all in a day...

At church, we welcomed Rinda home and feasted on fresh pics and video of our little prince. Later that evening, T. emailed from YouYou's house to say she enjoyed the visit from our friends and the photo ball we sent. She happened to ask what our agency had told us thus far about travel. She wondered if we'd be able to come early to learn Youyou's routine and to practice his ostomy regimen (St. Louis told me "no" the other week), when we'd be traveling-she'd heard April (St. Louis told me May 9), and how the transfer would happen (St. Louis told me Youyou would go to Jiaozuo, but could it be they hadn't told her anything?).

I must admit that I was still concerned about Youyou's travel to Jiaozuo. I've explained already that in taking custody of Tian You, we would need to travel from Beijing to Henan, where he would have been transferred to his Social Welfare Institute some two weeks earlier. The difficulty in this would be his care--a disruption in the regimen to care for his ostomies and bladder could easily lead to a kidney infection, which would quickly take us from the adoption journey to a hospital one. While I was encouraged--HUGELY--by the knowledge that the healing home we'd visited last March had a care unit in Youyou's orphanage, I learned that it is a pallative care unit, and when I mentioned it to St. Louis, of course they discouraged me from contact.

So I forwarded T's questions to our agency, adding my own concerns that our child's health be the primary consideration. I know that thousands of adoptions take place in China annually, but Youyou already has extremely unusual circumstances and needs. And so I did not dare to hope as I replied to T, citing all the bland policy that had been recited to me about what would happen when we came to China.

Three hours and a Guiness later, I checked the email one more time before calling it a night. It was about 1:30 am. T had written back! She had just spoken with our agency's Beijing office, and their reps said that OF COURSE we would need to come a week earlier than normal and stay near YouYou's house to learn and practice his regimen so he'd be safe! And OF COURSE there wouldn't be a need for him to stay the requisite two weeks in his Social Welfare Institute, because he already has a passport from his trip to the States in July!! If it was necessary for us to make an appearance at Jiaozuo to sign his adoption papers, WE WOULD BE ABLE TO TRANSPORT HIM THERE OURSELVES, SIGN THE PAPERS, AND LEAVE!!!! Could this be true??? T assured us she was already trying to find a place we could stay, so that we wouldn't have to worry about extra hotel expenses.

WHAT IS THIS?!?!?!?!

So, with a broad smile, I forwarded this new and improved email to St. Louis, prefacing it with a word of explanation. Just before noon today, I got a reply--the briefest.

"Thanks for your emails. S. has already emailed us and we will be happy to make arrangements for an earlier arrival for your family."

That was followed by the email from S. herself, from our agency's Beijing office, stating the necessaries quickly and with authority.

And so now we're on the express train again!