Gotcha Day Morning

So here's how our "Gotcha Day" began yesterday: We leave the hotel in Beijing at 6 am to catch our Air China flight to Guangzhou. Everyone in our group is a bundle of nerves (especially the couple getting twins...boy, are they in for it!). Here is the message Kevin writes to Zoe while on the plane:

Hi Zoe,

I cannot wait to have you in our arms. This is the day we have been waiting for for over 4 years. I hope you are not afraid. Mommy and I will do everything in our power to calm and love you. I just want you to always know we will be there for you and will love you. You are our special child. You have been in our hearts for four years and we cannot wait until you come home to meet your brothers. They talk about you every day, even though they are only 2 and don't understand that you are coming. I am sure that they will always be there for you as well. So nervous and not sure what else to say except that we will see you in a few hours.

Love,
Dad

We land in Guangzhou at 10:30 am and our guide Lucia meets us at the airport. We were with the other couple in our group adopting from Guangdong province, Melissa and Jeff. It was nice to have the company and someone to share our jitters with! As soon as we step outside, the heat and humidity hit us like a wall. We check in to the China Hotel Marriott, and Lucia tells us we have about an hour to get our documents and cash together and then grab something to eat. Jeff and Kevin nervously count and recount the money several times, while Melissa and I work on getting the little gift bags together for the orphanage directors and the nannies. I had bought some make-up, lotion, and deodorant for the nannies (apparently the nannies like to get that kind of thing), and a Mag-lite and nuts for the director. The guys double-check that they have the correct documents, then we decide to say a prayer together before we go. Jeff prays that the babies will be calm and not too scared, and a bunch of other good things that I can't remember right now. Then we head across the street to McDonald's for lunch. I feel too nervous to eat but figure I had better so I wouldn't pass out when they handed me the baby. Lucia and the driver pick us up in a van and off we go through the noisy, crowded streets of Guangzhou. About 10 minutes later we arrive at the location for the meeting, which is some sort of civil affairs office. We get off the elevator and walk into a large room with red couches and big portraits of Chinese children in traditional costumes. There are already several families there, and it keeps getting more crowded (and hot) by the minute. Finally the nannies start arriving with the babies. Naturally, as each nanny hurries in we wonder if she is carrying Zoe Mei and if we would recognize her from the pictures. We wait nervously for some time. Kevin tries to videotape the room and finds out the camera battery is dead!!! My heart sinks. Then Jeff says we can use their camera if our babies don't arrive at the same time, and Kevin reminds me that there is video on the digital camera. Finally, Lucia comes over to us and says that our babies are still on the way from their orphanages (about 5 hours by car or bus). Meanwhile, a family from Nebraska gets their child and she is screaming hysterically. She is around 4 and is also kicking and hitting her new daddy. It is so sad. Melissa and I both look at each other and start crying. What must that poor kid be thinking, we wonder. I start getting kind of mad, thinking what a cruel way this is for kids to meet their new families. Why can't the hand-off be done in a private room without a bunch of other screaming kids? But that's just how they do it. Finally, a nanny comes over holding a baby and Lucia tells Jeff and Melissa that it is their own Anna Joy! Kevin and I jump into action videotaping them and snapping tons of pictures. It is such a sweet but chaotic moment. Anna Joy doesn't think it is very sweet, however, and joins the chorus of cries with her own pitiful wails.

Fast forward 45 minutes. Still no Zoe Mei. I tell Kevin she MUST be my daughter because she is already running late! But just then another nanny with a baby comes over, and although she doesn't look quite like her pictures, we recognize our Zoe right away! The nanny places her in my arms and...TO BE CONTINUED