he has scabies or ringworm too. Also, his belly is very distended which could be malnutrition or some other problem. He goes to the bathroom a lot so maybe a parasite thing, plus his breath smells quite bad. Maybe a tooth issue? For sure we will bring him in for more tests on Monday.

Prayers

Would everyone keep our kids in prayer? Isaac has been running a fever and has cough and sore throat. We have contacted his doctor's office in Michigan and they would like us to start antibiotics. Yetagesu is already going to the hospital today for pneumonia. We need your prayers for strength, courage and favor. 

We have emailed our travel agent and asked if we could change our tickets to come home early. It is early morning here on Wednesday so we hope to hear later today.

Embassy Day

Today we had our embassy appointment. It was a VERY long day. We also found out new information about Yetagesu. The US doctor recently saw him before the appointment and determined he had pneumonia. We had no idea, although we suspected so last night. Poor little boy is grieving the loss of his old life and trying to adjust to the new life with us while not feeling good. 

Tomorrow we have to stay back from our site seeing to wait to hear from Bethany. They need to get a copy of the report and then have us take him to a hospital to get confirmation so he can start an antibiotic. Isaac is also coughing and my chest is hurting similar to the way it did last spring when I had bronchitis. The air is very polluted here and it is not helping. We are sad Yetagesu is not feeling well but glad we found out before we traveled. The embassy doctor recommended he see his US doctor right away. Bethany uses the two best hospitals in Addis, but they did not catch it. Sara (bethany staff) said they do not have to hold up to the same standards as US hospitals do. 

Yetagesu is sweet and has had a rough time. His orphanage was very sad and apparently not a good one. He sometimes smiles at us but does not like change and cries. Overall he is an easy, mellow kid and we are thankful. Him, Matt and Isaac are watching the Incredibles right now before bed. It is best if we can have stable time here at the guest house where he can warm up to us and the environment. When we leave he zones out and gets even quieter. 

He is great eater. He does not say anything, only a few whispered sounds. Very quiet and of course he is just trying to understand what we are saying. 

We are happy Sara from the Grand Rapids office is here for a few weeks. She was with us while we waited at the embassy and reassured us. There were two other families that did not receive good news at their appointments. All paperwork things that hopefully will be resolved by Thursday and will not delay their travel home. 

Tonight we pray and believe we will ALL sleep well. We gave him some medicine and will prop up his bed. 

thank you all for praying we need it! This trip has been an amazing journey and we are honored to be his parents. 

Our Little Boy

Yesterday we finally met Yetagesu! It was a very long and happy day. We went to the orphanage around 4:00 and spent about 10 minutes there. It was very rushed and I expected to stay longer. He was sleeping when we walked in and there were about 20 other little toddlers sitting on the floor just staring at us. Why could we not take them all home? 

His nanny was crying and that made me cry. The social worker and the nanny were saying, Thank you for taking him, I was saying, Thank you for letting us have him!!! 

I felt really bad. He made little eye contact at first but did not resist us taking him. 

Yetagesu is doing great. We actually got a few smiles yesterday and today he is even better. What a difficult time he has had since his birth. He is very quiet but warming up. We think he knows us as Momma, Daddy and Isaac. He easily goes to both Matt and I. People said that often they don't want anything to do with dad, but that is not the case. 

We found out his birthday is wrong, it is July 12 and even that is something they estimate. Guess we will see if we keep it or not after we get home. We also realized he was wearing a diaper when we picked him up!! No potty training has taken place after all. Matt and our guide Abel stopped at a few "stores" along side the road to finally find diapers. The nurse at Bethany said he has a "sweating problem." Not any disease or anything, he just sweats a lot. Matt told her he does too. She said, "well like father, like son!" 

Today we are heading to our embassy appointment. I also bought some beautiful jewelry from Birtukan.

Continue to pray for our health. The air here is not good and Isaac is coughing like allergy coughs. Yetagesu may need an antibiotic when we get home. Most kids here have a cough and are very congested. They say it is because it is rainy now. 

Sleep seems to escape us as well. We are very tired and up most of the night. I slept good for awhile last night and when I looked at the clock thinking it was 5:00 a.m. it was only 9:16 p.m.!!?? Crazy how jet lag affects you. 

Thankful for the other families here. Isaac gets along well with the other dads and one of the families brought their 22 year old daughter who is going to be a teacher. They live in Grand Rapids and Isaac easily draws and writes with her. He even stayed with her while we had our social work/nurse meeting yesterday. 

Pray for our kids health, I hate, hate hearing them cough. 

Can't wait to be home so you can meet our son. He is a cutie and so sweet:)

Day 2

Yesterday we experience a true Ethiopian church service. Not only did they have their regular service, but they also had a double wedding!! Something I have never been to in the US. 

When the people were worshiping I was choked up, I thought of Acts 16:25 when Paul and Silas were in prison and praising God and singing. I thought the roof of the church might blow off! I believe chains were broken and lives set free in that service. 

Today we meet our son after lunch. We did not sleep too well last night just anticipating this meeting. We also go to the main Bethany office and to another orphanage. 

Isaac woke up this morning and asked when we were coming back. I said, maybe never unless we adopt another child. He said, I want to come back when I am six!!! That is a good sign:)

He is loving being with mom and dad. One of the children of our host and hostess loves Isaac. He is older than him, but about the same size. Good thing soccer is a favorite game of Isaac's to play. 

We had pizza at a restaurant last night and met two more Bethany staff, one of them a lot of you will be familiar with, Sisay. 

The people who run this guest house help many children, 720 to be exact. What a ministry. After church Birtukan sat and talked with us over coffee about her vision and ministry. She could teach a class! 

The weather is beautiful during the day and cool in the evening and morning. It feels great to us. 

Tomorrow we will have news of our little Isaiah, I packed some clothes for him this morning. They look very little. 

We are about to eat breakfast so we will catch up again soon!

Love Andrea

Sunday in Ethiopia

We are just about ready to leave for church. We slept good until about 3:00 a.m. but finally were able to go back to sleep around 5:00. Isaac and Matt are outside playing soccer while I take some time on the internet. Matt is really sweating! It was about 80 degrees when we arrived yesterday. 

Michelle, we have had some good laughs here about your stay and the stories you have told me. I have passed on greetings from many of out to Birtukan and Nesibu. They say hi to their family back in the USA:) Beth, I have your letters ready for "Z", Jill, I have your bag ready to go to YM and Kim, I have your release and camera ready to go to Shalom if we go there tomorrow. 

Shadley they have fond memories of you and Esias. Nesibu said, you have never met her but you are such good friends?? He said, you just talk over the internet? So funny how our friends are all in our computer! 

The other family staying here mentioned Lori and Holly and how helpful they have been. The Bethany forum is such a great connection for us. 

We had a good breakfast of french toast and peanut butter toast. Thanks everyone for praying for us!!!! 

Keep up the prayers for our safety here. 

Love 

Matt, Andrea and Isaac.