Today my mom rode with me to the adoption agency in St. Louis so we could review our final set of paperwork that we will complete in the Ukraine! Yeah! It is really starting to seem real now, as we get closer and closer. What used to be a dream may really happen soon!
While we were there I found out that there are many cities that we may travel to, not just the original three that I mentioned in an earlier blog.
It was a beautiful day and I was happy to spend the day with my mom. I know that soon we'll be in the Ukraine for 5 weeks and I know I will get very homesick for my family, especially for my mom, sisters, and son. Mom took me out for a nice lunch at the Cracker Barrell. Yum!
Later that day, Mom went with me to Wal-Mart where we were able to pick up many of the necessary things needed for the trip. For Elizabeth we got things like Infant Tylenol, a baby thermometer, pajamas, Cheerios, Oragel, etc. For us we got things like vitamins, Nyquil, contact solution (I have heard that is sometimes difficult to find in the Ukraine). Sometimes I feel like I'm buying too much and packing too much, but I just want to make sure that if we need it, we'll have it. I know that food, formula, diapers, etc. are readily available there, but it's those little things like cold medicine and pacifiers that I'm not sure we'll be able to find. Better safe than sorry, I guess. Of course I haven't begun to see if all of this will fit into our luggage, so that will be the final determinant of what we will and won't take.
Thursday, September 29, 2005
Saturday, September 24, 2005
Map of Ukraine
If you click on the map, you will get a larger view :-)
Kiev is in the north central part of Ukraine (spelled Kyiv). This is where we will land on 10/16.
From Kiev we will travel by train to one of these 3 cities:
Kharkiv is east of Kiev (this is the closest of the three cities)
Donetsk is southeast of Kiev (it's the furthest of the three cities)
Luhansk isn't shown, but it is east of Karkiv, almost to the Russian border
*If you would like more information and a different map of Ukraine...click on the link on the right side bar labeled "Ukraine Map and Info"
3 weeks to go
21 days from today we will be on the airplane, waiting to take off from St. Louis. We will fly from there to Chicago. In Chicago we will change planes and then take off to Frankfurt, Germany. From Germany we will finally arrive in Kiev. It will take us about 17-18 hours (including layovers) to get to Kiev (about 5 am our time, 1pm their time ~ Kiev is about 8 hours ahead of our time).
We are getting closer to having everything together to pack, except the last minute things, of course. Our money belts came in the mail this week. Our 'new money' is at the bank waiting for us (we have to take all new bills that have no marks or tears so we have had the bank gathering that for us). I went to Wal-Mart the other day and bought a few baby toys, 2 pacifiers, wipes, bottles, etc. for the diaper bag. We will buy other necessities after we get over there since we don't know what size diapers to get. We are taking clothes that are 18 month size. If there are too big/little, we will just purchase some the right size when we get over there.
Once we land in Kiev on Sunday, we will spend that day sightseeing or catching up on our jet lag. On Monday, October 17, we will have our appointment at the NAC (National Adoption Center). Hopefully that day we will see the first pictures of our daughter and will travel that night to the city where her orphanage is. We know that we will travel to one of these 3 cities in Ukraine: Donetsk, Luhansk, or Kharkiv. I will try to figure out how to post a map so that you can visualize where these cities are. The closest one is a 5 hour train ride from Kiev and the furthest one is 18 hours from Kiev on an overnight train. Donetsh and Karkiv are bigger cities that have more shopping areas and more access to internet. If we travel to Luhansk, I doubt we'll have many options for internet access. Tuesday, October 18, could be the day that we finally get to meet her :~) It gives me goosebumps thinking about it!
I met with the Pediatrician yesterday. For those of you yet to travel...lice could be an issue and also we have been told that one couple brought their daughter back from Ukraine and after they were in the US, they all had an outbreak of scabies. My pediatrician told me to use Rid-X or NIX for lice treatment to treat all of us and that we could use that on our daughter's body, too, and it would treat Scabies.
She also suggested taking Gerber graduates baby food with us, Pedilyte, and infant Tylenol (10mg/kg). It's really nice to have a Pediatrician that is familiar with international adoptions and some of the medical diagnoses we may hear. She has encouraged us to call her if we have any questions and that we can e-mail her pictures of our daughter if we have any doubts or concerns. What a relief that is!
Since we will be there the end of October/beginning of November we are not sure what the weather will be like, so we feel we probably should pack a few summer clothes, but mostly winter clothes. Of course, the warmer clothes are bulkier and will take up more room in the luggage. We've been told to take darker clothes (they don't show wrinkles or dirt as much).
I could go on and on as this adoption is my favorit subject, but will close for now.
We are getting closer to having everything together to pack, except the last minute things, of course. Our money belts came in the mail this week. Our 'new money' is at the bank waiting for us (we have to take all new bills that have no marks or tears so we have had the bank gathering that for us). I went to Wal-Mart the other day and bought a few baby toys, 2 pacifiers, wipes, bottles, etc. for the diaper bag. We will buy other necessities after we get over there since we don't know what size diapers to get. We are taking clothes that are 18 month size. If there are too big/little, we will just purchase some the right size when we get over there.
Once we land in Kiev on Sunday, we will spend that day sightseeing or catching up on our jet lag. On Monday, October 17, we will have our appointment at the NAC (National Adoption Center). Hopefully that day we will see the first pictures of our daughter and will travel that night to the city where her orphanage is. We know that we will travel to one of these 3 cities in Ukraine: Donetsk, Luhansk, or Kharkiv. I will try to figure out how to post a map so that you can visualize where these cities are. The closest one is a 5 hour train ride from Kiev and the furthest one is 18 hours from Kiev on an overnight train. Donetsh and Karkiv are bigger cities that have more shopping areas and more access to internet. If we travel to Luhansk, I doubt we'll have many options for internet access. Tuesday, October 18, could be the day that we finally get to meet her :~) It gives me goosebumps thinking about it!
I met with the Pediatrician yesterday. For those of you yet to travel...lice could be an issue and also we have been told that one couple brought their daughter back from Ukraine and after they were in the US, they all had an outbreak of scabies. My pediatrician told me to use Rid-X or NIX for lice treatment to treat all of us and that we could use that on our daughter's body, too, and it would treat Scabies.
She also suggested taking Gerber graduates baby food with us, Pedilyte, and infant Tylenol (10mg/kg). It's really nice to have a Pediatrician that is familiar with international adoptions and some of the medical diagnoses we may hear. She has encouraged us to call her if we have any questions and that we can e-mail her pictures of our daughter if we have any doubts or concerns. What a relief that is!
Since we will be there the end of October/beginning of November we are not sure what the weather will be like, so we feel we probably should pack a few summer clothes, but mostly winter clothes. Of course, the warmer clothes are bulkier and will take up more room in the luggage. We've been told to take darker clothes (they don't show wrinkles or dirt as much).
I could go on and on as this adoption is my favorit subject, but will close for now.
Thursday, September 22, 2005
My son, Chris, with my niece, Katrina
Isn't this a sweet picture? Chris will be an awesome big brother! Katrina can't wait to meet her new cousin!
Wednesday, September 21, 2005
24 days until we travel.....Whoo hoo!
Hi! Welcome to our blog! We have so many family and friends interested in our adoption story, so this is a neat way to keep everyone updated. We are a happily married couple with an 18 year old son. We have been married for 12+ years, with one thing missing in our lives....a baby girl. We started our adoption process in August, 2004 and after mounds and mounds of paperwork and months and months of waiting. . . we are very close to seeing our dream of traveling to Ukraine to meet our little girl come true.
We have started gathering our supplies for the trip, trying very hard to take the advice of those who traveled before us by packing lightly. No easy feat when we are planning to be abroad for 5 weeks (we leave the US on October 15th, and plan to return home November 19th). We are hoping to take only 2 carry ons and 1 check in. We'll see....
We have started gathering our supplies for the trip, trying very hard to take the advice of those who traveled before us by packing lightly. No easy feat when we are planning to be abroad for 5 weeks (we leave the US on October 15th, and plan to return home November 19th). We are hoping to take only 2 carry ons and 1 check in. We'll see....
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