Medical Exam Today

Today started early as Iris awoke about 6:15am.  We headed down for breakfast around 8:00am and the food was very good (western style food).  In the restaurant we met several adoptive families.  The family sitting closest to us was from Dodge City, Kansas.  They adopted a 2 year old girl and they also brought their two sons and aunt and uncle.  This family is a Holt family and are on the same time line as us (meaning they traveled quickly).

 

We met several families from all over the USA.  There will be a lot more families arriving this week is what we are hearing.  With the Dragon Boat Festival last week the number of people in town this week is very low.  Walking through the lobby I noticed an American who had a polo shirt on which had a logo for an optometry business.  I asked if he was an optometrist and he told us he and his wife are.  They are adopting and live in Alaska.  I immediately told him about Iris and he took a look at her eyes.  He rattled off some technical stuff and in the end thought she would have a positive outcome.  We all need to keep praying for her eyes.

 

At 11:00am we headed off to the medical exam.  Again there were several adoptive families (along with the locals) in this medical clinic.  We saw the Pierce family and made plans to go shopping with them on Tuesday with Anne from Red Thread.

 

The clinic was very small and crowded.  There was a separate area for the adoptive families.  A female ENT person checked her out first and then she moved into the room for checking height and weight.  Next she was seen by a doctor and he examined her for about 5 minutes.  The final phase was the shots.

 

Iris had to get 4 shots.  Ouch!  She was not happy but she did a good job.  She only cried while they were actually giving her the shots and soon seemed back to normal.  They made us stay at the clinic for 20 minutes after the shots to make sure she did not react to anything.  Iris had all bandaides ripped off before we got back to the hotel.

 

The clinic had a lot of mosquitoes.  There was also a person with a regular broom sweeping the entire time.  None of the rooms for exams or shots had any doors so it was almost open to the outside.  At one point they laid Iris on a table to examine and there was paper on the table.  They did not change the paper between kids.  I will say it was cleaner than I expected but there was a lot to be desired for a medical clinic.

 

We stopped at a few shops on the way back to the hotel.  We also gave Iris some Tylenol thinking she may get sore from the shots.  We finally got back to the hotel and thought she would take a nap.  No chance of that.  She never did go to sleep and she never acted like the shots even bothered her.  We also found the Tylenol in the seat of her stroller, she never even swallowed them.

 

At 3:00pm I had to go sign some papers and meet with Holt.  This only took about 15 minutes and when I returned we headed back out to walk around.  We purchased some gifts and keepsakes.  It is extremely hot and humid here.  We headed back to the hotel and went to the kids play room and let Iris run around and play.  She loved it.  We will spend a lot more time here in the coming days.

 

The area around the hotel to great.  There are a lot of little shops and restaurants.  The area has a lot of construction as there are some type of "games" coming to China in the fall so they are fixing up the area.  It is amazing how they are painting everything and remodeling almost all of the buildings.  The area reminds me of somewhere like New Orleans with the old buildings and painted wood trim.  They are also planting beautiful plants along every sidewalk.  It is really a neat area.

 

Tonight we ate dinner at Lucy's and had cheeseburgers and fries.  We are back to the room and going to try and put Iris down early.  She has been sleeping well once she gets to sleep but fights not to go to sleep.  It is like she gets wound up around bead time and likes to sing, laugh, scream and laugh some more.  The more Melissa and I get frustrated with her the funnier she thinks it is!  Soon we find ourselves laughing also.

 

Tomorrow is a noting day so we may investigate our options and venture out somewhere.  Iris is bonding with Melissa and now spends a lot of time having her hold her.  This little girl has such a sassy personality and everyone is going to fall in love with her.  She is also very smart and has picked up several English words.  

 

She is very beautiful and we get a lot of people saying this.  People go out of their way to tell us how beautful she is.  Several locals have also told us this and several have commented on how they hope her eyes can be fixed.  The locals are very curious about her eyes.

 

One thing I forgot to tell about China is that everyone spits.  It may be due to the smog?  Old women and men, young people; it does not matter, they all spit.

 

Also, we purcahsed a stroller and Iris is finally getting used to it.  This really helps mom and dad.

 

We are anxiuos to return home.  We miss Ansley and Elliot and can not wait to see them again.  They are going to love Iris and she is going to love them.  Enjoy the today's photos.