On To Guangzhou

Playing with Daddy and eating lots of snacks!

Seating in the airport... "The old, weak, and pregnant."

Yah, nothing in me wanted to sit there. lol!

Before take-off. He is such a little monkey. :)

We flew to Guangzhou on Friday. Susie helped us with our tickets and luggage. We had trouble again with the tickets. This happened the last time we adopted and had an issue with Jessa's ticket. I'm not sure what the issue is - but again, it was a problem with Mason's ticket. So instead of having us all three seated together, they issued him a ticket for an entirely different row. Luckily, the man who was supposed to sit by us agreed to take Mason's seat - so we could all be together. Our flight was delayed an hour so it was a long time sitting in the airport. George Mason spent the time playing with Daddy and eating a lot of snacks. :) He is such a good baby boy!

By the time it was our plane's turn to take off, George Mason was fast asleep. :) He didn't wake up until they started serving dinner. Which was very spicy Chinese stirfry. David and George Mason just ate the rice. lol! We thought he was doing so well, looking out the window at the clouds and the sky, and playing with the toys we brought for him. But, when the plane started to land in GZ, everything changed. He threw-up and just didn't feel good at all. We thought maybe he had air sickness. W e cleaned him up and put on a new outfit, then went to collect our bags in the airport. Helen met us and is so sweet. We took a van to our hotel on Shamian Island - The Victory Hotel. It was 11pm when we finally got to our room and we all crashed. :)

Victory Hotel Lobby

He had the bib on in case he threw-up again. :(

She's just taking his temp under his arm, and he is in hysterics. I think I'll let David take him to the Pediatrician when it is time for vaccines. yikes!

The next morning as Mason was taking his bottle, he began to start choking and gagging. He had a cough when we first met him and it has progressed now to a deep cough with lots of congestion. So for about 2 hours, he was coughing, gagging, and throwing up gunk. I felt horrible for him. He would choke on so bad that he couldn't breathe and his little face would get all red. We had him upside down at one point trying to get the gunk out so he could breathe. I remembered that I had brought Vicks Vapor Rub so we put some all over his chest and it immediately made a difference. Then we gave him some Tylenol because he felt very warm. This was Saturday morning and we met Helen to go to the Medical Exam. She could tell right away that Mason was sick and not doing well. She told us she would help us get him some help from the Dr.'s. He got his Visa photo taken and then we entered the exam clinic. It was packed full of families who were also adopting children. Most of the families were from a large group and traveling together. As we were the only family with Helen, she was able to get us through the different check stations rather quickly. There were cartoons playing on the TV in the waiting room. We laughed when we saw it was Tom & Jerry! :)

Geroge Mason was checked by an ENT and the Dr. said his ears were clear but that he had a very sore throat. Then he was weighed and measured. George Mason has a serious case of white coat syndrome - lol! He screamed before they even touched him. :( He hated sitting on the scale and screamed and cried when we put him on the exam table. The Dr. tried to listen to his lungs, but it was difficult with him screaming so loudly. When she was done, I held him and it was as if God put the words in my mouth because all of a sudden I started comforting him by saying "Ha la, Ha la." He calmed down and I looked up at Helen and asked her if what I'm saying is Chinese? She smiled and said yes, it is perfect - it means "It's okay. It's okay." She asked me how did I know this. I said I guess I must have learned that when we were here with Jessa, but that it wasn't a phrase I had remembered until that very moment. That's when I realized that God was answering prayers to equip me with every good thing to parent our new son! A phrase from 3 years ago. wow! Isn't God so good! He knew my son needed to hear words of comfort besides "boo coo" which means - "don't cry".

When the Pediatrician checked him, she agreed that he had a very bad cough with a lot of congestion but didn't think it was in his lungs yet. She wrote a Rx for a type of Mucinex to give him twice a day and we were so thankful that we brought an antibiotic for him too - so we began that right away.

We signed the exemption order so he didn't have to have any vaccinations today, but he did have to have a TB test.  By this time, David and I felt so bad for him. He was already so sick and it just felt like we were torturing him. Bless his heart. He did the best he could. I took a few photos and David took the rest of our time at the clinic. I'm sure they will break your heart because up until now we've not posted any photos of him this upset, but I just want to reassure, that he truly was never in pain and no one was mistreating him at all. He just simply didn't like any Dr.'s near him at all. So it didn't matter what they were doing, he took one look at the white coat and freaked out.

We received the medicine and decided the best thing for Mason was a day full of napping and taking it easy. He slept almost 4 hours and ate noodles for dinner. He didn't want to drink anything though, so we are praying this changes because we don't want him to get dehydrated on top of everything else. David and I ate Subway for lunch and it was YUMMY! :) We risked it and had tomatoes and lettuce on our sandwhiches and so far - no upset tummies. yay!

We have use of the stroller for free from our hotel, and Mason loves it! :)

Ready to go back to the hotel and go night-night. He never sucks his thumb when he is awake, so I know he is feeling icky. :(

We took a walk in the evening and went around the island. Suprisingly, there are very few families here. In fact, many things are entirely closed down. So many of the stores and restaurants that we visited when we adopted Jessa have closed down because business is terrible. One of the store owners, Jordan, told us that because adoptions are down in China there are not as many families coming to GZ, many families are staying in hotels off the island, and business is way down. He said the US Consulate used to be on Shamian Island and then moved and now one of the biggest hotels on the island, The White Swan, will close for a year for renovations. He then told us that the only reason that adoptive families have to come here is for the medical exam, but that will also close down soon and move. We asked Helen about this, and she told us yes, it is true. She said that the US Consulate is going to move to a new building that is being constructed now and that the medical exam will move to that building also. So soon - no families will need to stay on Shaiman Island at all. The Italian restaurant is closed, the Shanghai Style restaurant is closed, The White Swan will close in about two weeks, Walking around the island, there were many empty store fronts with white official government papers posted on the doors as if they've been foreclosed on or something. So you can imagine how frightened Jordon is in losing his store as well, he like all the other stores that are still open are having to go to great lengths to try and get families to come to their business. We must have been chased down by at least five store owners trying to get us to come and shop at their stores. They act like they are interested in conversation and asking you where you are from about your child, etc. and then they hand you a flyer/card and practically beg you to come to their store. I remember this last time too, but not to this extent. I mean the one lady walked nearly two blocks with us trying to convince us. It was awkward and also very sad. The only business that is thriving is the wedding photo business. Brides-to-be come for the day and rent beautiful wedding gowns and have their photos taking all over the island. We witnessed photo shoots for a dozen couples.

We also went to the lobby of the White Swan and checked out the waterfall. There are many Chinese families touring the island but not even one adoptive family. So weird compared to three years ago. A Chinese couple spoke with David and I about our family and adoption. They were very sweet. They told us they are planning on moving to Australia and beginning their family there so they can have more children than just one. I guess I didn't realize this was an option for them, so was happy to hear that this is possible. Mason loved the fish ponds and had fun watching them swim around. So did the other little Chinese boys and girls who were there with their families. One grandpa was helping take care of his little grandson who was wearing split pants. I finally had an unanswered question of mine answered when I saw the little boy pee right there in the famed lobby of the White Swan Hotel. Yep, he peed all over the little wooden bridge that connects the coy ponds in front of the grand waterfall. The grandfather just laughed, picked him up, and then left the puddle there for everyone else to walk in. gross. Seriously, I had always wondered "What happpens if the little ones decide it is time to go?" I guess what happens is - the go! :) Needless to say, we decided to go check out other sites in the hotel. lol!

We were amazed at all the artwork. The peacock in the photos is made entirely out of butterfly wings. REAL butterfly wings! I had mixed feelings about the medium the artist used. Part of me was horrified by the idea of plucking off so many wings, and the other part was amazed at what they created with them. Can you imagine the intricate and delicateness of this? Seriously, my brain would be numb. Anyway, all the Chinese families think Mason is adorable. Lots and lots of smiles here. :) So for dinner David and I ate Cup O'noodles too and then called it a night. Praying tomorrow that he begins to feel better and the medicines start working and for God's healing touch to be evident. So hard to see him miserable.