We are home

Hi, it's Melanie. We landed a few hours ago.
I've been both drawn to wanting to post...and struggling to have words.
I thought a lot on the plane (at least the Houston to Seattle leg- Gua City to Houston I slept soundly!!), what words do I have to say?

I'm so glad that Rob posted pictures and some updates. It has been great reading your comments and encouragement. We do have a beautiful son. (maybe I shouldn't use the word beautiful as I am still getting over a woman asking "how old is she?" Rob said I looked at Samuel and then back at her as though I was amazed she could think my child was a girl- and said HE is four months today!)

Ok, so back to what do I have to say?
I think my emotions are still catching up with me. So I'm not sure I have much "emotion" to post tonight, but would love to share some of the "facts".

As many of you know, I'm a linear thinker....so here I go!
We arrived late Monday night to thunderstorms. We knew it was rainy season, but weren't expecting thunderstorms every afternoon. At least it was predictable!
I don't think I slept much Monday night- and I got up early to not miss the phone call to say they were here.
Our paperwork said that if we hadn't heard from them by 11am, we could call Oscar, our translator. At 10:59am we started dialing. He said we will be there at 1:30pm.
Our hearts both sunk as we were expecting the call any minute to say they are in the lobby....but also was relaxing to have a time set.

So at 1:30pm (mountain time) on June 5th we met Samuel for the first time.
I can picture so clearly the moment we walked into the lobby, and seeing the foster mom sitting on the sofa, as she turned around with Samuel on her lap, he looked up at us and slowly let out the biggest smile. He smiled and giggled with us for the next hour or two.
She handed him to me and we sat while we went over all the info- feedings, how to comfort him, etc. That's when we learned that he poops once a day and hadn't yet that day.

The foster mom and her mom were wonderful. I will have to have a whole post on them. They were kind and caring and so clearly love Samuel. They live in the Guatemala Highlands and it had taken them 5 hours by bus and taxi to get to the hotel. It is the greatest "consolation" (not sure if that's quite the right word) to know that Samuel is with them right now. It truly made saying goodbye much more about my sadness in missing him, but not concern on how he will be doing. He has four women (including her two teenage daughters) who love him and hold him and nurture him.

After we said goodbye to them, we headed up to the room. We held him and played with him and were immediately in love. After a while, we called my mom for her to come meet her grandson. It was wonderful to have her there. (Both from a practical sense in her help and it was so tender to see how natural she is as a grandmother for the first time).

Around this time is when the wheel fell off (isn't that the phrase Ted uses?). Samuel would not eat, we would try and try, but he would not take his bottle. And then the crying started. It broke our hearts. It was a cry that I later learned was different from I'm hungry or I need a diaper change. We tried everything.....that's when we became concerned that maybe he was constipated. That night was so hard.

Now I look and I think, for the first time he spent five hours on a bus, he is in this hotel, he doesn't know us and he is exhausted. Around 8pm he fell asleep. He slept until 2am. When he woke up, I tried feeding him and he took a couple of oz. At 4am he woke up, and was smiling, took a full bottle and from then on didn't stop smiling. He slept close to the same schedule the foster mom told us- to bed around 8pm, wakes up at 2am sometimes for a feeding, and then wakes up at 4 or 5am, takes a nap at 8:30am and at noon.
I knew it was trouble when I heard of an 8:30am NAP.

Tues was a hard day, I was so worried he was not going to get enough to eat. That worry soon disappered as I thought can he really be ready for another bottle?

It was a delight.

I'm realizing that I think I'm done for tonight. There is so much to type.
I'll continue on in the next couple of days, because there is much to say.
I'll close with a list of some of my favorite things of the week:

• Bathing Samuel and listening to him giggle as he splashed the water
• Seeing his eyes light up when I would pick him up from a nap
• Changing his clothes a couple times a day (maybe not his favorite)
• Trying to speak Spanish
• Seeing Rob carry him in the baby bjorn
• Meeting the foster mom and some of her family
• Watching my mom talk with Samuel
• Samuel and Rob watching intently the cartoon channel (recommended by his foster mom)
• Having ten people reply to the fact that Samuel hadn't pooped and caring so much to follow the progress

Thoughts like that begin to bring tears to my eyes...and reminds me that my heart will catch up, and that I will soon post with all the emotion that the week was.

For now, I head to bed- exhausted- well more of an empty feeling. And I head to bed wishing I was being woken up at 2 or 4am.

love

melanie

PS Be sure to check out the link Rob posted below. Some more pictures have been added. I may also post here some of my favorites.