Today was our first full day with Em - phew!
She did great last night - drank 2 formula/pediasure bottles eagerly, took her heart medication without too much fuss, took a bath without crying at all and fell asleep relatively easily once we got her comfortable. She slept rather crazily - moving all over the place, flopping here and there, waking up coughing a few times - until about 3am when her coughing settled down and she seemed to be sleeping more deeply.
This morning we went for her passport appointment at the police station, where we had to lift her up into the range of the camera (while carefully staying out of the shot) and try to get her to look up (without crying, as she was doing most of the morning) for a good enough picture. Finally they were satisfied and her passport may be ready tomorrow afternoon, or Monday morning at the latest. We are hoping for tomorrow because Monday is going to be chaotic enough with her physical exam and visa interview.
It was a rather overwhelming day for all of us, as we basically know nothing about one another - it is like having a newborn all over again LOL! For some reason she is miserable being upright - supported sitting, leaning against us on our laps, even being held over our shoulder unless we are walking her around - and only tolerates it for a bit before she starts whining, crying and arching toward the floor. As soon as we got her back to the apartment and laid her down with her toys she was happy again. It's very strange and we're not sure if it's just a sensory thing - she's used to lying down most of the time, a sick thing - she still has a cold and probably isn't feeling too well, or a heart defect thing - she seems to get tired very easily.
It will make all of our appointments on Monday that much more difficult though and we are a bit...um... terrified of the 9 hour transatlantic flight LOL! Austrian Airlines is arranging special seats with a bassinet for her so she will at least be able to lie down to rest.
Feeding did not go so well today - she usually loves her formula/pediasure bottles but sometimes she will drink for a few seconds happily and then suddenly turn away and start crying. We don't know why. We took one of our bottles, enlarged the hole and made a similar food-and-milk concoction she got at the orphanage, and she drank so fast she lost at least 1/3 of it. Gave her a formula/pediasure bottle before bed and again, first crying and turning away, then tried again 15 minutes later and she drank the entire thing and cried when it was gone. It's baffling.
Sometimes she will be playing happily with us with a toy, and will suddenly just start crying. It's hard not knowing what's wrong, what she's feeling or thinking - maybe this is just her way of saying hey, where am I? what happened to my usual routine? It takes a lot of effort not to get overwhelmed though, especially since I am missing the other kids and worried about being away from them these extra few days.
Four more nights after this one. They can't pass quickly enough.
