Day 51-Back in the Capital

Chris's View:
Last night was interesting to say the least.  I got to the train station in region and traffic was a nightmare.  I was worried I was actually going to miss my train.  Especially when the driver took me to the train and asked the worker where car 14 was and she said there was no car 14!  Then she looked at the ticket and said it was on the middle track.  Well, we had to hurry to get there to make it on board.  It was me carrying a ton of stuff, the driver pulling my suitcase, and his wife carrying Griffin.  He fell down the stairs trying to be sporty, but I really had no opportunity to ask if he was okay.  They loaded me into my sleeper car and away they went.  No sooner did I shut my door, the train started lurching along.

It was H-O-T on the train!  There was no airflow in my cabin either.  I had Griffin in a pair of zip up PJ's to travel in, remembering when Maria & I took the train we froze.  Yeah, I unzipped it and that's how he rode.  The sleeper cars are like metal bunks with vinyl covers.  Heat, skin & vinyl don't mix ya'll!  I was stuck to the bunk for hours!  Griffin did great though!

The train must have been put on some of the worst tracks I have ever seen.  Every few minutes I would gasp thinking the train was about to tip over.  For real, I think the tracks were like these!  I love roller coasters, but this scared the mess out of me.  Griffin slept through it though and I was able to make some very good observations about our little dude on the first almost 24 hours with him on my own.

1) He loves to be moving.  Be it a car, a train, a stroller, a swing, whatever.  If it moves, he's satisfied.  If it stops, he can get a little grumpy, but it's still not bad.

2) He's a heater!  As if our train wasn't hot enough, he had to be right up under me the entire night.  I finally dried off at around noon, while I was in line at the doctor's office.

3) Not about him, but valid nonetheless.  You cannot be worried about hygiene while you are finalizing an adoption here.  I got off the sweat box (aka train) at 6:55 this morning, was rushed to the apartment and told to be back downstairs in 5 minutes to start the appointments.  I am still in the same clothes I picked him up in yesterday!

4) He can SLEEP!  He slept all night, went right back to sleep in the van, slept in either the stroller or my arms at all of the appointments, and is back asleep now on the bed.  Me on the other hand, cannot seem to fall asleep!  Grrrr!

5) He doesn't like sausage baby food... yes, they have sausage baby food here!  He loved the roast, potatoes & carrots variety though.

6) When he is ready to explore, look out cause you will be busy trying to keep up with him... mainly to ensure he doesn't break anything or injure himself.  Last night he tried to put his head & foot through a plate glass door on a display cabinet.  This apartment seems a little more kid friendly... just have to watch the electrical cords.

Sorry for the lack of photos... most places I went today said specifically no cameras or electronic devices... not that there was much to see anyway.  I will try to get some shots here in the capitol when we venture out to change money so I can pay the driver tomorrow.

Today I did his VISA paperwork at the U.S. Embassy here.  After that I had to go to a medical appointment to get approval to enter the U.S. with him.  Looking back though his records, the doctor noticed his TB test spot was larger than it was initially.  This caused us to have to get a chest x-ray, which was negative, but he definitely didn't like me holding him down for an x-ray.  Crazy thing about the x-ray set up here, they had other folks in the room waiting for their chest x-rays while he was getting his.  I stood outside until we were called in!  No sense radiating him, or me, anymore than what we have to be.  He was a trooper the whole day though, didn't fuss or really get cranky at all.  Really, I was envious, he slept most of the day!  Tomorrow is the final hurdle, the VISA interview.  Not sure what to expect, but hopefully it goes quickly.

See ya'll tomorrow!

Maria's view:

Oh my word, I can't even tell you how stressed I am right now, wondering if they made it off the train without any trouble.  It's around 10:00AM there now and I still haven't heard anything from them yet.  I'm assuming they are getting settled in their apartment and getting Internet established. 

Last night, I discovered that Big G developed a fever of 104 with no warnings whatsoever!  She ended up getting a headache from the fever so I sponged her off, gave her Motrin, and bothered my nurse friend until midnight or after.  I stayed up with her all night, practically, monitoring her temp and I finally got it to stay around 100.  This morning at 8:00, it was back up to 101, and I finally got it back down to 99.  She is fighting something off.  I know she is very susceptible to seizures so I don't want her body temp to get out of control.  Another surprise this morning, Little G woke up with pink eye.  <sigh>  Naturally, there were no appts available for us so the nurse called us back and will put in a prescription for eye drops for Little G and told me to just watch Big G and to keep the Motrin and Tylenol going.  I have a doctor's appt for myself today because I'm still dealing with a clogged duct in my eye and an injury to my toe that happened back in March so this appt will be crazy with Little G in tow.  I definitely do not need to reschedule it because my toe is in a lot of pain!

I am praying so hard that Chris is doing well with Griffin.  I imagine they are both exhausted because of the train ride, even though they are in a sleeper car, it's not comfortable. However, it is more comfortable than the bed in the apartment that Chris was staying in!  I pray that Griffin felt comfortable with Chris and not easily overstimulated with the new atmosphere and noises!  I pray that he ate breakfast well for Chris... I just wish I could be there to help!  Chris is such an amazing husband and father and I am just so thankful that he's mine.  His heart is so huge and our children are so blessed to have him as their papa!

Poor Big G.  I really hated to get her out.  She was a trooper though and managed to make it to my appointment.  She kept saying that she felt sick to her stomach but nothing ever happened.  I have no idea what kind of virus she is fighting off yet.  Little G's eye is doing great...just a little red so that's a good thing.  The doctor decided to do a minor little surgical procedure on my toe in the office so he numbed my toe up and did it while I blew bubbles at Little G... Big G folded herself up into a ball and slept in the chair.  Done.  Long overdo but done.  I'll be on antibiotics a bit longer for my eye and toe. and blah blah blah.

So I get home and finally receive an email from Chris!  Praise God!!  All he said to me was that the train ride wasn't good but not because of Griffin.  And I read his blog post for the rest of the information!  I am so thankful that Dude was easy on him!  So proud of my little boy right now!

But anyway, I need to go and nurse my girls back to health...Thank you, Ashley, for bringing groceries over for me and for the nurse advice line last night! ;-)

Love and Hugs from Germany!