Match Day Has Finally Come

Matt and I have been flying on a cloud since Tuesday around 2pm.  It was at that time that we received the call...there is a baby girl in China waiting for us!!!

I happened to have the day off work, so I was home.  Bonnie, our social worker, called and told me that we had been matched with a baby girl...that's right, a GIRL!!!  I couldn't believe it since we had been thinking since we started the process with China that we were getting a boy.  Bonnie told me a little bit about the baby girl and asked if we wanted her to email us on her file.  "Heck Yes!!"  At that time I called Matt and told him to get home immediately.  He was at work that day and I swear that was the longest 25 minutes waiting for him to get home.

Once Matt was home we opened the file and started reading about our little girl, Jiang Jiao Tian.  We received her information both in Chinese and the English translation as well as several pictures.  Her estimated birthday is July 2, 2011.  We learned that she had been abandoned at approximately 3 weeks old.  She was found within half a day and taken straight to the hospital due to frequent vomiting.  Once at the hospital she was diagnosed with an intestinal atresia.  She was then transferred to another hospital where she underwent surgical repair of her atresia.  Since that time she has not had another further problems with vomiting or trouble going to the bathroom.  She has been at an orphanage in Shanghai, China since August 2011.

She is currently almost 14 months old and she is beautiful!!  She has big dark eyes and pouty little pink lips.  She is still very small, but growing every month.  Her diet consists of milk, milk cakes and porridge, fruit, and something called fish mud.

The orphanage looks very clean and Matt and I learned that it is a staple orphanage in China-one that helps set standards for all other orphanages in China.  She gets a bath every morning.  And from there it looks like she spends a good deal of her time playing, sleeping, and eating.  At the end of her report from the orphanage it states, "she is a lovely girl, we all like her."

We were really impressed with the amount of information we received on our girl.  We have discharge summaries from both hospitals, growth and development measurements and information, as well as a report from the orphanage.  The only other notable medical issue is that she does still have an open foramen ovale (hole in her heart).  We have a recent echocardiogram report and the hole is quite small and states that the hole is closing.

After we looked at her pictures and reviewed her information for about 2 hours, we went ahead and sent in out letter of intent.  We knew right away that this was our girl.  We loved her from the moment we heard about her.  Since that time we also had a physician review her medical information.

We have decided to name our baby girl Ava.  At this time we are not sure about a middle name, we want her to have a Chinese middle name.  Matt and I have talked about her middle name being Tian which means "heaven", but we found out from Holt that she most likely doesn't go by any of her given names and probably has a nickname.  So we will wait to decide on a middle name.

To our sweet Ava, we have never experienced a love like this.  We can't believe how much we love you already from a picture.  We are so thankful that God has kept you safe and provided the medical attention you needed.  We are thankful that your mom left you in a place where you would be found quickly so that you could receive the care you needed.  We are so thankful that you live in an orphanage with caretakers who also love you and are taking good care of you until we can be with you.  We CANNOT wait to hold you in our arms and love you all the days of your life.  We will continue to pray that God will protect you and keep you until that day; it is coming baby girl.  We are on our way.
Love, mom and dad