Day 4: Nanchang: Family day!!!! (4/8/12)

This is the day we have waited for since January, 2006, when we applied to adopt from China!  We had an early flight from Beijing to Nanchang, so our guide and driver escorted us to the airport while it was still dark outside.  There were 2 members of another family along for the ride, on the way to adopt their 7th child from China.  The family helped to start a foster care home for children with disabilies here and their last few children have come to them through their care home.

Flight went without a hitch and we ate our first mystery meal on board.  Our Nanchang guide, Evelyn, met us at the airport and it was a much shorter ride to the hotel but filled with lots of information and tips from Evelyn regarding what to expect when Tamasyn arrives.  Nanchang is a city of only 5 million people, compared to Beijing's 21 million, but the area is smaller also.  Nanchang reminds both hubs and I of Oahu.  The weather is more humid than Beijing and plants are more tropical.  It was rainy when we arrived.  The hotel is new and very posh.  Evelyn had the room all set up for us with a crib and a baby bath before we arrived.  We are on the 28th floor.  The view would be more spectacular if there wasn't what we'd call 'June gloom' in southern Cal and perhaps if our room faced the river near the hotel.  Nanchang is said to be very polluted, so it could be a mix of the overcast weather and pollution, but it looks like a fog.

We had a chance to settle into the hotel and unpack.  We went to one of the hotel restaurants for some soup for lunch and looked at the very nice gym and pool facility here.  Evelyn expected Tamasyn to arrive at about 3:30 p.m. but said it could be 30 minutes earlier.  I told hubs that from what I read from other experiences, it could be even earlier, so we needed to be in our room and ready for that.

Evelyn gave us a call at about 2:30 p.m. that Tamasyn was here and they would be at our room within 5 minutes.  We heard crying in the hallway and they were at the door.  The orphanage director handed Tamasyn to me.  She was crying pretty hard and apparently had cried most of the way driving here (3-1/2 hours), being away from all she knew and her nannies.  She probably had not been in a vehicle before and probably did not even spend much time outside at the orphanage, so it all had to be pretty stressful for her. 

Evelyn gave us 2 hours to bond with Tamasyn and then came back with some paperwork.  The first hour was quite a bit of crying with me holding her and hubs trying to distract her with some toys we brought.  She was making this lip smacking sound, so we figured she was hungry and she took a bottle easily.  We read about babies who only liked their formula a particular way or a particular nipple, but Tamasyn was easy about this.  She seemed dehydrated and the crying surely did not help, so she was probably happy just to have the bottle.  She liked the musical giraffe that big brother picked out, so that was a great help.  By the time Evelyn got back to the room for the paperwork, Tamasyn had calmed down quite a bit.  We even got our first smiles and giggles by then! 

Often the babies will bond to one parent first and take a little longer to trust the second but we are lucky in that regard.  During the first day, she let hubs and I both feed her and hold her and put her to sleep.  The orphanage paperwork said she was timid and introverted but we think she just needed more attention because she was pretty quick to trust us and start showing her personality.