This trip continues to go very well for both us and Miss A. Amelia is a very good sleeper and it has certainly helped with the jetlag and making this trip go smoothly. With our first two adoptions, neither of the kids slept through the night until after we had them for about a week. So this has been a welcomed change.
Not only is Amelia a good sleeper, she is a good eater as well. She likes to snack a lot so we’ve had to slow that up a bit because she started not to want to eat at meals. But she doesn’t seem to be a picky eater and pretty much eats whatever you put in front of her. So far her favorites seem to be watermelon, tomatoes, and ham….oh and of course she loves chocolate and Amber is always sneaking her some when I’m not looking :o)
It is amazing how quickly she has adjusted to being with Amber and I. She seems to really feel comfortable in her surroundings and we are so thankful to her foster family for working with her and the family photo album that we sent ahead of time.
Today we visited her orphanage. I been through several orphanages in China and this one was not much different that what I’ve seen. Amelia was only at this orphanage for 2 months before being sent to New Day Creations in Beijing China. So the staff had not seen Amelia for over a year and none of them remembered her. So this helped with the visit because to Amelia it was just another visit. She really enjoyed seeing all the babies, she really loves children.
While we were waiting in the courtyard for the director to come and greet us we saw a lady come in from the street and she was holding a little baby all wrapped up in a red blanket. The baby had been abandoned and was being brought to the orphanage for placement. I stopped the lady and asked if it was a boy or girl and how old she was, as it was obvious that she was not a new born. She said that it was a girl and she guessed her to be about a month old. The side of her head had been shaved and you could see where she had received an IV (in China, they IV the infants on the side of their heads). There are many reasons why these children are abandoned, and not always is it by choice. Our daughter, Amelia, is a prime example of the heartache that exists for some families in China. If the family is poor and they discover that their child is sick or will require some type of surgery, they are faced with a very difficult decision as parents. Unlike in America, there is no insurance system in place in China. So either you pay for the procedure, or it doesn’t happen. There is no welfare system or any assistance for the poor. Sometimes the best they can do for their child is to give them up and hope that they will receive the medical attention they need through the orphanage.
We were able to visit the nursery where Amelia would have spent her 6th and 7th month of life. There were about 6 cribs per room and they were all special needs children. Some were cleft lip/cleft palate, other were heart babies. One little one was a preemie. They said that she was 2 months old and currently weighed about 7 lbs. She was a beautiful little baby girl, but was she ever tiny. There was a little baby girl with a head full of hair that caught my eye as she sat on the floor in a bouncy seat. I asked if I could hold her and they agreed. She was stunning! As soon as I started to talk to her she smiled from ear to ear and she had a big dimple in her one cheek. I pretended like I was going to tiptoe out of the room with her (as if to take her with me) and all of the nannies started to laugh. I could have taken her with me in a heart beat. Her special need was that the cartilage in her left ear had not formed correctly so it drooped over. She was about 3 months old and they said that they would be sending her file up for international adoption. Please pray that this little one will find the forever family that she so much deserves.
All in all, the children are receiving wonderful care and I’m thankful for the love and care that they gave to Amelia in the short amount of time that she was there.
In case I have not mentioned this in my journal yet, Amelia was transferred to New Day Creations in Beijing China last March. It was there at New Day that she was given the open heart surgery she needed to save her life. I would encourage you to visit New Day’s website to learn more about the life-saving work that they are doing for the orphans of China. They are one of my favorite charities and if you’re looking for a good charity to donate to, where 100% of the proceeds goes to changing the lives of children, then I would encourage you to check out this organization at www.newdaycreations.com/foster You can see all of the children that are currently at New Day and read all about their medical conditions and the type of assistance they have been able to receive.
Tomorrow is our last day in Fuzhou. We will be picking up Amelia’s passport in the afternoon and then flying to Guangzhou which will be the final leg of our journey.
Vickie, Amber, and Amelia
Day 6 --
Today we slept in and had a late breakfast. In the afternoon we went to the gov’t office and picked up Amelia’s Chinese passport. We then checked out of our hotel and headed out for the hour long car ride to the airport. I was a little nervous that our flight would either be delayed or canceled all together because of the storms and fog that we had. But fortunately we were only delayed about 25 minutes.
We landed in Guangzhou and were greeted by our FTIA Guide, Helen. We had Helen as a guide with our last adoption so it was good to see a familiar face. There was another FTIA family waiting there with her as well that had flown in shortly before us. So loaded up the van and off we went to the infamous White Swan hotel. Once we pulled onto the island it felt like we were home because it is such a comfortable place for us. We are really looking forward to these next few days here on the island. Amber is anxious to do lots of shopping, and so am I.
Amelia did really well on the plane and it a good test run for her. Once we got into our hotel room she was in rare form. She was giggling and dancing all around the room. She was really excited to be in this new place. I thought for sure we were going to have a difficult time getting her down to bed, but I gave her a bottle and she got about 3 ozs. down and her little eye lids started to get droopy. Once I laid her down, she was asleep within just a matter of minutes. So Amber and I showered and off to bed we went as well. It was a good day and we are anxious to get started on this last part of our trip.
Thank you for following along on our journey. Please continue to keep all of our family in your prayers.
