Travel Journal - Day 5

Sorry it has taken me so long to post pictures of Abby! It has been an incredible two days - crazy hectic, emotional, wonderful days.

Where to start!!! LOL We arrived in Jiangxi yesterday afternoon. Pretty uneventful flight, but I tell you, the 2 hours on that flight were wayyyy longer than the almost 14 hours in the air coming here. We knew we were getting the babies, and time just seemed to stop moving on that plane. Our flight was a bit delayed, so we ended up landing almost an hour late, I believe. We knew the babies were due at the hotel around six PM, so we were cutting it really, really close. It was raining in Jiangxi - very humid too. We boarded the bus, and then we started to get nervous because the bus wouldn't start! We were joking around, but we were really flipping out at that point. My travel mates know Scott works as a mechanic, so the running joke was, "Where is Scott when you need him?" Luckily the driver figured out what it was, and we were all cheering when the bus started.

The ride to the hotel was eye opening. Jiangxi is one of China's poorest provinces, if not the most poor. You truly begin to appreciate all you have. Our facilitator, Guilan, said to us at one point on the bus, "You are so lucky to live in the United States. You all must have done something wonderful in your previous lives." :) Anyway, we drove until we reached Nanchang, the capital city in Jiangxi. Nanchang is a big city, so we are staying at a very nice hotel. At this point, it was 5:45 pm on the bus, and we were just freaking out. They handed us the keys to our room, told us to run up and wait for the babies. Those next few minutes seemed like an eternity. I just started bawling at one point - you just wait and wait and are so focused on the paperwork during adoption, planning for this trip, etc. and then all the moments that you are waiting for are coming true. It doesn't even seem real.

After a few minutes, Guilan started calling us to meet on our floor by the elevators. The babies would be coming up in a matter of a minute or two. I was able to call Scott on the cell phone, so he was at least able to hear what was going on while we got the babies. The door opened, and there they were. I knew her the second I saw her. They called us one family by one family - I think I was 3rd or 4th - I can't even remember. She was so tiny - much smaller than I thought she would be - soooo beautiful. I can't even describe what it felt like to hold her in my arms after waiting all this time for her. It was just awesome - instant love....All of the babies were beautiful, and they really didn't cry too much at first. Abby smiled right away. About 10 minutes later is when they started bawling. Luckily for me, Guilan came in and told me that they said that Abby liked to suck on a rag. Hmmmm, I wasn't sure what that meant, but I grabbed a clean washcloth, and sure enough, she put the little edge in her mouth and sucked on it like a pacifier. She immediately stopped crying. You've got to do whatever works!

We had to change the babies and then bring them down for dinner - they hadn't had any yet. When I undressed her, I noticed that her tummy, legs and arms were covered with bumps. Wasn't sure exactly what it was, but she was scratching like crazy. I put clean clothes on her and we all had a crazy, wonderful and non-Chinese food dinner, which just put the iciing on the cake (most of us have about had it with Chinese food at the moment! LOL) The babies were doing beautifully, and we fed them dinner and they all ate like little piggies.

Abby went to bed beautifully. Just gave her a bottle, and she fell asleep in my arms. Pure heaven. She slept all night, except I noticed that she was still itching in her sleep. Oh boy. She slept until 7:30 this morning. We gave her her first bath, which she liked. Guilan arranged for a doctor to come and look at Abby and another baby with a rash - we had to do something quick because she was obviously so uncomfortable. Sooo, turns out Abby has an awful case of scabies (UGH). Unfortunately, not all that uncommon in an orphange setting. It's upsetting because she is just the sweetest baby - smiles and is so quiet and beautiful, and this was not treated in her orphanage. I don't know how long she's had it, but it makes her miserable and it's upsetting. We did get her medication, so we should see a huge difference in 2-3 days. We have medication to treat ourselves as well.. Frustrating because the medication cost me $8 US to make her better. She is also very tiny - definitely a bit malnourished (which we're working on fixing!) and at 10 months old she doesn't sit up yet. She is very, very infant like. In a way though, it's very nice for me because we will really get to baby her which is what she needs and deserves, and although we have missed 10 months of her life, we will be able to enjoy watching her do all the milestones that parents look forward to. She is just an absolute doll - I am sooo crazy, crazy in love with this baby - our daughter forever.

Boy, this is getting long! LOL Today (Monday) we finalized the adoption paperwork in Jiangxi. Had to bring the babies to various offices for finalizing the adoption. It was very, very hectic today as well, so I apologize for not posting sooner. Abby is sleeping for the night upstairs with Grandma Ginny watching her so I could come down and type at the Business Office. I can't wait to get back up there to her :)Finally tomorrow, things will slow down just a bit. Our big outing will be to Walmart to pick up anything we need. We will have a free afternoon while we wait for the adoption papers to be approved. It will be nice to just have some downtime after all of the craziness.

Hope you enjoy seeing the pictures of Abby. She is just so beautiful - I stare at her and just cannot believe she is ours. How blessed we are. Scott, we'll be home soon and you will hold your daughter in your arms for the 1st time - I am counting the days until then. I miss you and Evan like crazy and think about you every minute. Give my little man kisses and hugs and tell him I love him and miss him. We have Abby - I could just come home now if I could. Although we really are enjoying China - it's an amazing place.

My love to all. Hugs and kisses, Abby's mommy (Evan's too) :)

 

(Day 4 was also updated with photos)