The End, and the Beginning

We've been home nine days, and Adrienne has adjusted beautifully.  She sleeps well and eats well.  She loves the bath, knows where to find the toys, and is fascinated by Max the cat.  One would think that she had lived here all her life.  As far as she will remember, she has.

Thus begins our life together in Canada, and therefore the end of this blog.  And the beginning of everything else.

Thanks to all who read this blog and followed along on my journey to Adrienne, and her journey to me.

Best wishes to all,
Jen and Adrienne Pylypa

The Homeward Journey

Everything went great on our trip home!  Adrienne took all the travel wonderfully.  We left the baby house at about 3 pm on Sunday.  The caregiver and nurse on duty made a huge deal of my departure, hugging and kissing Adrienne and me, and calling through the window over to the caregivers in another room to come around and say goodbye.  They told me all kinds of things (in Russian) most of which I couldn't fully understand, but it seemed to include, "We love you" and "You love her" and "She's going home" and "You're our favourite foreigner" (Ok, I'm not exactly sure about that last one, but I did recognize the word for 'favourite' in Russian!).  They were very emotional about our departure.  The caregiver snuck baby formula and a glass baby bottle of juice into my bag for the journey home; I felt guilty taking the orphanage's stuff, but the bottle turned out to be a blessing as the ones I had brought had nipples she wasn't used to and she had a hard time drinking from them.

We went back to the apartment to wait until departure time at 11:30 pm.  My translator, Alex, came by with his wife to visit for awhile and we had a nice time.  Adrienne was so thrilled to be out of the baby house and to be with me.  She watched me every time I took a few steps away into the kitchenette, and had a huge smile for me every time I returned to the bed to see her - she just seemed so happy that I wasn't leaving this time!  She didn't want to sleep, but finally crashed out at 9 pm, only to be woken up at 11:30 for the three hour drive to Astana airport.  She slept on my lap the whole way in the car.

My flight for Frankfurt left at 5:30 am.  She slept in the bassinet much of the way.  (As an aside, Lufthansa is great for babies!  Air Canada not so much.)  Then it was a short layover in Frankfurt, a 1.5 hour flight to London, and a few hours in Heathrow before the 8 hour flight to Ottawa.  The second flight was harder simply due to the lack of a bassinet and the fact that I was having trouble staying awake - I dozed on and off with my arms locked around Adrienne in my lap.  Others on the plane commented on what a good baby she was!  We had three seats so it was actually pretty comfortable.

At the airport, we went through the immigration process, and grandma and grandpa were waiting to meet us, and thrilled to finally see Adrienne in person!

Above are photos from the final days in Karaganda, and the trip home: My old apartment building, the newly renovated play room at the baby house, last days at Botakoz baby house, chilling on the bed in the apartment, Adrienne with Alex, and the flight from London to Ottawa.

Ready to Go Home

I have been in Kazakhstan for only three days, and tomorrow I pick up my daughter from the baby house in order to start the journey home - we will leave for the drive to Astana airport at about 11:30 pm.  It has been a good visit, despite the jet lag.  Yesterday, I received all of the paperwork - her new birth certificate, passport, court decision papers, and adoption decree.  We are all legal and ready to fly from Kazakhstan to Germany to England to Canada.  Adrienne is doing great.  She's very happy to see me every day and content as long as she gets to stay in my arms.  They told me that on the first day, she cried for 40 minutes when I left the baby house in the afternoon - but she seems to have adapted now and come to the realization that when I leave from a visit I am not leaving for good.  They also claim that when the other Canadian woman came back to pick up her daughter a couple of weeks ago, Adrienne saw her and heard her voice and it triggered her to start searching for me.  It is hard to believe the latter story, but having seen her obvious attachment to me it is clear that she remembers me, which I find quite amazing.  She has gained weight and become more physically active since I left and she is looking really healthy.  Hopefully, she will be fascinated enough by the new sites and sounds tomorrow, and happy enough to be with me, that she will take the travel well.  She has no idea that she will be travelling through four countries on Monday!

Reunited!

I'm back in Karaganda, and everything is going great!  My flights went well - I was diverted before I even started to Toronto instead of Montreal because the Montreal flight was running late and I would have missed my connection to Frankfurt, but in the end that worked out fine and everything went smoothly.  I even had a very comfortable exit seat on the flight to Astana.  By flying into Astana this time instead of to Karaganda via Almaty, I had a much shorter trip - 'only' 24 hours, including the 3.5 hour drive on this end.  I arrived at my old apartment in Karaganda at about 4 am this morning.  It was just as I left it 5 weeks ago - even the shampoo and soap bottles I left behind were still there!  The biggest difference was that I brought a smaller suitcase this time, and it looked tiny in the place where I was used to seeing the much larger one.

After sleeping for about 4 hours - from 4:30 to 8:30 am, I spent the morning unpacking, getting some groceries, and getting organized.  Then this afternoon I went to the baby house at the regular 2 pm visit time.  It was strange being back without any other foreign families around.  I am the last (as far as I know) to come and pick up my daughter of the wave of adoptions that occurred in the Fall, and the place seems empty.  As of January 1, they suspended all international adoptions while Kazakhstan rewrites its adoption laws, and consequently there are no new families until it reopens, which might be in 4-6 months.  Since I arrived in Kazakhstan on my first trip in mid-December, I was one of the very last people to be matched with a child before this closure.

So I have just come from seeing my daughter after a 5 week absence!  I was thrilled to see that she was happy to see me - all smiles and very excited.  She wouldn't let me put her down without crying, but was very happy as long as she was in my arms.  She looks great - healthy and happy and very active - her hair has grown and she looks a little older somehow.

I have two and a half days here, then I'll be back on that drive to Astana and flights through Frankfurt and London before arriving in Ottawa on Monday.  It's a short trip, and while it's nice to be back, I will be very happy to finally take my daughter and go home!

Tomorrow's the Day! Again.

I leave tomorrow for Karaganda!  I am excited to see my daughter after a one month absence.  And I can't believe that I will already be back in Ottawa six days later.  I have travelled across the world many times, but I have never passed through 11 time zones twice in one week.  Of course, I have also never before flown on a plane with an infant!  I have a backpack full of formula, baby cereal, and various forms of baby mush - since she has never eaten any of these before, let's hope she likes at least some of them.  Beginning parenting with 26 hours of airplanes and airports is truly a strange way to start.  Wish me luck!

Return to Karaganda

I have just booked my return trip to Karaganda to pick up Adrienne!  I don't have absolute confirmation of the post-adoption paperwork's progress because I couldn't get through on the phone to Kazakhstan, but needed to get my flights booked so I went ahead and did it anyway.  The plane tickets are changeable if the timing has a glitch, but I think I've predicted it well.  I am leaving March 1 and returning March 7!

Official, Legal, and Final!!

Today I got an email from my translator, Alex, in Karaganda, writing on behalf of Gulnara.  The 15 day waiting period is over and the formal adoption decree has been issued.  I am now, finally, legally, and officially, Adrienne's mom!

Gulnara is working very quickly to get Adrienne's new birth certificate and passport.  Once she has the passport she can send it to the Canadian Embassy in Moscow for her permanent residency visa.  I suspect that all of this will be done in time for me to go back before the end of February, and bring Adrienne home in the first few days of March!

I am enjoying a fairly calm few weeks at home, getting my house ready and shopping done so that I can bring my daughter home.