A Day for Doctors Visits, First Words and a Kiss!

Today was the day for our Chinese doctor appointment. We walked about 4 or 5 blocks in the rain and muggy heat. It felt like Birmingham (actually more like Miami or Cuba, that's how close to the equator we are). At the medical clinic, we took turns getting into three lines. One line checked baby's temperature, weight and height, etc. - we checked in at a wonderful 28 pounds. My biceps are feeling pretty strong these days. Pat is taking his turns carrying her. I just can’t keep it up. We finally got a stroller and she loves it and actually gets upset when it is time to come out. This girl likes to be on the go. She will fit in very well at our house. The second line is for ENT. She has beautiful teeth, she can hear a squeaking toy and yes, she does have two eyes -check. Not sure how useful that part was, but onto the third line for the Dr's exam. The Dr. studied Hadley's medical record provided by the orphanage and then poked on Hadley some. There was a long discussion between the Dr and our guides, Lily and Rebekah, regarding her Erb's palsy. It seems there was never a record of her shoulder damage on the original medical record. That information was added into her profile for Lifeline after the medical record was sent out to the CCAA, I suppose. Anyway, the encouraging news is that the Dr. said her right arm functioned equally to her left arm. She made us change the record stating the reason for her special need status was "birthmarks." Hadley handled this prodding like a champ. Most of the children did. We were amazed. There were few tears to be heard.

We went back to the hotel for lunch and then up to the room for nap. Mama and Hadley would nap while Daddy would go do paperwork to prepare for our consulate appointment and confirm all information for our trip HOME !!!! Hadley was sad to come back into this strange hotel room. We had not had many smiles yet today. I held her close a few minutes and she fell asleep with about 6 minutes of crying and big tears. She has enjoyed having her pooh bear from her Foster Parents' home today. What a blessing from the Lord, far beyond what we could have hoped or imaged, that we would be given something of hers to take with us. She slept her normal two hour nap but woke up crying and ready to see her Daddy. We can tell she was very attached to her foster father. We know he did spoil her for those 6 months but Jane mentioned that he probably did not work outside the home. He was home helping care for the 5 sometimes 6 kids that they had from the orphanage. He was very fond of her, that was for sure, and the feeling was mutual. This information has been great for us because she has taken to Pat so well. On the other hand we have had to be very careful that she does not get too many needs met by him during this attachment phase. She must see me as her primary care giver alone (the one who feeds her, changes her clothes , helps her potty, gets her to sleep---the basic level need issues). If she does not, she will go through great sadness all over again when he goes to work. There have been a few times when she has resisted me going to pick her up and pulled back toward Pat. We have gulped and quickly pulled back the reins on how much he was doing. This is hard for Pat but he knows it is essential for her. We wish our Daddy could stay home to help me raise our 4 children but that is not possible in America.

Pat came in the door after nap and snack and play time and I got to tell him Hadley's first English words "rain and shoes" and that I got Mamma's first kiss. I hate the camera didn't capture that one. She was happy again. She had taken her dress off for nap and we had slipped her night gown back on. Before I could redress her she ran around in just her panties giggling. Every baby loves to be as naked as possible. We spent a lot of time today going over her family book of pictures and showing her pictures of Gracie, Cole and Sam. Gracie and Cole spoke to her over the phone tonight for the first time, she was still (for the most part). It did our hearts good to know our daughter was hearing their voice, the ones who had prayed so fervently for her from the first time they saw her picture.

We went to dinner with our group tonight to a Thai restaurant that was suggested by Lily. It was great. Pat and I realized it was the most food we had eaten since we left the states. It felt good to finally be full. We did some shopping on our walk back home and picked up our laundry. For those of you old enough to remember the ad on TV, all I could thing about as I opened the clear paper so nicely wrapped around our fresh clothes was "ancient Chinese secret, huh?" We came home, played a little more, called our kids as previously mentioned and got our sweetie to sleep in her bigger bed. She slept better only a few tiny cries through the night and I think that was due to her blanket coming off. I slept better. I didn't wake up until 4am, yippee. We have a full day of shopping ahead of us today. Gracie girl, I wish you were here for shopping with the girls. Cole, we are still on the look out for that dragon shirt and Sam, we are looking for something for you that you can play with and not injure anyone else (maybe a marshmallow sword?). We love you and will write more soon.