Day 5: Stuck in Limbo

The sun is shining on this beautiful Bogota day. And with it, comes a bit of good news to share after a rough day yesterday. Thankfully this morning, Shane was feeling back to his old self. We think it was the water that made him sick. He'll be brushing his teeth with bottled water from here on out!

Shane, Owen, Cole and Nana Bev enjoyed another breakfast at our hotel.  Unfortunately, they were quite loud before they left and awoke our sleeping beauty Rose at 7:30 am (she usually sleeps until 9:00 am). But when she heard everyone else up, she said, "Mom! They are up! Let's get up." So we did.

The rest of the morning was spent with the two littles playing outside our apartment complex and watching Netflix while Owen had his face buried in the iPad playing Roblox and watching YouTube videos and getting caught up on his homework. Our days are beginning to feel a bit like the movie "Ground Hog Day" with lots of apartment time in the morning followed by visiting Kate at the hospital during the afternoon.

Owen teaching Nana Bev all about Roblox

Rose pretending to be a puppy

Cole and Nana Bev playing on our balcony

At 9:00 am the phone rang. My heart raced as I answered it. It was Maria Teresa from FANA calling to update us on Kate's health this morning. She said that Kate was doing better and her condition was improving (more on that later). We'd be going this afternoon for another visit and couldn't wait to see her! We were told once Kate is released from the hospital, we will need to keep her in the apartment and not take her out in public as there are many sick people walking around and we don't want to expose her to any additional illnesses. So we may venture out and do a few touristy things while she recuperates at the hospital. A couple of the outings the kids want to go on are all-day adventures and I really don't want to miss out on our afternoon visits with Kate, so we may end up splitting up so the big kids can still have some fun seeing Colombia. It's not the trip that we had planned as we were looking forward to spending this time sight-seeing with our baby girl, but her health is obviously the most important concern right now.

At 2:00 once again Patricia picked us up to bring us to the hospital. This time our paralegal Maria Teresa Perez joined us. Maria Teresa escorted us to the security guard and after what seemed like a heated discussion in Spanish, I was allowed in with her.

 

When I arrived, once again, things were not like I had expected. Kate was laying on the bed with a large plastic box over her head clinging to the toy that I had given her yesterday. They had removed the nasal cannula (the plastic tubes that poked up into her nostrils) and replaced it with an oxygen hood. The doctors said it was a more efficient and more comfortable for her. I know she did not like the nasal cannula, but she was very agitated under the hood when I arrived. She sucks her fingers to comfort herself to sleep and with the hood she wasn't able to get to her fingers. I also couldn't pick her up to comfort her. It was a very frustrating situation for the both of us. 

I've found that she really loves the sound of "shush" and the song "Twinkle Twinkle" so eventually I was able to calm her to sleep. She must have been exhausted because the room was so loud with screaming babies and the monitor that tracks her breathing beeping every 15 seconds. Yet she was still able to sleep soundly for the 2 hours I was there. I so badly wanted to hold her, but instead just kept my hand on her leg so she knew I was near.

After speaking with the doctor, I found out that her condition has not improved since the last time I saw her. She is remaining steady with no additional crisis situations so that is good news. But she is highly dependent on oxygen right now. Her breathing rate is very elevated, ranging from 45 - 55 breaths per minute although sometimes going past 60. It was very scary when her breathing reached 68 bpm. The FANA nurse hurried over and administered two different inhalers which seemed to help. A healthy 9 month old breathes between 24 - 30 bpm, so she is working twice as hard to breath, even with oxygen therapy. 

Shane was allowed in at some point so I filled him in on her status. I stood there for the 2 hours we were there, hand on her leg, tears running down my face. Seeing her today, unless there is a miracle, the chance of her being released anytime soon is unlikely. 

We are stuck in limbo as our adoption process can't move forward until she is released from the hospital. Our 3 1/2 week trip to Colombia will likely end up being 6+ weeks due to the government shut down at the end of the month. We will of course do whatever needs to be done to ensure the health of our sweet Kate and get her home. But we will need to re-visit our original plan as Shane needs to get back to work and my Mom needs to fly home May 24th and I can't be here alone with 4 kids (one of which can't be exposed to the environment).

We truly need a miracle that Kate is healed quickly and everything comes together to get us to La Mesa to finalize her adoption as soon as possible. Please pray for us.