Hannah Goes to the Hospital

Although many of you have already received an email from us stating that Hannah was taken in to the hospital today in preparation for her 2nd heart surgery, I know that some of you may not know it. She has been waiting for an open bed for more than a month now. When we finally got the call this morning and I went to get her out of preschool, I told her she was going to the hospital now. Her first question was "Are you going with me, mom?" It was hard for me to tell her that I simply couldn't go. Although I'd love to, it just isn't possible since I am a foreigner and combined with the fact that I am not fluent in Chinese. It just wasn't going to happen. She was clearly upset and didn't want to go. I'm not sure if it was merely because I wasn't going or because she remembered it was some place that caused her pain and she didn't want to go back. It may have been a combination of the two, I don't know. Her first heart surgery was just over 6-7 months ago, so I'm sure she remembers. We don't yet know when her surgery will be scheduled, probably in a few days. I hope it is sooner than later so she doesn't have to stay in the hospital for long. The normal recovery period for heart surgery is a 7-10 day hospital stay. We hope it is 7 days--so keep that whole situation lifted up. She is having surgery for TOF (Tetralogy of Fallot). It is a serious heart surgery. I will get to go to the hospital with our director when Hannah has her heart surgery. I look forward to seeing her before and reassuring her after-wards in the recovery room. I also hope to be able to visit her at least once while she is in the hospital recovering. Although our entire family was looking forward to going to see her in the hospital, we've been told that policy usually forbids it and this hospital is particularly strict on such matters. Shawna has already suggested we buy her a gift and take when we see her. She's only been gone a few hours, but we already miss her!! Home just isn't the same without miss Hannah!! We did get a chance to talk to her on the phone this afternoon. It was good to talk to her. She kept saying she loved me and then kept saying "mom, happy!" She wanted me to sing "If you're happy and you know it song." It's one of her favorites. So I ended up singing it to her 2-3 times before we got off the phone. After talking some time, I asked her to give the phone back to aiyi (auntie). I must have asked her 5 times, then Elise and Shawna also asked her to before she finally gave it back. I guess she just wanted to continue talking. We all miss her already! We also look forward to seeing the improvement in her overall health once she has recovered. We expect to see her blossom!! Isn't this such a beautiful picture of Hannah?!! This is what she dressed up in the other day when we went on the trip to the Botanical Gardens. She looks so grown up and prim and proper! She's really turning out to be such a beautiful girl inside and out!!