Gotcha Day!!

I got an email from Deana about "Gotcha Day!" I'm just posting what she wrote and adding some pictures she sent along. Enjoy!!

"Today was simply amazing!! We arrived at the Office of Civil Affairs right around 10 am this morning. When we stepped off the elevator, there were several ladies holding bundled up babies. Thomas and I walked around and immediately saw Marissa. Even if she had not had on the same clothes as the last update picture, we would have been able to pick her out of the crowd. She is a tiny little thing at 11 months today, but all those clothes made her look huge. I got to hold her first and she was a little apprehensive at first but she warmed up real quick when we handed her a little toy to hold. No smiles yet, but she accepted Thomas and I passing her back and forth a few times. We tried to talk with the ladies from the orphanage but they didn't speak any English. Our guide, Shirley, did come over and translate for us. They gave us the clothes that she had on when she was found and they also gave us a copy of the newspaper 'finding ad.' That's the ad that the Chinese govt requires them to place in the newspaper for a certain amount of time to locate her parents. I also found a priceless photo album in the bag, it contained many pictures of the orphanage and pictures of her almost every month to show her growing. They wrote letters inside and even gave us their email address so that we can email them pictures later to keep in touch. After signing a 24 hour release, we were free to go with the babies. The four families in our travel group all received precious babies and all were happy, not one cried from when we received them nor as we traveled all the way back to the hotel.

Marissa laid down on our hotel bed and we peeled off those layers of clothes. As we peeled off each layer she just became more and more alive. Her arms started moving and those little legs started kicking. I have to say also that the toy keys that we gave her at the office, she never let them go. We had to pry them out of her hand in order to get her clothes off. She looks great, her little hands and feet are all in the right places and she has a little belly. We didn't see any birthmarks or anything, nor did we see any teeth.

In comparison with the other babies she is a little behind. Her head falls back sometimes, so we are having to be careful with that. She also isn't able to sit up by herself. We weighed her too, and she actually weighs 16.1 pounds which is a little less than what we had originally thought. I am so thankful I brought those 9 months clothes because they fit her perfectly. They actually have a little bit of room to grow too.

After dressing her in our clothes, she feels more like our little baby. She started drooling and doing some baby talk which sounded like bababa and she is able to roll over on the bed. That's a great sign, her being a preemie we expected for her to be a little behind. Thomas and I will love cuddling and working with her to get her up to speed.

Thomas went with some of the travel group for shopping. I stayed here knowing Marissa needed a nap. She has slept really good for 2 hours and should be waking up soon. I'm mentally prepared for her to be upset when she wakes up, not knowing where she is. But I have her bottle all ready and we're in for the rest of the night for baby time together as a new family.

p.s. I'm such a soft heart, I was the the only new mom that cried there today!!

Love,

Deana"