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Friday, November 17, 2006

What a week!

D.J.'s first week at home has been anything but boring.

As mentioned before, D.J. had been diagnosed with bronchopulmonary dysplasia, a lung conditon that often affects preemies. He had been hosptialized twice in Korea for pneumonia and bronchilitis. Well, this past weekend marked hosptialization number three, and the first in the United States. D.J. had been getting over some kind of bug after we came home, so he had been coughing a lot. On Sunday, it was apparent that he was having trouble breathing. This, of course, sent us into a panic. We took him to the emergency room at Medical Center of Plano where they promptly gave him a breathing treatment and some steroids. He felt better and his lungs were clear in a matter or hours, but we still had to stay the night.


Breathing treatments are fun!



D.J. was such a trooper. He flirted with the nurses and smiled at all of the staff. Everyone commented on what a handsome and happy baby we had. Also, we were in the same hospital where Veronica was born and spent the first month of her life. D.J.'s nurses was one of Veronica's nurses when she was in the NICU and remembered us. She was so happy to see how much Veronica had grown and what a great big sister she is!

Joking around with Veronica



Anyway, D.J.'s doctor feels that he may have asthma. She said she does not usually make that diagnosis in a baby so young, especially without knowledge of a (biological) family history. However, since he was responding to the treatment, we may as well call it asthma for now. D.J. is now subjected to a regimen of breathing treatments and medications, which has made him feel better. Erek and I, on the other hand, are completely exhausted.

Other than our hospital experience, life in our house has been good. D.J. is a sweet and curious little boy who loves meeting new people. He loves his big sister and you can tell he wishes he can run and keep up with her. In time, D.J., in time. For now, stick to your commando crawl.

Saturday, November 11, 2006

Home Sweet Home

Father and son together at last


Sorry we haven't updated the blog in so long; we've been a little tired. Portia and D.J. came home safe and sound on Wednesday afternoon. I picked them up from the airport and met him for the first time. He sure is a cute little guy, but suprisingly big - he looks bigger than his picture! He is actually about the same weight as Veronica! However, Veronica is a lot taller but much more petite. When we got home, Veronica was a little confused, but she was soon excited to see "Baby", which is what she calls D.J. We have been fortunate that she has not shown too many signs of jealousy.

The next day we took D.J. to the pediatrician. She said that he is doing well. He weighed 21 lbs 10 oz. He's about 27 in. tall. D.J. slept great most of the way home from Seoul, and we found out why at the Dr.s office - his cough syrup had codeine in it! Mommy was thinking, "I wish I could have had some!"

Other than that, we've been trying to get D.J. used to the new time zone (Seoul is 9 hours different from Dallas). At the same time he seems to have some teeth coming in, so the poor guy has been hit with a double whammy.

Lola (Grandma in Tagalog) has been having a great time with both Grandkids, but sadly has to go home tomorrow. Portia and I are trying to get ready for the challenge of taking care of two small children on our own. It will be interesting.

Anyways, before I start rambling, I will say goodbye. Here are some pictures for your viewing pleasure. - Erek


Meeting his sister for the first time -
We asked Veronica to show him her toys, so she brought him an ear of corn.


Our family


With Lola


Our favorite picture


Tuesday, November 07, 2006

We're ready to go home

My son is sleeping!

At 2:30, I signed the final papers from Holt and they handed Kim Dong Joon to me. The fact that the adoption will not be finalized until we are back in the United States didn't take away the intense feeling that I was finally holding my son. I cannot wait to get him home to his father and sister!

The whole thing was pretty emotional for D.J.'s foster mother as well. She has fostered 21 children for Holt and has seen them all go to new families, but she still feels a sense of loss after each one is gone from her home. D.J. was also with her for 7 months, which is longer than a lot of children have stayed with her in the past. I promised her I would send pictures and updates. She is an amazing woman and we will be forever grateful to her and her family.

I went back to the guesthouse expecting D.J. to cry the whole time, but instead he was very happy and facinated with everything around him. He loves being held by everyone and has a very contagious laugh. We have done a lot of mother-son bonding as well and he seems to have attached to me quickly. Whenever I leave him with someone, he always seems to look for me every few minutes. Warms my heart.

Here are a few shots:

First bath with Mama

Notice the shirt?


So, tomorrow we are leaving for our journey back to Texas. Let's hope his pleasant demeanor lasts for the long journey home. Daddy and Veronica - here we come!

Monday, November 06, 2006

Today I met my boy...


What is it like to meet your son for the first time after you have been looking at only a picture for five months? I cannot begin to tell you. I'll just show you:

Me and D.J. shortly after we met

Look at my handsome son

With D.J.'s foster mom

At 3:00 today, I went to the Holt offices in Seoul to meet Dong Joon for the first time. I got there 20 minutes early and nervously paced around the meeting room. Then I saw Dong Joon's foster mother come in - I knew it was her from the video we had received. She saw me, pointed and said something to D.J. in Korean. I don't speak Korean, but I did recognize one word, "Umma," which means "Mama." She was telling him that I was his Mama!

When she handed him to me, he looked kind of confused. But then he saw my hair and started to pull. In the other hand, he was carrying the stuffed dog we had sent him two months ago. His foster mom said it was his favorite toy - he never goes anywhere without it! She also had a lot of things to give me, including a hanbok, a traditional Korean dress, for D.J. Then she surprised me further - she also bought a hanbok for Veronica! She thought the pictures of Veronica were so cute so she had to get her some clothes, too. And the biggest treat of all were two photo albums filled with pictures of D.J. I now have something to show him of his life with his foster family.

After a long conversation with the social worker, I learned a lot about my son. They tell me he is a happy child who loves people and being around other children. He is crawling and getting into drawers. He loves rice with soybean paste. His foster mom sings hymns to him when he gets fussy. I am overwhelmed with all this information, but I am just so happy to finally be able to hold my little boy.

We went to see the doctor and D.J. received a clean bill of health. We talked a lot about her concerns about his prematurity, but she was happy to find out that we have preemie experience. He will be placed in my custody tomorrow at 2:00 pm. It was hard to leave him today, but at least I will have time to prepare myself and get some baby supplies before I have him!!

I have a lot more to say, but it's hard to put all my feelings into words right now. Today was just amazing.

Sunday, November 05, 2006

Images from Seoul

I'm still exhausted, but I thought I would share some of what I saw today.

Podocheong parade in Insadong


Insadong

And since Erek told you about my shower, here's a picture to clarify:

Yes, it's just a faucet in the corner of the bathroom. It worked very well and I was surprised that everything in the bathroom stayed pretty dry. I'm wondering if this concept would work well in our master bathroom in Plano.

When I arrived in Seoul, I was determined to do at at least a little sightseeing. I went to Insadong, a little neighborhood that the Lonely Planet describes as "The small, compact district [which is] one of the few parts of Seoul to retain an atmosphere of the past" (p. 52 - you can decide the cheese factor in that quote. I'm too tired to comment on it). The neighborhood itself was great - lots of wonderful food to try and shops to look around. Then I realized that there was a parade going on. After a little investigation and stumbling upon a banner with an English translation, I learned that the parade was called Podocheong, described as a " unofficial historical drama to revive the security culture during the Chosun Dynasty." Check out the link.

http://www.jongno.go.kr/english/attraction/insadong02_sub05.jsp

As Erek said, tomorrow I meet D.J. At 3:00, his foster mother will bring him to the Holt office and we will have a one-hour meeting. Then on Tuesday, he is put in my arms forever. I'm a little overwhelmed.

Keep us in your thoughts tomorrow!



Portia is in Korea, hopefully sleeping

I spoke with Portia at 7:00 this morning, which was 10:00 PM in Korea. She arrived safely yesterday (well today, Sunday, for us) at about 1:00 PM. I couldn't understand her very well on the phone - it was either the cell phone she was using, the calling card I was using, or just the fact that it's such a long distance between here and there. Oh, the reason she has a cell phone is that she rented one for a few days at about 3 dollars per day. Not a bad price, but it's $1 a minute to call home! However, when I call her it's free, other than my calling card charges.
She arrived at the Holt Social Services guest house (a Korea based Social Services program) in the afternoon and met up with another family, the King family I believe, and had dinner with them. She said that the guest house was nice, and there was hardly anyone staying there. The shower was interesting, it sounds like it's just a faucet in a huge bathroom. I guess you just have to lift the faucet up when you want to wash your hair? It will be interesting to see if Portia can figure out a way to give Dong Joon a bath on Tuesday night.
Well as Portia said, she is just waiting until Monday afternoon when she can see Dong Joon for the first time. So be thinking about us at about 3:00 PM Korea time, which is midnight Texas time, 10:00 PM California time. Hopefully Portia can post some more info after their meeting. - Erek

Saturday, November 04, 2006

At least I made it to the right continent

After an uneventful flight, I arrived in Tokyo to find out that my flight to Seoul was cancelled. The good news is that I have another flight in the morning. The bad news is that my sightseeing plans are out the window.

But I will not fret. I am scheduled to meet my son on Monday afternoon and they will place him in my arms forever on Tuesday. That's all that matters.

Okay...I promise my NEXT post will be from Korea.

Thursday, November 02, 2006

I hope this is it

What a week this has been! Last Thursday night, I was planning to post a "send me off to Korea" message on this blog when we got the call. My son wasn't ready to come home. He was in the hospital with bronchilitis and would probably be there for a week.

The whole week was very emotional for all of us. We had gone from feeling so excited about finally welcoming Dong Joon into our family to immense worry about his health and well-being. Every day we would anxiously await for a phone call from our agency, but the daily reports did not yield much information. And of course there was the disappointment of having to wait longer to bring him home. We yearned to hold our boy and be with him.

Finally, today we got some good news. Dong Joon would be discharged from the hospital and be ready to travel. We were asked if we wanted to pick him up or have him escorted. Of course I immediately said I would go and pick him up. Ever since we knew we were going to adopt Dong Joon, I dreamed of traveling to his place of birth to see where he spent his first months of life. I want to tell him all about it when it is time for him to visit his birthplace.

Although we are very happy to be making this journey, we are also a little sad that we cannot make the trip as a family. Erek and I agonized over this. We would have liked to both go and meet Dong Joon and possibly bring Veronica, but we decided that the whole trip would be too difficult to make with both children. We also did not want to leave Veronica home without one of us to stay with her. She has never been away from both of us for more than a day. We want her to have a positive experience when she meets her little brother for the first time! We hope that someday we can go to Korea and the Philippines as a family so both of our children will learn about their unique ancestries.

My bags are packed. My documents are in order. I don't think I will get much sleep tonight. Hopefully I will get to post while I am in Seoul. Otherwise I will have Erek update the blog. So for now, I'm signing off.