Thursday, August 31, 2006

Medical Update!!!!

Yesterday we received an update on Maya!

We are told that she sleeps very well. She even sleeps in the dark. Okay so we have ONE child who sleeps in the dark, not bad...(Bryan has ghosts, monsters and bears in his room.)

She is eating well and has been taken off her "weight gaining vitamins". She is eating rice cereal, fruits, egg yolks, and mashed veggies with chicken. She has started on Papaya juice and other juices.

She is now 13.7 lbs and 24.4 inches. She had more vaccines at her 6 month appointment.

She has no teeth yet, loves her pacifier, is very attentive and stands well in her walker.

Oh, and she is very excited for her Mommy and Daddy to come visit.

That last part I kind of made up...but we are totally ready to see her... in less than 24 hours.

Unless a miracle happens, this will only be a visit trip. Regardless, we are SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO excited to hold her again!!!!

We will be updating as she allows us while we are in our hotel room at The Marriott this weekend.

Below are pictures. She is the cutest!!! And I will try and do pigtails this weekend, we shall see!!!

Due to our RUNNING around last minute type stuff...I have not called everyone that I wanted to!

Amber, I hope you are feeling well!(Pregnant with kidney stones!)

Sue, please have that baby, you are on your 3rd kid and 6 days late...that is NOT supposed to happen!!!

Melissa D., HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Cathy, I will give lots of kisses. I will tell Maya that she has a boyfriend(Aidan is one month younger than Maya) back in NJ!

Jen, Please have fun in ALASKA!!!

Cheryl, I am totally thinking about you while you are at the doctors looking at all those little toes and fingers inside your little belly!!!

I know there is a lot going on with everyone! Thanks for understanding and supporting us!!!

We are so thankful to our family for all of the help we have received!!! You know who you are and what you have done, and at some point, we will write THANK YOU CARDS! We have a lot of really cute outfits to get Maya in this weekend. It will be a challenge, but we will try!

An extra BIG THANKS to Nanny and Poppy for watching Bryan so we can see Maya for the second time. Bryan is in his terrible twos, so it is a lot to take on!!!!

Okay, well, wish us a safe trip. Pictures will come soon!!!!

xoxoxoxo

Kerry and George







PGN DAY # 45





Monday, August 28, 2006

PGN DAY # 42


Hello everyone!
Today marks 42 days in PGN. Many people get out between day 40 and 60 that I have seen lately. Although others, truth be told, are in for 6 months plus.The past 5-6 weeks have gone quicker than we thought. Thank God! Now we are just hoping for the best. We pray that this is the week! But if not, we are scheduled to fly out Friday morning to see Maya at 5:45am!!
At least that gives us something to look forward to. I am starting to take Maya's teeny tiny 3-6 mo and some 6-9 mo clothing out of her closet. Her clothes are so cute!!!!
On a personal level, yes, the nurses at the WOOD are still on strike, Day #5. Truth be told, this could not have happened at a worse time financially, but it will be okay for awhile. We are told that the SCABS that replaced us nurses were hired on a 2 week contract. So I am counting on that much. We will see. There are so many rumors. If anyone reads the NJ Home News or Star Ledger, keep in mind that those articles are very politically slanted. They are usually for the hospital. Our hospital President is real tight with the NJ government and apparently the PRESS...or someone is just paying off someone else!
Maya's Foster Dad sent us these pictures recently from his cell phone. We are so thankful!
We expect her monthly medical report and photos soon, but this sure ties us over.
She really is more beautiful each time we see her. We cannot wait to get our hands on her again!

Thursday, August 24, 2006

MAYA IS SIX MONTHS OLD TODAY! ROBERT WOOD JOHNSON HOSPITAL NURSES WENT ON STRIKE AT 7AM TODAY(PGN DAY # 38)

Well, today has been some day! After months of negotiations , my hospital decided to strike. We began the strike at 7am. Prior to 7am, we were warned to clear out our lockers and remove our cars from the hospital's property. I did see one car actually getting towed. It was something I will never forget. We were out the door less than 5 minutes, when NY Channel 7 had a camera on us. My co-worker spoke well on our behalf.
The strike has a lot to do with insurance benefits, and unfair labor practices.
Many nurses had bills with them that were shown on NY Channel 7 and also on NJ Channel 12. These bills showed factual information of the unpaid costs when nurses have surgery at Robert Wood.
A nurse I work with had been charged over $11,000.00 and a nurse in the OR had been charged over $38,000.00. These surgeries should have been covered, but their surgeons were "out of network". In both cases, there was not any doctor "in network" who performed these 2 surgeries!!!
Although I strongly support the nurses and fighting for what is right, I am saddened by the care the patients are receiving from the agency nurses that "replaced" us.
Also, what is sad is the financial part of this strike. No work equals no pay. I am looking into other jobs, but without knowing how long this will last or when Maya will come home...How do I commit to a new job?
On top of my lack of sleep, and everything mentioned above, it is also Maya Grace's 6 month old birthday. I cannot write more than that, I am so emotional missing her.
Oh, and on the lighter side, I awoke to an army of ants this morning marching around the cat food in the kitchen!
I am ready to call it a day and it is just 4:30pm!
I hope to post more news soon, and I hope it is happier:)

Tuesday, August 08, 2006

PGN Day #22 and heading back to see our baby girl!

We just booked our next trip to Guatemala on Labor Day weekend to see our precious daughter. If you look at the pictures of her below you will understand why.
We feel that it is important to try and see her every 3 months if possible. They change so much in the first year and we will never get this time back with her.
It will be wonderful to see how she has changed. Also, visiting will give us something to focus on and look forward to while wait it out in the BIG HOUSE(AKA PGN)!
We met Maya on Memorial Day this year and will leave her this visit on Labor Day. For those of you who do not know, we actually found out that we were pregnant with Bryan(our 2.5yr old son) on Memorial Day of 2003. Our children will stand proud of their red, white and blue!



Wednesday, August 02, 2006

PGN DAY # 16

Well, we are 2 weeks plus into our wait. So far it has not been too bad. Bryan is keeping us busy!

We do not expect to get out for at least 2 weeks and we know in our heads that it could be many months from now. We do have a lot of support and are hoping that we get lucky.

On Monday, www.guatadopt.com posted that there was a PGN meeting. In the meeting, PGN gave the same reasons for delays about being understaffed, increase in the number of cases, etc. They did, however, promise that they would be "caught up" within 15 days. Although we all hope this is true, we are warned not to put too much faith into this promise . This could be Mr. PGN signing files out or it could mean signing previos.

We are trying to think positive and keep busy!