Last update before leaving for the airport

Guestblogging for Stacey......received this email earlier today. They have already left for the airport and will be back in Chicago tomorrow May 1st!

I can't remember where I left off on the last update, but in between things were bad, then worse, then better. Just as I was feeling better with the crud yesterday, Dan came down with it. He felt bad that he told me to "suck it up" yesterday after his fever hit. However, he's feeling much better this morning. Let's hope his fever is gone before we get to O'hare--especially with this swine flu thing.

The newbie is great and up to her stinkery ways. We gave her a bath this afternoon and changed into our traveling clothes. Of course, the newbie had a huge poop all over herself and Dan's clean jeans. So we've all changed and I put extra clothes for all in the carry on. She's gone from wearing size 2 diapers to size 3's while we are here.

Tuesday/Wednesday morning update

Guestblogging for Stacey....received this email this morning.

Well, I found out why I was so hot yesterday (Tuesday), it was 101 degrees in Ethiopia. Also, I have a raging head cold/sinus infection. I feel like the doctor at the care center-- antibiotics for everything. I have a z-pack on board this morning, so I should feel better tomorrow.

There was intermittent water supply yesterday, but no power, so I could not send an update. I got a shower during the 10 minute window after the power outage, but Dan was not so lucky. He didn't get a shower, but did do some laundry for us. For some inexplicable reason, I did not pack enough socks.

Tuesday morning was spent hanging out. Yesterday, the newbie drank about 6, 6 oz bottles and ate some baby food. Monday night she slept from 7:30 p.m. until 4:30 am, drank an 8 oz bottle, and went back to sleep until 8:30. Last night, she slept all the way through from 8:30 until about 7 am. I was up and down last night and took a second nyquil at 4 am. I slept in this morning, but still feel like crap.

Yesterday, we spent about 2 hours at the embassy. Everything went very smoothly! The embassy worker was totally laughing at the newbie's birth certificate photo, and wanted us to hold her up to the window to check out her big eyes. One of the questions is whether or not the child we were referred, and clearly yes, she was the same girl as the one in the photo.

The newbie was a joy yesterday again, except that she refused to sleep. She only took a 45 minute nap. She was too interested in eating and observing everything that was going on. Still lots of raspberries and smiles.

Last night we went to Metro Pizza again. It is close by and the only place that has cool drinks. Since the power goes out frequently, we are left drinking warm pop and warm water most of the time. A cold local beer, St. George, is 10 birr or 1 US dollar. Brick oven pizzas are 55 birr or $5.50. We've been there three times so far.

Today, we've been hanging out at the guest house. We just had a hair braiding lesson and are going shopping this afternoon. The newbie is a little cranky. All this food has messed up her poop schedule. She had an adult sized poop yesterday that frankly scared me. Otherwise, she's been great.

I'll try and send another update at the end of the day.

Going away party at care center and newbie in our care

Guestblogging for Stacey.....this is the update for Monday, April 27th

Today started with chanting at 5 am from the Ethiopian Orthodox Church nearby. I've been able to go back to sleep most mornings, but this time, it was louder and longer. Apparently it was a big feast day, the day of St. Gabriel. When I went downstairs, another parent was already there and we were joined by another parent soon thereafter. At least I wasn't alone at 5 am. Dan, of course, was snoring away.

We stopped to buy Ethiopian formula (mostly sugar) in the morning and went to the care center for a going away party for the kids. It was really poignant. The nannies there do really love our kids. There were prayers and they make a copy of each of the kids' hand prints. One really sad/hopeful thing is that the bigger kids in the orphanage participate in the ceremony. I think it is nice to give them an opportunity to say goodbye to their friends, but I wonder how hard it is for some of them who have not received a referral for a forever family.

The newbie was in true form. She was happy to see us and very observant. We tried to feed her at the care center, but all she would do is make raspberries and spit the food back at Dan. Back to the guest house and an experiment with a bottle. Most of it ended up on Dan. We switched to a cup and then got some into her.

The newbie and I took a great sweaty nap today. At first she would not fall asleep, she was so excited to be with us. She was so smiley today, bouncing in the Bjorn, laughing and giggling. What a difference a few days and some IV fluids makes!

We think maybe she has bedbugs or scabies, so we creamed her with the cream, and we'll see if she looks better tomorrow. I have refrained from spraying everything with the anti body lice stuff and hopefully we won't get it.

She did eat some cereal and carrots today, and boy is she a messy eater! I clearly didn't bring enough bibs--especially since there is a lot of drool going on.

Sadly, my asthma is flaring because of the pollution and the dust and the diesel fumes on our trip yesterday. I'm trying to hold off on the oral meds (I'm using my inhaler), since they make it difficult to sleep and that is hard enough here.

After we had the newbie back at the guesthouse, I had a low moment. I was so tired and hot and I just wanted to go home. The newbie also spit up all over the last clean pair of gauchos I had.

It's pretty hard to take care of a baby with no hot water and sometimes no electricity. And, we can't leave the windows open (no screens) or the doors (roving packs of stray cats and dogs). Yes, the electricity was off today. Not that it makes a difference--no ac anyway, but at least with the electricity the water is cold or hot. I just wanted to cry. But I sucked it up and we went to the other guest house for dinner.

Things are better now. The newbie is a joy, even if Dan is totally hogging all of my snuggles. He's determined to make this one a Daddy's girl. With a little sleep this evening, I think things will be better in the morning.

Tomorrow afternoon is the Embassy appointment for the visa. Laundry is a priority in the morning.

Trip to Hosana & meeting the newbie's birthmother

Guestblogging for Stacey....received this email this afternoon.

Sunday--

Today was the trip south to meet the newbie’s birthmother. I was a little worried about the morning since we needed to report to the bus at 6 am, and we went out last night for Ethiopian food and dancing. Compared to the restaurant we went to the last time, this one was a cheesy Ethiopian Appleby’s or TGI Fridays. When I ordered a glass of tej (honey wine) last night, they brought me a bottle & Dan and I could not let it go to waste. Needless to say, we have some great pictures of the evening. The group now thinks I’m a lush. One good thing about the tej, though, it doesn’t seem to give you a hangover.

The drive to Hosanna was 3.5 hours, give or take, with no bathroom breaks. I have some good pictures and some really fuzzy ones. I missed the camels (asleep) and the baboons (couldn’t see them in the trees). We did see some Ethiopian runners training, though.

The road was paved, but we had several close calls with goats, cows and people crossing the road It was pretty bumpy at times, but the temperature was pleasant with the windows open.

I did make one wrong move--I waited to apply the insect repellant after we stopped, so all the dust stuck to my damp legs. T, if you are reading, we wore the water soluble deet on our arms and legs and necks, and I sprayed the 98% deet a bit on my skirt. No worries.

All I will say about meeting the newbie’s birth mother is that she is a very strong and brave woman. The rest is the newbie’s story to tell when she is older.

We had an emotional entrustment ceremony with all the birthmothers and families from our group and a traditional coffee ceremony as well. On the way back, we stopped at a school our agency is sponsoring and a traditional hut. Then it was 3.5 hours back to the guest houses.

We took a brief trip to the supermarket --kind of like a rustic 7-11-- for coffee and baby cereal. The place is very interesting. They have a deep freezer filled with whole frozen fish near the Cheerios.

For dinner we went to Metro pizza again. I never expected to see a brick oven in Ethiopia, but here we are.

Today I was grateful for the support of our travel group. We were really lucky to end up with a truly wonderful group of people. We all get along and everyone has been very supportive.

Tomorrow, we have a good-bye ceremony and we take the children into our care. That should be very interesting. Back to diapers for us tomorrow. Oh, and sleeping with the newbie in between us on the double bed that we can’t move or it collapses.

Big smiles & raspberries :)

Guestblogging for Stacey....received this email earlier today.

I just have a minute before we go to dinner and dancing at an Ethiopian restaurant. We spent the morning at the care center with the newbie and she recognized us! Big smiles and raspberries. Then it was off to the agency office to see a video of background information on the newbie, and it was very emotional. We met with her nanny, her social worker and her doctor. Then it was back to the care center for a bit, lunch and then shopping! I have looked everywhere for a purple dress for Doodle and I just can't find one. We did find her a purple Ethiopian shirt, though. We were the power shoppers of the group and ran out of birr.

I'll write more later but all is well. The updates have been sparse, since the computers were on the fritz...oh and the toilets didn't work this morning.

Baby bonding time and sights around Addis

Guestblogging for Stacey.....this is the update for Friday, Apr 24th.

Today was a great day! We hung out with the newbie at the care center for a couple of hours this morning. She is much better! The weird rash thing didn’t spread, and another child has a few similar spots, so now we’re thinking it is a non-specific care center rash or some type of bed bug or other bug bite. They cleaned all of the care center bedding today, so if it was the bed, it should be better now.

The newbie actually smiled and laughed with us today. She likes to be swung around gently as if she is flying. She is really babbling, and can blow raspberries. She’s watching our mouths when we talk and trying to make the same sounds. The newbie’s also a fan of Dan. If he walks away, she follows him with her eyes.

Today the newbie actually ate the baby food like stuff we fed her--actually, I should say, she tried to feed herself. She grabbed onto the spoon and wouldn’t let go, so we put our hands over hers and tried to guide the spoon. All three of us were covered by the time she was done, since one had to hold her up (she’s not sitting on her own yet) and the other fed her. Thankfully, another family in our travel group thought to bring wipes, so we wiped most of the goop off of us. It was great to see her have a wonderful appetite.

The newbie took her morning nap in the sling on my chest. She had a hard time falling asleep since she wanted to keep watching us. Then, when I put her in her crib for the afternoon nap, she cried. So I rocked her to sleep again. She’s clearly attaching to us and we are falling in love.

At lunchtime, we visited a local supermarket. I had to buy some hair care products since the newbie has way more hair than I thought she would. Look out Moobear, she’s going to be sharing your hair product stash! We bought some baby cereal (mostly sugar), too so we can start mixing it with American cereal. Hopefully, she won’t reject it. Most of her diet is sugar. The formula here is filled with sugar, and her afternoon snack is pureed fruit mixed with sugar and water.

After lunch and the supermarket, it was off to some humanitarian projects sponsored by our agency. The most interesting was a maternal and child health center. They deliver about 5 babies a day at the hospital, which has a sliding scale for payment and accepts patients who cannot pay. Only 1.8% of their patients are HIV+. In quality, it probably lies somewhere between the private hospital we went to and the government hospital. If you give birth there and have a vaginal delivery, the cost is about $20 US dollars and you are discharged 6 hours after giving birth. Our tour group actually witnessed a new mom getting into a cab hours after giving birth. It took her four tries to lower herself into the cab.

No pain medication of any kind is given for natural births. They do c-sections under general anesthesia, since they don’t have anyone with the training to administer a spinal and meds are hard to come by. C-sections cost $40 US and you get to stay for 3 days. The hospital was very clean, but sparse. Dan got to put on scrubs and visit the OR, we’ll have to share pictures when we have the capability. I did notice that the hazardous waste containers were cardboard boxes with a small opening with syringes sticking out.

We talked at length with one of the doctors at the hospital. He told us that of his medical school class in 1994, there were 54 students. Fifty men and 4 women. Medical school follows high school and is 6-7 years. Most doctors leave Ethiopia to practice in the States or South Africa or Botswanna.

Medical supplies and drugs are controlled by a government agency, and are sometimes hard to come by. The doctor said that he has been without medicines for the high blood pressure for preeclampsia for 1.5 years. Dan surmises that this is because the life expectancy is low and there are few hypertensive, overweight Ethiopians (many are underweight), so there is little need for medicines for the very few patients that have preeclampsia. More needed are anti-retrovirals which the health center has access to. We were every impressed with the center.

We also visited the National Museum in the afternoon. There they have the skeleton of Lucy as well as some amazing fossils and artifacts which were from the Axum period and before. Some really cool fossils of animals that lived between 3-6 million years ago. There were many items (throne, dress, sword, etc.) from Emperor Haile Selassie. I was stunned that these priceless artifacts were housed in a museum that was not climate controlled. There were signs all over to prohibit flash photography yet there was sunlight streaming in the windows. Many displays had no signs or explanation, and some displays consisted of posters. The artifacts were so cool I wanted to learn more, but there wasn’t much to go on. Security was almost nonexistent. The guard patted down the couple in front of us, but waves us in when he received a call on his cell phone. Admission to the museum was 10 birr or roughly 90 cents.

Our tour guide had the most pride when he was describing the defect of Menelek II, who defeated the Italians at the battle of Adowa. Ethiopia is the only African country not to be colonized by a European power at any time during it’s history.

An odd note, dental care in Ethiopia seems to be nonexistent. Many people are missing teeth, or their teeth are very stained and decayed.

The evening was capped by a visit to a local restaurant for some tej (honey wine) food, and dancing. We went with three other people from our travel group and had a blast. Those cute Ethiopian boy dancers could really move. If they can all move like that, the newbie’s not dating any Ethiopian men until she is at least 20 years old.

Day 3 in Ethiopia

Guestblogging for Stacey.....received this email this afternoon.

Today brought us a day without power and another day when the cell phones were not working. Our agency has some cell phones we can use, but even they were down because they could not be charged. Thankfully, I had taken a shower before the power went out but alas no blow dryer.

The newbie was much better today. You can tell she isn't at full speed yet, but she played with us on the floor, babbled--ba ba ba, da, da da, and had more energy than yesterday. She can roll from front to back and back to front. All good and relieving signs. She does have a rash on her face that is spreading. We are almost convinced it is chicken pox. The care center doctor thinks we are crazy, but I trust Dan's instincts. We should know tomorrow if it has spread to her chest, then it most certainly is chicken pox. That would explain all her troubles, and give me some peace of mind since Dan and I have both had it and the girls had vaccinations. She seems to be getting to know us. This afternoon she would not let us put her down and cried when we left. She is indeed a thumb sucker, but so far no sign of the lazy eye some folks thought she had in pictures. She does love her tongue though, and likes to stick it way out of her mouth.

We spent the morning at the care center today, had lunch and went back for an hour or so. The evening was spent at a big anniversary event for our agency. The event was basically 2.5 hours of speeches followed by a mad dash to the buffet. Dan and I only snagged one skewer apiece, so we went to nearby metro pizza for a much needed beer. We had a great time with another couple who is from Indiana and a representative from the agency.

First meeting -- the full story

Guestblogging for Stacey....she sent me this email with the full story of their first meeting with the Newbie earlier today.

I had hoped and dreamed of how the moment would be when we met our daughter, but it was nothing like we had planned. We though that we were going to tour Addis today, but we found out at midnight last night that our program with the adoption agency began this morning.

Our day began this morning with no water at the Sheraton (I’m really glad we showered the night before when we arrived). The hotel was beautiful, actually embarrassing opulent in the setting. It was very comfortable for the 7 or 8 hours we spent there. No sleeping in on the agency schedule!

Before we left the hotel, we changed some US currency into Ethiopian Birr. Boy, were we glad we did (more later on this).

Our day started at the guest house, eating a quick breakfast, and we were off to our agency’s main office. We went up four flights up to a conference room where we signed two forms and met the social workers for the children. Then it was off to the care center to meet our children.

The care center is a really nice house which used to be a private residence. It was in the “nice” part of town, and had crystal chandeliers. After we took off our shoes and surrendered our camera to the guard, we went inside to wait.

We were the last family to be called. Before they called us upstairs, our social worker told us that the newbie was “a little sick” and that she had “diarrhea.” And so the panic began! This was not how I wanted the meeting of our child to begin. I’m sure as the cameraman filmed us, I had a terrified look on my face. As we walked up the stairs holding hands, I was very nervous. We walked into her room and a nanny was holding her. She looked really sick. The nanny handed her to me and she promptly vomited all over. Dan help her next and we were very worried. She was very dehydrated and listless, no tears, sunken fontanel, the whole bit. She vomited a few more times and fell asleep. We met with the care center doctor, who at first wanted to care for her at the center. But the newbie was not keeping any of the pedialyte down and had a fever. We talked about it, and talked to the doctor and told her that we would pay for a visit to the hospital. About 30 minutes later we were off to a private hospital with a nanny and social worker in tow. The government hospital, apparently has a much longer wait and was in their words “dirty.”

Thankfully, we had birr, because it was 50 birr or $5 US for the doctor to see them. A nurse weighed the newbie and then it was off to see the doctor. Dan was chastised because he gave the doctor the diagnosis and not the symptoms. After about 5 minutes with the doctor, we paid 180 birr or roughly $18 dollars for IV fluids and a dose of anti- nausea medicine. Three hours later, she was keeping pedialyte down and was a much different baby. After a few nice big pees later (Dan cheered, go kidneys!) we were released to the care center. They even did a stool sample and thankfully no parasites. As Dan said, it was the best $25 bucks we spent on healthcare.

We visited her later in the day and she was doing better. Crying and soaked with urine. Hopefully, the trend is up and we won’t get the stomach flu.

If I thought of the worst possible first meeting with our baby, having vomit involved would be at the top of my list. Low and behold, the vomit phobe gets the barfy kid. As Dan said, “she’s our kid.”

So I’m left feeling worried and disappointed. And happy, too. She’s gorgeous when she’s not barfing.

Finally! First meeting with the Newbie

Guestblogging for Stacey.....Thanks to S (who got the early morning call from Stacey & Dan) for relaying the info to me about their day.

Stacey and Dan met the newbie today!! She is absolutely gorgeous! The newbie has also followed the example of her two big sisters -- she barfed on Stacey about 2 or 3 times almost immediately. Clearly, she fits in with the family.

The newbie was visibly dehydrated when they met her at the care center, so Stacey and Dan insisted on taking her to the hospital for fluids. They got a little bit of resistance from the staff and they might have offended the doctor at the care center. Once they got some fluids into her at the hospital, the newbie perked up a bit, cried some tears and peed in Stacey's lap (which was a good sign, because in her dehydrated state she wasn't making either tears or urine). Stacey was able to feed the newbie some Pedialyte and she was able to keep that down. Luckily, they changed some money before they left the Sheraton in the morning. They had to pay the hospital in cash -- about US $25.00.

Stacey sounded happy but exhausted. She's already gone through a whole bottle of Purell today. (If you know Stacey, you know about her pathological fear of vomit.) They missed all of their orientation and touring today while they were at the hospital with the newbie. She thinks that this might have freaked out their travel group members a bit. But the others in the travel group are lovely and have been very friendly and supportive.

They are able to receive text messages, but the Ethiopian government has blocked outgoing texts.

Arrived in Addis

Guestblogging for Stacey....she sent me an email a few hours ago.

We arrived safely in Addis. The Sheraton is gorgeous, and we are to report to the adoption agency's main office tomorrow. This was a surprise as we thought we were going to have the day free. We hope this means we meet the newbie tomorrow. Oh, and the texting got wonky when we entered Ethiopia. Fine in the Sudan, not working in Ethiopia. I'll let you know when it is fixed.

The Adventure Begins!

Instead of getting ready for our big trip, I'm blogging. Probably to avoid the issue for a little while longer. I've been really weepy lately. Worried about the trip, worried about my girls without us, work stress. And now, it's here. Some of it is the normal before a baby stuff-- right before I gave birth to each of the girls, I had this "Oh shit" moment. Thinking that things as they were were pretty great and what in the heck was I thinking changing it all up. Now, there is a lot of worry intertwined with the thoughts of the new life. And this time, I know for sure life is going to change in a fundamental way. Ina way, it's not the change itself I worry about---it's the process. The growing pains of a new family where three of the members arrive jet lagged, and two of the members are coming off of a sugar high the likes of their bodies have ever seen. Not to mention the gifts and super attention of all of the relatives overcompensating for our absence.

And the newbie? Still feels like a theoretical possibility. After years of little disappointments, I've finally succeeded in distancing myself from the process a bit. I think it won't be truly real until they put her in my arms. For the record, I think this is only fair--with the c-sections, Dan got to hold the girls waaay before I did. This time it's my turn. Just my luck, she'll probably puke on me.

I do want to take a moment and thank all of the people who made this adoption possible. In particular, K, S, and T. They hosted a bon voyage party on Saturday for us that was great! It was a nice distraction and a moment to chill before the last minute craziness. They even spoiled my girls, who felt like important big sisters. I would post pictures, but in the madness (and the 5 kids) I totally forgot to take them. Also thanks to R, who accompanied me on my pedicure yesterday and helped talk me down after Dan spent the day at work (a patient died).

Well the first girl is awake this morning, so the race begins!

Auntie Rumi's Guest Post

This is a test. Auntie Rumi will be a guest blogger while we're gone. I'm going to send her updates from Ethiopia. The force is strong with her.

Where in the World are Dan and Stacey?

I've had several requests for our itinerary, so here goes:

Monday: Depart at 4:15 p.m. to Amsterdam, 8.5 hrs on plane, couple of hours of layover

Tuesday: Amsterdam to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, by way of Khartoum, Sudan. Flight to Sudan is a little over 6 hours, another 2 hours or so to Addis from there. Arrive 9:05 p.m. (Ethiopia time). Spend night in Sheraton, Addis.

Wednesday: Tour Addis, try to get acclimated, then move stuff to agency's guest house.

Thursday: Shopping in the morning, Reception for the 5th Anniversary of our agency in Ethiopia.

Friday: Orientation and meet the newbie

Saturday: Morning visit to the care center and time with newbie, brief shopping, dinner and show with traditional Ethiopian dancing.

Sunday: Travel south to Hosana (several hours by van) possible meeting with birth family, return to guest house in evening.

Monday: Morning spent at care center with newbie, afternoon at museums and city sights. Also visit AHOPE and other agency facilities in Addis.

Tuesday: Going away celebration at the care center, receive newbie into our care. Afternoon Embassy appointment, visit to the Hilton Hotel to confirm travel.

Wednesday: Time spent with newbie in our care, hair braiding class in afternoon.

Thursday: Morning cooking class, packing. Depart for airport at 3:00 p.m., 11 p.m. flight to Amsterdam.

Friday, 5 hour layover in Amsterdam, then flight home. Arrive 11:55 Chicago time.

Preparing for Travel

We're confirmed for travel on April 20th. And we're hosting Easter. And work is a disaster. But, things are moving along and we are in good shape.

When I was waiting I was interested in what other families sent to their babies in the care packages. I included a couple of photos in the slide show so the waiters could see.

More later, I've got to prepare for the Bunny.

Tentative Travel Date

Funny, the photo says it all, doesn't it? We have a tentative travel date of April 20th!!! Yikes! We're excited, but since it is just over 2 weeks away, we're freaking out. If any of you out there who have traveled have tips, please leave a comment. At this point, we'll take all the advice we can get.
Oh, and the photo is from the newbie's birth certificate. Fitting, don't you think?