Thanks so much for visiting
us during our journey,
Danny, LeeAnn
and Caroli! |
October 25, 2005
Second Day As A Family |
Today
is the second day with our baby. She has been running a fever off and
on. Sometimes sweating so much that the water would run off of her
head. We found that children’s Tylenol worked well to control the fever
but that children’s Motrin worked better at controlling her fever. At
this point I would like to introduce the you to The International
Adoption Center at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. We signed on with
them for what is turning out to be a nominal fee to provide
pre-adoption services including referral review. Also, included is 24
hour doctor support during your travel for international adoptions. We
called them this morning and the doctor spent 30 minutes on the phone
asking very good questions. She was very patient with us and provided
good and calming information. She had also sent prescriptions with us
for most of the common problems associated with China adoptions. It
ends up that Caroli’s fever is nothing unusual and we are to call back
if there are any changes. Mostly she is dehydrated and needs more
formula right now than solid food.
On the other hand she has no trouble filling her diaper. It is
truly amazing how much production can come from such a small
package. Being first-time parents, we are amazed at the
strength and endurance of the aroma and the shades of color.
Last night she woke up four times - was either hungry or needed a
diaper change. Each time she went back down fairly easy.
She is becoming playful and smiled for us the first time today. She
enjoys the quiet of our room. We have taken turns eating and used room
service so that she can adjust a little better. Another good thing -
our travel companions, the Walls, have been wonderful.
They loaned us a CD with lullabies on it that we can play on our
laptop. Caroli is calmed by it especially at night. The CD will play
for about an hour and I have noticed that it helps me sleep too. I
definitely couldn’t drive with it playing in the car.
Caroli’s playmate from the orphanage happens too be the baby
adopted by the Walls. Tonight she felt well enough for the Walls to
come to our room and eat Pizza Hut pizza (tasted just like home by the
way). She clearly enjoyed the extra stimulation and played on the bed
with her friend. They are supposedly the same age but at quite
different developmental stages. For example, Caroli can’t sit up
by herself at all but Sophia sits up completely unsupported and can
crawl. We believe Caroli’s caretaker must have carried her a lot and
then the rest of the time remained in her crib.
Since writing the first paragraph this morning, Caroli has improved
her hydration to a more normal level. We will continue to follow the
doctor’s orders and hope she gets better. Her fever still comes on
suddenly but she seems to be no worse for the wear. Her appetite has
definitely improved.
PROSPECTIVE ADOPTIVE INFO
They have Wal-Mart in China! Three floors of bargains!
Shopping there was a real experience. They have greeters and people
to hand you carts. They also employ more workers at one Wal-Mart in
China than any ten combined in the US. We had no trouble having people
help, sometimes two or three at a time. The drive in the cab to the
Wal-Mart was as entertaining as ever. And cheap too - only $3.00
round trip.
Tomorrow we will attempt our first outing to Panda World. If Caroli
is not up to it we will stay in and play with rattles and such.
By the way, earlier I mentioned that we had Pizza Hut tonight for
dinner. It is next door to the McDonalds and Kentucky Fried Chicken.
And the world continues to shrink. |
| Loving the Baby Bjorn carrier |
| |
