On the Move

Today we heard from our adoption agency, we must be in Nanchang on 7/21, Gotcha Day is 7/22, our consulate appointment in GZ is likely to be the 29 or 30, swearing in on the 30/31st, flying to Hong Kong on 8/1. Of course we find out at 4 pm in the afternoon before a 3 day weekend, so we can't start booking anything till Monday!! ouch! We could book flights on Expedia/Orbitz, but then if anything changes - which I think there may be a day off here or there - then its an expensive change. I don’t think we can book the in-country flights without a travel agency. Additionally we need to be book hotels and I think the agencies that help with adopted families now more about the hotels. Let alone help with the Visa. I’m so ready to book now; waiting 3-4 days is not my style! aurgh! But better to wait till Monday and work with a pro. Of course our agency hosted travel meeting, to give us details and introduce us to the other traveling families is not until this Tuesday or Thursday, so we really need to get moving on travel arrangements before we have all the information! yuck! Every step is an adventure!!! Good thing ds1 travels well.

But now I will start packing new guys bag, all the medicines, and the orphanage dowry.
on travel medicines - we met with an infectious disease specialist and international pediatrician. We met them together, as they work in the same office. It was a funny meeting. ds1 was along, the new pediatrician and the old one are both female. So he kept asking why the man was there? He's not accustomed to male doctors. In the end, he and I received hep A vaccines, and all four of us a ton of prescriptions. The doctor, Dr. Melissa Goldstein, NYC, I am naming because she was awesome. She spent 90 minutes going over everything we could possible expect from a child coming out of an orphanage in the summer and how to treat it; pink eye, scabies, mal nutrition, general colds, cradle crap, diaper rash, general rashes etc. I have prescription and non-prescription drugs now, as well as written instructions, on how to treat everything. Of course dh kept nodding off in the meeting, so I'll be giving him some treatments he doesn't need as revenge.

On orphanage dowry - it is a big duffle bag or suitcase full of stuff; toys, clothes, general baby things. We take it with us and drop it off there. It’s expected, but also after seeing the video, I know the orphanage is not rich on the toy front. Also from the video and the website I know it’s a smaller orphanage, about 60 kids; half are special needs and the other half are not. My understanding is that the orphanage is in a city southeastern part of China, known for rice production, and not particularly economically abundant. From other moms who have been there, I know the city/region is famous for its porcelain production.

On the unknown - ok, I admit it, I’m at day 2 of big catastrophic nightmares. I think this is stress induced. I need to go get this child and hopefully I wont be totally slept deprived until then. Maybe I’ll start sleeping better in China, or even by the time we have our tickets book, 3 tickets there, 4 tickets coming home!