Today started at 8:45am. We were picked up and driven to a medical facility in northern Moscow for both of us to have a medical physical. We had to see 8 different specialists (hematologist, oncologist, dermatologist, infectionist, psychiatrist, lung specialist, neurologist, and addiction specialist) for this adoption physical. The entire screening took approx 3 hours from start to finish and we both passed with no issues.
That concluded all of the official business that needed to be done on this first trip. It has been an amazing week, jammed packed every day from start to finish.
The next step is to now fly home and wait for a court date to be set (this usually takes anywhere from 3 to 6 weeks). We have been told that we will have anywhere from 3 weeks to as little at 5 days notice for our court date. Once we receive this official date, we will both fly back to Moscow to attend court and the adoption of little baby "Alexander" will be official.
We have an early flight out in the morning and will be back home with Ashton by Saturday evening.
Brayden Heading Home (12 Hour Flight)!
Brayden and Mommy in Red Square!
Brayden and Daddy!
Brayden playing with Mommy!
"Gotcha Day" - 10/12/2009
New Family Photo - September 28, 2009
Friday, August 14, 2009
Thursday, August 13, 2009
The Papers Are Officially Filed....
Today we met our driver and translator at 9:15am outside of our hotel and he headed out to the baby hospital to see baby "Alexander." We had about 30 minutes to hold, take pictures, and to play with him. Because he is currently in the hospital and not at the orphanage, our time with him is extremely limited due to hospital guidelines. Today he was all about Nancy. He was constantly grabbing for her and when I was holding him, he was looking around the room for her.
After leaving the hospital we made a quick stop to grab copies of his medical records from the orphanage so that our adoption agency can translate them into english for us before leaving for home.
We then drove to the national notary office in downtown Moscow to sign the necessary paperwork officially requesting to adopt baby "Alexander." The drive from the orphanage to the notary office should have taken only 1.5 hours; however the traffic was so bad, after 2.5 hours our driver dropped us off at the Metro station and we took the subway the remainder of the way to get to the notary office in time.
After the notary office, our day was done. We remained in downtown Moscow to have dinner (TGI Fridays) and to finish our souvenir shopping. We then took the Metro back to our hotel.
Tomorrow is our last full day in Moscow on this 1st trip. We have our medical physicals scheduled at 9:30am (now it's our turn to show them that we are healthy enough to adopt a baby from Russia).
Above is the first official picture of baby "Alexander." Enjoy!
After leaving the hospital we made a quick stop to grab copies of his medical records from the orphanage so that our adoption agency can translate them into english for us before leaving for home.
We then drove to the national notary office in downtown Moscow to sign the necessary paperwork officially requesting to adopt baby "Alexander." The drive from the orphanage to the notary office should have taken only 1.5 hours; however the traffic was so bad, after 2.5 hours our driver dropped us off at the Metro station and we took the subway the remainder of the way to get to the notary office in time.
After the notary office, our day was done. We remained in downtown Moscow to have dinner (TGI Fridays) and to finish our souvenir shopping. We then took the Metro back to our hotel.
Tomorrow is our last full day in Moscow on this 1st trip. We have our medical physicals scheduled at 9:30am (now it's our turn to show them that we are healthy enough to adopt a baby from Russia).
Above is the first official picture of baby "Alexander." Enjoy!
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Emotional Rollercoaster....
We want to apologize for the delay in updating our blog. The last 2 days have been very emotional for the both of us with many highs and lows...where to begin?
On Monday morning we arrived at the Ministry of Education at 10:30am to receive our "child referral." Up until this point we have had absolutely no advance information on the child that we were being matched up with because Moscow Region is considered a "Blind Referral" region. We learned of a boy who was 25 months old and located at an orphanage (Baby Home) approx 1 hour outside of Moscow. The only information provided to us at the MOE that morning was his name, age, the fact that he was a little mentally delayed (which is normal for children in an orphanage), high blood pressure, and a little underweight (again, this is normal for children in an orphanage setting). Very excited to meet this little man, we loaded into the car with our Driver (Sergei) and our translator (Tanya) and headed out through the CRAZY Moscow traffic to the orphanage. We also had a local pediatrician that we hired to meet us at the Baby Home to do a medical physical on the child.
When we arrived at the Baby Home we were met with a very unpleasant reality....The beautiful 25 month old boy we were matched with was very, very sick. Upon reading through his medical records we learned that he was diagnosed with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and was experiencing "heavy" mental and social delays. We were told that he spends the majority of the day crying by himself and would most likely never fully recover from this condition. This information was absolutely devastating to hear. At the advisement of the pediatrician we had to make the gut wrenching decision to decline the referral, as we are just unable to properly care for this special child with his current condition. This was a decision that was very, very difficult to make.
We then drove back to the MOE to discuss the situation with the social worker in hopes of receiving a second referral for another child. We were told that due to the current economic conditions in Russia, many local Moscovites have started fostering babies to supplement their lost income (if they are unemployed) from the Government. This is a practice that was started in 2007, but has never been as popular as now considering the current economic climate in Moscow. As a result of this "fostering" program, many young babies are currently unavailable to foreign families. We were told by the MOE that there are no more children under the age of 24 months available for foreign adoptions in Moscow. (note: Orphaned babies are not available to foreign families unless they have been on the National Adoption Registry Database or at least 8 months. This allows Russian citizens "first dibs" at their own children). For the second time in less then 10 hours we received news that we did not want to hear. This was by far the worst thing that could have happened to us over here. On Monday night we were mentally preparing ourselves for the reality of possibly heading home without an accepted child.
Our adoption facilitator here in Moscow started making phone calls on Monday night to all of the Baby Homes in the Moscow Region in hopes of finding another child that was available and off of the National Database registry. We were asked to return to the MOE on Tuesday morning for an update.
Tuesday morning we arrived at the MOE with our translator and waited for an update. After a wait that seemed like hours (but it was probably only 15 minutes), we were told of an 8 month and 1 DAY old boy who just came off the database that morning. He was located approx 1.5 hours outside of Moscow, but because of a recent bout with bronchitis, he was not currently at the orphanage, but at the local hospital for treatment. We were told that orphanages are very quick to get any child that is sick to the hospital, rather then to allow them to get the other kids sick in the orphanage. This was great news to hear, but with what happened on Monday we approached this with cautious optimism. We were eager to drive out to see him right away, but was told that the director of the hospital would not be available to speak to us on Tuesday and that our trip out to see him would have to wait until today (Wednesday).
Big Day #2....
After a very restless night sleep, we woke up early this morning in anticipation of meeting our second baby referral. We actually convinced our driver and translator to allow us to take the Moscow Metro (subway) into the part of the city to meet them to help cut down on the traffic congestion that we would face. Riding the subway was great. And if you ever had a question as to "How many people can you squeeze into a Moscow subway car?" the answer is "Always one more!" No...seriously....no joke.
We arrived at the Metro station to meet Sergei and Tanya and we headed out to the hospital to see the new little man. We had the same pediatrician meet us to perform another medical physical on the baby. We arrived at the hospital at 11:00am, paid the 14 rubles to buy 2 pairs of required "booties" to cover our shoes and we headed up to the 2nd floor.
This was a day that the two of us had envisioned in our minds over and over again for at least the past 10 months. The thoughts of....will he cry when we hold him?.....will he laugh?.....will he be healthy?.....how will we react?....
Today was amazing! We walked in to a very small hospital room with 5 full cribs and to make a long story short.....We ACCEPTED the referral and we now are one step closer to being a family of 4.
The baby is great! His medical review and physical was all "thumbs up!" from both our hired Russian pediatrician, and from our local pediatrician at home.
Tomorrow morning we will officially sign the papers accepting him as our new son at the notary office and will file the necessary legal paperwork to petition the court to make this official.
What a day.....We are going to bed....It is currently 10:07pm.
On Monday morning we arrived at the Ministry of Education at 10:30am to receive our "child referral." Up until this point we have had absolutely no advance information on the child that we were being matched up with because Moscow Region is considered a "Blind Referral" region. We learned of a boy who was 25 months old and located at an orphanage (Baby Home) approx 1 hour outside of Moscow. The only information provided to us at the MOE that morning was his name, age, the fact that he was a little mentally delayed (which is normal for children in an orphanage), high blood pressure, and a little underweight (again, this is normal for children in an orphanage setting). Very excited to meet this little man, we loaded into the car with our Driver (Sergei) and our translator (Tanya) and headed out through the CRAZY Moscow traffic to the orphanage. We also had a local pediatrician that we hired to meet us at the Baby Home to do a medical physical on the child.
When we arrived at the Baby Home we were met with a very unpleasant reality....The beautiful 25 month old boy we were matched with was very, very sick. Upon reading through his medical records we learned that he was diagnosed with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and was experiencing "heavy" mental and social delays. We were told that he spends the majority of the day crying by himself and would most likely never fully recover from this condition. This information was absolutely devastating to hear. At the advisement of the pediatrician we had to make the gut wrenching decision to decline the referral, as we are just unable to properly care for this special child with his current condition. This was a decision that was very, very difficult to make.
We then drove back to the MOE to discuss the situation with the social worker in hopes of receiving a second referral for another child. We were told that due to the current economic conditions in Russia, many local Moscovites have started fostering babies to supplement their lost income (if they are unemployed) from the Government. This is a practice that was started in 2007, but has never been as popular as now considering the current economic climate in Moscow. As a result of this "fostering" program, many young babies are currently unavailable to foreign families. We were told by the MOE that there are no more children under the age of 24 months available for foreign adoptions in Moscow. (note: Orphaned babies are not available to foreign families unless they have been on the National Adoption Registry Database or at least 8 months. This allows Russian citizens "first dibs" at their own children). For the second time in less then 10 hours we received news that we did not want to hear. This was by far the worst thing that could have happened to us over here. On Monday night we were mentally preparing ourselves for the reality of possibly heading home without an accepted child.
Our adoption facilitator here in Moscow started making phone calls on Monday night to all of the Baby Homes in the Moscow Region in hopes of finding another child that was available and off of the National Database registry. We were asked to return to the MOE on Tuesday morning for an update.
Tuesday morning we arrived at the MOE with our translator and waited for an update. After a wait that seemed like hours (but it was probably only 15 minutes), we were told of an 8 month and 1 DAY old boy who just came off the database that morning. He was located approx 1.5 hours outside of Moscow, but because of a recent bout with bronchitis, he was not currently at the orphanage, but at the local hospital for treatment. We were told that orphanages are very quick to get any child that is sick to the hospital, rather then to allow them to get the other kids sick in the orphanage. This was great news to hear, but with what happened on Monday we approached this with cautious optimism. We were eager to drive out to see him right away, but was told that the director of the hospital would not be available to speak to us on Tuesday and that our trip out to see him would have to wait until today (Wednesday).
Big Day #2....
After a very restless night sleep, we woke up early this morning in anticipation of meeting our second baby referral. We actually convinced our driver and translator to allow us to take the Moscow Metro (subway) into the part of the city to meet them to help cut down on the traffic congestion that we would face. Riding the subway was great. And if you ever had a question as to "How many people can you squeeze into a Moscow subway car?" the answer is "Always one more!" No...seriously....no joke.
We arrived at the Metro station to meet Sergei and Tanya and we headed out to the hospital to see the new little man. We had the same pediatrician meet us to perform another medical physical on the baby. We arrived at the hospital at 11:00am, paid the 14 rubles to buy 2 pairs of required "booties" to cover our shoes and we headed up to the 2nd floor.
This was a day that the two of us had envisioned in our minds over and over again for at least the past 10 months. The thoughts of....will he cry when we hold him?.....will he laugh?.....will he be healthy?.....how will we react?....
Today was amazing! We walked in to a very small hospital room with 5 full cribs and to make a long story short.....We ACCEPTED the referral and we now are one step closer to being a family of 4.
The baby is great! His medical review and physical was all "thumbs up!" from both our hired Russian pediatrician, and from our local pediatrician at home.
Tomorrow morning we will officially sign the papers accepting him as our new son at the notary office and will file the necessary legal paperwork to petition the court to make this official.
What a day.....We are going to bed....It is currently 10:07pm.
Sunday, August 9, 2009
We are in Moscow, Russia!
We arrived safely in Moscow on Saturday afternoon around 1:30pm local time. We had two great flights on Lufthansa airlines (Boston to Frankfurt, Germany to Moscow, Russia). While in Germany, we were somewhat unaware of the current exchange rate between the US dollar and the Euro and we quickly realized afterwards that we spend about $50 US Dollars for breakfast (for 2 eggs, ham, OJ, coffee, and a few croissants; not to mention the $5 bottle of water...ouch!)
We were met right at the airport by our translator (Tanya) and driver (Sergei). The driving here is absolutely crazy. There are lines painted on the road, but we don't believe at this point they serve any real function because drivers don't like to stay in just one lane. Despite the "Days of Thunder" like driving, we could not have asked for a better "crew" to work with while here.
We got settled in our hotel room and then ventured out across the street to a local shopping mall to buy some bottled water, and to get something to eat. At the mall's food court they have a McDonalds, Sbarro Pizza, KFC, and a Chinese Wok. We both could not sleep on the plane flying over here, so by the time we got settled in out hotel, we had been up for approx 28 hours straight without sleep. We finally went to sleep around 6pm local time on Saturday and slept until 8am on Sunday. I cannot remember the last time we slept over 12 hours. Needless to say we are now officially accustomed to the local Moscow time (8 hours ahead of EDT).
On Sunday morning, Tanya and Sergei (translator and driver) picked us up at 11am and took us on a 5 hours sightseeing tour around Moscow (took over 200 photos just in these 5 hours). We both learned more about Russian history in these 5 hours then what was ever taught to us in school. Moscow is an AMAZING city with a wealth of great history. Words cannot explain the overall atmosphere here, and the local people have been great.
We have posted a few pictures of our sightseeing trip below.
It is currently 7:00am (Moscow time) on Monday, and we are preparing to see our new son for the first time today. We have an appointment scheduled at the Ministry of Education this morning at 10:30am. At the MOE we will receive our "child referral" and will then head out to the orphanage to see him for the first time. We are both very excited for today's events.
Today is expected to be a long day; however we will update the blog when we return tonight....stay tuned!
We were met right at the airport by our translator (Tanya) and driver (Sergei). The driving here is absolutely crazy. There are lines painted on the road, but we don't believe at this point they serve any real function because drivers don't like to stay in just one lane. Despite the "Days of Thunder" like driving, we could not have asked for a better "crew" to work with while here.
We got settled in our hotel room and then ventured out across the street to a local shopping mall to buy some bottled water, and to get something to eat. At the mall's food court they have a McDonalds, Sbarro Pizza, KFC, and a Chinese Wok. We both could not sleep on the plane flying over here, so by the time we got settled in out hotel, we had been up for approx 28 hours straight without sleep. We finally went to sleep around 6pm local time on Saturday and slept until 8am on Sunday. I cannot remember the last time we slept over 12 hours. Needless to say we are now officially accustomed to the local Moscow time (8 hours ahead of EDT).
On Sunday morning, Tanya and Sergei (translator and driver) picked us up at 11am and took us on a 5 hours sightseeing tour around Moscow (took over 200 photos just in these 5 hours). We both learned more about Russian history in these 5 hours then what was ever taught to us in school. Moscow is an AMAZING city with a wealth of great history. Words cannot explain the overall atmosphere here, and the local people have been great.
We have posted a few pictures of our sightseeing trip below.
It is currently 7:00am (Moscow time) on Monday, and we are preparing to see our new son for the first time today. We have an appointment scheduled at the Ministry of Education this morning at 10:30am. At the MOE we will receive our "child referral" and will then head out to the orphanage to see him for the first time. We are both very excited for today's events.
Today is expected to be a long day; however we will update the blog when we return tonight....stay tuned!
Thursday, August 6, 2009
24 Hours To Go...
We are now just 24 hours away from heading over to Moscow, Russia to see our new addition to the Wyllie family for the first time. We will be arriving in Moscow at 1:30pm local time on Saturday and will have the remainder of Saturday and all day Sunday to get accustomed to the time change (Moscow is 8 hours ahead of EDT).
Monday is the BIG day! We will spend the majority of the day learning about the history of the little man, and by that afternoon we will be able to see him for the first time at the orphanage.
We will do our best to update our Blog daily when we return to our hotel room to keep everyone informed.
Monday is the BIG day! We will spend the majority of the day learning about the history of the little man, and by that afternoon we will be able to see him for the first time at the orphanage.
We will do our best to update our Blog daily when we return to our hotel room to keep everyone informed.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
