Our journey to Jiaozuo

Yesterday morning we tried to play hard to wear Caitie out before we met our guide at noon. At noon we left for Jiaozuo, the city Caitie is from. She fell asleep shortly after we left and slept the whole way there. We had a beautiful ride and got to know our guide a bit. We should have realized that it was too good to be true.

We got to the approximate location of Eagle's Wings baby house, but couldn't find the exact location. After a bit, our guide called and one of the staff came to find us. By then we had about 20-30 minutes to see Eagles Wings and meet the staff.

We saw the apartment, the bedrooms and her empty crib. We met the director, some of the nannies and the children who were awake. (We went at nap time.)

On gotcha day, Caitie was brought to us by an orphanage officer. We had expected a representative from Eagles Wings, but we found out that apparently the orphanage officer had not let her come. She brought us her backpack and there was a drink in there. The orphanage officer said it was what Caitie drank by bottle 3 times a day. As we spoke to EW yesterday, we found out it was not what she drank. It is a very sweet milk, yogurt and juice drink, which explains why Caitie loves it, but we also think its what has been tearing up her stomach. David is going to Walmart now to get the right formula, so we can get her off this drink, on to what she's used to and then eventually on to American formula and milk. She eating a lot of soft table food too, so we don't think she is hungry, but the bottles are definitely comforting to her and holding her and giving her a bottle is a good way to bond with her.

Caitie did fine leaving EW, which made us happy. We hadn't really talked about it before hand, but we were both worried that she wouldn't want to come to us when it was time to leave.

We went and had our passport appointment and got everything notarized. Our guide tried to argue with the orphanage officer about the information we received and about the formula, but the orphanage worker insisted it was all provided by EW. Our guide blamed EW, although we aren't sure if she believed it, but we went along with it. It was getting uncomfortable and even when everything is all in Chinese, I still hate conflict. The way of thinking here just makes me laugh sometimes. Our guide also made us nervous by telling us stories about passports not coming in time lately, so we are praying ours is ready on Friday like it is supposed to.

After our appointments we stopped at Caitie's finding spot, which was a local hospital. Unfortunately by then Caitie was DONE, so David just jumped out and took a photo and we were on our way.

Caitie was obviously exhausted but was not going to sleep on the ride home. We tried everything in our bag of tricks, including two bottles of the wrong formula, out of desperation. The 90 minute drive took about 3 1/2 hours on the way home. There was a ton of traffic, one big accident and a driver that loved to speed up, swerve and slam on his breaks. David and I were both car sick by the time we got back to the hotel.

We ordered room service for the first time and tried to help Caitie get her frustration out. All in all, she cried 4 1/2 hours before crying herself to sleep. It was pitiful and horrible, but completely normal. We expected her to grieve. It was just hard that it started like it did.

She finally slept for about 5 hours last night, woke up for a while and went back to sleep for an hour or two.

This morning she is fussy and crying and David and I are cranky too. We all need a lot more sleep and a little fresh air. We hope to get to the park later today.