Great Trip to Guatemala!
Greg and I got to meet Marcus! It was the most surreal experience of my life. In all the days leading up until we left I kept wondering when it was going to feel real, that we were actually meeting our son. During the entire day of traveling I kept wondering when it was going to feel real. After spending eight days with our son I still wondered when it was going to feel real.
With basically no sleep, we arrived in Guatemala on Saturday afternoon. There was a bit of confusion about getting Marcus to us and he ended up not arriving at the hotel until a little late and our agency facilitator was not able to attend. We spoke to Marcus's foster mother through a translator for a few minutes and got the basics about him, mainly that he was a very happy and healthy baby. And then we were off to be parents!
The evening was moving along smoothly. He fell asleep earlier than we were told he would and when he woke up he had a bit of a freak out, wondering where he was and who we were. It probably wouldn't have been so stressful had Greg and I not been running on empty in the sleep department. The foster mom had told us that he really liked the stroller so for two hours Greg and I took turns walking back and forth along the hallway on our floor of the hotel.
We stayed in the Westin Camino Real in Guatemala City. I would definitely recommend it. Although it wasn't technically a vacation, we still got treated very well. The food was wonderful. The staff was friendly. The pool area was beautiful. One floor is considered the "Family Floor" which is where we stayed. There is a family room filled with communal toys. We had the opportunity to meet several other adoptive families, talk adoption, talk babies, and meet several people that were going through the same things that we have been going through over the last several months.
We are so blessed to have such a wonderful baby. He really was quite happy. He was full of smiles and giggles. He loved to play and check out the other babies. All the little girls seemed to be sucked in by his cuteness. We took him swimming twice. We did laps around the hotel in the stroller. (We weren't allowed to leave the hotel with him since we are not legally his guardians.) We took pictures. We took video. We watched him sleep. The only time he would start to fuss was when he was ready for a bottle or a nap. By the end of the week I knew that he was going to need to eat or sleep before he ever needed to bother getting fussy.
He ended up getting a cold which is very common. Most of the babies aren't used to air conditioning and it doesn't help that they are confined to a hotel. It was a rough day until we were able to get his sniffles and his fever under control. Then he was back to smiling.
Everyone that we talked to was so optimistic about the progression of our adoption. Someone said they had never heard of anyone being kicked out of PGN more than twice and since we have been kicked out twice already we should be approved any minute. Greg even told someone that he thought we would be back in 4-6 weeks to finalize our adoption. I don't know if he totally believes it but it is fun to think he knows what he is talking about! There were a few babies that were the same age as Marcus that were going home this past week which made me joyous and jealous all at once.
Guatemalan people are much more relaxed about the passage of time than we are here. We told the foster mom to come back to the hotel between 9am-10am this past Sunday so we could give Marcus back to her. She showed up at 10:20 which didn't allow us much time to get our things together and check out before we had to head to the airport to catch our plane. I knew it would be very hard to hand Marcus over but I didn't know it would be THIS hard. I bawled like a baby (much like I did when I held him for the first time). The foster mom walked away with Marcus in tow and immediately Greg had to run to the room to get the rest of our luggage and check out. I sat in the lobby feeling more alone than I ever remember feeling, and continued to cry. I got a lot of strange looks from others in the lobby and a lot of sympathetic looks from other adoptive parents that were pushing their babies through the lobby at the time.
Things have just been strange since we have gotten home. Greg and I feel lost. I don't know what to do anymore because I am not thinking about bottles or playtime or changing diapers or giving baths. My arms feel empty. I have been trying to come up with a good analogy as to what it is like. The best I can come up with is that it feels like I went to work without my purse. I feel naked, like a piece of me is missing. I feel like someone is going to call my cell phone and I wont get the call because my phone is still sitting in my purse somewhere else. I know I will get my purse back or get to return any missed phone calls, but in the meantime I just feel.... Something is missing.
--Annie
We took lots of great pictures of Marcus while we were there. See them here!
-- Greg
With basically no sleep, we arrived in Guatemala on Saturday afternoon. There was a bit of confusion about getting Marcus to us and he ended up not arriving at the hotel until a little late and our agency facilitator was not able to attend. We spoke to Marcus's foster mother through a translator for a few minutes and got the basics about him, mainly that he was a very happy and healthy baby. And then we were off to be parents!
The evening was moving along smoothly. He fell asleep earlier than we were told he would and when he woke up he had a bit of a freak out, wondering where he was and who we were. It probably wouldn't have been so stressful had Greg and I not been running on empty in the sleep department. The foster mom had told us that he really liked the stroller so for two hours Greg and I took turns walking back and forth along the hallway on our floor of the hotel.
We stayed in the Westin Camino Real in Guatemala City. I would definitely recommend it. Although it wasn't technically a vacation, we still got treated very well. The food was wonderful. The staff was friendly. The pool area was beautiful. One floor is considered the "Family Floor" which is where we stayed. There is a family room filled with communal toys. We had the opportunity to meet several other adoptive families, talk adoption, talk babies, and meet several people that were going through the same things that we have been going through over the last several months.
We are so blessed to have such a wonderful baby. He really was quite happy. He was full of smiles and giggles. He loved to play and check out the other babies. All the little girls seemed to be sucked in by his cuteness. We took him swimming twice. We did laps around the hotel in the stroller. (We weren't allowed to leave the hotel with him since we are not legally his guardians.) We took pictures. We took video. We watched him sleep. The only time he would start to fuss was when he was ready for a bottle or a nap. By the end of the week I knew that he was going to need to eat or sleep before he ever needed to bother getting fussy.
He ended up getting a cold which is very common. Most of the babies aren't used to air conditioning and it doesn't help that they are confined to a hotel. It was a rough day until we were able to get his sniffles and his fever under control. Then he was back to smiling.
Everyone that we talked to was so optimistic about the progression of our adoption. Someone said they had never heard of anyone being kicked out of PGN more than twice and since we have been kicked out twice already we should be approved any minute. Greg even told someone that he thought we would be back in 4-6 weeks to finalize our adoption. I don't know if he totally believes it but it is fun to think he knows what he is talking about! There were a few babies that were the same age as Marcus that were going home this past week which made me joyous and jealous all at once.
Guatemalan people are much more relaxed about the passage of time than we are here. We told the foster mom to come back to the hotel between 9am-10am this past Sunday so we could give Marcus back to her. She showed up at 10:20 which didn't allow us much time to get our things together and check out before we had to head to the airport to catch our plane. I knew it would be very hard to hand Marcus over but I didn't know it would be THIS hard. I bawled like a baby (much like I did when I held him for the first time). The foster mom walked away with Marcus in tow and immediately Greg had to run to the room to get the rest of our luggage and check out. I sat in the lobby feeling more alone than I ever remember feeling, and continued to cry. I got a lot of strange looks from others in the lobby and a lot of sympathetic looks from other adoptive parents that were pushing their babies through the lobby at the time.
Things have just been strange since we have gotten home. Greg and I feel lost. I don't know what to do anymore because I am not thinking about bottles or playtime or changing diapers or giving baths. My arms feel empty. I have been trying to come up with a good analogy as to what it is like. The best I can come up with is that it feels like I went to work without my purse. I feel naked, like a piece of me is missing. I feel like someone is going to call my cell phone and I wont get the call because my phone is still sitting in my purse somewhere else. I know I will get my purse back or get to return any missed phone calls, but in the meantime I just feel.... Something is missing.
--Annie
We took lots of great pictures of Marcus while we were there. See them here!
-- Greg
posted by Annie and Greg @ 7:48 AM
1 comments
1 Comments:
I certainly hope Greg was right about going back in 4-6 weeks!
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