Days We Surely Will Remember, part 1

I wish there was more time in the day to process what has happened and be able to write it down effectively.  I will do my best to share the happenings of the last 2 days, starting with yesterday.

Yesterday we woke up and got ready for our meeting at the MO.  Our meeting was at 11am.  J met us at our apartment and we walked to the meeting.  She briefed us on more details of what would happen at the meeting.  We also found out the day before that children are not allowed in the MO so she got clearance for Alexander to enter and come to the meeting.  We entered the room for our meeting and were introduced to a number of lawyers, psychologists, social workers, doctors, and fortunately, our translator.  The meeting went well and we learned about Hannah's background. 

Her married parents are young, and Hannah has an older sister born in 2006 (and now apparently twin siblings born this past July).  At 8 months pregnant, an ultrasound discovered that Hannah had Beckwith-Weidemann Syndrome.  Her parents researched the syndrome on the internet and decided it was something they were not willing to handle.  They asked doctors to perform an abortion.  The doctors told them it was too late to abort, so they decided they did not want her.  When she was born on August 27, 2008, her mother and father never even wanted to see her.  They told their family that she had died.  Hannah spent the next few weeks in the hospital as they stabilized her condition.  At one month 23 days old, she entered the orphanage.  If you do the math, that means she entered the orphanage on October 20, 2008.  Yesterday, the day we met Hannah, was October 20, 2010.  The only life she has ever known is her life within the orphanage. 

We were also told the specifics about her medical condition, of which we were already aware.  Then they asked us if, after hearing all the information, we still wanted to proceed with the adoption.  We said absolutely, and after they discussed follow-up dates for reports, etc. the meeting ended.  Alexander sat quietly in his chair and drew with his pens.  He won the hearts of all the people in the meeting and they couldn't compliment him enough about how well behaved he is.  The women love to rub his head and that perplexes him.  I told him it's because he's so cute and maybe he could teach them how to high five instead.  When we went to the orphanage one of the nurses immediately fell in love with him and started rubbing his head.  Today when we went back, the nurse saw him and lifted her hand for a high five!  At some point he had told her to do that instead!

From the MO we went to the orphanage.  We arrived at nap time.  Hannah had already been put down for her nap but was not asleep.  They let us go into her room to take a peek at her.  It was love at first sight in person for me and it was all I could do to walk out and let her sleep.  She was frightened by 3 strangers walking in and looking at her, and she started crying.  We went home, ate lunch, changed clothes and returned at 2:30pm.  Hannah was just waking up and again and was not happy.  She did not want to interact with us and we held back just watching her.  She finally allowed Alexander to approach her and they interacted very cautiously.  We had other children clamoring for our attention and it was fun to play with them.  Hannah watched us tentatively and eventually she let me have some stickers on my hand when I asked for them.  She loved her purse and the items inside.  We were able to get some cute pictures, which I posted yesterday.  Then J, her nurse, and the 3 of us took Hannah to get her pictures taken for her passport.  We took a taxi and as we crossed the street to the photo store, her nurse mentioned that it was the first time for Hannah to be walking on a street/sidewalk.  We parted that evening with Hannah being content to let us go. 

We knew it would be a tough day.  The reality of it was tough, and not something you can totally prepare for.  Intellectually, we know that a little 2-year old girl who has only known one home, one life, would not instantly take to 3 strangers who don't even speak the language that she knows, but our hearts are still so anxious to show her the love we already have for her.  Patience is essential, and Hannah will dictate how quickly the process of bonding will take.

Fortunately, tomorrow is a new day.