Lynn and the Girls - My Homepage

(I'll clean this up and proof read it later - I'm having a hard time getting to the computer. But this way I can at least share something).

November 13 - Travel Day! The night of the 12th, the Midwest was under high wind warnings that were supposed to last until noon the next day (Winds gusting to 50 mph). I was up early (well, I was up most of the night with travel excitement), and checked in at the United website. Already they had a big notice about cancelled and delayed flights. We weren’t able to get on the 7:15 flight like I’d hoped, so we knew we were set to leave at 10:30 and get to Chicago with one hour and 20 minutes to connect to our flight to Beijing. When we piled into the van at 7:45, I said to my sister that whatever happened about the flights was what was supposed to happen, because we had so many people praying for us (really dedicated praying!). And, so unlike me in this type of situation, I was really peaceful. Well - skipping to the end, the flight to Chicago left EARLY because we were all snuggly aboard, the pilot did an amazing job flying over Lake Michigan with strong west winds at his nose, and we were half way to the terminal for the flight to Beijing before we were supposed to land. J

November 14- OK, 13 hours and 11 minutes and almost 7,000 miles is just a long time to be on a plane. But Gail and I both agreed that the flight was much better than last time. The timing was better and we didn’t have the extra leg to get to Los Angeles. There were many adopting families and lots of big sisters who came from China on the flight. All of the kids seemed to do really well. Abby fought sleep valiantly, but ultimately slept about 4 hours. She watched (did NOT listen to) Nemo several times. There was also a huge group of the South Carolina World Travelers Club on board - and they were having quite a party. Beijing airport is very new and getting through it and out was very smooth. It took more than an hour to get to the hotel because of traffic jams. That hot stop and go bus ride did me in! I basically passed out when we got to the room at the hotel. Abby didn’t go to sleep for about 4 more hours though - she played beside me on the bed, waking me every so often. Gayle and Emily passed out and then woke up at 2:30. The clock switching thing is sooooo hard. Jerry is doing a little better because he normally gets up in the middle of the night for work and he can sleep most anywhere. It is soooooo much better with Abby for Gail, Jerry, and Emily to be here. She loves them very much and usually chooses them over me for doing things for her (poor Gail is on potty duty this trip I think).

November 15 - Tour Beijing Day. There is a lot to tell here - I’ll catch this up asap.

November 16 - Fly to Nanchang and get BABIES! We had to have our luggage out at 7:00 a.m. for the bellboy to gather. But of course we were awake by 4:00, so this wasn’t a big problem. We left for the airport at 8:20 for 10:50 flight to Nanchang. We met the CHI group coming to Jiangxi too - and also staying at the Gloria. We flew on China Eastern - very nice. There was more room in economy than on the US planes. We landed before 1:00. The airport isn’t too big. The tons of luggage went into a truck and we loaded up the bus. Nanchang is the provincial capital of Jiangxi province. It is considered a medium sized city - I can’t remember how many people (more than 1 million). It is what I call “true China”-constant construction, poor, poor conditions next to very adequate, and of course crazy traffic. We are staying at the Gloria Plaza Hotel. It’s considered a 4 star hotel. It’s nice. We got there just before 2:00 and were told we were leaving to get the babies at 4:00. So we quickly unpacked and a lot of us changed clothes. We got to meet the rest of the families. At 4:00 we loaded up the bus to go to the Civil Affairs Office to meet the babies. We were all excited. I think a few people were nervous too, but we were really excited.

We went into a lovely room with wooden benches and a hardwood floor to wait. I think the babies were about 15 minutes behind us. The babies came in one door to the middle of the room (there was an archway in the middle) and the families were called. I know they always try to do this in an orderly way, but it seems as if it’s always chaos. When we were called, I grabbed Abby to go up too. They handed me a screaming baby J Well, most of the babies were screaming (I think all but one). They had on many layers of clothes. That’s what is considered the right way to dress babies in this area. Suzy had 5 layers on the top and a couple on the bottom with socks pulled up over her knees. I think some of the babies had up to 9 layers.

Suzy was definitely a screamer. (OK, right now she still is. We beat it out of dinner because she started screaming.) There were several other screamers. I heard one baby didn’t cry too much. We were only at the Civil Affairs Office for a few minutes to get the babies, have our family picture taken for the adoption registration, and a photo taken for Suzy’s passport. Then we came back to the hotel. I really don’t remember a lot. Suzy pretty much cried and wouldn’t take a bottle and finally went to sleep around 7:30. Some of the other babies didn’t eat either. That’s pretty normal. Abby had been playing with Emily and Gail and Jerry had been watching her and she fell asleep during supper and was carried to bed.

November 17: Making the Adoption Official. Abby woke up at 2:30 (after having been up twice before 2:30). She was hungry, thirsty, wanted to see Suzy, and needed mommy. We were taking baths at 4:00 a.m. We all (most of our group) were at breakfast around 6:30 just because either the grownups or the babies were awake. We left early to go back to the Civil Affairs Office. This is where the official adoption takes place. We answer questions (What do you do? What is your salary? Why do you want to adopt? Are you satisfied with this baby? Do you promise never to abandon her?). When we left the building a little more than an hour later, the babies were ours. From there, we went to the Notaries’ Office. We answered some of the same questions and I think we signed something else. This part didn’t take too long. The notaries are like judges. This office is where all of the paperwork except the adoption certificate is prepared and translated. This office is also about 3 or so blocks from the new Super Walmart. After we finished, some of us made a quick trip to buy formula. Several of the families have explored Walmart pretty well (including Gail and Jerry), but I was part of a fast 45 minute run through for snacks and formula. I definitely noticed a western flare to the things in the store. I’ll have a better feel for that after we go to the local department store and can tell more about the differences then.

Suzy ate steamed egg and congee (rice porridge) at breakfast. She wouldn’t take a bottle (I tried before the food). She hung out with less screaming, although some, and even a couple of smiles. We moved every time the poor kid fell asleep, so she didn’t get a real nap. At the Notaries’ office, I tried a bottle because I knew she was hungry. No way. So I poured some formula into the cap for the bottle (like a little cup). She sucked it down very fast. So she will messily drink from a cup, but not at all from a bottle.

I’ll fix this part later (keeping the chronology, since this is my journal of the trip too), but here is a summary of Abby and Suzy and how they are doing. Abby really is doing well. She loves Gail, Jerry, and Emily so much and they’ve given her a ton of attention. She’s had a few needing mommy moments, but mostly has been fine. She really wants me to take care of Suzy and she tries to help too. Suzy is teething very hard and grieving very hard. We have just now crossed the magic 3 day mark, so the grieving should (note should) improve. We are giving her motrin and Tylenol and a decongestant for the teeth. She really doesn’t seem to feel great, but it’s hard to know. She is long - I’m thinking the estimated 28” is probably close. I’ll try to measure tomorrow. Weight . . . I’m not sure. She’s pudgy, but not huge. She’s lighter than Abby. She is pretty. She has a very traditional look with long, keyhole shaped eyes. Except for her eyes, she does look like Abby. For any of the girls with siblings (which is all but one), the babies have a resemblance to their sibs. [Hey, Teletubbies in Chinese just came on -8:20 p.m. Tinky Winky and Dipsey have different names, but Lala and Po don’t. The title is something BaoBao (baby). Interestng.] Anyway, Suzy rolls over, but doesn’t quite sit on her own. That’s the how all but one baby in the group is. One is about ready to walk. That’s pretty typical for the part of the country the girls come from. They would have had very traditional care - lots of layers of clothes, not a lot of physical activity. She doesn’t have much hair.

We’d sure appreciate your continued prayers, especially that we could see a happier Suzy. It’s hard to have her cry and not be able to do anything to help her. I will get caught up on happenings too. We had an awesome supper I’ll tell you about.