Tuesday, March 27, 2007

Long Night...

Our first night with baby was a long one! According to the orphanage doctor, JJ takes his last meal (which happens to be eggs, sausage, and bread??????) at 8:00 and is fast asleep by 9 - for the night. Yeah...totally not how it happened.

Jerret fed him a bottle of formula at 8:00 and he did fall asleep. Jerret put him in the rickety pink bassinet provided by the hotel and we thought we would stay up for a few hours and enjoy some down time, so we didn't bother going to bed until 11:00. (I am quickly learning that as soon as the baby is asleep we need to take full advantage of the opportunity to get a little shut eye of our own). So we laid down to sleep at 11 and by midnight he was wide awake. At first he just laid there making baby sounds and talking out loud. After twenty minutes he was bored with that and started crying. We didn't know it at the time, but he had an upset stomach and that is what was keeping him up. First Jerret tried to comfort him, and then I, yet he just rolled around and cried for nearly fifteen minutes. Jerret gave up helping me and resigned to leave him in the crib to cry himself to sleep. I was tired enough to go along with his idea when I began hearing the gurgling sounds coming from his belly. The belly sounds were loud and many and just sounded painful. His diaper provided the confirmation that we needed to know we had a sick baby on our hands. I was at a loss for how to handle his issues and luckily, with the time difference in mind, was able to get on-line and solicit help from my friends at work.
JJ slept off and on for 2-3 hours at a time until 7:00 when it was time for more food. He really didn't nap much at all the rest of the day, so hopefully he sleeps well tonight and we can start fresh tomorrow.
We didn't go out at all in the morning and I stayed in with JJ while Jerret took a walk with one of the other dads. The walked all around this city and sampled some foods from local roadside vendors. When they returned it was raining, but the other couples wanted to take a trip up into the mountains, so we all went.
The hour-long ride into the mountains was very interesting. We ate at a restaurant called 12 Fireplaces. It has a very log cabin-y feel to it and they really cooked your food in one of the outdoor fireplaces. I am happy to report that I ate an actual meal today. It was a beef kabob with french fries platter that Jerret helped me to finish. JJ slept the entire ride there and the entire ride home.
Oh - another observation of this city. For being the capital city, it is still very modest. It is not built up or "Americanized" by any means. There is no McDonald's, KFC, or shopping mall. According to Jerret, this is all very different than in China-l

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Greetings from another Jack,
I know you are probably busy, but please keep sending us updates.
We can't wait to meet JJ.
Go Bucks