Our Little Girl

I thought I would share a little more about my daughter - she came from Maoming Orphanage. And I was able to speak to the Orphanage's director and one of the Nannies through a translator. I was told that her orphanage was not a welfare institute, meaning that it was strictly orphans there. Some of the institutes have places of the elderly and people who cannot care for themselves. Her orphanage mainly consisted of special needs who will never get adopted. These children mainly have issues like cerebral palsy.



The Nannies and most Chinese people believe in layering the children's clothes. They believe that this will stop them from getting colds. When I got her, she had three layers of clothes on. So they made sure to tell me to keep her covered. It's wild because the weather here is like it is in Houston and you will see babies bundled up, and people wearing jackets and long sleeves. I don't think I recall seeing any Chinese people wearing shorts. Oh, I forgot to mention that I haven't been following the advice given. I carry a blanket, but would definitely not layer her clothes.



We were given her feeding schedule and her sleep schedule. And I found out that her means of comfort besides her thumb was a blanket in her crib. Which explains why when we got her the first day, Ashlyn pulled a bunch of stuff out of her crib and these blankets that are used like padding in the middle came out. They were kind of nasty looking, but she wanted it and whimpered when I took it away from her. But after she fell asleep I put it back where it belonged and did not give it to her again.



When I first brought her to our room, I totally freaked out, because we are given one day to have our child before we officially decide to adopt her from China. Even though that night we went to our guides room and signed papers, which were the official papers. Anyway we are given this time frame to check out the children, etc. Even though I knew the minute that they put her in my arms that she was mine and I would never give her back. But when I undressed her on her back to my distress where what looked like several bruises all over her back. I nearly passed out and got sick to my stomach, but thank God for my husband because he reminded me of the Mongolian Spots that are common among Asian babies. I knew this, but for all motherly purposes totally forgot at the time. So she is okay. It just looks like she's been abused, and we were told to have our pediatrician record this so that it would be documented that she had this in case someone decided to call CPS. I can't say I would blame them.



Anyway she seems to be bonding very well. She is mostly attached to me, but at first she only wanted Adam. And now she will go to all of us at one time or another. The next day after we got her she was smiling and playing. She's also very light. It's hard to believe that she will be a year old next month. But she seems to be on track developmentally. She likes to walk with assistance and she has taken a few steps on her own when we reach out to her.



But the last couple of days she began to have it rough. She hadn't had a bowel movement since we had gotten her and I had noticed her straining and crying on several occasions. Poor baby. So we tried some tea that was recommended and did not work, and then a couple of suppositories (Adam had to do it), and that didn't work. And then one of the mothers suggested an enema. Good Lord!! If that hadn't of worked we were taking her in to the doctor. Yep, Adam had to do that too, but I got the honors of having the latex glove and offering assistance. I felt so bad for her, but it seemed to work. So now she's sleeping like an angel, and I'm hoping that she will be back to the happy baby that she was before she started feeling bad.



So far she has been wonderful. We've figured out that when it is her nap time to just put her in her crib and she will go to sleep. No crying. Imagine that. I hope she stays that way. And she sleeps through the night. I'm praying that this experience does last. I know that when I had my children in the hospital, they were angels too, until I got home. Adam says they turned into vampires because all they wanted to do was stay up all night and cried when they didn't want to go to sleep, but I'm praying Alexandra will be different.



Her cries are something else. If I'm not looking at her, I would have no way of knowing she was crying. She just makes a little noise and has this real pitiful look on her face. Unbelievable. But I have a feeling that once she gets to the states her little American friends unfortunately will show her how it's done.