Jada grew!

We went to the doctor today to do a checkup for Jada. She is still small, but healthy in every way!
As most babies, she lost weight after she was born. She was born at 2.47Kg (5Lbs, 6oz), went down to 2.38 Kg (5lbs, 4oz) a few days after she was born, and she now is 2.5Kg (5lbs, 8oz)! YAY! She regained her birth weight plus a bit. Now you are probably thinking 120g/4 oz is not a lot, and your right. Remember Jada is only two weeks old, so that is quite an achievement for her, as well when you are that size, it makes a huge difference. Comparitably, if I were to gain weight at the same rate, I would have put on 5Kg (11lbs) or more in two weeks - assuming of course I did the math right. I weight about 250lbs (113Kg). If someone figures I did this wrong let me know ok? This would be unhealthy for me, but for Jada, it is right about where she needs to be. For a while starting from now, she should be gaining up to 1 kg (or 2lbs) a month. A couple more good things about Jada. Her Jaundice is down by halfish (according to the readings) and is barely noticeable on her face now. She is also at a weight and age where she could get vaccinated in China. Their schedule is to give a BCG (for TB) and Hep B shot at birth. I know that Canada they don't do those right away. Any thoughts - Should we follow the Chinese Vaccination schedule or the Canadian one?

Other things are going well. We are hopping to be on track with our visa issues, we will find out for sure on Thursday when we go pick them up. We are still planning to go to Canada, now on September 23rd. We will be there for a few weeks, then come back to China to finish up my contract with work. From there.... We have yet to decide exactly what is going to happen once we reach that. I am looking at a couple different options, and I might just try to go for all of them, and see which one fits the best for us.

For the time being, I (usually) enjoy teaching English. There are students I like, and others that try my patience, but on a whole, it is quite enjoyable. I'll post more on this when I gather my thoughts a little more. It is slowing down a little more, as school is starting back up soon. Not that I teach children, but we have a lot of university students.

That is all I can think of to say now
Mikey

Passports and Visas

So Jada is a now a week and a half old. We have been really happy with the decision to bring her out of the hospital, as we would have missed her way too much! We love seeing her, and when she is alert, she just sits there looking around, and has really cute eyes. I love being around her, and seeing her. She is a really quite baby too. She sometimes cries really loud (espically when changing her diper or clothes!) other times she sqwaks. It is also becoming easier on Chelsey, as Jada is sleeping and eating better. Some nights Jada still is snacky during the night, but most times is sleeping really well.

Yesterday we had a bit of an adventure. We went to the Canadian Embassy to get Jada her Canadian citizenship and passport. First we had to get photos with her eyes open. So we tried to time it to when she would be waking up. But the taxi probably put her in a deeper sleep, so it was a bit of a struggle. But the photogropher got a good one, and it only took six or eight tries. At least we did not have to worry about hands being in the photo, because they had her on a blanket lying down. They also photshoped it a bit to make it look nice. It was really cool watching them do it, as the guy that did it knew what he was doing, and it was so quick! It was a photo place recommended by the Embassy, so I'm assuming that they knew that the photo place would photoshop a bit. Did I mentention that the Embassy closed at three at that we were at the photo place until 2:30? This is because we took a little longer then we thought in getting out. But we did make it to the Emabssy at 2:40, so it worked out well. I am glad that we were able to apply for both the citizenship card and the passport at the same time, as it takes between 6 and 18 months to get it! We were going to apply for an emergancy passport, as we were worried about time, but they told us that there would be no problems in getting the passport in time, and still have time to get Jada a visa for China. We also went to the bank and got certificate of deposites for both of us, so that we can show that we have 3000 USD each to extend our visas. We got new plane tickets for September 23, so pray everything goes well, and that there are no delays.

With Jada's passport getting started, that leaves one thing left to do this week, and that is get our visas extended. It should not be any problem now that we have the certificate of depostits. I don't know what plan B will be if it comes to that, but hopefully we don't need that!

The Joys and the Worries of New Parenthood

Last Sunday we were able to pick up Jada from NICU. The nurses undressed Jada and showed us every inch of her skin so that we could see that no harm had been done to her, we found that amusing, and after a bunch of paper work she was finally in our arms and we were free to go. She seemed to settle down immediately and looked very peaceful and happy to be reunited. Staying at the bishops house with their support and experience in caring for newborns was a huge blessing. I don't know what I would have done without Sister Johnsons help and confidence. Warning: if the words breast and nipple make you feel uncomfortable, don`t read on. Breast feeding proved to be a challenge that I had not expected. Luckily my milk came in the second day but Jada is a baby that is nei to impossible to rouse from sleep, often not sucking and my nipples were not cooperating (probably why she would not suck) . We were only having 3-4 successful feedings in a twenty- four hour period which was really worrying us. I put some of my milk in a bottle and tryed feeding her that way which was successful,so the next day I went and bought an electric breast pump and the success rate immediately jumped astronomically. Then I found that I could use the pump to stimulate my nipple and get the milk flow started and Jada would then feed off the breast. The last few days we have gone back to the breast, my nipples are now reacting like they should and Jadas appetite has really made leaps and bounds. I have not had to use the breast pump even once today. So it has been a positive learning curve for both of us. She is almost a week old and already made so much progress, we are so proud of her.

We are back in our apartment. We hired a lady to do a really deep cleaning of our apartment while we were at the bishops house so that we could bring Jada home to a sterilized, dust free environment. They did a really good job.

Mike has been super busy. He got 4 days off in a row right after the birth but he didn`t get much rest as there have been so many things to get done fast. He has been running errands all over Beijing. We still have Visa issues to take care of. We are seeing if we can get our current visas extended for 30 days. That gives us time to get Jadas Canadian citizenship card, passport, and a visa (still not sure exactly sure what has to be done there, she is considered a chinese citizen right now and we will need some sort of visa for her before we can take her out of the country). Thirty days is really rushing it so keep us in your prayers that all will go smoothly and we will be able to get it all done in time.

We took Jada to Amcare Women and Childrens hospital for a wellness check. The doctor said that she is healthy just really low in the percentiles for height and weight which is to be expected considering she was 5 weeks early. She has a little jaundice but it is in normal ranges so we had been giving her some time infront of the window every day, that is suppose to help as it gives her vitamin D. We are going to go back next friday for a check up on her weight gain and jaundice.

All in all, things are going well just rushing around alot trying to get things done and doing the best we can to ensure Little Jadas health. Keep a look out for new Jada photos on photo bucket as we will upload new photos there periodically.
http://s921.photobucket.com/albums/ad59/mdinnes/

Another Bean update (with pictures... hopefully)

Jada is now here with us.
She has been sleeping a lot, looks healthy and fine.

http://s921.photobucket.com/albums/ad59/mdinnes/

the proxy server we had been using (hot spot sheild) has not been working lately, so we are trying another one, but it does not allow us to post pictures (or hyperlinks so copy and paste.) So by going to the photobucket site one should be able to see it.

Update on Jada

So a quick update on Jada. We went into the hospital today with a Chinese speaking branch member, to check upon Jada. Everything is well, her temperature is stable, her breathing is stable, she has peed and pooped, and she is eating. The doctors are a little concerned that she is not eating enough, but that is about the only concern (they have her on an IV right now to help). So tomorrow morning we are actually planning to take her home. Many of the sisters in the branch have recommended this to us, and it seems as if it is the right thing to do. Chelsey feels good about this, especially on hearing that Jada is healthy. We had to sign a weaver saying that we are taking her out on our own will, and that we understand the risks. We think that because she is healthy, and doing well, we feel that this way we can be part of her life, make her more comfortable, and such. Breast milk is important to babies, as well as having a more comfortable environment with her parents, and home has less germs then hospitals. We are going to take her as an outpatient to another hospital on Tuesday to do a general check up on her, and make sure she continues to do well. There has even been some speculation among those are that helping that she may actually have been full or very close to full term (closer then we thought) considering that she seems to have healthy lungs and also has some body fat according to Chelsey.

Right now, we are staying with the branch president. They are taking good care of us, and Sister Johnsen is going to help Chelsey learn about being a new mom. We are EXTREMLY blessed to have such support from so many people. We will be here for a couple of days getting things sorted out.

Chelsey is doing really well, and we are both really tired. There is still a lot of things to do, but it is coming together. Among our todo list for the first of the week is get birth certificate, start passport for Jada, see what we can to do get our visas extended a month, talk to the airlines.... just a few of the things we have to do! Busy, but exciting!
Look for pictures soon!!!

Welcome Jada Rose Innes to the World

We are now parents. That seems so strange, but we are also thrilled, even though it is a little sooner than we had thought.

Jada Rose Innes came into the world just after midnight (12:10) on August 15th, 2009, in Beijing, China. Even though we had decided to have her in Canada, we guess she really wanted to be a Canadian born abroad! She is about 5.5 lbs (2.47Kg) and 18.5 inches (47 cm). She is a cute looking baby, with blue eyes, and medium dark hair. Chelsey thinks that when it is washed and such, it will be dirty blondish. Chelsey also thinks she looks more like an Innes. We did not have a camera, but the Branch president took a couple of Pictures, and we will post them when we get them. Jada does not have a lot of hair, but enough that it covers most of her head. She seems to be doing well. She is still premature, having come at about 35 weeks, but she is breathing on her own, and has a nice healthy pink colour to her. There is no problems right now with anything, she sucks well, she breaths well, and had a good cry when she came into this world. There is still the risk that something could happen, so the doctors want to keep her in NICU for about two weeks. We miss her, as we are not allowed to be with her. We are only allowed to see her twice a week, which is going to be really hard, but at the same time, we feel safe with her there. All things are in the Lord’s hand, and we are sure that angles are watching over her.

Ok so, now that you know that little bean is safe, and healthy, you probably want to hear about the birth story. Chelsey had been having back pain for most of the day yesterday; we had no idea what was wrong. About 8:30ish, it got worse. Baby gave two large kicks, and Chelsey started leaking fluid with a bloody tinge. She continued to have lower back pain, but more frequent and starting to get more intense. We decided to go to the hospital. The first hospital we went to was a private hospital, and they did some checks, and said that the baby may be coming early. They wanted a lot more then we could afford to pay to deliver the baby, so we took an ambulance (this was about 9:30) to a public hospital with an international wing. That is something that I never thought that I would be doing in Beijing – riding an ambulance down the street with a pregnant throwing up wife (she only threw up twice; once in the first hospital, and once in the ambulance right before we got to the other hospital.) They first put us in the international ward, thinking that they would be able to communicate better with us. Well, we actually had more trouble communicating with this doctor. She spoke some English, but did not use it with us because when she asked if we could speak Chinese, I said a little. However, I was getting a little frustrated with how things were going; this doctor wanted a lot of money (up front), and would not listen to us at all. We only had a couple thousand RMB on us (a few hundred USD), and they wanted more than we had, and they wouldn’t listen to what we were saying, they wanted money they could have right then and there. This aside, neither Chelsey nor I really trusted her, it felt as if neither Chelsey nor the baby was important to this doctor. So they moved us to the Chinese section of the hospital (this was sometime between 10:30 and 11:00) which was a lot cheaper, and once we settled the bill – again up front (they would not have treated her if I did not pay!), things went a lot smoother. The one doctor in this section DID speak English to us, even when we spoke in Chinese to her. I had calmed down a lot, and even thought I was nervous about other things, we both felt more at ease and confident with this doctor. Chelsey by this time was having urges to push, and the doctors kept telling her “Don’t push! Don’t push!” Chelsey tried, but it was really hard to resist that urge. They did a couple checks, including an ultrasound, and the baby was already starting to move down the birth canal. The doctor could feel the head in the check, and the ultrasound showed it as well. The ultrasound room was right beside the birthing room, but they wheeled Chelsey down the hall with little more than a hand towel and my bag to cover her. The hallway was fairly crowded, but all thoughts of modesty had fled Chelsey’s mind, as she was only thinking of the bean. They did the ultrasound, and by the time took her back to the room, and got her on the birthing bed, the crown of Jada’s head could be seen during contractions. Picture this: Chelsey in Labour, baby is coming, doctors scrambling to get things ready, telling Chelsey not to push, and holding the baby just a little bit so they could get all the things they needed. They rushed a lot, and got things ready, and Jada was born shortly after that. Right after the birth, I felt extremely light headed, almost as if I was going to faint. I went down with my head near my knees, and I started to feel better. I got up, and felt it again, so I sat on a little stool beside Chelsey while the doctors where checking Jada. It is really hard to describe the feelings, of when we heard her cry (nice and loud, one of the Branch councillors could hear it over the phone!) and the doctors said that the baby is ok. A lot of relief washed over me with those words.
They still wanted to send her to a NICU, but the hospital we were at had no beds for it. So we went to our third hospital of the night. Both the branch president and the aforementioned councillor met us there. We got Jada registered there, paid some money, and then we got to finally hold her. Just after the baby was born, we both got to put our hands on her, but this is the first time that we got to hold her. She seemed really alert for a newborn preemie, and we are sure that she knows who we are. Even though she could not focus well, she did look into our eyes, and would react to us. She is a special child! We also had the branch president and the councillor give Jada a blessing, that she would be healthy, that she would get stronger every day, and that things would be ok. We did not get home until close to 3:30am. We wish we could be with our little girl, but we know she is getting the care she need. It has now been about six hours since we saw her, but we feel assured that she is ok right now, and that things are going to work out.

So obviously, our plans in going back to Canada are changing. We don’t know everything yet what we are going to do. We have to look at a couple different options on what we should do, but we will keep everyone informed. We still have to worry about the visa, Jada needs to be strong enough, also needs a passport and other documents, and Chelsey probably would not feel up for a 17 hour (total time) trip in a week. We will keep you informed as we learn what is going on.

Already the Branch here has been such a huge help and blessing. They are concerned for us, and will continue to look after us.

Don’t forget to keep both Chelsey and Jada Rose in your prayers. It is an exciting, and nervous time right now, one that we won’t forget.