The Story: Maggie Meets her Mom and Dad
Whew! What a day. As you have probably surmised from the pictures, Margaret Michael YuZhen Nostrand is safely sleeping next to me while I type. This brave little girl has had quite a day. I am not quite sure where to begin. SO, I will start with the hotel departure. We left the lovely China Hotel at about 2:30PM and headed for the Civil Affairs Office. Everyone was nervous, excited, happy, terrified and elated all at once. The ride was a short one, maybe 10 minutes and we were escorted to the 5th floor of a non-descript office building. There were 25 families in a crammed into a room the size of an average bedroom. It was a tight fit. Most of us were crying long before we got to the room, so I don't think many people noticed the chaotic conditions.
Group 97 received their babies first. I was glad to get to watch so many families born before my eyes. We are the only second timers on this trip and one of only three families with older siblings. So, it was so wonderful to watch all these wonderful people become parents for the first time. The babies were all just beautiful, healthy and their families so glad to welcome them.
Our Groups, Group 96 and Group 98P, went next. The Suixi babies started coming in one at a time. They, too, were beautiful, healthy and welcomed into the loving arms of their new families.
Our names were called about half way through the group. We handed off the cameras and took our spot center stage. When Maggie entered the room, it was magic. We recognized her instantly. She looks exactly like her referral pictures. The orphanage had her dressed in the outfit I sent over. It made me cry to see that outfit on her and this time the outfit I sent fit. Maggie looked around the room quizzically, checked us out, posed for pictures and acted a little awed by the whole scene. She fell asleep before the rest of her "sisters" united with their new families. All was well, Maggie resting comfortably in my arms while I sat in a quiet corner. I heard someone on the China Team call my name and jumped up. Then, oh my, hell hath no fury like Ms. Maggie awoke suddenly from restful slumber.
It is safe to say, she wailed on and off for the next 3 hours. The only thing that calmed her was listening to Cantonese. Kind of a bummer given our inability to speak Cantonese. So, the caretakers came over to reassure Maggie in her preferred language. Of course, this made Maggie even madder because she was with me, the evil English speaker, not the wonderful cantonese speaking caregivers. I finally left the room, because frankly, all that cantonese, while offered in a very well-meaning way, wasn't helping in the big picture. The bottom line: Maggie was terrified. The look on her face was sheer terror for the first two hours we had her after she woke up. Who can blame her? We changed her name, language, culture, diapers and everything she knew in the blink of an eye. Pretty scary stuff for anyone, let alone a 12 month old who had been on her first bus ride already that day. Did I mention that ride was 6 hours long?
On the 10 minute bus ride back to the Hotel, in her Dad's arms, Maggie did ok. Of course, we figured out quickly we were the source of her problems, so we faced her away from us for most of the ride. She looked out the window at all the lovely Chinese people crammed onto the neighboring buses and relaxed a little for the first time. Back in the room, we were back to the wailing, but it was more half-hearted than earlier. She was still convinced we were evil doers out up to no good, but she was quickly losing her will to fight us. Once I peeled off the layers of clothing, changed her diapers and gave her a little space on the floor, the situation improved considerably. Maggie played with her stacking cups, played with the baby in the mirror and made happy baby noises for the next hour or so. She can stand very solidly for a long period of time, and there is no doubt she is walking, but she never chose to do it tonight. I even coaxed some smiles and a couple of giggles out of her before the night was through, but she wasn't giving anything up easily. Everything we offered was met by suspicion. She would look at us sideways and size up any situation before she jumped in. She ate a half a container of fruit and some congee and sacked out around 8:30pm. Considering we were told her bedtime is 9:30pm, this was a sign of exactly how tired my poor baby was.
I am a little worried about her because she refused, not one, not two but three bottles. I offered her the milk she is used to drinking at two different temperatures as well as water, and she refused it all. The second time Mom part of me realizes she will drink when she is ready, but I know what a big day she had and I can't help but worry about dehydration. My guess is she will be up tonight and ready for one, but you never know.
That is it for now. The short version of today's events. Maggie's Dad is crashed too, but I want to stay awake to call La Nina and tell her she is a big sister. Miss Maggie's wait is over, she has a family who loves her. And we can't wait to finish up the process and get her home.
Group 97 received their babies first. I was glad to get to watch so many families born before my eyes. We are the only second timers on this trip and one of only three families with older siblings. So, it was so wonderful to watch all these wonderful people become parents for the first time. The babies were all just beautiful, healthy and their families so glad to welcome them.
Our Groups, Group 96 and Group 98P, went next. The Suixi babies started coming in one at a time. They, too, were beautiful, healthy and welcomed into the loving arms of their new families.
Our names were called about half way through the group. We handed off the cameras and took our spot center stage. When Maggie entered the room, it was magic. We recognized her instantly. She looks exactly like her referral pictures. The orphanage had her dressed in the outfit I sent over. It made me cry to see that outfit on her and this time the outfit I sent fit. Maggie looked around the room quizzically, checked us out, posed for pictures and acted a little awed by the whole scene. She fell asleep before the rest of her "sisters" united with their new families. All was well, Maggie resting comfortably in my arms while I sat in a quiet corner. I heard someone on the China Team call my name and jumped up. Then, oh my, hell hath no fury like Ms. Maggie awoke suddenly from restful slumber.
It is safe to say, she wailed on and off for the next 3 hours. The only thing that calmed her was listening to Cantonese. Kind of a bummer given our inability to speak Cantonese. So, the caretakers came over to reassure Maggie in her preferred language. Of course, this made Maggie even madder because she was with me, the evil English speaker, not the wonderful cantonese speaking caregivers. I finally left the room, because frankly, all that cantonese, while offered in a very well-meaning way, wasn't helping in the big picture. The bottom line: Maggie was terrified. The look on her face was sheer terror for the first two hours we had her after she woke up. Who can blame her? We changed her name, language, culture, diapers and everything she knew in the blink of an eye. Pretty scary stuff for anyone, let alone a 12 month old who had been on her first bus ride already that day. Did I mention that ride was 6 hours long?
On the 10 minute bus ride back to the Hotel, in her Dad's arms, Maggie did ok. Of course, we figured out quickly we were the source of her problems, so we faced her away from us for most of the ride. She looked out the window at all the lovely Chinese people crammed onto the neighboring buses and relaxed a little for the first time. Back in the room, we were back to the wailing, but it was more half-hearted than earlier. She was still convinced we were evil doers out up to no good, but she was quickly losing her will to fight us. Once I peeled off the layers of clothing, changed her diapers and gave her a little space on the floor, the situation improved considerably. Maggie played with her stacking cups, played with the baby in the mirror and made happy baby noises for the next hour or so. She can stand very solidly for a long period of time, and there is no doubt she is walking, but she never chose to do it tonight. I even coaxed some smiles and a couple of giggles out of her before the night was through, but she wasn't giving anything up easily. Everything we offered was met by suspicion. She would look at us sideways and size up any situation before she jumped in. She ate a half a container of fruit and some congee and sacked out around 8:30pm. Considering we were told her bedtime is 9:30pm, this was a sign of exactly how tired my poor baby was.
I am a little worried about her because she refused, not one, not two but three bottles. I offered her the milk she is used to drinking at two different temperatures as well as water, and she refused it all. The second time Mom part of me realizes she will drink when she is ready, but I know what a big day she had and I can't help but worry about dehydration. My guess is she will be up tonight and ready for one, but you never know.
That is it for now. The short version of today's events. Maggie's Dad is crashed too, but I want to stay awake to call La Nina and tell her she is a big sister. Miss Maggie's wait is over, she has a family who loves her. And we can't wait to finish up the process and get her home.
posted by One Lucky Mom @ 4:57 AM
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