Officially "OFFICIAL" and an update of our little trooper, Rees

 I'm pleased to announce that it's now officially "OFFICIAL" ... the Certificates of Citizenship arrived for Jonah and Rees!!  FINALLY!!  They really should have been here earlier and we were, in fact, just advised to contact USCIS regarding status (which I did yesterday and was told it would take 7-10 days for them to acknowledge my initial communication attempt).  Oh well!  They arrived today so that is wonderful!!

I doubt Rees will appreciate my memorializing this moment by taking a photo of him with his certificate 'in his condition' but ... well ... I can always take the photo again in a few months, can't I?

Certificate of Citizenship is a very important document and basically acts as PROOF of legitimacy for applying for a birth certificate from the State of Wisconsin and applying for a social security card in their English names.  

Super happy for our boys! This is a grand accomplishment in the process of adoption completion!

Our boy, Rees, is hanging in there and really doing his best to be a trooper!  

We taped his "good" eye today for about four hours in the morning and he really worked hard to keep the other eye open and seeing.  Often, he has to actually use his fingers to manually hold his eyelid open.  Throughout the day, we can see that his eye moves inward and then more central multiple times.  As he gets tired, it moves inward again.  Each day, we pray that his eye gets stronger and he is able to control where it "sits".  The good thing is that it seems to function just fine.  If we cover his good eye now, he can hold the weaker eye's lids and make himself focus on us for at least a few seconds and affirm that he can see us.  Thanking the LORD for this; that is for sure!!

Today, I decided to 'touch' the swollen part of Rees' nose.  It just seems so swollen and red and I was beginning to think that the area is more like a giant blister.  So, I gently pushed on the area (in the photo below, I am referring to the area that is to the left of the incision) and it is definitely filled with fluid, ... very much like a large blister.

So, I looked this up ... via GOOGLE, of course.  I typed in "Fluid at Incision Site".  Based on what I read (and then confirmed by a dear friend/co-worker who is a nurse) it is a Seroma.  

A Seroma is a collection of fluid that builds up under the surface of your skin. Seromas may develop after a surgical procedure, most often at the site of the surgical incision or where tissue was removed.

This evening, the fluid started draining out of Rees' incision.  Quite a bit of fluid came out and we laid him down and used gauze to absorb and wipe away the fluid as it ran down his nose.  Brynn was Mama's little nurse the whole time; she has been such a helper in taking care of Rees and occupying Jonah if we need to give extra attention to Rees.  We have been monitoring his temperature and so far he does not have a fever.  We will keep a close eye on this and definitely tell the surgeon when we see him on Monday (if not sooner).  

Rees is scheduled to have another CT scan on Monday morning and then follow-up with the surgeon.  The surgeon also contact us to let us know that he was putting him on the surgery schedule for next week Wednesday in the event that a "wound revision" needs to be done.  He will know better when he sees Rees on Monday.  So, in the meantime, we are doing our best to hang in there and we "Just Keep On Keeping On."  

We are so appreciative of your continued prayers and all the many words of encouragement from each and every one of you.  Thank-you so much for sticking with us as we continue on this journey.