It's Saturday Night

Checking in with a brief (yes brief) update. Not much to report today. Tonight was the first night I left the hotel in two days! Our little princess is feeling out of sorts and absolutely does not want to be put down. Sort of like enforced bonding. I just wish I knew what exactly was bugging her so that we could fix it and make it better.

But hey, considering what she's gone through already in her short life, holding her is the least we can do as her new and forever parents. I think she was constipated this morning and just in so much pain. But I don't know. I'm not really a doctor and she can't talk so it's sort of hard to tell. What I do know is we can offer her comfort in this adjustment period. Not only does she have the upper resp. infection and ear problems, she's going through a huge change and I think she's really grieving which is something Max didn't do. She's a sensitive little one, somewhat frail and very vulnerable - sort of like a baby kitten. And she's really growing on all of us. We even have a name for her, almost. I have to confirm with Tom first though before announcing it to the world.

We had hoped to go to Halong Bay for the weekend as we don't have to be anywhere til Tuesday but three out of four on our team are feeling out of sorts. Max has had tummy cramps and diarrhea for two days and I seem to have joined him in the pain. I think Tom was frustrated with the lot of us but ultimately understands that this is mission for baby, not a travel adventure.

I've tried to put a new spin on hotel life as we wait for paperwork to be processed. This two-week (possibly more) time period is a great opportunity for our little family to bond and cocoon without the distractions of everyday life. Also, as an at-home-mom, how can I possibly complain about not having to cook dinner, go grocery shopping, do laundry, make the bed, change sheets and scrub toilets every day? Though the towels have an omnipresent mildew smell, it's going to be a rough re-immersion back into reality. I am grateful for the support we have here and this gentle time to reconfigure the balance of our family.

I have to say being here at the Melia with other families in the same shoes has been wonderful. We've established a little pod with some of the baby's crib sisters and their parents and it's been great to share the journey and fellowship with them. We share at least one meal together a day, if not more, and share heaps of tips on where to find a cheap laundromat, ginger ale and baby formula. We're forever bonded through the tears and sweat of that intensely emotional and hot day when we drove to Thai Nguyen to get our babies. Though it was four days ago, it seems like it's been weeks.

We genuinely care about each other's babies and are rooting for all of them to get healthy and thrive. It's a natural, unforced and unplanned bonding and I'm grateful we are at this hotel where there seems to be a parade of adoptive parents cruising around with their babies strapped on their chest in Baby Bjorns. Some are just arriving, others who have been here for weeks are relieved to finally be going home and then there are those of us who are midway through the process. Our collective presence is a comfort to each other.

See - I can be brief.