This was not a day I was looking forward to... The medical checkup! Taking Barrett to a crowded chinese medical office and watching him get poaked and prodded when we know he still is trying to figure all this change out. The best part of being here in Guangzhou is not being alone in the process. A large group of other families are here in the same phase as we are taking their newly adopted children to the same places, filling out the same paper work and asking the same questions as Erin and I are. It makes you feel much more at ease knowing your not alone.
After we ate breakfast, our group filled up a bus just outside the hotel and we all headed to the medical checkup. This is required prior to getting the US consulate approval. We got up to the fifth floor of a large business building and entered a large stark waiting room. It was clean and somewhat modern. Our guides helped us get from one checkup station to the other. The first station was not that bad... A doctor (we assume) looked over Bear, checked his vitals, and revealed to us that his "special need" has just about disappeared! We knew that this could happen but did not expect it this soon. It had been a consent prayer for us and we praise God for healing him! The next section (ENT) was more of a joke. It was comprised of an older man sitting in a swivel chair with an old school reflector on his forehead that took no more than seconds, literally, to look into each ear and nosteral and deem him good to go. The last section was what I was fearing, the TB injection and blood test. The procedure they worned us about was allowing the nurses to take him from us and going into a room with the door shut to administer each injection. They know that this is traumatic for the child and they don't want the experience to be related to the presence of the parents. So as we waited for our turn, we watched each child exit with tears streaming down faces and knowing Bear was next. This is the part that shocked us... When Barrett was in the closed off room, we sat outside and never heard a sound. After 2 minutes, the door opened and he exited like nothing happened! He had a bandade on his hand and he was just looking and pointed at it. We could not believe it but we would take it. After our medical exam, we all headed over to the local grocery store to purchase snacks and drinks.
The most exciting part of being here is knowing that we have fellow church friends, The Walkers, here in Guangzhou at the exact same stage as us. That night we met them for dinner at an Irish resturant to have fish and chips. This is their second adoption from china and we have gained so much direction and tips from them allong the way.
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