Last day in Zhengzhou

Well, day #4 went a little smoother. Baby did improve, after 24 hours of antibiotics, nebulizers, and decongestants...she LOVED the higher oxygen flow, was actually fairly pink. She has a terrible cough still, but isn't feverish anymore. The people in the hospital have been mostly fabulous; these are people who have NOTHING, and yet more than 1 offered me food, drink, and there was 1 young father who would bring me hot water every time baby fussed so I didn't have to trudge down the hall for hot water. One young mother offered her oxygen pillow tonight so I can travel with 2 to Guangzhou tomorrow, and initially wouldn't accept payment...It is humbling to see such generosity in such a raw and difficult setting.

The medical team examined her...and then verbally examined me! They asked me all kinds of interesting questions, from "did you know this child has a heart condition before you adopted her?" to "are you married?"...very interesting. The med students spoke some english, which was welcome after 24 hours of local dialect... :-) The little girl in the gurney across the hall is learning some english at school, and so she practiced a few words this evening with me.

My dedicated boyfriend has helped to move mountains in the past 24 hours. He worked with my guide here in Zhengzhou, and called the US Consulate in Guangzhou, talked to someone who had authority, and then coordinated with my adoption agency...and presto!- we have our consulate appt Monday a.m., and our visas monday afternoon, and we can come home Tuesday!!! He also is talking to Stanford for me, updating them and getting questions answered for us...they will have transport waiting for us at the airport when we land...he also contacted my insurance company, found out what I had to do to register baby, and is trying to push for emergency medical transport...My mom and niece have also been phenomenal...Mom stayed at the hospital with me last night, and today gave me a break for a few hours, so I could come back to the hotel and shower, plus do necessary email-stuff...Paige has been Command Central for phone, email, and Skype, coordinating all the millions of details for everyone, updating the folks at home, and etc. And our guide, Yisha, and her assistants-Sunny and Rita, made the past few days bearable. They interpreted, got supplies, sat with us, made phone calls, and generally provided moral support- including shooing the "doctor" away who kept making negative comments and shaking his head- I seriously wanted to injure him today...

Anyways, Please continue to keep us in prayers...Baby is a little fighter, and I hope that the medical treatments she's had the past 2 days will get us to Guangzhou, and then to home...

Oh, to answer the question: Motherhood rocks!! Baby is used to us now, and looks for me when she wakes up...I napped next to her this a.m., and when I woke up she was touching my face with her cheek and looking at me. She doesn't have alot of awake time, it takes alot of energy just to feed and burp, and cough, but she does smile sometimes, and twice now she's said "ma" while looking at me... :-) Can't wait to see her personality emerge after surgery....