Baby makes Four: January 2008

My plan to post from Taiwan didn't work out like I'd planned because Sierra was so sick and we just didn't have time plus we didn't have our own computer. I did keep track of everything as we went so now I'll post each day's events. I'll try not to be too wordy but you know me!

Monday, January 21, 2008: We all three got up around 3AM Taiwan time after about three hours of sleep and spent the day wandering around Taipei. We did some shopping and went to the top of the tallest building in the world - Taipei 101. Sierra isn't feeling well so we scraped plans for the night market so she could get extra rest for tomorrow. Tomorrow is the big day!!!

Taipei 101 - the tallest building in the world- the view from Taipei 101

Inside Taipei 101 - the mall portion and the chocolate replica

Tuesday, January 22, 2008: Forever Family Day AND Samantha’s 11 month birthday!!! We were very worried we would oversleep since we had to leave for the train station at 6:45 but that was not an issue. One by one we woke and were all up by 3:00AM. We were trying to figure out what to do about breakfast since our hotel breakfast didn’t start until 7:00, but when we headed downstairs at 6:30 they allowed us to eat before they started serving. Since we didn’t have any opportunity for food until noon, when SLC bought us dumplings, I was very glad we had eaten. Sierra gets a raging headache if she doesn’t eat. We were a little worried about Sierra because she was feeling worse and her mouth hurts so badly she chose her entire breakfast on what would not hurt. A mouth sore developed the day after her orthodontic tooth removal but overnight it's more than tripled in size. To add to her problems she's developing a cough and chest pain. We were hopeful it was just from the plane ride, the time change and the lack of sleep but unfortunately that was not to be.

We took the high speed train to Tainan, which we didn’t properly plan for. We couldn’t find the proper ticket booth, and couldn’t find English speaker, and thought we would miss the train but I found someone who told us where to get the tickets and then we couldn’t find Jeremy. Can you say panic!? So at 6:55AM Sierra and I were rushing around the train station screaming Jeremy’s name. Once we got everything sorted and were on the train we enjoyed the ride and I got really, really nervous. Sierra took about a hundred photos from the train. She loved the train!

Once at SLC we were led to "the" room to wait for another family doing their pick up and then for our Samantha. The other family was late so they took Samantha’s clothes from us and said they’d get her ready. Literally minutes later there she was looking just adorable as we knew she was but in person she is more beautiful, more tiny, more delicate, more sweet, more lovable and just perfect. They brought her to me and she immediately dove toward Sierra. Sierra held her while she looked at me. The nannies and translator went on and on about how sweet it was that she already loves her Jie Jie (big sister) Then Jeremy held her and she burst hysterical tears. At this point the other family arrived and they met their baby and then it was just a blur of information and getting to know Samantha! The other couple were new parents so they were given many more instructions than us. Our only instructions were to keep her warm, never let cold air on her head and use a food processor to further puree her congee. Other than that we just played with Samantha and at the end were given specifics of her medical care, eating habits and comfort needs. They kept stressing how she doesn’t like to play on the floor and she has a hard time going to and staying asleep, then we had a lunch of dumplings for us and congee for the babies. Samantha ate congee and gave us lots of smiles and laughs but only while Sierra held her! We were given a tour of SLC and it was smaller than I had imagined. We were very excited to see some of the babies from our yahoo group but were told we could not take photos. About two hours in she needed a diaper change, which I did, and then I picked her up and she seemed ok with me, for a while, then she wanted Sierra. We did that back and forth for the last hour. I started to give her a bottle but she is a slow eater and only a few minutes in they said we’d have to finish the bottle in the taxi and we were ushered to a taxi. It was very sudden. On our way out we saw Megan and Ken from our yahoo group coming to pick up their daughter!

Our first glimpse of our beautiful baby daughter with Jessica!

Sierra holiding Samantha in their first moments as sisters

Mommy and Daddy holding Samantha

Mommy and Jie Jie (Big Sister) feeding Samantha for the first time

On the train ride Samantha sat with Sierra but she got sleepy so I rocked her to sleep and then she slept in my arms. She woke up when we got off the train. We then got lost and eventually found a taxi to get us back to our hotel. We spent the afternoon and early evening just playing with and talking to Samantha. SLC stressed what a happy, sweet and good baby Samantha is and told us that she got held a lot. They were so correct. She is very, very sweet and happy and couldn’t laugh any more than she does and needs to be held constantly! She absolutely adores her Jie Jie (big sister)! For dinner we went to Macaroni Grill. Sierra picked it because it's her favorite restaurant and she thought it would be soft enough to eat with her mouth pain. Samantha ate her first spaghetti noodles, which she loved. After dinner we headed back to the hotel where Sierra and Samantha put on their matching jammies. They played on the bed and had a great time. Samantha was literally screaming and squealing with delight. Samantha went to be easily and only woke up three times and went back to sleep easily - once we learned Jeremy could not speak or show himself!

Matching Everthing...Sierra and Samantha have matching jackets, matching sister shirts and matching jammies! They look adorable together and have been having a great time together!

At the train station in Tainan; Sierra & Samantha checking each other out on the train

wearing their sister shirts from Megan from our Yahoo group

Our first meal out as a family of four - ironically the hostess actually asked, "family of four?", which made me very happy; the girls in their matching jammies

Wednesday, January 23, 2008: Today is our first full day as a family of four! Neither Sierra nor Samantha woke up early (J and I were both up at 3:00AM). We didn't want to wake them since Sierra is so sick and Samantha is going through such a profound change but we did walk around making a normal amount of noise hoping they'd wake. Sierra finally woke up around 7:30 and then finally Samantha woke close to 8:00. We headed down to our hotel breakfast with Samantha still in her jammies, much to Sierra's annoyance! We got Samantha congee and egg yolks, which she's used to eating, and then some oatmeal, peaches, scrambled egg and toast which Sierra excitedly gave her. She preferred the oatmeal and peaches. We made an appointment for Sierra for a doctor someone from my yahoo group recommended (thanks for getting back to me so quickly on that guys!) but just a few minutes after I started to check my email Sierra came downstairs in hysterics. She basically had a meltdown because of how sick she is so we rushed her to the doctor right then. It was a very different experience from a US doctor. She just sat in a chair in full view of the waiting room while he asked questions and then he checked her lungs, ears, nose and throat had her get on a scale and told us to go next door to get a prescription for anitbiotics along with medicines to help with the mucas, the cough and aches and pains. We paid ($25.00) and went to the pharmacist who gave us all of these packets and little bottles of liquid. He didn't speak English so we headed back to the doctor's office. He explained to mix each packet in 3cc of the liquid every 8 hours and that all of the medicines were mixed together in each packet. After the doctor we walked across the street to The Howard
Hotel for lunch. Sierra fed Samantha her first dessert

Wake up already!!; Sierra with her antibiotic packets

matching outfits again!

Breakfast at our hotel

Thursday, January 24, 2008: Super Busy Day. We packed. We went to AIT to get Samantha’s Passport/visa/papers. We went to Chili’s to find food Sierra could eat (with inside left side of her mouth being as bad as it is –so gross with two huge cuts and a white pussy sore- she can barely eat anything.). We then went shopping for souvenirs but didn’t find much and went to a mall looking for a gift for Samantha. For dinner we got our last order of dumplings (something Sierra can actually eat without much pain and something that she loves). We briefly met with several other adoptive families – some from our adoptive yahoo group and it was great to see them. We then rushed around like maniacs buying a bag and some other necessities for the trip home (never travel with an airsick person without crackers and bread!!). We were late meeting our taxi driver. I will post his card since he was very reliable (we used him every morning and the last evening and he was always early), spoke some English and had seat belts which was Sierra’s criteria!

Sierra and Samantha in front of Taipei 101

Then it was time for the worst plane ride of my life!

I am so thankful to be home but oh what a ride getting here. We arrived home at midnight last night (4PM Taiwan time) after leaving Taiwan at 11:30 PM. We actually landed at 7PM but with immigration, luggage, stopping for children’s Motrin and dinner and the long drive home we actually pulled into our driveway at 12:05. Anyway, Sierra loves to tell people we left at 11:30PM Thursday and got home at 7:00PM Thursday.

As for the plane ride it really was awful. First the bulkhead on our plane (an older plane) only sat two people so Jeremy ended up about 7 rows behind us. Samantha fussed, cried and struggled for the first 8 hours of the flight (even while asleep!) while Sierra coughed and cried because her ear/throat/mouth hurt and she was hungry but couldn’t eat because her mouth hurt so bad plus she gets airsick so I had to deal with that as well. And I was alone most of the time. Jeremy came for brief periods when I could get his attention but half the time I needed help the seatbelt sign was on or he was asleep and I couldn’t get him to wake! Can you say nightmare. It was a rough flight. Sierra finally fell asleep and then Samantha finally stopped struggling and slept in the baby carrier for a few hours. Of course that meant I was trapped (ever try and use an airplane bathroom with a baby strapped to your chest!?) but every time I took her out of the carrier and gave her to J so I could take care of anything Samantha would then scream at the top of her lungs and then go back to the fussing until I could get her calmed down. The last two hours of the flight Samantha did a lot better and both girls ate a meal and played a little. Landing was tough on both sets of ears, especially Sierra’s because of her illness. Immigration was also a pain. Because of the stroller being checked on the plane they made us until everyone was gone so we were last in line. At first the Customs guys was really nasty but after about 35 minutes he called us to go ahead of everyone. I was shocked at how badly he was treating all of the people coming into this country. I was grateful that he finally decided to let us go ahead though. I think the fact that by that point Samantha was full out screaming while Sierra was sitting on a suitcase while holding her head/ ear and begging for food and Motrin helped him decide to finally pull us ahead.

The last hour of our flights S&S both felt better

Although the flight was tough driving home was almost worse!!!! Samantha, having never been restrained in a car seat, screamed and struggled to get out while reaching for me most of the time. Sierra was in tremendous pain and still felt nauseous. Samantha finally fell asleep about a half hour from home and then she was active and alert until 2:30! Oh and as a special welcome home from our dog, I should specify Jeremy’s dog, she got skunked this very night around 10:00pm

Now let me say a little about our baby. She is extremely sweet and very cuddly. She gives actual hugs around the neck and loves to snuggle in with me and Sierra. Although she isn't cuddly with Jeremy she is making great strides with him. She has let him hold her twice, for about a minute each time, and gave him big smiles while in his arms. She also has a very quiet voice (very sweet making us all want to do whatever she wants!) but can scream with the best of them if she's scared or ignored (like in the middle of the night when no one hears her!). She fits into our family perfectly!

On a more practical note she seems to be adjusting well although sleep in the middle of the night is a huge issue since getting her to sleep in the middle of the night has so far been impossible. She does NOT sleep from 10 or 11PM until 4AM. She naps well though and in Taiwan she slept well at night only waking once or twice and only needing patting to get back to sleep. I am very much looking forward to someone else being able to change her diaper so I can't wait until she accepts Jeremy! She accepted Sierra from the beginning but Sierra won't change a diaper and even runs from the room if there's a poopy diaper! Samantha is tiny and I mean tiny!! She wears size 3-6 months! We have mostly size 6-9 months, which are too big but they are still wearable. After reviewing her weight chart that we were so concerned about for half of last year she really has not gained weight like she should have. We never got a January update and I'm glad because she actually lost weight and was down to 13.4 pounds We think she weighs 14 pounds. At the hotel in Taiwan she was almost 14 pounds and here yesterday she was 14 pounds. She's 27" tall.

Sierra is planning to add something to the blog for the first time so stay tuned for that. She had a report due for school and tons of school work to do while we were gone and since she was so ill she didn't really get to work on it until this weekend. For her posting she plans to talk about all of Samantha's first, which she kept track of, and about what it's like having a baby sister.

We got to our hotel last night (Taiwan time) around midnight. It was almost exactly 24 hours after we left our house to leave for the first airport. It was a grueling day. Sierra was very airsick on the first flight to LA (thankfully only a 50 minute flight AND a traveling nurse was sitting behind us and was very helpful) and she got airsick on the flight to Taiwan BUT the nurses tips really helped. When we got to LAX I had no idea we had to take a bus to get to the EVA terminal. We were late but everything was fine. Sierra was still sick but we managed to get some food into her (a turkey sandwich) and she started to feel better. At that point the thought of getting on another plane for 14.5 hours was not what she wanted so she decided we should leave her there and she would go to Disneyland and American Girl! Of course she was kidding because she is so excited about meeting Samantha but she does get really air sick.
Anyway, the LOOOOONNNNNNGGGGG flight from LA to Taipei was difficult and we are so thankful that our flight home is a bit shorter and does not involve changing planes. The biggest problems we had was there was no food that Sierra liked -NONE- (on the way back we're ordering the kids meal, which the kids behind us - one named Sierra - got much to our Sierra's discomfort!). She only eats chicken and they only had beef and pork. She ate some rice.
Our other problem was sleep - or lack of sleep. Jeremy slept beginning on the 50 minute flight to LA and then slept as soon as we got on our flight to Taiwan! Sierra finally fell aleep around midnight and I finally started to fall asleep at 3:30AM just before they woke everyone for breakfast and to get ready to land. To say I was tired would be an understatement. I tried to sleep here since we got here at bedtime (minight) but Sierra couldn't sleep and kept me up most of the night (she's having a lot of tooth pain and was still feeling sick). All things considered we're doing pretty well. Sierra's having really bad tooth pain and I'm not feeling great but hopefully by tomorrow (when we pick up Samantha!!!) we'll be feeling better.

Well, there is so much more to say but we have to get some things done and go and see Taipei. We don't have our computer so posting and emailing are very difficult. I'll update when I can.