Well... these last couple of weeks have been crazy busy for us around here. I have been traveling quite a bit for work - with being in Jacksonville, FL all last week, and in Denver, CO the week before that. And then before that, we had to travel up to NY for both a wedding and a funeral. This week, we will be off for one more trip to NY for a weekend visit up there for another wedding. So lots of fun and excitement, but at this point, Ginny and I are both fairly exhausted and not spending much emotional energy on just how freakin' close we are to our trip to China...
With that said - we received an e-mail on Thursday from the US Embassy in Guangzhou saying that our Article 5 letter has been issued... that means the VERY NEXT STEP is our travel approval!!! The only thing that might add an extra week to everything is the celebration for National Day in China, which occurs on October 1st... but regardless, we could be looking at potentially traveling to China in as early as one month from now!!
Nice sunset view near Jacksonville, FL
Jacksonville, FL at night
Our family having Chinese for dinner to celebrate our Article 5 letter
We received word earlier last week that our visa petition was officially "cabled" over to the US Embassy in Guangzhou. That should set off the official countdown for our travels to China:
Approximately 10 business days after the NVC cable - the US Embassy issues the Article 5 letter stating that we are completely in compliance with the Hague Convention rules for adoption and that our little girl meets all the requirements stated under the Hague rules
About 2 weeks after the Article 5 letter is produced, the Chinese goverernment will issue the travel approval - which is our official invitation over to China to get custody of Mia.
At TA, we will then book all of our travel - which will include flights into Beijing (likely direct through either Detroit or Chicago), hotel stays for 3 days in Beijing, a domestic flight to Guiyang in the province of Guizhou (3 hr flight), more hotel stays in Guiyang (likely staying here for 4-5 nights at the Sheraton Guiyang), another flight from Guiyang to Guangzhou (another 3 hrs), hotel stays for 4-5 nights in Guangzhou, a 3 hr bus ride to Hong Kong, then our flight back to the US out of Hong Kong. Travel dates are typically 2-4 weeks after TA.
So right now, based on my elegant date models (haha)... we are still on track for a late October / early November departure.
I will say that it is all very surreal being at this point... and there's so many questions still lingering in our minds... like:
What will her reaction to us be? (likely petrified and quite upset)
Has the orphanage even told her about us yet and shared the items in the care package we sent? We know that a majority of the time they do share everything with them, but there are cases where the little girl doesn't even know they're being adopted until that very same day...
Will Mia and Ashlyn get along together?
Obviously finances are always on my mind... that's alot of $$$ for the travel plans... not to mention the huge sum of cash we need to take for the orphanage donation...
How well will we do with the language barrier?
How well will Mia handle the sheer culture shock of living in the US? I have heard through a good friend locally that has adopted a young girl from China last December that there's a restaurant near here in central Ohio that cooks fried chicken's feet... something their daughter have been simply craving since coming to the US... I can just imagine that chicken's feet might be on our menu soon...
So anyways, the nice travel coordinator at America World adoption said that the next time we hear from them will be to inform us of the TA and to begin booking all our travel plans... it's so incredible to believe that a mere 8-10 weeks from now, we will be back home and beginning life as a mixed family of 6!! As daunting as that is, I know I got a great teammate in my wife, and we can take on this awesome challenge. So, in the words of one of my favorite characters on TV nowadays:
Now that I've managed to confuse you with the blog post title... here's alittle taste of all the different acronyms and approval forms we've had to file over the last few months...
USCIS - United States Citizenship and Immigration Services
CCCWA - China Centre for Children's Welfare and Adoption
Hague Convention - an international agreement to establish safeguards to ensure that intercountry adoptions take place in the best interests of the child
NVC - National Visa Center
TA - Travel Approval - the official invitation from the Chinese government to come to China for the purpose of adopting your child
The process for obtaining approvals from China and the US is actually fairly well laid out - even if the process is arduous at best. At this point, we are expecting the notice from the National Visa Center (NVC) that our visa application for Mia has been cabled to them (the point in the center of the arrow below). Once the letter arrives, we should expect our Article 5 letter within 2 weeks after that.
Here's how the US State Department describes the Article 5 process and our remaining steps:
After review of the visa application, the consular officer will send the convention country's Central Authority notification or Article 5 letter that states you are suitable adoptive parents and the child is able to enter and live in the United States.
Once you have the Article 5 letter you may complete the international adoption of the child.
The Convention country will issue an Article 23 Certificate. It may be an adoption or custody decree and may be sent directly to the consular officer at the Embassy or Consulate.
The Embassy or Consulate will schedule the final visa interview. The child must appear before the officer if the child did not do so at the initial visa application review. Be prepared to present the valid adoption or custody decree.
At this final interview the consular officer issues you a Hague Certificate to certify that the international adoption meets the Convention requirements, as well as final approval of the I-800 petition and will issue your new child a IH-3 or an IH-4 visa.
So basically, once we have the Article 5 letter, that will then trigger China's official invitation to us to come over and get custody of our daughter. That invitation, called the travel approval (TA), comes about 10 days to 2 weeks after the Article 5 letter is issued.
Projected Approval and Important Dates
Another thing that I have been doing lately has been date modeling using other families timelines and their approval dates (go ahead... I enjoy the geek and nerd labels).
I think one thing that stood out to us initially when we saw the dates was just how soon they appeared, because we were thinking that travel would be later in the year. So, with that said, I took 4 families that recently adopted from China and applied their timeline to ours. If this holds (which it should be pretty close), it says we should expect our Travel Approval in early-mid October, with travel to China happening at the end of October / early November. So, this says we are 58 days away from meeting our daughter for the first time!!! Woohoo!!! We absolutely can't wait!!!
Two years ago, we were celebrating a miracle that happened in our lives - the healthy birth of our son Austin. I know... I know... every birth is a miracle... but the birth of our red-headed little guy came about in a very special way.
Right at 20 weeks gestation, Ginny's water broke in a condition called pPROM - or preterm premature rupture of membranes. The statistics aren't great for delivering a healthy baby after that occurs, especially when it occurs so early on. At 20 weeks, Austin was still a month away from being considered a "viable" baby - and even at 24 weeks, would have huge odds to overcome.
PPROM in the Second Trimester
Premature preterm rupture of membranes (PPROM) prior to fetal viability is a unique and relatively rare problem that is often difficult to manage. It occurs in less than 0.4% of all pregnancies. Midtrimester (13-26 wk) PPROM has a poor prognosis, although more recent studies have reported better outcome. Survival varies with gestational age at diagnosis (from 10% when diagnosed at 16-19 wk, to as much as 60% when diagnosed at 25-26 wk).Until viability, maternal safety should be the primary concern.
Miraculously, instead of being in the 90-95% of pregnancies that go into labor within 72 hours after rupturing, Ginny went 11 weeks!!! Now, during that time, she was on bed-rest at home (until 24 weeks), then on bed-rest in two different hospitals that even included two ambulance rides between them... but in the end, she did finally go into labor on September 2nd, and our son Austin was born via Cesarean section at St. Luke's Hospital in The Woodlands. Austin came into the world at 31 weeks weighing just 3 lbs 14 oz. We needed to keep him in the NICU there for a few weeks since he was 2 months premature to help him gain weight, learn how to feed, and also become a pro at breathing right... but in the end, he turned out perfectly fine. In fact, his pediatrician remarked at his last checkup (18 month) that there was NOTHING premature about him. 75th percentiles for height and weight!! Imagine if he actually was born on his due date!! Whoa!!
So, this weekend, we were able to celebrate our son's 2nd birthday, which included loads of cakes, eating out, visiting with friends and family, and of course, presents :)
Happy birthday, Austin!! We love you!!
Austin during the summer of 2012 at the beach in North Carolina
Here's the YouTube video I put together chronicling our adventures that summer
