Dutch Cleft Medical Team

There is nothing I love quite as much as watch a cleft lip surgery. It is almost like a miracle that happens in front of you eyes.  You watch how in the hands of trained professional a child's face gets transformed for life. We are in day 3 of hopefully helping 30 kids get their lips and palates repaired. I am proud to be associated with this team from the Netherlands who came last year and whose goal it is to help the children of China this year again.  I am also very proud of the work that Care 4Tina has done to arrange all of this, and for the passion they have to be of service.  It has been amazing to see this foundation from the start to see see how they have grown and how much they have been able to accomplish.

On the first day Michelle and Lexie had their lips repaired.  Ryan, Elise, Windee and Isaac had surgery on day two. Scheduled on day 3 is Angela's palate and Ethan's lip

My most favorite story of the day:  After Lexie came home, Mila came to get me and she rook my hand and walked to where Lexie was telling me all the time that Meimei had a bobo pointing to her lip. I am so moved by her compassion for her little sister.  She shares a nanny with Lexie.

I am including some of of my favorite photos!

Life, love and laughter,
Amanda

At Starfish, we have taken care of 132 children to date, arranged more than 130 surgeries and had 57 international adoptions, so our little starfishes live all over the globe: the US, Netherlands, Norway, France, Spain, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Canada and in China.  Our latest adoption, our first baby to Australia on April 11th, 2011.  We currently have 46 babies under the age of 3.  

We have a Dutch medical team in Xian and are all working at getting 30 cleft lip and palate surgeries done by April 30th, 2011.

Starfish Children's Services
US Tax Number:  20-4682916
Xian China

www.thestarfishfosterhome.org
http://chinesestarfish.blogspot.com
http://chinesestarfishcleft.blogspot.com
Email: throwingstarfish0913@gmail.com
Cell: 86.1348.812.4847

Will (Nathaniel): Adoption 13

Dear Amanda and Everyone at Starfish~

I can’t believe Will has been home for almost three years!  If he gets his way, we’ll be back soon to adopt again.  He is constantly asking if “he” can adopt a baby.  Will has caught up and surpassed everything that is expected of a child his age.  His speech therapy is going great!  He’s playing on a soccer team and riding his bike without training wheels.  He’s also riding a dirt bike, which scares me to death, but Will just loves it!  He went from being scared of his own shadow to being this fearless leader…it’s just amazing!  We had planned to send him to a third year of preschool this fall, but have enrolled him in kindergarten instead.  Although he won’t be five until August, his teachers strongly recommend that he move on to kindergarten.  As Will gets older, he is understanding more and more of his adoption story and his time at Starfish.  He asks many questions and we answer then with all the stories and pictures you have given us.  I’m realizing just how very important having all those photos and stories of his time at Starfish really are!  I can’t imagine not being able to share his story about his life those first two years.  Thank you again for giving Will such a wonderful start.  He really is an amazing child with a huge heart!

The new house looks great!  I shared the story with Will about the newest baby being left at the house.  Of course he responded with, “Can we go get him?  That’s the one I want to adopt.”

Love,

Kyle, Mary Carol, Karli, Griffin and Will 

An Abandoned Baby at Starfish Gate

Last Friday night while having dinner (a very rare Mexican one at that) my head nanny came running in to tell me that there was a baby at the front gate.  I immediately went out there to find a baby who would later become know as Joseph.  I had always wondered when it would happen.  I knew that it would be much more difficult in the apartments because you could not just leave a child and run.  The fact that we are so much more remote meant that it would be easier to do.

The mom apparently came in a taxi and then dropped the baby and ran back to the taxi and drove off.

It was incredible to open him up.  I felt so privileged knowing that his mom had prepared him so well. She has sent a hot water bottle two use blankets, his milk bottle and some milk powder and diapers.  There was no note.  I slowly opened him up.  I could see immediately that he had been in the hospital an that he was jaundiced. I was not sure if that was just temporary or if he had a liver problem.  His belly button was already healed and so it suggested that he was 3 or 4 weeks old.

We called the police and gave Joseph a bottle and a bath.  I managed to save all his clothes which I will give to his adoptive family as a memento.  He was taken to the orphanage and then to the hospital. According to the doctors he has a slight heart problem but nothing serious, I hope he will heal that.  The jaundice is already much better after the medication and putting him in the sun a little each day.

On Tuesday afternoon we got word that Joseph had been released from the hospital and that he would be returned to us.  I had only called everyday to find out. I was so happy that I would get to help him here at Starfish, just like his mother intended. I am surprised that in a city of 8 million people this mother knew where to to get help. I am sure she made the best decision she possibly could to get the best help she could.  I am honored that she made the effort to find me.

This was a surprisingly emotional experience for me.  I used to dream about this happening but the reality of it is so much better than I thought.  I feel so protective and tender over Joseph and so does the 18 people who were here to see it.  One of the children was an abandoned foundling herself and was later adopted and I thought to myself how incredible the experience was as she watched with big eyes at what was happening.

There is never a dull moment here.

Life, love and laughter,
Amanda

At Starfish, we have taken care of 132 children to date, arranged more than 130 surgeries and had 57 international adoptions, so our little starfishes live all over the globe: the US, Netherlands, Norway, France, Spain, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Canada and in China.  Our latest adoption, our first baby to Australia on April 11th, 2011.  We currently have 46 babies under the age of 3. 

Starfish Children's Services
US Tax Number:  20-4682916
Xian China

www.thestarfishfosterhome.org
http://chinesestarfish.blogspot.com
http://chinesestarfishcleft.blogspot.com
Email: throwingstarfish0913@gmail.com
Cell: 86.1348.812.4847

Josiah (James) Adoption 54 to Tennessee

Hi Amanda,

 

I wanted to take a moment and update on how Josiah (James) is doing since arriving home.  It is amazing how time flies, this week we will celebrate having him as a part of our family for two months.  We continue to be amazed at how blessed we are to have such a special child come into our lives.  He is a bright light and brings us great joy!

 

He is doing very well acclimating to life in America and life in our family.  He is the center of attention around here and that is where he loves to be :)  He began attending preschool two days a week recently at the school where I teach.  He has stolen the hearts of his teachers and loves playing with the other children in his class.  His favorite thing about school is his monkey lunchbox.  He wears it into the school across his shoulder proudly.  He is infatuated with all monkey things...the lunchbox, Curious George (books and TV), books, blankets, etc. 

 

He keeps us laughing with his musical performances - complete with microphone and his silly faces!  A doctor recently commented on his intimidating stare...we thought to ourselves "he does come from a land of warriors!"  It was his Terracotta Warrior stare!  He has discovered his reflection in the facet while in the bath tub and has long, expressive conversations with himself each night.  These conversations pick back up night after night! I would so love to know what he is saying, because whatever it is, he is feeling it from head to toe :) 

 

We are expecting a visit from family over the Easter weekend.  Two cousins, two Aunts and a Grandmother who live in Louisiana will be coming to visit and meet our little man.  I'm sure he will be good and spoiled at the conclusion of that visit.

 

We are still working to obtain a treatment plan for him with regard to his cleft lip and palate.  Our first visit with the cl/cp team revealed a hole that has opened up in his palate, as you suspected.  This will require another surgery to close. We meet with the surgeon again in early June to determine a timeline. There are some dental issues that we are trying to work through.  His front teeth have shifted forward due to the narrow upper jaw and so his palate will need to be expanded.  They are trying to decide how and when that should be done, he may be a bit young for that.  We have another appointment next week with a Pediatric Dental Specialist for another opinion. 

 

Josiah (James) will begin Early Intervention therapy in the next few weeks to help him with his communication and language skills.  I'm eager to begin this therapy to help him communicate his wants and needs.  We are hoping to add speech therapy early this summer.

 

He has attached to us so very well and I know it is because of all the love and attention you and the nannies showered on him.  What a great start you gave him.  Whenever he seems sad, I pull out the many pictures from Starfish and we talk about all the people in China who love him.  This seems to bring him great comfort.

 

We are so thankful that God chose us to be the parents of this incredible child.  It is not anything we planned or expected, it was a very clear call from Him.  I've said before, what we had before Josiah came into our lives was very, very good.  What we have now is BETTER! 

 

We hope you are all doing well.  We are keeping up with you and all the new babies.  You are all in our thoughts and prayers as you make a difference in lives of these precious children.

 

Harold, Donna, Luke, Hannah and Josiah James

Sadie (Carla Mei) to Spain, Adoption 46

I have to apologize, I am so behind with the adoption stories.  I have been incredibly busy at the new house and somethings have not gotten done. We are already at adoption 55 and there are two more in a week, so I am really behind.

Sadie came to us on April 1st, 2009 in a group of 8.  She was the next to last of the group to get adopted. The one thing I remember about her right from the beginning is that she had such a sad face.  All the early pictures of her showed such sad eyes but that went away as she got older.  The other thing I remember about Sadie is that her hair grew is such a strange way.  She had a reverse mohawk.  Instead if it being long it was very long and then she had hair long enough to make pony tails almost like horns.

She grew from just a little thing (2.70kg/6 pounds) to 10.5 kg/23 pounds in no time, because she slept and ate all of the time in the beginning.  She got one of the orthodontic molds but became an expert at spitting it out. In November 2009, we travel en masse to Beijing to have Dr Lisa Buckmiller do the surgery.  I tell you I will walk the earth with my babies to get to Dr Lisa.  We took 10 babies  and 10 caretakers and you cannot imagine the logistics of all of that. You might remember the trip that was even worse than that is the time we got stuck on a train for 55 hours, a trip that should have taken 20 hours.  We were also on our way to find Dr Lisa.  The amazing thing, which we found out later, after her lip surgery Sadie's palate healed itself.  This was the news that came after the adoption medical, I had never heard of this before. It was discovered later that there was still a small hole and she did have surgery after her adoption.

After being at Starfish for 17 months were were told that she was being adopted.  We had heard no news at all so I assumed that she was going to Europe and I was right.  Her family came from Spain and named her Carla Mei. The news that we have gotten about her is that she is doing really well and her family even sent a picture of her in front of their Christmas tree.

Life, love and laughter,
Amanda

At Starfish, we have taken care of 128 children to date, arranged more than 130 surgeries and had 55 international adoptions, so our little starfishes live all over the globe: the US, Netherlands, Norway, France, Spain, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Canada and in China.  Our latest adoption, our third baby to Sweden was the first of March.  We currently have 43 babies under the age of 3.  We MOVED on January 14, 2011 and now live in our "castle".

Starfish Children's Services
US Tax Number:  20-4682916
Xian China

www.thestarfishfosterhome.org
http://chinesestarfish.blogspot.com
http://chinesestarfishcleft.blogspot.com
Email: throwingstarfish0913@gmail.com
Cell: 86.1348.812.4847

Ellie (Heather): Adoption 26: USA

Dear Amanda,

It is hard to believe Ellie has now been a part of our family for over a year! The time has flown by and she is doing really, really well. Her adjustment to her new life and family has been amazing. She did so with one giant leap. The love she received at Starfish enabled her to adjust amazingly. The love of you, the nannies, staff, and volunteers will always be a part of her and has been the bridge which allow her to move on to new things without missing a step.

Physically she is doing really well and has had a very long haul.  She has had two surgeries, will have two more this year, and has had more medical and therapy appointments than I can recount.  She has been a trooper and is doing very well! Her MRI revealed that she had myelocystocele, a form  of spina bifida from which a cyst developed on the lining of her spinal cord.  The exceptional surgery she received through Starfish has truly been a saving grace in her life.  The results of hydrocephalus will likely be one of the main conditions she will work through in the future.  The extent of her condition may not be known for some time and we are still in the phase of discovering her potential.  She has been a trooper and continues to work hard to improve and grow in her abilities.  The spina bifida for which we researched and prepared for has not been the extent to which we anticipated.  The unknowns of other issues have been more than we could have predicted.  Her story is a picture that adoption is most always a chance of unknowns; and always, I believe, worthy of the extent it may require.  To be a part of changing a life, not only the child adopted, is an amazing process.  Not an event, but an experience.  One in which only the future will reveal to end of the story.

Her story is one that, while we are happy to be able to bring her home, saddens me.  Like so many waiting children with multiple or severe special needs, she was available for adoption a long, long time before we were able to be her family.  I hope that her story will be an encouragement to other families to take a chance and open their hearts to a child they may not have initially considered.  Research, research, research (and prepare for the “worst”); but be aware that all the research in the end may not prepare you for the child you bring home.  I believe, in the end, it can be for “the best.”  The process has not been easy by any means.  And we have a long road ahead with Ellie.  But, I do believe the future will reveal that the end of the story was worth the effort.  Secondly, I hope Ellie’s example will encourage your followers to generously support organizations like Starfish who loving care for and provide exceptional surgeries for those who wait and organizations which provide therapy and rehabilitation for those waiting or left behind.  It is amazing what love and care gives a child!  Thank you for loving Ellie until we could.  It made the difference in her life.

While we offered to continue identifying Ellie as “Heather” (her Starfish name), she would have no part of it.  She whole heartedly jumped into her new life as Ellie.  Or, as she prefers, her full name of Eliana Gabrielle Qing. “Qing Qing I am,” she has recently been declaring.  “I was a baby in China,” she recounts, “Lui Ma take care of my ouchy back, Ying Ying take care of me, and Ye Ye play ball with me. Amanda is nice.”  Her memories of Starfish are precious.  We are so grateful they will always be a part of her.  After her most recent surgery, the nurse was coaxing her alertness following anesthesia, “Is pink your favorite color?” she asked. “No,” Ellie quickly replied, “Purple!”  Yes, she has independently claimed purple as her favorite.  Even if not by name, “heather” will always be a part of who she is.  The nurse offered her a drink, a cracker? “No,” Ellie  more insistently demanded,  “Go home!”  The nurse asked who was at home.  “Everybody,” she replied.  We are grateful that Ellie now belongs to her forever family.  It may take a while to get where she is headed, and the road may be rough, but we are thankful she is home.

To Starfish and all its supporters, we sincerely thank you for caring for Ellie!

Lynda, Ellie’s mom

Life, love and laughter,
Amanda

At Starfish, we have taken care of 131 children to date, arranged more than 130 surgeries and had 55 international adoptions, so our little starfishes live all over the globe: the US, Netherlands, Norway, France, Spain, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Canada and in China.  Our latest adoption, our third baby to Sweden was the first of March.  We currently have 46 babies under the age of 3. 

Starfish Children's Services
US Tax Number:  20-4682916
Xian China