Trip to China
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Sunday, August 15, 2010 HERE COMES THE SUN  We woke up to cloudy, overcast sky (well, if you can call it waking up!) We spent the majority of the night awake staring at our daughter to make sure the Motrin did not have any negative side effects, then we were worried about her breathing and of course the huge hives that were now present all over her body. We are currently co-sleeping so she moved all around the bed, throughout the night -- I don't think she got the greatest rest either. She woke up a bit disoriented and we decided to give her some Benadryl. It is bit scary trying to decide what medicines to give her with her heart condition. I now wish we were back in the states. I just want to talk to a doctor and see what is going on in that little body of hers. We are desperate to find out what is causing the hives. We have no clue how to treat her fever other than with medicines. Luckily we are traveling with some parenting pros that can give us some advice on dosage and what to expect after the shots. Apparently this fever can last for a few days...poor baby! We are hoping for her sake the 102 temp starts to subside. There is a Doctor in our hotel that will see patients 24 hours a day so that is an option if she is not feeling better or if her temperature gets worse. That put our mind at ease somewhat. At one point last night we thought we might have to take her to the hospital. We don't even know where the hospital is but I knew we could figure it out if we had to. I felt like we had one foot in our beds and one foot out the door ready to go. Harper looked pretty sick and was not acting like herself. I was starving by breakfast time and the buffet at the White Swan is filled with delicious American food. The funniest thing is that they serve baked beans at breakfast. Every hotel we stayed at so far serves baked beans in the morning and if you ask they say, "Because Americans like beans"! Ha! They also think we like to gorge ourselves on all sorts of sweet breads and pastries...well, that they have right! Todd and I agreed that I should go to the breakfast buffet by myself today since Harper wasn’t feeling well, but I hated to leave her. She is pretty attached to my hip and I felt bad leaving her but I knew I needed a good meal. I left as quick as I could armed with containers and Ziploc bags to bring back food for Harper and Todd. We prepaid for the buffet everyday so I figure I might as well make the most of it. I was so saddened being at the breakfast buffet without Todd and Harper. I was envious to see the other families all eating together and besides a little fever, most kids were doing fine after the medical appointment. I know Harper's fever would break soon but I just was miserable. I found comfort in seeing my new friends though and chatted a bit with them. I went to the buffet, grabbed one of my favorite dishes...French toast! I never ate so quick before in my life! I then gathered some food for Harper & Todd. She loves banana bread, bananas and watermelon and for Todd I grabbed bacon and bread. We had jars of peanut butter back in the room so I know he could make his favorite meal- a bacon and peanut butter sandwich (his dad’s favorite meal which he said he got from Elvis!) I think he will be quite impressed that I remembered! I just could not wait to get back to my room and see Harper. I was fearful that she had been crying and screaming the whole time. I am sure it was only 15 minutes that I was away but it felt like forever. I opened the door and there she was with a smile looking at me sitting on daddy's lap coloring! Her smile then turned to a frown as she was so lethargic and sick. We debated giving her some more medicines but waited a bit. We put her down for another nap while Todd did some final adoption paperwork, then he needed to convert money and finally go to the local 7-11 to pick up some daily essentials like Cucumber Pringles! I would be with Harper cooped up in our room for the majority of the day. It didn't seem that bad of an idea at first but then the day seemed to never end. It was the first time it rained on our trip and the outside looked like how we all felt on the inside. It was pouring rain outside and I just stared out the window wishing we were back in Nanchang. I was just praying Harper would wake up and feel better. I figured I might as well start doing what other mom's do and instead of writing. I got showered and dressed and laid down for a little. The doorbell rang and we had a special delivery. The porcelain we had bought in Nanchang arrived safely to our hotel in Guangzhou. It was so nice to see some pieces of Nanchang here! It was like a ray of sunshine seeing that box. It is so funny what makes you happy on this trip. I guess everything is a bit overwhelming right now and when you actually have a second to daydream you can lose yourself in it! I guess staying busy on this journey really helps the psyche. They keep your schedule packed so you don't have a ton of time to really process everything. Todd was now done with his activities for the day and we were able to finally talk for a bit as we lay half asleep on the couch. Then we heard little Miss Harper and she popped herself up on the bed and was staring at us through the double doors smiling. We hoped she was feeling a little better. She is such a trooper and a very happy baby! She is the only person I know that laughs instantly every time she wakes up! Harper is use to the ear thermometer now so she helps me put it in her ear to check her temperature. It is a far cry to how hard it was just yesterday to check her temperature. This child has a set of lungs! Her temperature was now down to 100 so we will take it! She looked much better. The hives were under control too. They were still there but were going down. We decided we should get out at least for dinner. I was pretty sick of ordering the room service congee and I am sure Harper was too! We were all so desperate to get out of this room. I felt like we were stuck inside for a week. I now know how moms feel when they are stuck in the house all day long. It was exhausting and frustrating to see her sick and to not be able to do much about it. Plus being in hotel room for almost two days was wearing on us all. I needed refuge from this room! The lobby and surrounding areas at the White Swan are so picturesque. It kind of reminds of me a Disney resort. They have fountains, a play room, a Koi pond, big concrete characters the kids can take pictures with, little walkways and bridges, lavish stores and of course the famous red couches that every adoptive child takes a picture on. We decided we would take Harper's picture there after the Oath Ceremony on Tuesday. It was so surreal to be here after reading so many people's stories about the adoption trip. I still couldn’t believe we are here and only have a week to go before we go home. We took some pictures and Harper wasn't much into exploring anything so we went to Lucy's for dinner. For those that are reading this and not adoptive parents Lucy’s is well known as the western restaurant of Guangzhou. Apparently it is similar to a Ruby Tuesday's! I was hoping for some good food. We started our short walk and Harper wanted to get down. I was full of excitement to get out of the hotel and breathe some fresh air so I didn't care if it took us all night to walk a half of block. Right before Lucy's there are a few stores so we peeked our heads in. I found an array of squeaky shoes that I just had to buy and then to the right of my eye I saw some kitty cats chained with collars to the wall. I thought that was rather interesting and wondering if they were for sale or what the deal was but I kept to myself and didn't ask! The only positive thing about the immunizations yesterday is that Harper is still pretty mad at me so she has been going to Todd more and more which gives my sore arms and back a break! The energy was so positive at Lucy's restaurant and every parent was trying to shovel in this new Americanized food into their child's mouth as quick as possible. It was a little loud but it didn’t seem to faze Harper – she loves the noise and busy environment. As Harper made a mess her with her food we looked around and seemed to fit in with all the other toddlers eating. We sat next to another couple that just adopted a baby with cleft lip. She was eating very well, actually more than Harper, and they were the same age. She was so cute. They were so proud of their daughter and she was their first child as well! We asked where they were from and they said, "Allentown, Pennsylvania." I said I had a few friends that live up that way and then we started talking about the city of West Chester and University of Scranton, etc. We felt like we were home once again! The restaurant was really neat for the ambiance but the food...not so good! Harper would not sit still throughout the meal and she won't sit in high chair without screaming her head off. Therefore her food is always on my lap, in my hair and hers!

Harper loves her crayons and pens Little Miss Harper Harper's fever was starting to subside so we were on our way out to dinner! She loves to hold both our hands and walk with us! Outside of the famous "Lucy's restaurant"! The street across from the White Swan. The buildings here are beautiful and the palm trees are abundant! China's coke Harper trying to get out of her high chair! I have about three minutes to shovel food in my mouth before she squirms and screams to get out! The Dragon Riverboat cruise on the Pearl River She scratched herself to sleep...poor baby!

She grabbed for everything on the table. I could barely read my menu without her pulling it away. Our typical conversations with other adoptive parents after they observe her for a second goes something like this: "How old is she?" We tell them her age and then they comment about how active and alert she is. We say, “Yep, we were not expecting this much activity either considering what all the adoption books and international pedestrians told us. Actually we didn't even know if Harper would be able to sit up, let alone stand or walk. We were quite surprised too.” The next question or comment is typically about her hair. I think Harper's hair cut is as popular as Jennifer Aniston's was years ago. Everyone approaches us to talk about her hair and her eyes! Her foster mom was so proud of the hair cut she gave her. We had actually written to the foster mom in a letter (through the orphanage) for her to not cut Harper’s hair because typically they shave the girls' heads. I guess it helps keep the lice and other bugs away plus it makes it easier on the caretakers. Her hair cut is very modern and I have been taking pictures of it at every angle so that the hair dressers back home can replicate it! We left Lucy's and started our stroll back home when we decided to take a look at the Pearl River. There were river boat cruises every night and it was cool to see the boats go by. Some local kids came up to Harper and started talking to her in Chinese. She seemed to welcome the conversation with her smiles and babble talk then waved her hand and shook her head when she was done with them! She definitely knows what she likes and dislikes and has no problem sharing her opinion. Harper wanted to get down and walk around. She grabbed both our hands and off we want. It is so great to have her and be a little family. We walked to a few other shops and enjoyed the evening air. It felt like being on the boardwalk in Ocean City, NJ. Everyone was happy and having a good time. Apparently Guangzhou is also the area where many affluent native Chinese people flock to for a quick vacation. With the slow-down of international adoptions, some of the shops have closed and others remain open but with low sales. Each shop has something special they are known for. One shop called Jordan's makes a calligraphy sign with the new American name in Chinese for free. Since the name Harper has two syllables there were two characters. One meant "charming" and the other "endearing". I love the fact that everything stands for something here! I feel our country moves so quick that no one attaches meaning to anything. Everything can be discarded or thrown to the waste side! Here everything matters -- even a tiny piece of paper or food. We knew it was time to go back and put Harper to bed as she began to scratch her back and arms. Back in our room we undressed her and there were those stinking’ hives again. This time they were all over her belly and back. We sprayed the Benadryl, then used the Hydrocortisone cream and hoped they would go down soon. We switched to soy formula and are hoping that might make a difference since 99% of Asian kids are known to have an allergy to milk. I am guessing this is a strong reaction to the shots but only time will tell. We definitely feel like a dark cloud is hanging over our heads here in Guangzhou due to Harper's hives and fever. As I was thinking about the emotional toll the past two days have had on us all, I looked down at the shirt I put on Harper today. On the shirt, there was a cloud with a plus symbol, then a sun, and an equal sign which had a rainbow next to it. How perfect was that shirt for today! It was exactly what the weather was like and how our day turned out to be! We tried to make Harper as comfortable as possible before bed. She was feverish and scratching like crazy. I was wishing that was the last we saw of the clouds and the rain on this trip and that the sun would be out tomorrow. As I was rocking her to sleep the George Harrison song “Here Comes the Sun” just kept playing in my mind: Little darling, the smiles returning to the faces Little darling, it seems like years since it's been here Here comes the sun, here comes the sun And I say it's all right Sun, sun, sun here it comes Little darling, I feel that ice is slowly melting Little darling, it seems like years since it's been clear Here comes the sun, here comes the sun And I say it's all right

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