Birth Time ?

The other day in the car Lucy and Mary were having a conversation about Birthdays. They were discussing how they each would like to celebrate their Birthdays this year . This was the year they each could have a friends birthday party . ( We alternate between a friend party and a family party because with 9 kids and 3 birthdays in one month ,it was too expensive ) .

Lucy was still undecided on what "Themed" party she wanted this year but Mary was very specific about the type of celebration she wanted. As I listened in on their conversation I wasn't sure where it was headed . Then as Mary was giving all the details of her party to Lucy , she turned to me and said " and Mom what time was I born because I have to start my Birthday celebration at exactly the time I was born ? Oh, wait a minute ,YOU WERE NOT THERE..." I could see that she had stopped to think and then she said , " Could you look at my adoption paperwork to see what time I was born ?"
I told her of course I would and then tried to explain to her that even though I was not there for her birth , she was always in my heart .

I wasn't sure what to do about her birth time because I knew we did not have this information . She knew that Lucy had a birth note from her Birth Mother with her actual birthdate and birth time on it . Her birth Mother even named her but Mary did not have a birth note from her Birth Mom . The only information we have from Mary's birth is , she was born with a severe cleft lip and palate . Her Birth Mom could not feed her and when she was found she was severely malnourished and close to death . Because of this her permanent teeth are now coming in without the enamel . She has already had to have several of her teeth capped to try to preserve them .

I did not want to disappoint her so I thought about what birth time I could make up and give to her . I decided to take my birth time and tell Mary that this was the time she was born also . I told her even though I could not be there for her birth , this was something we both had in common . She looked at me and said, "really 8:16 ? wow that is great . Now we can start celebrating at 8:16 . " She thought for a minute longer and said, " I am so happy we share the same time , this is great. "

She decided that on May 19th. at 8:16am. , she was going to change her "number" (age )from 8 to 9 .
I wish I could be so happy on Dec. 2 at 8:16am. to change my "number" also .

Yesterday , Gemma had her blood transfusion . She did very well . She was able to hold onto her blood for 4 weeks this time . Even though her hemoglobin level was very low , it was still high enough for her to make it 4 weeks. So next month we are going 4 weeks again . Hopefully this will become her norm . Her results from her Ferriscan were not so good . We were hoping for an improvement from last year but unfortunately her liver iron concentration increased along with her iron levels in her spleen . Average liver iron concentration is around 0.17, hers are 33.4 We are waiting to discuss with her Doctor the best treatment .

Teresa is still loving EVERYTHING ! (especially being a princess ). She is the BOSS of everyone . Today when I asked her who she was ,(this is a daily event . Every morning if I call her Teresa , she quickly sets me straight . Most days she is " Princess" but on a few rare occasions she will be Teresa, Fang Fang or Mommy ), today she was Princess. She would sleep in her princess dress if I let her . She takes it off only when she is getting into bed and puts it next to her bed and as soon as she wakes up she immediately puts it on .

Emilia will hopefully have her cast off next week . She is so excited .

Lucy is feeling much better and off all her pain meds.. We will find out in a few weeks if the surgery was a success when she has more renal testing done .

The girls are all getting very excited about Chinese New Year . We will celebrate this year with our local FCC( Families with Children from China) . We always have such a fantastic time at this event .