After completing the seemingly neverending paperwork, (at times I had morning sickness doing it) the homestudy and fingerprinting/background checks and the authentication process we sent our dossier to China. 7 months later we had the picture of our baby and 6 weeks later we were on a plane to China. (The other 5 kiddlings were at Grammy's and Papa's in NY.)
Now going to China in and of itself is amazing, but going to China to adopt a baby is indescribable. China is about as opposite as you can get from Maryland, USA. We were so full of anticipation and yet so jetlagged we probably aged 5 years on the plane over. Or should I say planes? We drove from Maryland to NY, (to drop off the children) then flew to California, changed planes and flew to Japan, changed planes then flew to Beijing, China. Once there we met up with the 4 other couples who were also adopting in our group. (I especially enjoyed meeting the two couples who were adopting their first child, they were so precious) We met our guides, stayed overnight in a gorgeous hotel then went siteseeing the next day. It was freezing but glorious. The Forbidden City was beautiful but the Great Wall is a must see! But the whole day all we had on our minds were "We want to see our baby!" We soon got our wish, the next day we flew to Wuhan--the city where we were to get our babies! We stayed at a Holiday Inn in Wuhan and something really funny happened our first night's stay. A lady in our group wanted to buy diapers so after dinner about 7 of us went strolling through the streets of Wuhan (childless mind you) to purchase them without our guide. (We don't recommend this we were all just feeling adventuresome. We wanted to experience China as regular as possiple, walk amongst the people so-to-speak, not simply sit in our Americanized hotel and go to tourist spots.) In Beijing you'll find many merchants who speak English but not in Wuhan. So after a game of charades (holding our noses and demonstrating putting on a diaper) a saleslady finally understood us. We all cheered!
Our wonderful guide told us to be ready the next morning by 9:00am to get our babies, (we were ready by 7:00am!) On our bus once again we drove to a nearby hotel. This was the place the orphanage director chose to meet us with our new babies... We all hurried into the hotel only to be told to wait, another adoption group was still in the conference room. 15 minutes later we were all ushered into a small waiting area. The staff from the orphanage was in one room we in the ajoining room. A caregiver from the orphanage would come out and one by one the other couples were handed their precious children and the tears flowed. We of course were last. Finally our bald, little Danni was placed in our arms on February 1, 1999 at 11:00am, it was as if she had just been born. We handed her a little chick (probably her first toy ever) she then smiled as if saying,"yes you will be my forever mommy and daddy."
The next 10 days in China were a whirl wind. We adopted Danni officially the next day (although the orphanage officials let us keep her right away). It was a wonderful ceremony which included putting her little footprint on the document in red ink!
After all the necessary notary work in Wuhan we flew to Guangzhou for her medical exam and the American Visa. Guangzhou is a beautiful city with lots of opportunity to shop. In the China Hotel we stayed in there was even a Hard Rock Cafe, two beautiful parks nearby and next door a McDonalds! Since we were now in Southern China the weather was warm and everywhere people were setting up red lanterns for the Chinese New Year. Here's a funny cultural tip: the Chinese people think that babies should always be covered up with a blanket, even in warm weather, so don't be surprised if a Chinese lady covers up your baby. At one point, while I was changing Danni's diaper, I had 4 Chinese ladies swoop down to help me all the while chattering at me in their native language. If only they new that now I was the mother of 6!
The Year of the Rabbit!
We hope she will always know how much we love her and how she has made our family even more special than it was. Most importantly that she follow the Creator of all--always...
AMERICAN NAME: DANNA LI SHERON
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