Meeting Maggie - Part 8 - Guangzhou to Fort Worth
Wed., June 2, 1999 - Cecilia went for a walk to see the food market while I finished packing. Some members of the group decided to dress the babies in their silk pajamas and photograph them in the lobby. We did that and then went back to the room to put our bags in the hall. After they were picked up, we went downstairs to check out. While we were waiting for the bus, I made a few final purchases in the gift shops, spending most of the Chinese money we had left.
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Our guide, Alice, passed out our visa packets and we gave her our gifts. We boarded the bus for the airport around 3:00 PM. I sat next to Alice for awhile on the bus and among the things we talked about was adoption. She asked me what other countries Americans adopted from. I told her a little bit about domestic adoption in the U.S. She was shocked to know that birthmothers could change their minds in America. The idea that adopted American children could even know their birth parents must have seemed strange to her.
I still was not feeling well and was very apprehensive about the flight home. This time, we would fly to Hong Kong rather than take a bus as we did on the trip from Hong Kong to Guangzhou. Instead of our guide checking our bags and getting our tickets for us, we did this ourselves this time, since we could each check our bags all the way to our destination (we all lived in different places). It seems like the baggage handling was a bit more difficult this time, but we managed. We had Maggie in the stroller most of the time. I was too tired to carry her in the Baby Bjorn as I had on our other trips. Plus, there was a lot more walking to do in the airports than there had been before.
This time we boarded the airplane through a jetway instead of having to take a bus to the airplane and then walk up stairs to get on the plane. The aircraft was a little roomier than the 737s we had flown on to and from Changsha. (All the in-China flights were on China Southern.) It was a short flight. In Hong Kong we said good bye to our group. Since we used our frequent flyer miles for Cathay Pacific, we were not on the same airplane as the rest of the group. There was one other couple who was also not with the group.
We had been calling Cathay Pacific for several days, because we had heard about their labor dispute. Some flights had been canceled. When we went to check in, there was a board listing all the canceled flights and all the "protected" flights. Fortunately, ours was "protected" and we were to depart as scheduled. After checking in, we made our way to the Cathay Pacific business class lounge.
At this point I finally decided to start taking the antibiotic I had with me, as it was clear that my cold had turned into a nasty upper-respiratory infection. I don't believe in taking antibiotic for colds (viruses) but I had never had a cold turn into an infection like this before. I wish I had started taking the antibiotic a couple days earlier. I began to feel better fairly quickly.
I spread out a blanket for Maggie to play on and sat on the floor with her. I don't think I got up from the floor until it was time to go to the gate. I was so exhausted. I fed Maggie and Cecilia kept bringing me food and trying to get me to eat. People walked by and admired Maggie. A couple of them said "keep that baby awake so she will sleep on the plane!"
Around 9:00, we left the lounge and tried to make it to the Singapore Airline gate to say a final goodbye to our travel group, but by the time we got there, they had already boarded. So, we went to our gate and waited for our flight to be called shortly thereafter.
We departed Hong Kong at 10:40 PM on Cathay Pacific. Fortunately, the business class section was fairly empty so the flight attendant moved us to bulk head seats and gave us a bassinet for Maggie. Cecilia took the seat behind us. They showed me how to use the seat belt for Maggie that hooked to my own and then went around her. Whenever there was turbulence and the "fasten seat belt sign" went on, I had to wake her up and strap her back into that thing. I wonder why they don't use these belts on U.S. flights?
I don't think I had slept hardly at all in days and I didn't sleep much on the plane either, but I rested comfortably. Maggie slept in the bassinet for awhile, but it was a tight fit. She would get mad when she woke up because she couldn't roll around. Finally we put a blanket on the floor and let her sleep there. I used Benedryl a couple times to help her sleep. There were also a couple of times when she was upset and I got up and walked around with her. This was easiest to do in the galley area, which was just in front of our seats. That way I could avoid disturbing other passengers as much as possible.
I can't say enough nice things about the flight attendants on Cathay Pacific. They were so helpful and friendly. At one point, a flight attendant offered to fix Maggie some congee. Not only that, but she offered to pick out the meat for me! We also received a care package for her with diapers, lotion, etc.
We arrived in Los Angeles at 8:50 PM. Next stop was immigration. Fortunately, there wasn't much of a line. I can't say the INS officer was very friendly, but he didn't give us much trouble either. He was quite adamant that we were not to take any pictures in this area. I gave him Maggie's visa packet and he took some time to examine it. When he was done, he returned her passport and explained that the A# was the same number that would be on her green card. I thought that going through immigration was kind of cool, despite the officers lack of cheer. My daughter was now an immigrant!!
We had a long layover in Los Angeles. Actually, we might have been able to switch to an earlier flight, but I knew there were people anxious to meet our flight in Dallas and didn't want to screw up our homecoming. Our American Airlines flight was scheduled to depart at 1:30 AM. Unfortunately, there was no equivalent to the Cathay Pacific business class lounge. So, we were stuck hanging out in the waiting area for several hours. It was under renovation and not all that clean or pleasant.
Thurs., June 3, 1999 - The flight to Dallas was also uncrowded and we were again able to spread out and move around. We were in the first class section, but it was not nearly as roomy or luxurious as our international flight on Cathay Pacific. Due to the time of the flight, we were pretty much left alone by the flight attendants. I finally got up and asked one of them to bring me some water. I missed the pampering we had received on the previous flight.
About an hour before we landed, I started to get us ready for our arrival. I changed Maggie into a fresh outfit and then tried to make myself look presentable. I was concerned about how bad I would look in all the homecoming pictures. My nose was red and raw from my cold. Fortunately the lighting in airports is not that great and the pictures actually turned out pretty good.
As we started to descend, I got a burst of adrenaline. Given how little I had slept, it was a good thing! We arrived about 10-15 minutes ahead of schedule (about 6:15 AM) and there was only one person there to greet us when we got off the plane. But shortly thereafter I could see my parents headed our way and then more and more people appeared. Friends brought "welcome home" signs and gifts. Maggie was in a great mood and charmed the crowd!
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After the celebration had subsided, we got our bags and headed for the car. I wish I had practiced adjusting the car seat before I left. I was so tired I had no clue how to get Maggie in there or how to adjust the straps. Fortunately one of my friends who met us at the airport knew how to do this and was able to help. It would have been a good idea to practice this before I left for China.
I sat next to Maggie on the way home. She had never been in a car seat before and wasn't too happy that I couldn't just pick her up and hold her like I had in China. On the way home, I thought about how different the scenery looked from China. It struck me again what an enormous change this would be for Maggie. I felt sad again about taking her away from her homeland.
When we got to my house there was another "welcome home" sign hanging from the garage. Inside there was a balloon and more presents. All I wanted to do was take a shower!! We had breakfast, opened presents, and played with Maggie. My parents were acting just like grandparents do, which was a little overwhelming! It was wonderful to see them bond to her, though.
I tried to stay awake and unpacked enough to locate items that were immediately needed, wash dirty clothes, etc. At some point I put Maggie in her crib for a nap. When she woke up, she freaked out. I could tell by the way her eyes were darting around the room that she was scared to be waking up in an unfamiliar place. It caught me by surprise, because she had slept in several unfamiliar places in China and it didn't seem to bother her at all. It took a long time to calm her down and I felt terrible again about taking her away from all that was familiar to her.
I have read enough travel stories on the Internet to know that, in general, dealing with jet lag, fatigue, and adjusting to a new baby can be tough. But, I had no specific idea of what that would really be like. All the way home, I was thinking if I can just get home, everything will be okay. But, I was very sick and very tired. Maggie was waking up several times each night, often upset, and I could not get enough sleep to recover from my cold. My parents stayed for the first week which was a great help. I think it is a good idea to enlist such help, especially for single parents.