October 2014 Featured Child: Dian

Our now big boy, Dian, has come quite a long way in his short 6 months of life. He has grown eight times his initial weight, has overcome his feeding tube, and has discovered a love for talking to his caregivers--especially when he should be sleeping.

We have told you a little of Dian's fantastic story before, but we will tell you again because we want you to see how far he has come!

In early April 2014, we got a phone call from an orphanage that we had just begun partnering with only a few weeks previously. They told us about a very tiny little boy, only 810 grams (1 lb, 12.5 oz), they had just taken to the hospital. "Did we want him?," they asked. We did!

Our medical director took a 9 hour train ride to see what he looked like. This is what she saw:

We weren't even sure if he would survive the train ride home, but despite this risk, we wanted to try. The hospital near his orphanage was doing a great job, but they weren't quite equipped for such a tiny baby. In order to travel to be transferred to a bigger hospital in Beijing, he would have to pass an oxygen test and be able to breathe on his own for extended periods of time. This is because it wasn't possible to bring enough oxygen on the train for 9 whole hours.

He passed, and was amazingly able to breathe on his own. We knew then that he was a fighter!

Our director kangarooed with him. Dian all the way home, feeding him very tiny amounts of milk and letting him hear her heartbeat as he slept. Thanks to donations, we were able to place him in a bigger hospital for more specialized care. A few weeks later we were able to bring him home!

He has grown so much since then!

Now Dian is a happy, healthy 6 month old who loves to giggle, talk with his caregivers (in English and Chinese), suck his fingers, and he very much enjoys bath time. He spends his days working on rolling over and sitting up on his own. Because he was kangarooed so much of his early life, he enjoys cuddling next to his caregiver's heartbeat, even if he isn't sleepy.

 We hope his adoption file can be completed soon so his forever family can find him!