The photo
So the day finally came. We received our prospective baby's photo. Her birth name is Svetlana and she is currently 5 months old. And she is a cutie.
In the photo, she is swaddled within an inch of her life. In fact, you can't see her body at all, since the swaddled blanket covers her from her neck down. Apparently, the swaddling ( the wrapping of the baby in a receiving blanket) helps the child feel warm, protected and like she is in the womb.
She's got enormous cheeks , and possibly red hair although they described it as light brown. Her eyes are grey, but It's hard to tell that from the picture because she's lying down ( thank you RFJ for realizing we needed to shift the photo horizontal) and looks like she may have just awoken from a nap.
There is, however, the unfortunate possiblility that our first trip will be delayed because of new restrictions passed by the Russian Government as of December 30 2004. So we may not leave for 2 to 3 months. We will have more information next week. She was apparently relinquished by her birthmother, a 24 year old resident of Pirm with one child already, at her birth. They gave us practically no medical information about her except one typically Russian diagnosis that they apparently attribute to every baby born in Russia. Last evening I emailed her picture and the written information to Jane Aronson, the renowned "orphan doctor" who will evaluate the information thus far. We await her reply.
Receiving the photo has changed EVERYTHING. Suddenly, this experience feels all the more real. And a lot of the fear and tredpidation have dissipated. Last night, I slept better than I have in weeks.
I had a curiously profound dream in which I was pregnant and my stomach was protruding. In the dream, SM introduced me to her friend and pointed to my belly, but apparently the friend couldn't tell I was pregnant ( she had no idea what SM was pointing at). Then I went to a party and had some wine and suddenly remembered I was pregnant. I felt terribly guilt- ridden and remorseful, convincing myself that I had damaged my unborn child.
I woke up relieved that I had been dreaming. My stomach actually did feel full and protruding. I immediately picked up the picture by my bedside, and felt a wave of contentmen and calm. There is a baby, and she is quite possibly mine.
I showed the picture to my mother, father, stepmother, sister, brother-in-law, niece and nephew. I particularly liked my nieces nicknaming her "Ducky" because of the yellow ducks on the blanket in which she is swaddled.
In the photo, she is swaddled within an inch of her life. In fact, you can't see her body at all, since the swaddled blanket covers her from her neck down. Apparently, the swaddling ( the wrapping of the baby in a receiving blanket) helps the child feel warm, protected and like she is in the womb.
She's got enormous cheeks , and possibly red hair although they described it as light brown. Her eyes are grey, but It's hard to tell that from the picture because she's lying down ( thank you RFJ for realizing we needed to shift the photo horizontal) and looks like she may have just awoken from a nap.
There is, however, the unfortunate possiblility that our first trip will be delayed because of new restrictions passed by the Russian Government as of December 30 2004. So we may not leave for 2 to 3 months. We will have more information next week. She was apparently relinquished by her birthmother, a 24 year old resident of Pirm with one child already, at her birth. They gave us practically no medical information about her except one typically Russian diagnosis that they apparently attribute to every baby born in Russia. Last evening I emailed her picture and the written information to Jane Aronson, the renowned "orphan doctor" who will evaluate the information thus far. We await her reply.
Receiving the photo has changed EVERYTHING. Suddenly, this experience feels all the more real. And a lot of the fear and tredpidation have dissipated. Last night, I slept better than I have in weeks.
I had a curiously profound dream in which I was pregnant and my stomach was protruding. In the dream, SM introduced me to her friend and pointed to my belly, but apparently the friend couldn't tell I was pregnant ( she had no idea what SM was pointing at). Then I went to a party and had some wine and suddenly remembered I was pregnant. I felt terribly guilt- ridden and remorseful, convincing myself that I had damaged my unborn child.
I woke up relieved that I had been dreaming. My stomach actually did feel full and protruding. I immediately picked up the picture by my bedside, and felt a wave of contentmen and calm. There is a baby, and she is quite possibly mine.
I showed the picture to my mother, father, stepmother, sister, brother-in-law, niece and nephew. I particularly liked my nieces nicknaming her "Ducky" because of the yellow ducks on the blanket in which she is swaddled.
posted by mamainwaiting at 1:36 AM
3 Comments:
Congratulations! You must be ready to burst. Fingers crossed for the final hurdles.
Yaaaay! May this work out for the best. Ducky sounds very adorable.
When we swaddled our babies we used to say that they were "enswaddulated."
What a giant move for a tiny baby, from Russia to America. It's astonishing to consider these babies flying around the world. If she is the one, she is such a lucky one!
Best wishes for a smooth delivery.
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