Journal - 09/21/2000

JOURNAL FOR 09/21/00

adoption site | contacting me by e-mail | Jiangmen main journal page | home page | Meredith's page

<== Last episode, our hero...
In our next thrilling adventure ==>

(Thursday 09/21/00)
Susan: Today, we were meeting Shasha at 7:40 to go to the Guangdong Provincial Civil Affairs office. . We had to wake up Meredith and get her dressed and ready to go. We managed to get downstairs for the breakfast buffet by 7:20. We were really rushed so Jim went and got a plate for both of us and a small bowl of congee (rice cereal) for Meredith. We managed to finish and met the group on time. I was pleased that we were not the only ones that were struggling with getting everyone up and out the door. Pat and her family arrived for breakfast even later than we did.

It was a short bus ride to the office. The ride was interesting and Meredith loved looking out the windows. She is a very curious baby. And very tactile - more so than the other babies. She's not one to put things directly in her mouth though (her thumb and a cloth being the big exception). This may be changing, however...

At the Civil Affairs office we trooped in to a medium sized waiting room. The room had 2 couches and several hard wood straight chairs. Jim and I sat on the chairs. It was hot. There was a little air conditioning/ventilation. Unlike the EPA building, you could open the windows. It helped, but it was pretty steamy. Parents and babies were sweating big time. I'd put a sun hat on her, which she liked and didn't try to take off. I should have left it back at the hotel. We didn't really need it and it just made her head sweat badly. Also, I didn't bring a bottle for her. She did fine and was very happy and smiling, but I think that she got a little dehydrated.

Jim: Try roasted, along with the rest of us. It was awful, and boring to boot. The room was stuffed with babies, kids and families - all of us waiting for the paperwork to get through.

Susan: The first thing that we did at the Civil Affairs office was to have a "family" picture done for the adoption paperwork. Ours is a riot. We'll scan it when we get home and put it on the web site. During all of this Shasha was busy with getting the paperwork for 12 families together.

Susan: Shasha is amazing. Not only did she manage to deal (well) with 12 families (some with very fussy babies), the government officials, the heat, and managed to keep all of the paperwork for 12 families straight. All the while double and triple checking EVERYTHING. Then she packed up the paperwork and to take back to her hotel to check later that night. She told us when we first met her that she was organized. What an understatement. Shasha is worth every penny of her fees and then some. She also has the patience of a saint. (Picture to the left is of Shasha giving orders.)

We were at the Civil Affairs office for about 4 hours. Meredith took a short nap while we were there, but slept fitfully due to the heat. I held her the entire time which only made us both more sweaty and uncomfortable. She is such a good baby and did extremely well. We got lots of smiles and giggles.

Since we did not travel to Jiangmen to process the paperwork, the orphanage officials were also there to sign the papers. They came by to check on and play with Meredith. The nurse (from the orphanage) played with Meredith and held her while Jim and I checked some of the paperwork. It was obvious that Meredith was familiar with her. The Orphanage's assistant director (don't remember his name) was also there and came to check on Meredith while she was sleeping. He took the cloth diaper that Meredith uses to get to sleep and gently wiped the sweat from her head (which was totally wet with sweat). It was very touching. I was concerned about the amount of fluids that Meredith was losing, but she didn't want to take a bottle. It was very hard on her.

Jim: The whole experience at the Civil Affairs office and with the notary is very undemanding,except from the standpoint of heat and patience and boredom. If you're expecting stern-faced inquisitors, don't. The only people we saw from the staff were a photographer and the notary, who spoke halting English and was a middle-aged, nice woman. This step is very easy, and the questions are simple and few. You should, however, have a note to yourself written up on the subject of why you are adopting from China (a couple of sentences long) which should be as positive as you can muster. You will have to put it in the paperwork, and coming up with the right stuff at the spur of the moment is hard.

Susan: When we got back to the hotel, we had one hot, tired and crabby baby. I think that she got a little dehydrated and heat stressed. Even though she is more used to the heat than we are, she doesn't seem to deal as well with it as some of the other children. She took a 2 hour nap, but it took the rest of the day to calm her down. They warned us that 2 things would make her "unhappy". One is strangers holding her. We haven't see this and she took to us pretty good - and we're stranger than most! The other thing is if she is hungry. And she woke up from her nap HUNGRY. While she was napping, I went across the street to the 7-11 and got some cold drinks and a container of yogurt for Meredith.

The orphanage was not giving her solid foods yet, but they were giving her rice cereal in her bottle. I think that the formula only bottles we've been giving her are not up to her standards. Though she can drain an 8 oz bottle in record time. She has the suction power of an industrial vacuum. Yesterday we gave her some congee (thin rice cereal) and she snarfed it. I figured that she could do pretty good with the yogurt and it was more nutritious than the rice cereal.

So after I changed her diaper (she did not like the delay in eating and screamed the entire time), I sat her on my knee and fed her some yogurt. She loved it. So I went to move her so that she was sitting on the bed facing me, I moved the yogurt back. Big mistake, she thought that I was taking the yogurt away and screamed. She immediately shut up when I brought the yogurt back. We got the message - "Don't mess with the kid's food". They weren't kidding when they said she was unhappy when she was hungry. She followed up the yogurt with 4 ounces of formula.

She was very fussy for the rest of the day. I gave her some Tylenol because it seemed like she was having problems with teething. I also think that the trip to the Civil Affairs office really stressed her. After her nap, we put her on the floor with some toys and she explored the room for a while, but then got fussy again. She didn't want food. Finally, I decided to give her a bath. She liked playing in the water, but she wasn't really in the mood. And she did not like to have her hair washed. It was quick bath and she cried during most of it. She did calm down after her bath though, especially when I rubbed lotion all over her. She really likes to be touched and quieted right down. Then she started playing with her toys.

While Meredith was in the tub, Jim ordered some food to be delivered from Danny's Bagel shop (featuring Italian food and bagels). It's relatively inexpensive and generally pretty good. They put caraway seeds into their red sauce which was a little weird, but good.

Jim: I despise caraway seeds in anything, and was unpleasantly surprised to discover this in otherwise good spaghetti. Later, I asked the owner, who said that the caraway seeds were a hot item with the local orders, so it went in the meat sauce.

Susan: She fell asleep playing on Jim's bed, and we learned another parenting trick; don't let her fall asleep without her pajamas on. She did not care at ALL for being taken off the bed, or being put in her pajamas, and then into the crib. I had to hold her and calm her down and let her go soundly to sleep before I could get her to stay asleep, and this took several tries. She obviously doesn't feel great, and we're a little concerned - this morning she woke up hungry, ate a small jar of baby food prunes, carrots and formula, then proceeded to lose it -- all over me, the bed and herself. She is also feeling a little warm and acting congested. We're going to see about having a doctor take a look at her tomorrow. It's too late to go now. Many of the other babies are also congested and have been to the clinic on the 3rd floor of the White Swan. It seems like they have all been given a prescription for antibiotics. Jim and I are pretty conservative with antibiotic use because of the potential for antibiotic resistance and it concerns me that the clinic is prescribing antibiotics for everyone.

One other thing that concerns me is that I noticed a very large boil on her hips/butt when I stripped her down for her bath. I hadn't noticed it during diaper changes because she hates to lay flat and I'd tried to be as quick as possible. It doesn't seem to bother her, even when I touch it. In any case, neither the congestion or the boil is affecting her sleep. She sleeps 8-12 hours a night -- straight through.

Tomorrow we go to the medical screening needed to get her visa. Shasha is taking us in 2 groups and we are going in the second group. We'll meet her at 10:30 on the first floor lobby. I'm glad to be going later, it's a struggle to get all three of us up, dressed and fed in any sort of reasonable time frame.

JOURNAL FOR 09/21/00
adoption site \| contacting me by e-mail \| Jiangmen	main journal page \| home page \| Meredith's page
<== Last episode, our hero...	In our next thrilling adventure ==>
(Thursday 09/21/00) Susan: Today, we were meeting Shasha at 7:40 to go to the Guangdong Provincial Civil Affairs office. . We had to wake up Meredith and get her dressed and ready to go. We managed to get downstairs for the breakfast buffet by 7:20. We were really rushed so Jim went and got a plate for both of us and a small bowl of congee (rice cereal) for Meredith. We managed to finish and met the group on time. I was pleased that we were not the only ones that were struggling with getting everyone up and out the door. Pat and her family arrived for breakfast even later than we did. It was a short bus ride to the office. The ride was interesting and Meredith loved looking out the windows. She is a very curious baby. And very tactile - more so than the other babies. She's not one to put things directly in her mouth though (her thumb and a cloth being the big exception). This may be changing, however... At the Civil Affairs office we trooped in to a medium sized waiting room. The room had 2 couches and several hard wood straight chairs. Jim and I sat on the chairs. It was hot. There was a little air conditioning/ventilation. Unlike the EPA building, you could open the windows. It helped, but it was pretty steamy. Parents and babies were sweating big time. I'd put a sun hat on her, which she liked and didn't try to take off. I should have left it back at the hotel. We didn't really need it and it just made her head sweat badly. Also, I didn't bring a bottle for her. She did fine and was very happy and smiling, but I think that she got a little dehydrated. Jim: Try roasted, along with the rest of us. It was awful, and boring to boot. The room was stuffed with babies, kids and families - all of us waiting for the paperwork to get through. Susan: The first thing that we did at the Civil Affairs office was to have a "family" picture done for the adoption paperwork. Ours is a riot. We'll scan it when we get home and put it on the web site. During all of this Shasha was busy with getting the paperwork for 12 families together. Susan: Shasha is amazing. Not only did she manage to deal (well) with 12 families (some with very fussy babies), the government officials, the heat, and managed to keep all of the paperwork for 12 families straight. All the while double and triple checking EVERYTHING. Then she packed up the paperwork and to take back to her hotel to check later that night. She told us when we first met her that she was organized. What an understatement. Shasha is worth every penny of her fees and then some. She also has the patience of a saint. (Picture to the left is of Shasha giving orders.) We were at the Civil Affairs office for about 4 hours. Meredith took a short nap while we were there, but slept fitfully due to the heat. I held her the entire time which only made us both more sweaty and uncomfortable. She is such a good baby and did extremely well. We got lots of smiles and giggles. Since we did not travel to Jiangmen to process the paperwork, the orphanage officials were also there to sign the papers. They came by to check on and play with Meredith. The nurse (from the orphanage) played with Meredith and held her while Jim and I checked some of the paperwork. It was obvious that Meredith was familiar with her. The Orphanage's assistant director (don't remember his name) was also there and came to check on Meredith while she was sleeping. He took the cloth diaper that Meredith uses to get to sleep and gently wiped the sweat from her head (which was totally wet with sweat). It was very touching. I was concerned about the amount of fluids that Meredith was losing, but she didn't want to take a bottle. It was very hard on her. Jim: The whole experience at the Civil Affairs office and with the notary is very undemanding,except from the standpoint of heat and patience and boredom. If you're expecting stern-faced inquisitors, don't. The only people we saw from the staff were a photographer and the notary, who spoke halting English and was a middle-aged, nice woman. This step is very easy, and the questions are simple and few. You should, however, have a note to yourself written up on the subject of why you are adopting from China (a couple of sentences long) which should be as positive as you can muster. You will have to put it in the paperwork, and coming up with the right stuff at the spur of the moment is hard. Susan: When we got back to the hotel, we had one hot, tired and crabby baby. I think that she got a little dehydrated and heat stressed. Even though she is more used to the heat than we are, she doesn't seem to deal as well with it as some of the other children. She took a 2 hour nap, but it took the rest of the day to calm her down. They warned us that 2 things would make her "unhappy". One is strangers holding her. We haven't see this and she took to us pretty good - and we're stranger than most! The other thing is if she is hungry. And she woke up from her nap HUNGRY. While she was napping, I went across the street to the 7-11 and got some cold drinks and a container of yogurt for Meredith. The orphanage was not giving her solid foods yet, but they were giving her rice cereal in her bottle. I think that the formula only bottles we've been giving her are not up to her standards. Though she can drain an 8 oz bottle in record time. She has the suction power of an industrial vacuum. Yesterday we gave her some congee (thin rice cereal) and she snarfed it. I figured that she could do pretty good with the yogurt and it was more nutritious than the rice cereal. So after I changed her diaper (she did not like the delay in eating and screamed the entire time), I sat her on my knee and fed her some yogurt. She loved it. So I went to move her so that she was sitting on the bed facing me, I moved the yogurt back. Big mistake, she thought that I was taking the yogurt away and screamed. She immediately shut up when I brought the yogurt back. We got the message - "Don't mess with the kid's food". They weren't kidding when they said she was unhappy when she was hungry. She followed up the yogurt with 4 ounces of formula. She was very fussy for the rest of the day. I gave her some Tylenol because it seemed like she was having problems with teething. I also think that the trip to the Civil Affairs office really stressed her. After her nap, we put her on the floor with some toys and she explored the room for a while, but then got fussy again. She didn't want food. Finally, I decided to give her a bath. She liked playing in the water, but she wasn't really in the mood. And she did not like to have her hair washed. It was quick bath and she cried during most of it. She did calm down after her bath though, especially when I rubbed lotion all over her. She really likes to be touched and quieted right down. Then she started playing with her toys. While Meredith was in the tub, Jim ordered some food to be delivered from Danny's Bagel shop (featuring Italian food and bagels). It's relatively inexpensive and generally pretty good. They put caraway seeds into their red sauce which was a little weird, but good. Jim: I despise caraway seeds in anything, and was unpleasantly surprised to discover this in otherwise good spaghetti. Later, I asked the owner, who said that the caraway seeds were a hot item with the local orders, so it went in the meat sauce. Susan: She fell asleep playing on Jim's bed, and we learned another parenting trick; don't let her fall asleep without her pajamas on. She did not care at ALL for being taken off the bed, or being put in her pajamas, and then into the crib. I had to hold her and calm her down and let her go soundly to sleep before I could get her to stay asleep, and this took several tries. She obviously doesn't feel great, and we're a little concerned - this morning she woke up hungry, ate a small jar of baby food prunes, carrots and formula, then proceeded to lose it -- all over me, the bed and herself. She is also feeling a little warm and acting congested. We're going to see about having a doctor take a look at her tomorrow. It's too late to go now. Many of the other babies are also congested and have been to the clinic on the 3rd floor of the White Swan. It seems like they have all been given a prescription for antibiotics. Jim and I are pretty conservative with antibiotic use because of the potential for antibiotic resistance and it concerns me that the clinic is prescribing antibiotics for everyone. One other thing that concerns me is that I noticed a very large boil on her hips/butt when I stripped her down for her bath. I hadn't noticed it during diaper changes because she hates to lay flat and I'd tried to be as quick as possible. It doesn't seem to bother her, even when I touch it. In any case, neither the congestion or the boil is affecting her sleep. She sleeps 8-12 hours a night -- straight through. Tomorrow we go to the medical screening needed to get her visa. Shasha is taking us in 2 groups and we are going in the second group. We'll meet her at 10:30 on the first floor lobby. I'm glad to be going later, it's a struggle to get all three of us up, dressed and fed in any sort of reasonable time frame.