Day 6 - Gotcha Day

Well I had a rough night. I was up vomiting and stomach issues. I got no sleep. Not sure if it was the food or nerves, but at 4 am I was still sick and we were leaving at 9:30 to get AK. At 7 am I called Yisha to get her advice. I continued taking pepto and drinking water. Around 8:45, I felt well enough to get dressed. I could not miss this day.

At 9:30 we left for the registration office. It took about 30 minutes to get there. Traffic is still awful here. Air pollution is worse. We were told the children may arrive at different times due to distance to travel. AK had the furthest to travel.

When we go into the registration office there were already a few babies there. It was the most amazing site to get to watch the families meet their babies. Each baby seemed to handle the situation differently. Some screamed, some did nothing, some seemed happy.

We waited and waited. Finally we were told AK was 2 minutes away. She was the last one to arrive. We got to watch the van pull up and see her being carried by her caregivers to us. Though it was hard to wait, it was perfect. By the time she arrived everything had calmed down which helped me better handle the situation.

At first site, she is beautiful. Her caregivers hand her to me. She did not want to let go of them. She cried some. She held on to the doll we had sent her. After giving her some puffs, she did great. She went to Kevin easily. Then we got our picture made, signed some documents, and headed back to hotel.

AK ate some bananas, crackers, puffs, or everything we offered her. Kevin got her to nap on him and we got some rest. Later I had to go to a paperwork meeting. She had a great day, but was super clinging to us. She had to be held and wanted you to stand up holding her. That gets tiring quickly.

We attempted a bath, but she screamed so we just had a sponge bath. With two layers of clothes in 90 degree heat, we all needed a bath.

She fell asleep while I was holding her, but she did not want to go in the crib. She would not go to Kevin, so I finally got her back to sleep and eased myself into bed. She laid on me with a death grip holding me. About two hours later, I slipped out and she slept by herself on the adult bed.

Overall it was a great day. You cannot imagine what it is like. Although I have a son close to the same age, it is so different.