Our Adoption Journey
We adopted Savannah from China in 2004. The process was much quicker than we had anticipated and without help from A Child Waits Foundation, we would have had to postpone the adoption mid-process because we had planned to have 24months before traveling rather than only about fourteen.
Savvy is in excellent health. She has no medical special needs, but there are emotional issues we are working on.
Jerry got to visit the orphanage while I stayed behind in Nanchang with Savannah. She was sick when we got her. Jerry said the orphanage was very nice. Each baby had his/her own crib. They had just finished renovations before we arrived, so they had a beautiful new playroom and classroom. The grounds were very nice and included a well-kept playground. Savannah's nanny showed Jerry her crib and favorite toys.
Our trip was better than expected, almost magical. There were some stressful times, bonding, particularly at night, Savvy was sick; and the heat in Nanchang in August is like nothing we'd encountered. Having Savannah in our arms made anything seem easy. I have been to China many times on Business, but this trip tops anything I'd ever experienced before.
When we would venture out in Nanchang, crowds of people followed us. They were amazed by my very curly hair and curious to see us with Savannah and excited when they discovered I could speak Mandarin with them.
When we first met Savannah, I was feeling amazed, relieved, overwhelmed, excited, and blessed all rolled into one moment. Savannah looked at us and smiled. Her reaction was much different than the cries that came from the other babies. We wonder if she recognized us from the album we sent and from the message I recorded for her in Mandarin.
We can't imagine how we managed before her. Life without Savannah seems so frivolous now. We thought we were happy, but there's no way to describe the joy and blessing she brings to us every moment of every day.
We are very happy and have found what routines work for us. Savannah has attached better to me but has done well with Jerry too. She is close to other family members who live close by and grew to love our extended family. She still mentions them often.
We did not successfully transition to Mothers day out this year; apparently the setting stirs up issues for Savannah. We went through a rough period and our social worker advised us to hold off. She's just not ready. One of the scariest things we've dealt with that we knew nothing about was night terrors. Now we've found out that lots of children adopted from China have these. I can't stress enough how wonderful life is with Savannah, don't let the possibility of difficult times keep you from adopting. Just be prepared to keep tabs on your child's unique needs. The good so very much outweighs the hard stuff. We would love to adopt again one day if possible.
The hardest part now is dealing with questions or comments from people regarding our choice to adopt, Savannah's story, etc. Most of the people we encounter are well intentioned but lack the proper adoption language; this will just become more and more difficult the older Savannah gets. Hopefully we will become adept at tactfully educating others or masters at changing the subject!!
Jerry and Kimberly Smahay