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We're Home
Home, Sweet Home! |
October 2007
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November 2007
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Monday, August 27, 2007
HOME, SWEET HOME!
What a journey it was! Let’s see. . . at 2:00am, just 3 hours
before we were to depart our hotel, Zachary began vomiting
violently! We managed to make it to the airport in Guangzhou,
despite the typhoon-driven weather mess, and were waiting on the
runway to take off when Zach again vomited repeatedly all over
himself and Eric! Eric tried to clean up as best he could with
diaper wipes, but we still had about 30 hours of travel ahead of
us, and the smell was not good!
We made it to Hong Kong, and in searching for the proper
check-in desk for our international flight, we ended up on the
wrong end of the airport and had to make a 20 minute walk in the
opposite direction to find the United transfer counter! (Keep in
mind that we had 4 carry-on bags, a fussy baby, and a 5-year-old
who could barely walk because he was so ill.) As Meghan screamed
for a bottle (we had no hot water), and Zach continued to vomit
into the few Ziploc bags I had packed, Eric finally appeared
with our boarding passes and informed me that our assigned seats
were spread out on the plane, from front to back and on opposite
sides! More bad news! Thankfully, we were able to purchase (for
an arm and a leg) economy plus seats that placed us two-and-two
in consecutive rows before we left for America!
Throughout the first half of our flight from Hong Kong, Zach’s
condition continued to deteriorate to the point where we were
prepared to stay in San Francisco and seek medical attention for
him! But God is so good! Our prayers were answered, and Zach,
after sleeping through the second half of our 13 hour flight,
woke feeling better and able to walk off the plane himself!
Meghan spent the majority of the flight letting everyone “know”
she was on board! Those around us were extremely tolerant and
sympathetic!
At 10:13am (Pacific time) in the US Border Police Entry Point at
San Francisco International Airport, Meghan Grace XiaoSheng
officially became a citizen of the United States of America!
What an extraordinary moment, one I again covered with many
tears of joy!
We spent a five hour layover stretching our legs, allowing
Meghan to move around, getting cold drinks WITH ICE, and gearing
up for the final leg of our journey! (Ethan was even able to
enjoy those much-missed BK fries and a burger while we waited!)
After convincing Eric to board one last “big metal tube,” we
were bound for Baltimore! Meghan did great through this entire
flight! And we were blessed to be seated near some awesome
people! A wonderful lady sat right next to Meghan and me. She
was so thoughtful and generous about letting us up to walk
around and allowing me to use her seat to change Meghan’s
diaper. The flight attendants were helpful and made a big fuss
over Meghan, which she just loved! And in keeping with the
“nothing has been a coincidence throughout our adoption journey”
theme, a super, kind gentleman was seated right behind us – it
turns out that he and his wife are waiting to adopt a precious
child from China as well! I was thrilled to be able to share
Meghan’s story with him. We wish this dear family God’s
blessings as they look forward to being united with the perfect
daughter He has planned for them! |
A rare, “no tears” moment in the carseat
Cruisin’ the kitchen
Getting some love from Nana
Big brothers are off to school!
(as Mommy snaps photos and
reaches for the tissues)
“Ohana means family;
family means nobody gets left behind.
Or forgotten.”
~Lilo, in Disney’s Lilo and Stitch |
What a great feeling it was to
finally touch down at BWI! Our homecoming was made that much
more special, as we were welcomed at the terminal exit by Nana,
Pap-Pap, Grammy, Aunt Sue, and Cousin Linda! Of course, the
baggage carousel was jammed, and we were delayed another
45minutes waiting for our checked bags, but we used the time to
catch up with our dear families and to introduce Meghan to a few
more of her adoring fans!
The past few days have been a blur! Although we are still
exhausted and have not yet begun to feeling a sense of normalcy
here at home, Meghan has transitioned her sleep cycle perfectly!
She sleeps through the night, an unfamiliar phenomenon here! She
spends each day crawling all over the house, exploring room by
room, and finding things that can serve as suitable teethers!
She especially loves unloading the silverware basket from the
dishwasher, putting her hands under running water in the
bathtub, yanking on electrical cords, and trying to open the
cabinet doors. She hasn’t really discovered the stairs yet, but
look out when she does! This girl is a “feisty one,” as the
pediatrician put it!
Meghan endured her first physical examination this morning, and
she handled it beautifully! She was all smiles for the nurses
and office staff, and the pediatrician felt that she was a
healthy girl! He was very pleased with her progress in the two
weeks since we were united, and he was impressed with her social
skills and the great eye contact she made! He advised us to
begin gradually transitioning her to whole milk, to work on
teaching her to use a sippy cup (She will only chew on the side
of the lid for now.), and to make meal time as fun as possible
so that she can begin to meet her caloric and nutritional needs
with a variety of solid foods, rather than with formula alone.
Introducing solids is still proving to be quite the challenge!
Meghan refuses the spoon, spits out all finger foods, and gags
on anything solid that we can actually get into her mouth. The
pediatrician suggested that we allow her to lick sweet foods
from our fingers or from mesh bags, just to get her interested
in eating. A two day supply of the formula we purchased in China
remains, and we are feeling quite anxious about how we are going
to convince our daughter to eat or drink anything else!
Meghan also received multiple vaccinations today, and her poor
little leg is now swollen and sore. (She won’t even stand on
it!) We have a long list of blood screens to complete in the
next few days, and we are praying that all her test results are
normal too!
Adequate words do not exist to describe the immense joy Meghan
has brought to our family. Her smile just lights up our home!
Her resilience, her curiosity, her sweet spirit, and her
determination are remarkable! There is no doubt that God’s
perfect plan led us to our perfect daughter! Our hearts are
filled with so much love and gratitude, and our lives are
complete because we are together, right where we were meant to
be!
Please check back in the coming weeks for more in The Story of
Meghan . . .
Much love,
Eric, Renee, Ethan, Zach, and Meghan |
Web site by
myadoptionwebsite.com
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