Archive for January 21st, 2008
Wuhan – Day 8
What a crazy, amazing day it was.
We left to go pick up the babies (4 of them) at about 2:15pm. Traffic in China is horrendous so it took over an hour to get to the other side of the city. Our guide, Eric, kept up a running patter about the history of Wuhan on the way which I think was intended to try and settle our nerves. It didn’t work. We finally got to the adoption affairs building a little bit late, walked up to the door, and found it locked. I think all of our hearts just sank for a minute, but someone directed us to another entrance.
The babies were already there but we had to get some of the formalities out of the way first. Eric walked us through the paperwork that needed to be completed while we all bounced off the walls. The provincial adoption authority came in and she talked to us a bit (have no idea what she said, by the way, since we were all staring at the door behind her waiting for the babies) and then presented us all with a small photo album of the SWI and of the babies from the time they were brought in to them. I can’t tell you what a precious gift it is to have about 15 pictures of Ava documenting her growth. We didn’t expect this and were so surprised to receive it.
Our friends’ baby, Lin-Lin, was brought in first. She was very mellow and curious at first but quickly decided that this was not much fun at all. The other 3 babies came next, with Ava being last (of course). The orphanage director told us that she was a little bit sick with a cold and gave us some medicine for her and also told us that her nickname was Bei-Bei.
Ava was so good. She was curious and alert and especially interested in my hair. We had no tears at all, and as John said, we got some smiles and chuckles on the bus ride home – despite it being roasting hot on the bus and us being stuck in traffic on the way back to the hotel. She loves to stand and bounce and did that for at least half of the bus ride. It took us nearly 2 hours to navigate our way back.
We undressed her as soon as we got to the hotel. She was sweating and snotty and happy as a clam, even with a wet diaper. We pulled off 3 full outfits and a padded vest before we got down to the tiny baby inside all of that. J did the first diaper change. Who knew they had velcro-y closures? Not us – we thought they would be sticky tabs or something.
Eric came in and did a quick translation of the info sheet they gave us. It told us how much she was eating and the schedule she’s on. Oh yeah, right. Apparently nobody told her she was supposed to go to sleep at 7:30pm and sleep until 6:30am. More on that later. He also deciphered the directions on the medicine. They have her on amoxicillin and a cough medicine. I’m not sure yet if we’re going to give her the amoxicillin. I really think she just has a chest cold.
She took a full bottle, played a bit, and I eased her off to sleep by rubbing her forehead and eyelids. (Thanks, Barbara.) We thought we were golden.
She slept for about 2 hours in the crib before we started the up/down musical beds for the rest of the night. She self-soothes by sucking her thumb or by rubbing something with her fingertips. I realized she was waking up because I heard her rubbing the sheet in the crib and chattering up a storm. That quickly changed to crying and I hopped up to get her before she woke J. We sat in the chair beside the crib and she cried a little before snuggling in and going back to sleep. And that was pretty much the pattern for the night. J and I traded off so the other could get at least a catnap. She’s finally asleep again now (It’s 6:30am) and we’re hoping for at least a little longer before we have to get ready for the day.
The good: She chatters all the time. Da Da is pretty recognizable but I told J it doesn’t count yet since it’s just babbling. She is curious, alert, and wants to see everything going on around her. She reaches for toys and tries to grab all she can (including my hair) She hasn’t shown a strong preference for either yet and seems pretty happy to be with either one of us as long as she can see the other one, too. We have to turn the TV off otherwise she’s engrossed in it (apparently she watched TV a lot with her foster mother) and won’t even think of going to sleep. She’s a happy, active baby who loves to stand, bounce, and dance as long as someone is supporting her. Even though she didn’t cry her affect is fine. She will make eye contact with no problem and is a snuggler. She’s interacting well with us and with others.
The slightly bad: She has some gross motor delays. She isn’t sitting up unsupported, although she tries. She isn’t very successful at crawling, instead tumbling head over heels when she tries. She is rolling over with some effort. She can’t even attempt to pull herself up on her own yet. I’m not too, too worried about these things because we can build her muscle tone and start working on this stuff. Her hands and cheeks are so windburned and chapped.
The pitiful: She is sick. She is coughing and her nose is stuffy and running all the time. I think this is part of the problem with her sleeping because I’m sure she can breathe better when we’re holding her in a more upright position. And I’m sure the strange place she’s in is a little less scary when someone is right there with her instead of her being in a crib alone.
We’ll try to get pictures uploaded soon. It’s hard because our web hosting provider is blocked here in China and I can’t easily upload like I usually can. We have to go back to the provincial office today to finalize Ava’s adoption but we should have the afternoon free and will try to work on it then.
Thanks so much for all the comments. We look forward to reading them every day as it makes us feel a little more in touch with home. And if anybody has any suggestions on how to make this cold easier for Ava, please let us know.
Wuhan – Day 8
We have a BEAUTIFUL little girl in A’s arms right now being fed. She’s not cried at all and we’ve already managed a laugh or two as well as some really good smiles!
We’ll upload some pictures as soon as we can get a chance!