First smiles...finally

After all of the reading I've done the past few years you'd think I'd have been a little more prepared for this adjustment, meaning Abby's adjustment to being torn out of her world. She has cried a lot and not eaten much and it has taken it's toll on me with the other stresses and lack of sleep. She didn't sleep more than 2 consecutive hours the first night and cried every time she looked at us until today. The first photo shows the closest she got to a smile yesterday and then the other is a real smile that she finally eeked out this afternoon.

Our guide suggested we go and visit the Dr. in the hotel clinic since we started to really wonder if there wasn't something medically wrong with her. She was acting like our kids do when they have an ear infection or some other malady. So about 8:00 pm we visited the hotel infirmary - a small room with a desk and computer. A young girl (looked about 23) in what looked like a stewardess uniform - navy blue suit, short skirt, was there to check Abby. The Dr. stood behind the desk and spoke with our guide - this would have been another good time to know some Chinese - and then she took a small flashlight and looked in Abby's ears. She then got 2 swabs and looked in Abby's throat and stepped back 4 or 5 feet away and spoke with our guide again. They told us to give her some cold medicine and make sure she has more water (can I tell you how many people have told me to give her more water? It has something to do with the yin/yang balance in Chinese medicine - all foods are cold or hot, not temperature though - milk is hot so you need to give them lots of water to balance it out). Then she made me sign the bill - 21 yuan, $3.00. I guess you get what you pay for.

She slept great last night and has been much happier today - not crying and arching her back and looking at us with that sad, empty look. Shawn gave her a blessing and that with sleep and a good breakfast has made for a much better day. She prefers Shawn and as he reminded me, he has always been the one who has had the baby handed to him and I've been the one who has felt bonded and attached to the baby from before birth. So now I know what it is like to have the baby handed to me and have to be patient and take time to create that bond. She is napping peacefully now and I'm happy that she finally smiled and seems to be getting used to us. Our guide keeps saying "she is so smart" she looks at everything and is very alert and attentive. If Shawn hands her to me she looks at my face carefully and vice versa. It will be interesting to see her real personality as she settles in and recovers from the trauma of being handed over to strangers who don't look, smell, or talk like anything she's ever experienced.