Sunday Smiles

October 3rd
Catherine continues to do well in the hospital.  She had a few rough nights where she would startle from her sleep and sometimes sweetly say "Mommy" or "Daddy" and smile but usually woke very sad.  Apparently, the startling in sleep is a side effect of the pain meds.  Last night she was having cramps and would settle if I rubbed her belly.

Catherine had been rather solemn since her operation and very compliant.  She behaves out of pure obedience when we know she doesn't want to.  It reminds me of when we first received Catherine from the orphanage.  For example, They wanted to do an echo of her heart due to her rapid heart rate.  She was very sad and crying through the imaging and the tech was having difficulty getting the images.  I simply asked her to settle and she did instantly even though she just wanted to cry.  I wanted to cry.

Another interesting thing happened when a baby a couple beds over started crying.  Catherine startled and said "BABY!"  I asked her if she remembered babies crying when she lived in China?  She smiled and said, yes.  I asked if she took care of babies in China.  She gave a very positive nod, yes.  I am wondering if hospital institution reminds her of the orphanage.  I also wonder if she thinks she is being punished and if she is good... I often reassure her that she is a good girl, we love her, that she will feel better and will go home soon.  She brightened when I showed a picture of her room.

In the morning, I got some smiles from Catherine but it was nothing compared to how excited she got to see her Mama and brothers.  She was all smiles and playing and laughing.  It was so heart warming to see her this way again.  They sat her up a littleand she enjoyed eating some real food.  She was ecstatic to see her brothers this evening. 

Stan