August 23, 2010: Guangzhou - Swimming, Chest X-Ray, Taxi to Grocery

Today we will go to have Kate's TB Test read at 3:00 pm at the Medical Clinic.  In the meantime, we took the girls swimming again...and the pool guy agreed to let me take some photos of my family in the baby pool.  At 3 pm we walked back to the Medical Clinic which was mobbed with people...not really Adoptive Families this time...it looked more like local folks.  The nurse used a Hello Kitty ruler to measure the swollen red spot on Kate's forearm and then informed us that she would have to have a chest X-Ray.  Sweet Sean once again took care of her!  She was screaming as she was so afraid.  It just broke my heart.  He had to put on a vest and then hold her in front of the X-Ray machine.  Of course it didn't hurt...but she had no idea what was going on.  Then we got the "all clear" that Kate did not have TB and she was good to go!  We were all thrilled!  Praise God for that great news!

I then asked Maggie, one of our CCAI guides, if a Dr, would look at Kate's rash.  I just wanted one more opinion to make sure it was not serious.  It had not gotten worse, but it was still there on her back and tummy.  There were 3 Doctors that looked at her and conferred in Chinese that it was not an allergic reaction to the shots.  They said it was heat rash.  I really am not that confident in the Doctors...probably because I can't understand a word they are saying.    

 

We left the clinic and took a taxi into the city to the Carrefour Grocery.  We had to have Grace write the name of the Grocery in Chinese on a piece of paper that we showed the cab driver.  It is really a leap of faith to take a taxi...because no English conversation ever transpires between us and the driver.  You just hold on and pray that he will take you where your little slip of paper says to go.  This grocery is a huge supermarket and department store combined.  There are escalators that you ride from floor to floor that are magnetic and hold your cart in place.  It is pretty neat.  I snapped a couple of pics of Sean and Kate and Gailie and Caroline on the escalator in the grocery.  We bought some formula, rice cereal, some snacks and large quantities of bottled water since we still have to brush our teeth with bottled water as the water here is not safe for us to drink.

 

We ate dinner at a new French Restaurant on Shamian Island called the Orient Express.  The food was great and we all really enjoyed it!!

 

Kate has really been hamming it up!  She was even laughing and smiling at the waiter at dinner.  I do not think she has as much "stranger anxiety" as the orphanage said.  Her face is so expressive and it literally warms my heart to see her light up when she smiles and laughs.  Her eyes are to die for as you can see from our pictures.  She is an absolutely beautiful child.  She has come out of her shell completely over the past week and the transformation is just amazing.  I am so thankful for everyone's emails, thoughts and prayers for this sweet child and our family.  God is so good and faithful!   

August 22, 2010: Guangzhou - Free Day...Just Hanging with the Family

This morning when we woke up, I noticed that Kate had a rash.  It concerned me mainly because she had all of those shots yesterday.  The White Swan has a Medical Clinic on the 3rd floor so I called and the Dr. told me I could bring Kate.  Sean and I took Kate immediately along with her new immunization record.  She was in a great mood and not acting at all ill, but I just wanted to get it checked out.  The Dr. was nice enough but his English was very, very limited.  He said the rash was not sue to the shots but probably something she had eaten.  He did not seem very concerned about the rash...but then he noticed the injection site for Kate's TB test.  He began talking in Chinese to his nurse and they did a lot of back and forth while Sean and I just sat there clueless.  Finally, he said.."she has the tuberculous"...at which point...I was just praying that I could hold it together and my main concern was whether the Chinese Government would let us leave the country with Kate.  Sean kept asking the Dr. if she had the virus or if she was just sensitive to the test.  It was all so unclear...that we left pretty shaken. 

 

I called Grace, our CCAI guide, and she explained that we should not worry.  Many children have a sensitivity to the test due to a vaccine that is used in China (not in the US) and that if there was any question when we have the test results examined tomorrow...they would take a chest x-ray.  She said that 99% of the time, the children do not have TB.  So, at that point there was nothing I could do...so I decided not to worry...just pray and move on with trying to enjoy time with our new daughter and have a fun day.  We went back to the pool and swam for a bit.  The girls took a napped and played.  Later we took them to the play room in the hotel where they have a lot of toys for smaller children like Kate's age...but Caroline loved showing Kate how to use all of the toys.  We had dinner and got some ice cream.  I have included a couple of pictures of the girls playing with the console in the hotel room again and Caroline sharing her ice cream with Kate.  

 

Kate's little personality is really starting to come out now that she feels comfortable with all of us.  She loves to giggle and it is so fun to make her laugh!  She smiles a lot now and she is giving us hugs and clapping her hands when in excitement when Sean or I come in the room. 

 

She likes us!!  Yeah!

August 21, 2010: Guangzhou - Medical Examination and exploring Shamian Island

Today is the required Medical Exam for Kate to get her US Visa.  We ate breakfast at the famous White Swan Breakfast Buffet and then met our CCAI group to walk together to the Clinic.  Our adoption process for Kate is slightly different from Caroline's in that all of our paperwork and requirements are per the new Hague International Adoption Rules which went into affect after we got home from China with Caroline.  Hague sets a standard by which all countries participating in international adoption must adhere too.  It means more hoops to jump through and longer waiting time for paperwork to be processed...but it is intended to protect the children being adopted.  One of the new requirements is kids being adopted by Hague families must get immunizations in addition to the physical exam.  I am really not looking forward to this.  The clinic as always is packed with adoptive families having their children examined...which is a requirement for the US Visa.  I have included some pics of some of the families in our group.  We filled out the paperwork and then we had to visit 3 different rooms. First, was the ENT - where a woman checked Kate's hearing by squeaking a squeaky toy and looked in her mouth which she hated.  You can tell by the look on Sean's face...he was not enjoying it either!  In the second room, Kate was weighed and measured.  She weighs 10.1 kg which is just over 22 lbs.  She is 31.5 inches.  The 3rd room was labeled in English as "Surgery" and fortunately all they did here was look over her body, measure her head and listen to her heart. 

 

Next, Kate had to have a TB test per Hague requirements since she is over 2 years old and then she received 5 immunizations. Sean was such a champ and held her through it all.  I was literally in tears as she was screaming her heart out.  She was was scared to death and in pain.  It just killed me to watch it...6 needles in my poor baby.  None of us were happy when we left the Clinic.  

 

Later we walked around the island a bit and stopped by a shop that was selling turtles, snakes and fish.  Gailie thought it was like a pet shop...like maybe for an aquarium.  Sean and I were laughing so hard as we told her that these were being sold for food.  I have a picture of the turtles and snakes and Gailie in front of the shop.  The landscaping and the architecture of Shamian Island is so beautiful that a lot of Chinese folks come here to have photos for their wedding album taken.  We have seen so many couples decked in their wedding finery.  Then we found the Starbucks which is new since we were here with Caroline.  We are loving it!  We ran into a sweet couple from our group that just got twin girls.  Kate and Rachel and Hannah (the twins) were all asleep in their strollers while all of the Moms and Dads got their Starbucks fix!  

 

We took a swim in the pool which is so great especially since it is so hot here.  Caroline and Kate both loved it!  I am so glad Kate likes the water!!  They don't let you take pictures at the pool...but maybe I can sneak a few later in the week.  Caroline loves her swim cap from the Xian Sheraton...but fortunately, we do not have to wear them here!  I did include a pic of Caroline playing in hers.  We gave the girls a bath which was big fun for both of them and then took a stroll around the hotel.  We had dinner at the Cow and Bridge Thai Place which is really yummy.  Kate slept through dinner.  She was completely worn out by the events of the day.