Hang In There, Baby

We’re almost done with our eleven-day stay here in Guangzhou. The hotel is great, and we’ve met some wonderful people, but we’re ready to get outta here! One of the things that we’re awaiting in the States is taking Isabelle to a cardiologist at a top-notch hospital. We’ll have our first appointment a week after we land, and it won’t be soon enough. 

When we spoke to the orphanage caregiver last Monday, she told us that, just a few weeks ago, she’d been in the hospital again–the third time in less than a year. Her heart condition makes her more susceptible to respiratory infections, and this time she was ill with pneumonia. We’ve noticed some shallow breathing at times, but we’re not sure if that’s from the pneumonia or if that’s how she normally is. Otherwise, she’s an energetic little girl, and it wouldn’t be obvious to anyone else that she has a frail heart and lungs. 

Tonight she started coughing before falling asleep, on and off for about an hour. And her breathing had a bit of a rasp. We are a bit concerned, but, thankfully, she’s sleeping soundly now without any coughing. You can be praying for her, though, that she this cough doesn’t progress into another infection. 

I am tempted to think, “Just ten more days, baby, and you can see a great doctor.” The doctor’s appointment seems like an answer–something concrete that makes me feel that we’re in control, that something is being done. Yet this little cough wakes me back up to the reality that we are in the Father’s capable, loving hands. Oh, another reminder to trust.