Second Hurdle Jumped

Day 13 July 27th Friday
Written July 27th and submitted July 28th

We were looking forward to this day all week. Today we are going to get Gracie’s passport and medical exam completed.

Pickup Passports at the Police Station

Gracie slept through the night! She stirred and cried a couple times very little, but it was a legitimate all night sleep. We were very happy with our Gracie. We were in a hurry this morning because Kim was going to meet us at the lobby at 8:15am to go to the police station to get the passport for Gracie. Becky and I woke before the kids so I went ahead and went down for breakfast. I was back up in about 10 minutes and then we woke Logan and him and Becky went down to eat together. When Logan woke up, he complained of a headache so we gave him some Motrin and this seemed to help. While they were gone, I woke Gracie and got her dressed then gave her a bottle. She’s always so happy to see you in the morning. Kim phoned the room at 8:12am to say they were waiting at the lobby for us. Don’t they know we parents have babies to get ready and we need the extra 3 minutes. We all headed to the lobby to join Christy and Grace for the ride to the police station. We arrived at the police station about 8:30am and headed to the same room when we applied for the passports the week before. This place is always crowded. It seems like everyone in Hanoi is there to get a passport. I know a lot of people in the States that go their whole lives without a passport so I don’t understand the demand over here. Kim told me to listen for my name being announced so I could go to the counter and sign my receipt and get Gracie’s passport. There was no way the person behind the counter was going to even come close to using the correct pronunciation for my name let alone be heard over this crowd. Luckily Martin stood with Kim (both World Child folks) to listen for the names while we parents sat in the waiting seats. It took two and a half hours before they finally called the names. During these long waits, we really get to see what makes Gracie keep from fussing. We will know her well before we get back to the States.

We were supposed to get our passports and go directly to the SOS clinic just a couple of blocks away for our scheduled appointment, but it took us so long at the police station to get the passports that Kim and Martin had to reschedule the clinic visit for 2:30pm this afternoon. The other parents took cabs back to their hotels while we decided to walk a short distance to a mall for Becky to get something to wear on the sun deck of the boat for this weekend. The walk wasn’t too bad because this had to be the coolest day since we arrived here. If I had to guess, it was only in the high 80’s but the humidity is still very high. We stopped at the mall and Becky was able to find something so we grabbed a cab and headed back to the hotel.

Dinner at KITI

We sat around the hotel room for about an hour before we started to get hungry and decided to get something to eat at a restaurant called KITI before our appointment at the clinic. This place is just one street over from the hotel so we were there in a matter of minutes. It’s a very small place that has Vietnamese or European style food. The front of the place was full so they took us to a room in the back where there was about four tables. Just as we sat down and got our menus, the power went out. The young woman tending the tables apologized for the inconvenience and we understood. It wasn’t as though it was completely dark. There was plenty of light coming through the front windows of the restaurant. It seemed as though it happens quite frequently so they just flipped the breaker and we were back in business. This place had great food. Becky took a big chance with a tuna sandwich, Logan had an excellent club sandwich, and I followed up with some sort of tomato, lettuce, basil pesto something, and fancy cheese sandwich that was quite tasty. It was only about $11 US. I can get used to these prices. We gave the woman the bill with our money and went to leave. She stopped up and said we gave her too much money and Becky told her that was her tip. The tip was only about a dollar. They are very appreciative here. We exited the place and rounded the corner to our hotel so we could make our clinic appointment.

SOS Clinic

We met Christy and her baby Grace in the lobby and Kim was already there getting us a cab. The clinic is only a couple minutes drive from the hotel (along with everything else). The building is 4 stories tall and takes up one whole corner of a city block. The clinic provides not only outpatient services but also emergency services. They will even make house calls. The doctors on staff are all from countries around the globe. We only had to wait about 15 minutes before we took Gracie in a room to have a nurse take her weight 13.5 lbs, length 23.5 inch, head circumference(nurse commented “big head”) along with a few vitals that Becky can explain better. Gracie started to exercise her lungs at this point. She hadn’t napped much today so she was pretty easy to set off so we loaded up a bottle and fed her while the nurse looked her over. Gracie settled down just fine. We went back to the waiting room until the other two babies (Grace and Max) were finished. We then were taken to another room to wait to be seen by a physician. We waited about 30 minutes before they called our name. The doctor introduced himself and said he was from Holland and asked where we originated. He was pretty friendly and asked if we were enjoying our stay in Hanoi. We said yes but we are ready to go home because you can only have too much fun.

The doctor seemed to be very pleased with Gracie’s condition. She was keeping her head up quite well and could prop herself up in a half pushup. Apparently that’s a test she must pass. We asked the doctor about the bumps on the bottom of her feet and a few other places. He said it wasn’t scabies but to put some anti itch cream on it and it should clear up. Her other rash that she had on the side of her head and in her folds around her neck are pretty much all gone. The overall assessment of Gracie was great so she cleared another hurdle. One more embassy interview and we are all done.

Logan had been complaining about his throat so we asked the doctor if he could take a quick glance at it. (Logan never complains so we thought it was worth asking) The nice doctor hesitated at first then grabbed the light and looked at his throat. The nice doctor seemed slightly disgruntled that we asked him to take 5 seconds to help us out. It turned out to be nothing so Becky and I said thank you and we were on our way. The doctor said he would see us next year when we come back for a son. He almost needed a doctor,lol.

We waited out front on the steps for Christy and Grace so we could share a cab back to the hotel. Logan didn’t look so good. I could tell because he started resting his head on me. He was complaining of a headache again and he didn’t look well. He looked up at me and asked if we were going to get a cab instead of walk. Gracie was passed out in my arms. She hadn’t had a good nap all day and it was about 4:00pm. As soon as Christy came out of the clinic we all took a cab back to the hotel

Back at the Hotel for the Night

Logan didn’t look good at all when we reached the room. He headed straight for the bed; not normal. He had a 100.4 temperature so we gave him some Motrin and he took his place in front of the TV. Gracie was still a sleep so I put her on the bed to finish her nap. It was easy to tell that Logan didn’t feel good because he wasn’t pestering his sister. He didn’t want anything to eat. Not even any pizza or spaghetti. After about an hour, the Motrin kicked in and Logan was up messing with Gracie (but not too close) and eating peanut butter and crackers and oreos as well. I hope he feels good tomorrow because we leave for our trip to the bay in the morning at 7:00am.

We spent the rest of the evening packing for our 2 day boat trip. Dawn and her daughter Eva were leaving for the states at 9:00pm tonight so she asked if Becky could help watch Eva while she finished packing. Becky was happy to help out. When Becky returned from Dawn’s room, we gave Gracie her bath, bottle, and put her to bed. Logan watched half of Jurassic Park before he went to sleep.