Finally in Our Arms

We have had quite a day. At nine am, our guide, Fils, picked us up from our guesthouse and we headed to the orphanage. As soon as we opened the orphanage gate, Shekina ran to me and jumped into my arms, hugging me as tight as she could and calling me Mama! Godson was the opposite. He held as tightly as he could onto his nanny, coincidentally named Vickie, and he would not let us hold him at all during our time at the orphanage. He was in total despair if we tried to reach for him at all. In the car, he settled down greatly. We had to stop by the DGM (immigration office), to begin the process of getting the kids' exit letters. Then we had to visit St. Anne's procure (basically, a wonderful Catholic compound with a guesthouse) for an errand. By the time we got home, Godson was hot, tired, and distressed. He had finished a fruit pouch in the car, but back at the hotel, he wouldn't touch anything. We finally got him to drink a great deal of Pedialyte through a medicine syringe. Shekina, on the other hand, ate French bread, chicken breast, smoked Gouda, peanuts, peanut butter, and a nutrigrain bar during the day! She enjoyed dipping her French bread into her pedialyte juice, a habit I imagine comes from the African custom of dipping things into tea. She kissed her fingers and said "Mmm, mmm, mmm!" She was also quite helpful with her brother, trying hard to soothe him and (to no avail) to get him to take a bottle. 

As my mother and I worked hard to hydrate and soothe Godson, my dad stepped up and started grandfathering Shekina immediately. He was a gigantic help, even if he did let Shekina eat too much peanut butter and play on the iPad for way too long! Whatever works at this point!

All in all, it has been an extremely tough but rewarding and exciting day. We can tell that Shekina will have absolutely no difficulty attaching. She latched on to all three of us immediately, and we'd like to think she is happy to have a family to call her own. We hope Godson will feel the same way once his health improves and his despair about leaving the orphanage fades. (Right now he is very congested and has a slight fever. Thank goodness we brought lots of meds!) 

We feel extremely lucky to have these children in our lives. Please bear with us if we don't return your emails or Facebook messages right away. We are very busy administering meds (including scabies medicine and penicillin), trying to understand Lingala, trying to navigate our way around this country and its ways, and trying to be good parents/grandparents! Thank you all for your support. 

Sincerely, 

Anna, the overwhelmed and mind-boggled new mother