More Mila :)

We had good visits with Mila today. We have been visiting her twice a day and she can usually only stay awake for about an hour or an hour and a half before she just can't keep herself awake anymore (even though she tries hard lol). That's okay because I love watching her sleep. As I held her today I just thought about how I am so thankful we followed God even when we were experiencing broken hearts, trusting that He knew best. I can't imagine not having our little jelly bean. After 4 days of visits, her Daddy and I are already head over heels in love with her. It is obvious she needs us now.

She was first posted on Reece's Rainbow on September 16th. Only 5 days later, on the 21st, we found out we would not be able to adopt Laina. On September 23rd, we committed to Mila (known as "Harlene" on RR). On the 29th, we were given our travel date, and just over a month after she was listed on RR we were holding her in our arms! Her profile on RR said this:

Harlene needs a family, QUICKLY, as she has heart issues which will need to be addressed. She has a defect of the chamber wall, subaortic, and she has pulmonary hypertension issues.

How's that for quick? As I look back on our journey, I see that God had this one from the beginning. As much as it hurts to lose Laina, she was not the daughter God planned for us. I 100% believe God knew all along that Mila would be our daughter. He used Laina's story to get us to Mila. The timing of things, as I look back, is too perfect to just be coincidence. After we lost Laina, I wondered why in the world we got our I-171H approval in record time. Now I know. Mila desperately needs us to take her home and nurse her little body to health.

She always feels so warm to us so we took her temperature tonight and it was about 100 degrees. It's pretty hot in her room, but I don't know if that could cause her to have a consistent fever or if there is something more to it. We heard her cry for the first time because they woke her up to bring her to us for our morning visit. Poor little thing sounds like a cat when she cries. We got to feed her again today. She struggled through it trying not to fall asleep. She was so hungry but so tired at the same time, I felt so bad for her. Eating definitely wears her out. We are figuring out her little signs for what she needs. When she is hungry she starts to fuss a bit and then usually finds her mouth with her hands and sometimes sucks on her finger. She is having a hard time tolerating being held upright, probably because she has pretty much been laying in her crib flat on her back for the last 7 months. If we hold her upright for too long she will arch her back and fuss until we hold her in the typical baby hold. She is so funny when we do hold her upright she hates it because she can't see the face of the person holding her! So she uses all her energy to tip her head back just far enough to make eye contact and then she is happier. She has started cooing a lot more and it's the sweetest sound ever. Shawn got her to smile THREE times during tonight's visit!! He was being silly and tickling her back and she had real genuine smiles....it made me so happy I just about cried. Looking at tonight's pictures, I see a visible change in our sweet girl. In just 4 days of visits she is coming more and more alive. I can't wait to see our jelly bean when she is healthy! She is a fighter for sure!

Thanks again for all your prayers, support, donations, and LOVE! We are soaring on wings like eagles!