Adoption

18 Nov
By Grendel. Posted November 18, 2006 at 10:22 am. Filed under Adoption and tagged , , . Permalink. Subscribe to this post’s comments. Both comments and trackbacks are currently closed.

Thanksgiving Resolutions — cutting into Galactica time

  1. Get vaccinations: OK, severe fear of hospitals/doctors/the physical pain of childbirth and episiotomies (I’m fine with the other kinds of pain — spiritual and mental anguish, etc.) as a small driver of the whole adoption choice aside, what the hell is up with all the bloodletting and testing and medical exams and now a series of injections of all sorts of horrid things into my system so I don’t catch other horrid things!!! I’ve got all the basics covered already, don’t I? I grew up next to the Shoreham nuclear power plant, didn’t I? Fine, just do it, dammit. At least that freaky raccoon taken down by animal control last week in the next door neighbor’s fields wasn’t rabid after all, so no need to get that set of shots, but I’ll save that story for our child’s bedtime.
  2. Get international adoption-focused pediatrician: lots of international institutional-specific medical issues to assess, plan for, and be prepared to act on, possibly by remote while in-country.
  3. Get in shape: while researching those vaccinations I need for China and the prescriptions I need to get in advance for my little one (ones?), I came across the # 1 medical issue facing adoptive families: severe muscle strain! Apparently those sweet little 15-20 pounders held at hip level while traversing the Great Wall have put more than a few slacker parents like me in the hospital with back strain and elbow damage.
  4. Determine who is going: trying desperately to make the most use of that precious parental leave, we’re considering having John continue to work while I’m in China for two weeks so we can alternate the time we each have off and fend off the need for daycare as long as possible.
  5. If John isn’t going — get power of attorney, and prepare for the second adoption process back in Massachusetts.
  6. If John is going — find a pet-sitter for Grendel, Gryphon and the 13 chickens (two weeks, dates unknown!)
  7. Make any changes to Grendel’s habits now: move food bowl (where?)
  8. Prepare baby room: We have many gorgeous eBay outfits, a changing station and an amazing collection of Steve Keene paintings he and wife Star sent all the way from their incredible studio in Brooklyn, but we haven’t yet gotten mountains of diapers, a potty-training seat, onesies, socks & shows, sippy cups, medical equipment (thermometers and those nasty nose sucking things!), a crib & bedding, a play-yard (looks like a kennel to me, so I’m all for it), a video monitor and all that great stuff. I can’t register for this stuff, though: not only do we not yet know the baby’s age (maybe 8 months, maybe 24 months) or even if we’ll be bringing home twins!
  9. Prepare yard: about that pond we built for Grendel … hmmm … wracking our brains for a way to enclose it, barring the little 2-legger(s) while allowing Grendel access (magnet keys to a drawbridge, a password that sounds like a bark, a narrow gate/strap a two by four across the child when outside …)
  10. Research attachment issues: this is a tricky one. According to what I’ve read so far, we’re not supposed to let anyone but John and me hold, feed, bathe, interact extensively with the baby for 2-6 months. And apparently that includes grandparents and bestest of friends. I need to look into this more , because that seems awfully sad for all involved.
  11. Plan for daycare: I’m already blocking on this on. Mentioned to the boss that I wasn’t planning on daycare, but figured I could bring my child/ children into work. What a powerful look of Boss fear before everyone laughed! Was I joking?
  12. Make travel plans: I’ve got to nail down which airline(s) I’ll be using both from here to China and then within country so I can shift my frequent flyer miles into that airline account — it can take a month for that to be processed for international flights if I remember correctly from the couple of times I’ve gotten John trips to Edinburgh and London from Boston.
  13. Learn Mandarin: kick the NPR addiction and start popping those very cool Pimsleur CDs into the CD player in the car — and get something out of that 3 hour commute each day.
  14. Research China: the wait for medical and consulate appointments in China will include a lifetime opportunity to do a bit of site-seeing in the baby’s province (no idea where that will be) and in Guangdong! And where else can you get Chinese clothing and goods?