We arrived in Nanchang around 2 PM. We met James and Jacqueline, our CCAI reps, at the airport who informed us that we would have a meeting from 3:30 to 5:30 to discuss many details about our daughters who we would meet in just a few hours! They ordered Pizza Hut for us for dinner as we had little time to go anywhere to eat. We needed to be rested and get ready for this big event. We all took our then ice cold pizzas to our rooms and tried to focus on eating, but our minds were elsewhere. We concentrated hard to remember exactly how to mix a bottle properly, I haven't had a lot of experience with this, at least not for a really long time and Bane has never done anything close to a bottle!
Then the all important camera checks, do they all (three to be exact) have enough film, fresh batteries, and are set correctly? Check. We left our room to head for the meeting room where our daughters awaited us, onto the elevator steps three nannies with screaming babies in their arms, inconsolable. We dared not say a word, we just quietly glanced to see if any of these little ones were Lyndsay. It felt like a long time before the elevator reached the right floor, the wailing would break even the most callous heart. All the other babies were waiting in the meeting room for their new families, accompanied by a nanny. Our gameplan was for Bane to recieve Lyndsay first, so I could do the all important first "Gotcha shots", I looked like a reporter heading into the room with two cameras in tow and a small digital one to boot. I was ready...at least I thought so. I glanced around the room certain I could spot her, but didn't realize my view was blocked by a table. It all went so fast, one by one the babies were handed to the new families, very casually...very quickly. Before we knew it, all 11 babies were in the arms of there new moms and/or dads, then all the orphanage workers left. We never spoke to any of them or had any other contact.
We all left the meeting room to go back with our daughters to our rooms and feed them and do whatever we needed to do. Lyndsay didn't cry when Bane took her, she just stared, her cheeks were rosy and her hair was wet, we later found she was running a fever. They had bundled her in three layers of clothes. Thermal underwear, a heavy cable knit pair of pants and sweater, all topped by a thick coat and pants. She was soaking wet from sweat. When we got to our room, we took off the heavy coat and jacket, not wanting to shock her system by stripping everything off. We were mindful to keep the room warm for her. After her bottle, which Bane had the honor to give her, we stripped off the soaked layers, to find a rather tall, slender baby underneath. She looked to be very well cared for by her foster mother, something we will always be grateful for. At 8:00PM we had to return to the room to begin what was to be the first of many piles of paperwork. Lyndsay had been in foster up until the very last minute from what we understand, so she was exhausted and fell asleep at the meeting. We needed to sign and put our fingerprint on some documents and then her foot print. I'm sorry I did not get photos of this event, since I was trying to help out, but she slept soundly through the entire process including digging her foot out of the blanket sleeper type PJ's. They still have the red dye on them to prove it!
We are all exhausted and hope to get a good night's sleep!
NOT!!
