Our day started early again at 4:45 a.m. We spent the morning enjoying our coffee and reading all of our emails. Hannah and Holly snacked on Pringles. Please note that this is a learned behavior from their Daddy :o) We were able to get Hope to drink a bottle of formula this morning. We were one of the first families to arrive at the breakfast buffet today. It is so nice to see all of the children with their new forever families! We have really enjoyed visiting with the other adoptive families who are staying here at the White Swan hotel. Hope is still not eating solid foods today. She sounds a little more congested but so far has had no fever . We took the girls for another stroll around the hotel grounds and took pictures of all three of our girls on one of the red couches. It has become a tradition for adoptive families to take pictures of their new children sitting on the red couches at the White Swan hotel. Many of the families come here to take these pictures even if they are staying in other hotels. It has also become a tradition for the White Swan hotel to give each adoptive family an American Barbie doll holding a Chinese baby. We received Hope’s Barbie doll the day after we arrived here. After taking the red couch pictures we exchanged some more currency in preparation for Hope’s medical check up and passport processing that is scheduled for this afternoon. All three girls really enjoyed watching the birds in the giant Chinese bird cage located in the lobby on the second floor. We spent the rest of the morning relaxing in our room! I must say that the portable DVD player is one of the best items we brought along on this trip. The girls also enjoy watching some of the Chinese cartoons on the television. We decided to give Hope some Tylenol to help with her cold symptoms and in preparation of the immunizations she would be receiving today. She didn’t like it but we managed to give her a dose anyway! Hope’s teeth are extremely yellow and I am sure have probably never seen a toothbrush! We decided we would go ahead and attempt to clean them. Although she put up a struggle we managed to get her teeth brushed! She didn’t quite know what to think about the taste of the strawberry toothpaste and smacked her lips for several minutes after we were done brushing them. In the afternoon Cordelia and I walked to the medical center with Hope. It is located several blocks from our hotel. Tracy stayed back in our room with Hannah and Holly. We stopped and had Hope’s passport picture taken on the way to the medical center. Upon arriving at the medical center the first nurse we saw thought Hope felt hot and took her temperature with a digital forehead scanner. She told Cordelia that Hope had a fever of 100 degrees. I knew this wasn’t correct because I had just taken her temperature right before we left. Cordelia rushed me into another room and a different nurse checked Hope’s temperature under the arm two different times. Both times she registered a normal temp. Next they weighed and measured Hope. She only weighs 23 ½ pounds with her clothes and shoes on!! Then we were sent to the ENT room. The doctor checked Hope’s hearing by turning on a keyboard that played music to see if she responded to the sound. What a joke! He did look inside her left ear very briefly. Then we were sent into a room where a doctor listened to Hope’s heart and lungs. She pushed on Hope’s tummy and checked her feet. Lastly Hope was given 5 immunizations. Three were given in her thighs and one in each of her arms. She was also given the required TB test. Poor baby!!! Just as soon as we got back from the medical exam our driver met us at the hotel to take us to apply for Hope’s passport. While at the passport office we were given Hope’s official adoption registry papers. The Chinese part of the adoption process is complete now!!! The medical exam and passport application are for the US requirements of the adoption process. We thank you for all of your prayers!!
From China With Love
Ann, Tracy, Hannah, Holly & Hope
