Meili's Adoption from China

Last night, I spent over 2 hours filling out Meili's USA immigration forms. I'm lucky as my agency provided me with examples of completed forms. I cannot imagine what it's like to be a foreigner, with little to no english, trying to fill out these forms for an American visa. It really opened my eyes to the reality of immigration and why there are illegal immigrants.

This wait sucks! I cannot imagine what it would be like to wait 5+ years for a referral, like the folks in the NSN line have done. They are troopers! I'm impatient. On Saturday, Ben told my parents that he's amazed that I've done so well with the waiting. He hasn't been as involved in the paper chase as I have. He just shows up when I tell him to be somewhere, signs where I point to, and reads what I put in front of him. I'm the one who is online tracking wait times, congratulating those who make it to a milestone, and asking/answering questions from fellow adoptive families (usually other moms). He is just blissfully unaware of everything.

I was very proud of him this weekend! My mom or sister asked me a question regarding using a stroller in China. Without any prompting from me, Ben said that we won't need a stroller because we'll be carrying her everywhere. When asked why, he said that it helps with bonding and stuff. His almost exact words"Because she has to know that we are her parents. She has to get used to us and this is one way to do that." I was proud and shocked at the same time. It looks like all the required Hague training and my words of wisdom have finally settled in.

10 more days to the average wait time for LOA....

Day 36 of the LOA wait....it's agonizing. This has been the hardest part so far. I think it's because I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. It's only the size of a flashlight but it is there!

I emailed my agency yesterday to see if they'd ask their China rep as to where we are in the line. Because of the time difference between China and the USA, it may take a few days before I hear back. According to the travel to TA table on RQ, the average wait time is 52 days. 16-17 more days to go... UGH! Based on this table, LOA should arrive the week of July 4th. Of course this would happen to us - I'll be out of town at a conference for the entire week. If it does arrive while I'm gone, we'll just have to wait to sign it and send in the I-800

Nothing to report. I'm just obsessing and need something to do to fill my time. I've checked RQ about 10 times today, perused other families' blogs, read a few that are in China right now, and watched youtube videos of Chinese adoptions. I can honestly say that I'm very prepared to travel to China. Now if the LOA would arrive, traveling could occur.

We're approaching the half way point on the wait for our LOA/LSC. It's the 'official' approval from China. We're just 'pre-approved' right now to be Meili's parents. LOA is slang for LSC. Confusing? Not really.

LOA = Letter of Approval
LSC = Letter Seeking Confirmation

Since most of the Chinese adoption community uses LOA, it's what we're using too. Though it means the same as LSC... A few people on RQ have received their LOA within 30 days. The travel to TA table says the average wait time is 51 days. My guess is 60-ish days. And a few RQers have been waiting over 100 days. There really is no rhyme or reason to the wait time. Once LOA is here, we have to send the I-800 application to the lockbox in Texas. At this point, it's a done deal and let the party start!

I've been checking plane ticket prices to China. The cheapest flights I've found are  flying LR - Detroit - Hong Kong on Delta. We'll be using a travel agent to purchase the tickets so he/she may be able to find a better deal. If we have to fly to Beijing (which I hope we don't), the plane tickets are significantly higher. We'd also have to add an in-country flight. The weight limit on suitcases is lower for domestic flights than international flights. I don't plan on bringing many clothes, but Ben has been known to fill up a suitcase with clothes and toiletries. (Hi Honey!)

I've also started thinking about the SWI donation. We can order money from our bank. We can also pay a fee for them to wire the donation to a bank in China. I'm gonna check this out as I'd rather pay a few bucks than to worry about carrying thousands of dollars on my body. On the flip side - the bank could never 'receive' the wire and we'd have to somehow come up with the donation. I need to find out more from the bank before making a definite decision and ask my agency if this has ever been done before.

I'm starting to get ansy. I'm ready to be there N.O.W. Heck, I'd even rent an apartment in China until we get the 'go ahead sign' from both governments. Unfortunately, the Hague treaty doesn't allow contact until the adoption is ready to occur.

We received update #2 yesterday via email. Our girl is big by Chinese standards - 85% in height and weight and normal by American standards - 55% in height and weight. She is almost the size of my 19 month old niece, Piper. When we started this journey, I expected her to be small. Big kids run in my family so at least she has this in common with us (even though we don't share the same DNA).

Update #2 is an official report from the SWI. However, some of the information does not match the information from the referral, like her birth date, location of her SN, etc. And, the update contains standard responses that I see on many other families' blogs. Because of this, I don't put a lot of trust into the content of the updates. I just like them for the photos. By looking at the photos, I can tell that she is growing and developing. In the end, this is all that matters.

There is no activity this week. We're waiting on update #2 from our agency. If our case manager doesn't receive it by Friday, then we won't receive it until the week of June 6th. Below is a photo of Meili with one of her caregivers. I received this pic in update #1 from Ann.

It's official! After praying to God, saying a few Hail Marys, and projecting positive thoughts, I received the email that I've been waiting 21 days for. Meili's LID is 5/09/11 - exactly when I predicted according to the travel to TA table on Rumor Queen. The downhill descent has begun!

I found out via email while sitting in the waiting room @ the dermatologist's office. I had a few minutes to kill so I pulled up my personal email account on my iphone. I saw 2 emails from my agency. The first one was congratulating us on Meili's LID. The second was asking us to list questions that we wanted answers to for update #2. I think I emailed our agency about 20 questions. I know that we won't get all of them answered but a few would be good. I also asked several of the same questions from update #1. I want to compare answers to see if the information provided to us is the same.

After the MD appointment, I got into my car and started crying. It's really happening. I've wanted this little girl for almost 20 years and it's finally coming to fruition. I called Ben and left him a message while I was crying. I collected myself and called my Mom. I started crying again as I talked to her. I briefly cried at work. After work today, I cried twice on the commute home. It's happy tears...tears of relief and joy. Ben and I have wanted a child since we got married and this dream is about to come true!

The skeptic in me says to wait until Meili's LOA arrives, before truly believing that this will work out. The LOA should be here in approximately 60 days from the LID. Just have to wait 2 more months for my confidence and belief to be 100%. All I can say is that Meili is so very much loved, wanted, dreamed, and hoped for by Ben and me. While I cannot speak for my husband, I can say that she will fill an empty space in my heart. A space that previously has been occupied by anger, sadness, despair, and sorrow.

I cannot wait to meet this little girl and bring her home to Arkansas!

The average time frame from DTC to LID is 17 days. We are now past this. WTF?!?!!! LID marks the half way point of waiting. And I'm waiting for the half way point of waiting. WAITING! WAITING! WAITING! for a LID date.....

My daughter is waiting in an orphanage. in China. with no parents to tuck her in at night. no one to say "I love you". no pets to pester her. no cousins to fight with. She has hundreds, yes hundreds, of people who can't wait to meet her. Yet, she continues to wait in an orphanage. At least she has a family waiting for her. Even if it takes us another 6 months to get there. What about all of the other kids in orphanages around the world? They have no parents. no siblings. no pets. no home. What about them? It's times like right now that I wished I had millions of dollars so that I could adopt all of the orphans of the world. I would need a gigantic house as there are about 147 million orphans. At least by the end of 2011, there will be one less.orphan in the world.

And maybe by the end of 2012, there will be two less orphans in the world. But that's a tale for another blog - as this one is ALL about MEILI.