Day 1 - Hong Kong to Nanning

Best thing about the Hong Kong airport? Luggage carts! All over the place, including at the arrivals area, the departure area and the gate areas. All free and it makes it so easy to handle your bags. I rolled mine right up to the doors of the airport hotel last night.

I spent a few hours at the airport on Sunday, waiting to leave for Nanning. By the time I got to my gate I was one of only two Western faces. The flight was quick and the plane was bigger than the puddle jumper I took from Columbus to Chicago.

Nanning airport was a shock. I didn't see airport personnel, just military. I found my guide and we took a minivan ride for 45 minutes to the hotel.

My next shock was what greeted me in my room. An empty crib. I think I stared at it all night.

Technology and motherhood do not mix

Technically, it's Thursday, March 1 and BB and I are hours away from beginning our trip home.

But, due to technology issues and the difficulties of doing this excursion alone, I haven't been able to post during our trip. I have been keeping a travel log and taking pictures and videos.

My solution is to post-trip post. You'll get the experience and all the stories, just a little after the fact.

Buckle your seat belts, is was a bumpy ride.

M

Made it to Hong Kong!

15 hours on a plane. Not one of my better experiences (shudder), but I'm here. Flight to Nanning this afternoon.

Time to explore!

M

A little night music . . .

Me, myself, and everything but the kitchen sink are ready to go!

I leave in the morning.  As evidenced by this post, I don't think I'll get any sleep before takeoff.  That might be a good thing; if I'm really tired by the time my flight leaves Chicago I might be able to sleep on the way to Hong Kong!

A little overview of my trip.  I'm flying through Chicago to Hong Kong first.  China is 13 hours ahead of home and it is a 15 hour flight, so I will get in late Saturday, HK time.  Spending the night there, then catching a quickie flight to Nanning.  

Monday is the big day!  Some time around 2AM Columbus time I will meet BB.  She is mine in the eyes of China at that point.  We will spend the rest of the week in Nanning, while China processes their documentation.  Then on to Guangzhou, where we spend another week doing the US paperwork.  On Friday BB will receive her US visa and we begin the long trip home.  Again, first an overnight in Hong Kong, then a long flight to Chicago (where BB becomes an official US citizen!) and a final hop home. 

I share all this with the a few caveats:

• Please keep our travel plans out of Facebook.  I will be posting to the blog only; the rest of the social media universe doesn't need to know.  

• I will be trying to post pictures and information while I'm gone, but there is always a good chance I won't be able to connect.  I promise to do what I can.  

Wish me (and BB) luck!

m

Ready, set, almost GO

The countdown has started!

Even better news arrived today - an update on BB! No new pictures but a more recent height, weight, and development information.

My girl is still small, under 19 pounds, but that's okay with me. All the easier to hold her and cuddle her in her carrier. It looks like the clothes I'm bringing will fit too.

Time to start that packing!

M

Getting lots done

I received Travel Approval! One huge step accomplished. On Monday my agency will request my American Consulate appointment. As soon as I have the date of the appointment confirmed I can book my travel.

Still waiting for my Visa; GW isn't moving fast enough for me on that one.

My fab mommy gang came over today to help with the final baby proofing. Susan's husband Sam even installed a baby gate and moved furniture! So great!

I spent evenings last week scanning, copying, and printing necessary documents for the trip. Still need to figure out using the Cloud, and Skype too.

So little time left yet it feels like it will never get here!

M

Strange coincidences

People talk in the IA and A communities about how in adoption, the right child finds the right parent. Call it fate, divine intervention, or what you will – it seems there is a greater hand in this process.

I’m a big believer and when I feel that tug of influence or coincidence I take notice. I’ll tell you BB’s future name is influenced by what seemed like weird similarities that happened early on in my adoption journey (I’m not sharing her name until we return from China).

Ever since I started this blog, I’ve referred to her as BeachBaby or BB. I was sitting on the beach when that moment of certainty about motherhood came over me. I love the beach, any beach – the ocean is my place. Heck, I chose that funky picture of me on the beach as my blog photo.

So is it fate that BB comes to me from an orphanage in a coastal community in China? Is it coincidence that she’s spent her entire life about two blocks from the ocean, perhaps able to hear its waves every morning? I think not. I think she really is my BeachBaby.

Sadly, she’s going to leave that warm beach town and end up in Ohio. In March. Brr.



Here is the latest update:

·I am waiting on paperwork – waiting and waiting. Travel Approval, Visa application, and renewed fingerprints are out pending processing. You’d think after 5+ years of waiting I’d be good at this. Nope.
·The nursery is done, save finding new knobs for her vintage dresser.
·All of the wonderful clothes my mommy friends have handed down to me have been sorted and put away. BTW – the child has 9 pairs of jeans. She’d better not grow too fast!
·I’ve bought most of the items I’ll need for the trip and the suitcase is in the staging area (aka the dining room table).
·I’m still looking for the right daycare; she will be just shy of 18 months when I go back to work so that opens up additional childcare centers that only start at toddler age.
·Prepping to interview pediatricians, although she will have a super physical at the IA clinic at Nationwide Children’s right after we return from China.
·I have most of the necessary gear (car seat, stroller, carrier) but I’m still baby-proofing the house.
·According to my mommy gang, I don’t have enough toys. I argue that I’d like to see how she reacts to the ones I take on the trip before I get too many at the house. I’ve been advised to forgo toys with loud sounds and flashing lights at first – they might be too scary.
·I am re-working the care package. I did have a blanket that I unwrapped and slept with for a few days, hoping to trigger some sense-memory on Gotcha Day, but that can’t be sent because it is “used”. I put together a little soft album for her with pictures of her new family and home.
·I’m reading and re-reading my parenting and adoptive parenting books. I’ve gotten the most out of, get this, the Baby Owner’s Manual and Toddler Owner’s Manual by Dr. Borgenicht, et al. The books are short and to the point, with simple diagrams (change a diaper, burp the baby, configure a nursery). Goofy, but actually a great help. They are small enough to take on the trip too.

That's all for today. Keep thinking those good thoughts!

M