First Contact (email written by Nathan)

View from the Civil Affairs Office

Monday 25Oct2010 started with lots of anticipation.  We were all very excited and full of a range of emotions.  After breakfast we crossed the street to the Civil Affairs Office located on the 26th floor.  We arrived before Jessa did as she was stuck in traffic.  It's hard to describe the range of emotions we all felt as we waited for our child to come down the hallway and through the door.

View from the Civil Affairs Office

When she finally did arrive she was not happy.  She was crying with a set of powerful lungs. Gwenn held her first.  After several minutes of continuous crying our guide needed to explain some things to Gwenn about her diet and daily routine so I held Jessa.  Of course, having weird looking people hold her probably added to her fear and anger.  After more continuous crying she threw up all over my shirt - I think she had formula for breakfast :-).  Once this happened I knew she was our child since all my children have thrown up on me.  We packed an extra set of clothes for Jessa but not for me.  I had to wash my shirt off as best I could.  Our paper work was postponed until later so I could get cleaned up.

We took Jessa back to our hotel room where we gave her a bath.  She loved taking a bath in the warm water.  In our room, our guide helped us complete yet a different set of paper work signed with our signature and fingerprints.

At 2:30 PM we went back over to the Civil Affairs Office with Jessa leaving our children in the hotel room.  This time she did not cry but was very interested in what was going on.  To our surprise the anticipated four hours of paper work actually only took about 30 minutes.  After the director of Civil Affairs approved our adoption they issued us an adoption certificate.  Next, we drove to the Notary Office to fill out more paper work.  We returned to the hotel much relieved to find our children still there and alive.

In the evening, Jessa was calm enough to start walking around the hotel room.  At first we held her hands but then we walked on her own.  It appears that her special condition meningocile has not affected her ability to walk which is a huge relief to us.  In fact, we can't detect any negative effects from this condition during the first day.

It has really helped having our children here as each one can take a turn with her.  Jessa is also used to having noisy surroundings and seeing lots of faces.  It has helped the bonding process to have our children interact with her during this transition period.