Goodbye Hohhot, Hello Guangzhou

We left Hohhot early Friday morning and arrived safely in Guangzhou. I'm glad we got out when we did... we actually woke up to snow on Friday! Every flight after us was delayed and some did not get into Guangzhou until 3 am. Oh my, that would have been tough! We have 2 guides here, Lee and Shirley. We met Shirley in 2010 when we adopted Emma Grace and she remembered us. We have a group of 9 families here from our agency!

 

We got in late in the afternoon. Our 3 hour flight was fine and Hannah did better than expected. She was restless, didn't sleep, but was overall pretty content. The Chinese lady behind us kept feeding her cherry tomatoes and that made her pretty happy. With this type of trip you have to be flexible- normally I would cringe if someone I didn't know was feeding my child. I figure she has survived through this much, eating from a stranger can't be that bad!

 

We didn't really do anything on Friday night. Lee got us checked into our room and we just hung out for the rest of the night. We found a 7-11 store and picked up some snacks for the room and had dinner at McDonalds. Yuck! My old body just can't handle that disgusting food anymore. Hannah went all day without napping so we thought for sure she would go to bed early. Nope- she was up until 8:30 (she got up at 5:45 that morning...) and only slept until 5:15 this morning. She is not sleeping enough.

 

Today was my least favorite part of the adoption trip. We had to do the medical exam. This is necessary for the US side of the adoption. We had to bring her medical information and they compare it to what they see on the child. Hannah has 11 special needs listed on her file and has had 5 major operations. Her case is complicated and her file is incredibly thick. The doctor was really frustrating me. It took her forever to go through Hannah's file. Then she was asking me

questions as if I have mothered this child from the beginning. I don't read mandarin and I have no idea what all of the medical reports say. Then she was questioning why she has two plugs with her colostomy. I researched Hannah's condition for 10 minutes one day and I found her exact type of colostomy... and this is a doctor who is clueless about what it is!?!? I was so frustrated. Then she asked me how many scars she has. She counted and measured them and couldn't figure out if one mark was a scar or not. She looked at me for answers and of course I had no clue. She pointed to every birth mark and asked me what it was. Really???? She was trying to count how many operations she had documented and then compare them to her scars. I had to fill out a paper with how many operations and all of her needs. I could write down the needs from her referral paper work, but I don't have every single operation memorized. It took forever, the office was so hot, and there was a huge line of adoptive families waiting on us. It was awful. Then the nurses took her away from us to get her TB blood test done. Hannah was fine until they shut the door and then she lost it. They don't let parents go back for that. We survived but it was so stressful! Then I worried that maybe I wrote down the wrong operation, or didn't include all of her needs. If the medical exam is going to require all of the information, then I think the orphanage should provide a summary sheet for the doctors. 

 

When we got back we found a little noodle shop for lunch. Again, we have to be flexible! I would never (under normal circumstances) eat a place like this, but we are hungry and there aren't many options. Thankfully they had part of the menu in English so at least we knew what we were ordering.

I didn't pay attention to the sweaty cook standing 5 feet in front of me and I tried not to visualize how filthy the kitchen was and I ignored the fact that I didn't see anywhere to wash dishes.

We did paper work in the afternoon for her visa, went on a walk in the park and had a small dinner in the room. Our biggest struggle right now is bathing her and putting her to bed. It is so difficult to give a screaming, kicking child a bath. She hits and screams until she gags. It is not a pretty sight! Going to bed is horrible. I end up just going to bed with her so she won't get out of bed. She is really comfortable with me. She likes to sit as close to me as possible and hold my hands. She likes for me to rub her back and will sometimes pick up my hand to place it on her back or leg and motions for me to rub her. She really is so sweet. I can't wait to get her home to show her what her normal life will look like. It is so hard to parent in a hotel room!

 



 

 This was our local guide in Hohhot, Sandra

We are trying to get her used to the water. We let her splash in the sink and she loves it. But as soon as she finds out she is getting scrubbed down, a little demon child appears.

 

She is so happy during the day.

She found this outfit in her suitcase this morning and started shaking her head up and down. She really likes it!

At the medical exam- never a pleasant experience!

Rough morning at the exam, she actually fell asleep for 30 minutes in the van.

 

This was our restaurant and below is a picture of my meal.

Of course Hannah loved it-it's food!

She was acting silly in the hotel lobby. She is a happy girl!

There is a famous singer staying in our hotel. The girls were lined up to get a picture of him. We never saw him, but not sure we would know if we did!