China continued

So sorry to have kept you waiting. I've been hoping for creative inspiration to fall on me...oh well. Over these last couple of weeks emails have been going back and forth at the rate of 10-15 a day planning a Hunan Sisters Reunion this summer. It looks like we have have the reunion just up the road in Scottsdale, Az but many are strapped for cash this year...so we are looking for a "sponsor" if you know anyone...LOL.

This was our hotel in ChangSha. But first, I need to tell you about our experience at the Chinese hospital before I go on with our travels. On the first evening we got our girls, our neighbors came over to say their daughter had fever, sweats, and "something" in her diaper. I encouraged them to give her tylenol, which I just happened to have, and to tell our guide. The very next morning as Brandt was getting Annie ready for her first bath, I heard from the bathroom: "Ah, Lisa, I think you need to see this.....this....um, diaper thing." He was pretty calm about it (or just plain shocked). First of all, I am a pediatric nurse. Had been for about 15 years at the time. Nothing you can show me would shock me. Except when the stuff in the diaper IS MOVING!!!!!!!!!!!!!! OH MY GOSH PUT IT AWAY AND I MEAN NOW!!!!!!!!! I can still see it like it was just this morning...and I only saw it for about half a second before I ran. It was a reflex I guess.

I dressed myself and walked right to our guide's room right there and then and said Annie needs to see a doctor and it needs to be NOW.......um, please.

So the two familes bonded over "parasites" and we've remained bonded to this very day. We went to the hospital in a TINY taxi in the rain. The 3 of us crowded in the back seat of a bug, with our guide in the front seat. Off we went to this big hospital in the city. It was OLD. The hallways were really wide, with old wooden chairs lining each side and people sitting in the chairs. There were rooms all down the hall, where the patients were examined. We got some looks from the people as we walked down the hall and right in to one of the rooms (thank you Mary!) We were seen by a sweet OLD Chinese lady "doctor". She had one of those silver "light" things on her head, you know like they used to wear in the olden days-Marcus Welby MD? Her stethoscope looked it might have been 50 years old...gosh she looked like she was in her 70s, about 4 1/2 feet tall, with her little white coat. After an exchange in Chinese with Mary she took a look in Annie's eyes, mouth and ears and said in Chinese...where did she come from? Mary told her the name of the orphanage, to which she replied loudly (in Chinese of course)...

"I TOLD THOSE PEOPLE THESE GIRLS HAD WORMS

2 MONTHS AGO!!"

Then said in English:

"You need killing worm medicine".

OK, no kidding. I had planned my trip in advance...got numerous doctors' advice and then brought many things with me in my medical bag...head lice shampoo, anti-nausea, anti-diarrhea meds, even antibiotics and syringes in case I needed to give shots...but did I remember my "killing worm" medicine....heck no.

Lesson learned.

We then proceeded with our prescriptions at the pharmacy on the other side of the hall....Lordy mercy it was something like I've never seen. AND, I am so sorry to say I have no pictures. Once again in times of stress, I go and forget BOTH the camera AND the killing worm medicine. Where was my mind?

Mary proceeded to barge right up to the window (which looked somewhat like a bank teller, behind glass). People in China do not form lines. They just barge right up...past little old ladies (probably getting her chemotherapy medicine), big sumo wrestlers, you name it. Then they just stick their prescriptions under the window repeatedly until someone grabs it....DING DING you're the winner!! Anyway, all I could think of was how much were they going to take the American's for. Seems to me for 3 different medicines came to just under $7. One was "white digestion tablets" (looked like Tums to me) since Annie's diet was probably much different now, to help with stomach upset. The other liquid, was yellow "anti-inflammatory" to take for 2 days, then some brown sludge in a bottle. No kidding it looked like fresh motor oil. It was the famous "killing worm medicine" to take 2 evenings in a row after the anti-inflammatory.

Well how do you think I'm going to get a 2 year old to drink motor oil...I mean she already pretty much hates me.

It was at this point I realized she was a good one. She took all those medicines like it was candy. No problemo. No holding her down. Poor thing was so hungry. But by golly, we got rid of those movers in the diaper....thank goodness, thank goodness, thank goodness. Poor Brandt, had to change those diapers. Broke him in is all I gotta say. Bless his heart.

After about 12 days in ChangSha, Annie took her first airplane ride to Guangzhou. It is a port on the Pearl River, and used to be named Canton. Here's a little side note...I was born in Canton, Mississippi and grew up swimming in the Pearl River about a mile from my house...coincidence??? Well anyway, everyone who adopts a Chinese baby must go through Guantzhou to get home because the American consulate is there. It is the final stop in the long paperwork trail

Here we all waiting at the airport. It was just after this picture was taken that Annie proceeded to have one of her now famous "wall-eyed connip-shun fits". At this point I had learned to hold her facing out where it was harder to pinch or bite me...but she could still dole out a whoppin head butt I'll tell ya. I learned to duck pretty early too. But those Chinese people gave me some kinda looks...I wanted to yell, hey man it's not my fault!!!

One of the best parts of Guangzhou is staying at the White Swan Hotel. It's a 4 star hotel, where almost ALL of the new adoptive parents stay. This was the view from our room. I've met adoptive parents in Tucson, New Orleans, Ft Worth, Dallas - they ALL stayed at the White Swan. It's like a huge support group from all over the world all of us going through the same emotional turmoil. My kid wasn't the only one having wall-eyes connipshun fits~It was wonderful. Not only was it the first place that Annie smiled, but also the first time she laughed was in the hallway of this wonderful hotel. It was the first time I let myself think "she might be OK".

This is the lobby of the White Swan Hotel. Did I mention, this was the wonderful place that I heard Annie laugh for the first time?????

To be continued.....