Live from Nizhny

We made it! We have just returned from the first meeting with our son, and it was absolutely incredible. Already, we are looking at the pictures and finding it hard to believe we were really with him just a few short hours ago. Let me back up a bit and tell you about our trip so far...

On Monday evening, we left Atlanta for an 8-hour flight. Neither of us slept great on the plane, but it was OK. When we got to London Gatwick, we had to get our bags, go through customs, and then take a 1 1/2 hour bus ride over to Heather. Then we had to check in and go through security again. We both took a nap on that 4-hour flight. We were greeted in Moscow by Max, our taxi driver. He was so nice. Our taxi ride into the city took over two hours, but we enjoyed looking at the city and trying to read the signs in Russian! Around 9:30pm, we enjoyed a special treat. We met a Natalie, a friend from Tver, for dinner at TGI Friday's. It was nice to eat a real meal, and Max waited for us outside. Then all four of us went to the train. We were so thankful they were both there to help us get settled into our little room. We had a small cabin to ourselves with two beds (pictures to come). We both slept great! We woke up this morning, and were greeted by Denis. He took us to our hotel, and we had just an hour to shower, eat, and get ready for our appointment this morning.

At 8:45, his wife Julia picked us up at our hotel. We went directly to a meeting with the Ministry of Education. It only took about 5 minutes, but we were still required to be dressed up. She told us his birthday and a little more information about him. Then we were invited to visit him at the hospital. So, Julia, Dimitri (our translator), and we went to pick up the social worker. She went with us to the hospital.

We were directed into a room with many people in white coats. They were doctors of various specialities. They said they would tell us more information about him while they brought him in. All of a sudden, he was in the room with us! It felt like a dream. I think I was even holding my breath. He is SO adorable, even more than in his picture. He made great eye contact with both of us right away and was looking all around the room. They undressed him for us, and then took him away before we could hold him. Then they went over his medical and family history, and answered a lot of questions. It was great, but hard to concentrate because we wanted to see him again! I took notes to help me remember, but there was nothing worrisome. He will need a minor surgery when he comes home, but he will have no lasting problems. Praise God that there is no permanent damage to his kidneys!

After the Q&A session, they brought him back in, and he lit up the room. You could tell that all of the doctors (mostly women) loved him. They admitted so later. :-) We were both able to hold him and play with him for a short while. We got to give him a bottle with water, and he made eye contact while he was drinking, which was great. After just a few minutes, we told them we did want to proceed with adopting him, and so we signed a few papers. Julia took some pictures of us. I was wearing a new necklace that he loved to chew on, so we got some precious pictures of that. The doctors loved the Build a Bear and the photo album I made, labeled with Russian words. They promised to go over this with him, and to keep his new toys with him. All too quickly, we were kissing him goodbye and he left.

Tomorrow, we will visit a notary to sign more paperwork, and then we get to return to the hospital to visit him again. We are grateful to have two visits, and hope that tomorrow's will be longer than today's. But any time we have will be a blessing. Then tomorrow night, we'll head back to Moscow on the overnight train again. Hopefully I'll be able to post more after our visit tomorrow.

Can't wait until we can post pictures for you all to see! Now we are off to give ourselves a tour of the city and buy some souvenirs. Should be fun!