Journey to Claire

Today we mostly just hung out waiting for paperwork. And of course there was a problem with mine and I had to pay additional fees to have them correct them. This is the one part of the trip that I am disappointed in - there is not a lot of communication and/or help from the guides at times. I know we are a large group, but it all seems very disorganized at times. In the long run, I guess it doesn't really matter as long as the end result is the same.

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One of the families went out to get KFC for dinner and brought us back a bucket of chicken. Most of our meals have been family style and quite good.

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I'm taking pictures but not a lot - mostly of Claire when we get back to the room. I only have the one SD card that is in my camera because the extra ones I bought don't fit. I probably should have checked that before I left but I thought they were all the same.

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Today was a shopping day. They took us to a local porcelain shop where I could have spent a lot of money, but I was able to restrain myself. I did get two small vases, a teapot and another type of pot. The store staff gave me a set of porcelain chopsticks for Claire.

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After that we went to the local Walmart. Let me tell you - nothing like home! The meat/seafood department is an experience. Live fish, eel, and frogs in tanks. Whole chicken here includes the head & feet on tables of ice. And the smells are definitely a bit disarming.

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We ate at a local restaurant for lunch. Most meals have been served family style - everything is on a huge lazy susan in the middle of the table and you help yourself. Half the time I have no idea what I'm eating.

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Claire sleeps like a rock! I think a train could go throught the room and she wouldn't wake up! She's smiling and laughing and seems to be adjusting very well. I had prepared for the worse, but it seems I lucked out. I heard some of the other children are refusing to eat.

It is now 10pm here in China and it has been a very busy day. First of all was the mad rush this morning. I never set the alarm clock last night because I figured I didn't need one with a baby in the room. WRONG! The baby in the next room woke us up at 7am - we needed to be in the lobby by 8:30am. They weren't kidding on Claire's referral paperwork when they said she is a deep sleeper.

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First stop on our adventure today was the Adoption Center. I think there were about 30 (not just with my agency) families in that room with their new children and it was pretty chaotic. I met briefly with the director of Claire's oprhanage.and gave him the bag of gifts I had for them. We reviewed some paperwork from last night and I was handed Claire's birth certificate. I headed for the cashier to pay all the China fees next. I was very glad to get rid of all that money I was carrying around.

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From there we went to the notary office and answered the same questions I was asked yesterday. I think I met with him for maybe 5 minutes tops. Then back on the bus to head to the police station. Here they take a webcam picture of your child and match it to the adoption paperwork. This was a little hard to do bacause Claire fell asleep on the bus and they needed her eyes open for the picture. I felt so bad waking her up but she went right back to sleep.

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This very busy day now means that I am legally Claire's mom according to the Chinese government. When they made that announcement - that's when I cried, just a little.

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Tomorrow is shopping - at Walmart and hopefully a few other places. I'm exhausted so I'm off to bed. As soon as I find a USB cable I will download some pictures. A couple more days in Nanchang and we are off to Guangzhou for the final steps.

At 5pm today, I met my daughter for the first time and I cannot describe the feeling. For those of you that were bettiing I would cry - you lose! At the moment they placed her in my arms, all was good. Claire on the other hand, was not too happy with the situation. She cried almost constantly for four hours straight, until we figured out how she likes her formula and that she had gas pains. After giving her some gas drops and a VERY HOT bottle of formula, she fell asleep quite easily.

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I'm working on the pictures. I just realized that the SD card in my camera does not fit in the SD slot on the mini. And all the extra SD cards I bought don't fit in the camera! UGH! I should have checked all that before the trip. So now I have to find someone with a USB cord or find one at a local store so I can upload.

Claire is sleeping, maybe I should too.

Debbie and Claire are finally together!! They were united at approximately 5:00AM EDT on Sunday and all is well.

Debbie will add more details when she is able to access the internet and send her blog post. She cannot access her blog from China so she is sending me (her sister) her posts but today she cannot even get email. I'll post her latest blog as soon as I get it but I added this so you would all know that they are, at last, together.

Another day, another flight, another temperature reading. I feel like Carmen & I have either been on a plane, in an airport or in a hotel for the past three days. And I think I've had me temperature taken more times in the past two days than I have in the last 2 years. A "health safety" crew of three came onto the plane this time. Apparently, the first two thought I was "hot stuff" again; but the head honcho said I was OK.

We arrived in Beijing around noon; it was after 1pm before we got to the hotel. The guide we have here in Beijing called me after we landed - the rest of the group were on there way to the Great Wall and she wanted to know if I wanted them to turn around and come get us. I said no; it wouldn't have been fair to everyone else. So we really didn't get to do any sightseeing yet, unless you consider the interior of airports sightseeing. I really hope I have some pictures to post soon.

We were able to join the group to see a performance of some Chinese acrobats. They were awesome! I got some amazing news just before the acrobat show - the Jiangxi families are meeting their children tomorrow!! I will be holding my sweet baby girl tomorrow!! And I will never let her go....

I knew I shouldn't have wrote that things were going well.  Because as you all know, nothing goes right with this process!

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First - our flight from JFK to Hong Kong was delayed 45 minutes.  Once we arrived in Hong Kong, we were told our flight to Beijing had been cancelled.  The airline gave us a voucher for a free room at the Regal Airport - at least the room is nice.

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But that's not all.  While running around an unfamilar airport trying to find baggage claim, I started having an asthma/panic attack.  My face must have been red (because I was trying to breathe) and a "Health Safety Officer" pulled me out of line to take my temperature.  Guess what?  It was 0.1 (yes - point one) degrees above their safe level.  So they took me aside, then down to  special holding area where they took my temprature again (total of five times).  Finally they decided to do it with an old-fashioned glass thermometer, and I was fine!  I found out one family from our agency has been quarantied.

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And so our adventure begins!  Our new flight leaves in the morning at 8:30am.  So it's off to bed for us.  I'm exhausted because I didn't sleep much on our flights. 

Our first flight went very well.  I think we walked two miles and used about a dozen escalators to get to the correct terminal for the next leg of the trip.  There were people on the plane wearing face masks - I guess they are more concerned about the swine flu than I am.

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We are currently sitting at JFK in New York waiting for our flight to Hong Kong.  We have about another hour to wait.  The next flight is 16 hours and 8055 miles!  From Hong Kong we will fly to Beijing. I probably won't have any issues falling asleep on the plane - I'm exhausted.

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Everyone how sees our China Adoption with Love tags has asked questions - are you adopting?  How old is she?  Do you have a picture?  I am more than willing to share the information right now because I'm so excited.  I may not be so polite & cheery later on.

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My next post will be from China!

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Who am I kidding - I'm not going to get any sleep until I'm finally in the air and on my way!  Just took some melatonin, hopefully that will help tonight.

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I finally got our flight info - at 5:20 this afternoon!  We are leaving in less than 48 hours!  Anyway, our flight there is three legs: Boston to JFK, JFK to Homg Kong and Hong Kong to Beijing.  Due to the time difference, we leave at 9:45am from Boston on Thursday and finally land in Beijing at 11:30pm on Friday!  I will probably be a zombie for sightseeing on Saturday, but who cares.

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Now I know most of you are more interested in our flight back.  We will be returning on June 3, flying from Hong Kong to JFK and then JFK to Portland.  We should be landing in Portland around 7:15pm on Jet Blue Flight 606.

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It's going to be a crazy two weeks, but once that little girl is placed in my arms - all will be good.  I'm off to try and get some sleep.

I received the itinerary for the trip - finally!  The only thing I'm waiting on now is the flight information - I know what day I'm leaving, I want to know what TIME I'm leaving.  Here is a condensed version of the itinerary:

• May 21/22 - Leave for Beijing; staying at the Prime Hotel
• May 23 - Beijing Sightseeing - Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, Great Wall
• May 24 - Leave for Nanchang, Jiangxi; staying at the Gloria Hotel
• May 25 - MEETING CLAIRE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
• May 26 - Apotion paperwork, notary
• May 27/28 - Sightseeing & shopping
• May 29 - Leave for Guangzhou; staying at the White Swan Hotel
• May 30 - Claire's physical
• May 31 - Free day to do what we want
• June 1 - US Consulate interview
• June 2 - Leave for Hing Kong after oath
• June 3 - Heading Home!!!!

I am hoping I can blog from China.  If not, I'll send updates to someone who will be able to post on here.

Two more sleeps until China!