The drive was a little over an hour and I soaked up all the sights and culture that I could. There were several things that struck me as we traveled along to Tokmok. There are lots of animals, but no fences -- anywhere. There are also no lines on the road as you get out of the city of Bishkek. It's pretty much drive anywhere you like as long as you don't hit anyone else.
The country area is poor, but so beautiful with their fields and animals and snow capped mountains on one side and hillsides on the other. Our driver, Vladimir, tried to tell us some things (in Russian) and we were able to pick out some things, mainly from reading about other's experiences from the Kyrg yahoo list. There are a lot of people on the sides of the road and there is a strong smell of exhaust pretty much every where. Lots of kids out playing with no apparent supervision. Farmers working in the fields are abundant the further out you get. Their homes are mishmash "put-together-what-you-have" homes. It's very different from where we live. I took a bunch of photos along the way and will share a few here. Mainly I want Ellie to have a nice visual reference of the country from where she came -- even if it's just the road from Bishkek to Tokmok.
When we got to the orphanage, they took me right away to the baby room where they pointed out Aimana. My first thought was, "This isn't her." I checked the name and the birth date and they matched but I was just not prepared for how very tiny she is. When I asked her weight, they checked the latest numbers and told us 2.9 kgs, which converts to 6.4 pounds. They then told me they would wrap her up and let me take her outside. Imagine my surprise to know that I would get to show her to Joshua!! Just a reminder from God that He is still in the prayer answering business as this is something I gave over to Him. We weren't expecting to be able to as we were told he would not be allowed to see her due to her small size. She is so tiny and so light and so delicate. A couple of days ago, she scraped her eyelid and there is a small red mark there. She has long fingers and tiny, tiny hands. We managed to get a while alone with her, sitting outside and got her hat off so we could see her hair. It's dark and has some wave to it. Very cute!!! We never got her to open her eyes. We tried blowing on her, calling her, moving her around. We thought we were close once, but she just went back to sleep. Since she was a preemie, we are thinking she just needs more sleep. She had some rapid eye movement (REM) going on so we think she was in a deep sleep.
We were told that we would not be able to sit down and talk with the director/doctor today as her office was being remodeled/painted but that we would be able to do that on our next visit on Wednesday.
Joshua seems totally enamoured by her. He got to hold her with us holding underneath and he just touched her and talked about how tiny she was. He got really upset when he thought we were saying she couldn't open her eyes. He said, "Is she blind?" He almost cried.
As luck would have it, our batteries died while we were there. We managed to get quite a few photos, however. We were told it might be better to wait on the video for now. For those of you waiting for photos of your babies, we did not ask today since it was the first day. We will wait until a couple more visits when they feel comfortable with us and then ask Aliya to snap them for you.
We are now back in the hotel. We've walked back over the Beta Store and got more sodas and water. I am HUNGRY and there is really no where to go right now. Elizabeth and Bill are going with us for dinner to the American Pub and Grill. We hear the food there is good. I hope so. I'm certain to overeat. :-) Breakfast this morning was ok. There is a "buffet" (not like the U.S., really) and we had ham, olives, pickles, bread with butter and jam, tea and juice. There were some other items, but I didn't have a clue what they were so I didn't try it.
So, you don't want to hear so much about what we are or are not eating, so here are a few photos of "The Princess"
11 comments:
Wow, she is beautiful! I remember Emmerson's early days when it was hard to get her to wake up, even to eat, and she was full term. Your Ellie may be like this until she "catches up." She's still acting like a newborn because that's really what she'd be if she had not been premature, so that sleepiness seems normal. Your detailed posts are great. You'll treasure what you wrote because it'll be hard to remember all of the details in months and years to come. P.S., let me know if you need anything from Emmerson. She's outgrown quite a bit of her 0-3 month clothes (which fit up to about 11 or 12 pounds).
She is so tiny! But absolutely stunning! You guys look so great together as a family. I am so happy for you. I checked your site first thing this morning b/c I knew you would have met her while we slept last night :)
Awwww.....Maria....Ellie is SO BEAUTIFUL!!! I'm so excited for you guys to see God's fulfillment of his promise to you in this baby girl. He is always faithful to us! Give that sweet girl a hug and kiss from me and I'll be watching and waiting for each update of your daughter!! Much love, Anita
Oh Maria, she is gorgeous! Thanks for inviting me to view your blog, I am so excited to be able to share this with you. Don't worry about her weight, she is already much heavier than Noah was when we met him last month. They catch up quickly. I bet Noah is in the same room with her. That is so special.
Enjoy your visits and keep the pictures coming!
Cheers!
April Taylor
Oh she is so precious! I love love love all the photos. Hope there will be more!
I am so happy that Josh got to meet her and hold her as well. I was worried about that! What a blessing. Hope the rest of the visits go well!!
Oh, I am just in love with her!! She is so tiny, so that picture with Josh holding her is just amazing. Congrats and I am SOOO happy he was able to meet his new sister!
She is absoulutley beautiful!!! I am so glad to see new pictures and Josh looks cool holding his new sister. The four of you look perfect together--a match made in heaven--God does such good work. I am so happy that they let you take her outside where Joshua could meet her on the first day! What a blessing for you and him. Katie saw the pictures this morning too and asked if she was ever that small. She was 6 lbs. 5 oz. at birth. She looked amazed to think she had ever been so small. We all think she is beautiful and we can't wait for you to BRING ELLIE HOME. Pictures are wonderful but the real thing is better.
Lots of love and prayers from the Allen home.
She is so precious. Amazing photos and what a treasure to have those for her later. I am happy Josh got to see her AND hold her!
Take care of yourself too! I hope you can get some good food and sleep over the next day before visiting again.
THANK YOU for sharing. It is such a gift to us while we wait to be in your shoes. God bless!
Lisa B
Yeah Maria!! The culmination of years of prayers, paperwork..and now world travels...your baby girl is right there in your arms; a living, breathing God miracle. I had a huge melt down during our first trip to Russia...its just the combination of being so tired and the emotion of the whole thing. Try to rest when you can, and eat small snacks throughout the day so you don't get so hungry all at once. Love and Hugs to you!!
She is beautiful and ya'll look so "right" as a family! I'm sure she felt small compared to my big man! I can't wait to hold her and tell her how excited we all are to have her home!
Oh Maria, She is BEAUTIFUL. Simply beautiful!!
Post a Comment