Today we flew into Nanchang, Jiangxi. After a hair raising bus ride from the airport to the hotel we had just a few hours before the babies were to arrive. We found out during a group meeting that they had a 7 hr train ride that day from Ruijin to Nanchang. We got to the Galactic Peace at 2:15pm and had an hour to get somewhat unpacked before our first meeting, giving us all of the details about the "gotcha" moment and the schedule for the rest of the evening and week to come. We also found out we wouldn't have to go to the Provincial Welfare Office to pick up the babies after all. They were going to bring them to us at our hotel! So, after the hour-long meeting we all went back to our rooms to finish preparing for the girls' arrival. Having never baby-proofed ANYTHING, it was fun trying to baby-proof a hotel room that has NO storage space! Nothing like having your underwear staked for all to see! The next hour and a half went much more quickly than we expected, for sure. Before we knew it, it was 5:45pm and we took the elevator from the 11th floor (our room is 1106)to floor 3 and made our way to conference room 6 where...it was still dark! No one was there! We turned to go walk around a bit more and ran into our new friends, Sally and Sean Powell from Irvine, CA. They had tried the room as well. We stayed in the lobby area and some other families joined us and we chatted nervously as we waited for our guides to come down. All of a sudden from the stairwell we heard a baby cry. We all perked up and saw all of the babies emerge from what seemed like no where. We all began to cry, shake...you name it, we were doing it and feeling it. All of the girls had on one of 2 outfits and most seemed pretty content. We scanned the babied looking for Abby and we're ashamed to say we're bad parents and we couldn't pick her out for sure. We were pretty sure she was the one standing all on her own, but we couldn't be sure as we were hurried into our conference room to get the babies 1 at a time. They went in alphabetical order so we received Abby 4th. Well, as soon as the first baby began crying as soon as she was handed over we all knew that this didn't bode well. And as each girl was handed over they immediately burst into tears (with only 1 exception of our friend's the Powell's little Caroline, she was happy as a clam!). When our name was called David had a hard time even walking to the end of the conference room and Sara had silent tears streaming down her face. We were handed a good sized baby girl with a nasty cold...we're talking plenty of green stuff oozing from her tiny little nose and chapped face. She began to cry and we just took her to the side and rocked her and her "nanny" for the day helped us by handing her a bottle she obviously had been drinking from all day. This was some comfort to her, but as we headed back to the room she cried and whimpered on and off. What she did to show us how upset she was, was to try to push us away and try to wriggle out of our arms a bit. We got her up to the room and began to peel the layers of clothes off of this sweaty, upset baby. At the end of it all she was wearing 3pairs of pants, a t-shirt, 3 sweaters and a thick sweat-outfit. We have a photo of all of her clothes -it's impressive! Under it all she's actually a bit bigger than we expected. She does seem to favor Sara over David as she acts a little like she might be afraid of him...but when he gave her her first bottle of formula, she was very content to let him hold her...for the 3 minutes it took her to finish 4 oz! We immediately made another and Sara gave her this one and as she finished it she fell asleep in her mother's arms. It was the perfect moment for sure. Unfortunately we all had to take the babies back downstairs at 8:00 for our registration meeting. Abby wasn't too pleased to be woken up for photos! But again was calmed by walking and getting away from the other screamers. We were told it'd be good for her cold to give her a warm bath which her foster family says she really enjoys. Maybe she will when she knows us a little better! She wasn't the happiest camper for her first bath with us, but after we wrapped her in a big, fluffy yellow towel she was very content to snuggle with David. We laid her on the bed after that bit of cuddle time to put her into some new P.J.s and Sara gave her some kisses on her neck and cheek which brought out a few tiny smiles! We were thrilled! But she was so tired we got her dressed (she IS long-legged, by the way! Even the 9 month P.J.s are either just right or too short, but fit or are loose everywhere else.) and she passed out on Sara's chest. As we write this she's snuggled in our bed where she will most likely spend the night, as that is where she's slept for the past 12 months of her life. It's hard to believe she's here and she's not leaving! We received a beautiful letter from her foster family telling us how much they love her and were heartbroken to see her go, but were also so happy that she has a new family to love and care for her forever. They also left us an e-mail address and phone# asking for updated photos of her when we can. It is so comforting to know how much she's been loved for the first year of her life. The letter also mentions what an extrovert she is and that she can be quite naughty! She's her mother's daughter for sure!
There is so much more to write but we're exhausted and know the next 17years of our lives we'll be wishing we slept more. We sign off tonight as a family of 3...all of us scared, overwhelmed and at the end of it all, pretty content that all is right with the world!
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