The Day We Met our Daughter…take 2

So, after losing a LONG post about gotcha day, I had to take a little breather…time is precious these days for time to blog and I was frustrated that I wasted time. Oh well.

For some reason, the Holt staff had that I was travelling alone. Which, on a side note, is quite funny. Given my fear of flying and not really being a big “adventure girl” (give me my flushing toilet, Starbucks, comfy bed, & warm shower and I’m good) that I am I just find it humorous that anyone might think I would do this alone?? Ha! So, that meant the first night in the Union Hotel was spent in a room meant for one person…a bed meant for one person. NOT a bed for a 6’ 4” man and me too. Also, me thinks they forgot to put the mattress on. It was literally like sleeping on plywood. I’m not exaggerating. I kept waking up during the night so sore and thinking “I can do this. I’m not a diva. I can adapt. It’s only 7 nights”.  However..I digress.

FRIDAY – MAY 28th

So, the first morning we awoke in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia we were welcomed by the dogs barking, the prayer chants over a loudspeaker, honking, etc. I looked out our window and saw this:

laundry from the care center. How surreal to have slept in the building next to our daughter. 

I then proceeded to shower and then try to burn down the hotel. My hairdryer started on fire (something with the voltage??) so I had to meet our travel mates with dripping wet hair and beg a stranger for her hairdryer. OK, they weren’t really strangers, but it was weird to introduce yourself and say, “hi I’m Laura. Do you have a hairdryer I can borrow and try not to burn it up too?”.  The vain part of me didn’t want to have bad hair on the day we met our daughter. So many pictures would be taken and I didn’t want bad hair! You women must know what I mean? :)

Anyways…after breakfast, we all loaded ourselves into our favorite white vans and were brought to the Holt office for an orientation and some paperwork help. Thankfully they supplied white-out for the nervous and anxious hands that were filling said forms out.

Finally…they took us back to the hotel and we walked over to the care center.

It was especially moving to hear all the kids before we saw even one. Also, one of the couples in our group were waiting to meet their FIRST child. What a moment to be a part of them becoming parents and a family of three.

Sister Martha gave a little intro and welcome and we immediately trusted and loved her and could tell how much she and the rest of the staff loved on our kids. It was tangible. It was precious and reassuring.

They began to take out the kids one by one and given each family their moment with their child.  This was BY FAR one of the most moving and life-changing things I will ever be a part of.  When we received our referral on March 23rd, this was the picture we were given:

We were given updated pictures on April 27th:

We were getting ready to actually have this little girl in our arms. Surreal. Mind-numbing. Emotional…almost out of body type experience.

Here we are just before meeting her:

They brought out several of the other sweet babes in our group and then THERE SHE WAS!! First thoughts were of how small she was, how absolutely GORGEOUS she was and THANK YOU GOD she is in my arms!!

 

She was really subdued and just taking it all in. She didn’t cry and just kind of checked us out that morning.

After we had some time with the kids it was time for their naps so we took a break for lunch and returned as soon as they would let us. We finally got to see Maleah smile. This was when it became SO obvious how much she loved her nannies. She would totally light up when they were with her. So incredible to see.

I’m forever grateful for each and every person who cared for and loved on our baby girl until we could get to her.

Her daddy got the first giggle out of her. He’s totally mush, by the way. She is totally got him wrapped around every finger on his hands.

She could sit up really well! she loved all the chew toys we brought for her and she was working REALLY hard on some new teeth.

 

When they had to kick us out so they could give the kids dinner and put them to bed, we got to see where she had been sleeping. Here’s her cozy little bed.  We reluctantly said our goodbyes and headed back over to the Union Hotel. Our heart full but arms still aching because we had to now leave them for the night.

What a beautiful day. To see 7 babies meet their forever families. To see 7 couples with tear-stained cheeks make their dreams a reality.  I’ll never forget this day.

(You can also view the video of gotcha day here)