We have a son!
Let me introduce you to Shuai Shaui Si Tu, our son.
Let me start from the beginning.
On Sunday night, March 27 at 8:20 PM we got a phone call from our agency. Kathy was very excited. She said that we had a referral and he was a beautiful little 11 month old boy. My heart stopped and Dave and I drove for the computer waiting for the promised email with his information. There were 4 photos included and my heart melted. We instantly forwarded his file to my sister, the nurse. She said he looked great.
He was diagnosed with "congenital varus of right foot." In common terms a "club foot." This is something we had already been reading about and researching. It is very correctable. (
For instance the figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi and the soccer player Mia Hamm were both born with "club foot.")
The typical treatment is using casts to correct the problem. Usually 5-9 casts are used, getting a new cast every 5-7 days. Then a foot brace is used for a certain amount of time to complete the process. We have an excellent pediatric orthopedic team of doctors 10 minutes from our home at Primary Children's hospital. Obviously we cannot take him in for an evaluation until he comes home, but we have all the tools we need. Here is one of the photos included of the right foot.
After reading the file and falling in love with his photos. . . we knew. Now we had the wait. Just like before we needed to wait 72 hours before it could be official. The clock started ticking slowly. I was feeling excited and anxious over the next three days. More then anything I wanted what was right. And as hard as it was to admit that if
not bringing home Shaui Shaui was right, then that is what I wanted.
I thought about him every minute. Constantly looking at his picture and imagining what he was doing and thinking about how our lives would change with another child. I was thinking about paint color and if Spencer's clothes would fit him. It was a wonderful swirl of happy imagining. Our son. . .
So finally Wednesday night came. My mom was home with us, she happen to be visiting from Denver. We were all holding our breath knowing it would be soon. At 6:00 PM on the dot the phone rang. . .We all froze and Dave went to answer it. . . his shoulders slumped. . . It was my sister. Sandy called to see if there was news. I said, not yet but would call as soon as we knew. We had dinner and then we decided to watch a movie to pass the time. (We watched 'Tangled'.)
At 8:05 PM the phone rang, my mom gasped and stiffened. I went to get the phone, the caller ID said it was. . . Dave's dad. Another deep sigh. . . Dave told him no news yet, but we would let them know.
I was checking my email during the movie every few minutes.
Exactly 72 hours and 8 minutes after the original phone call, we got "the email."
"HE IS LOCKED!! CONGRATULATIONS!!!!"
We jumped off the couch and hugged each other and I was crying and Dave just held me. Then off to the phone calls and emails to family. My mom called my dad, Dave called his parents and sibling, and I called my sister Sandy. When I called I was all choked up. Sandy answered the phone with an anxious "Hello?" I said "We just found out. . ." I was chocking back tears and so much emotion, I couldn't get it all out. My sister just quietly said, "I am so sorry." Then I finally got it out. . . "He is ours!" We both cried on the phone and laughed and I was just feeling so blessed.
Wow. Just wow. Tomorrow, April 1, 2011 our son turns 1. Happy First birthday! Our son is in Yinchuan City a little town of 1.65 million people about 500 miles west of Beijing.
We are still thinking of names. . . so many wonderful things to think about!
I will post more later about what the next steps will be. But it seems we will travel this summer to China.
Happy. Blessed. Grateful!
P.S. Shaui-Shaui mean "commander" or "handsome". . . (
Thank you Uncle Chris for your translation, it helps to have someone in the family speak Chinese.) We prefer to think of him as "The Handsome Commander."
