The last couple of days of the trip were very difficult because of Mila's infection. It was tough on us as new parents to know that she was in pain and not be able to give her immediate relief. Luckily, the Holt staff was great in helping us get her to a doctor so that we could get some antibiotics for her. Luckily, seeing the doctor was actually quite easy. Just a short cab ride through the city to his office. He was a nice man from Singapore. By the time we got there, Mila's face and eye were very swollen and red from the infection. After a quick examine, he determined that an infection had started in her upper gum where her molars will come in and spread up into her sinus cavity which is why her face was so swollen. They gave us two different strong antibiotics and wanted us to check on her fever to make sure she was ok by the time we had to start traveling home. So the rest of that day (Wednesday) was spent in the hotel room, trying to get her better. And poor thing, she was such a trooper through the whole ordeal. We just couldn't believe we had to deal with that on top of everything else. It took us some time to figure out how to give her the medicine. It was pretty traumatic the first couple of attempts. But we finally got a good dose in her and then just played the waiting game while the medicine did its work. Thank goodness we live in a time when such things are available. She slept really good Wednesday night which was a relief and woke in good spirits Thursday. And luckily, her fever was down so everyone felt ok about her traveling. Good thing too because we were scheduled to take a train to Hong Kong at 10am and we would have had to delay that if she still had a fever.
Thursday morning, we said goodbye to the China Hotel (we were ready to get out of that place) and took a car to the train station where a guide helped us get onto the train. The train was actually pretty cool. It was really nice on the inside and provided a quiet, scenic ride out of GZ and into HK. It was about a 2 hr ride. Once we arrived, it was a little hectic figuring out where our bags were and we had to go through immigration, but we got linked up with our last guide for the trip who took us to the Regal Hotel which was connected to the airport. That was so great BTW and saved us so much stress because we were able to just sleep at the hotel, and then walk through the hotel right into the airport. The hotel was pretty nice but no free wifi in the room which is why there were no blog posts. Mila was doing a lot better by this time. Her swelling had gone down a lot and she ate a really good dinner (one of the things we have struggled with her). At 9am Friday, we checked out of the hotel and into our flight on United. The airport was really nice in HK and from what we could see out the windows, a really pretty city (but there was smog). Our plane was a bit delayed at the gate but by noon we were heading out for the VERY long 15 hour flight home. Mila was really good on the plane and caused us little stress. She mostly watched The Pleasant Goat on her iPad and slept. Because of the time difference, we took off at noon on friday and landed at 2:30pm the same day because we gained all the time back. Kind of nice but made for a long day because mama and baba didn't sleep much on the plane. Getting back into the country was actually really stressful only because the immigration lines were REALLY long and there were only like 2 clerks working the windows. Plus, since Mila had extra immigration paperwork, we had to go off into this side office while they finished processing her. This was making us really stressed because of the already long flight. But finally we got outta there, got our bags and then finally got to introduce Mila to Ni Ni (grandma) who picked us up at the airport. It was a great reunion to see those two finally together! Even though the ride home was brutal (3 hours with a lot of traffic) we were so glad to be back on American soil and know that Mila was finally home.
Getting to the house was exciting. Our friends, the Clays, had come and left a special Welcome Home poster on the front door, and Ni Ni and done a really good job prepping the house for us including balloons and streamers all over the house. Miss Mila was a little intimidated/fussy when we first came in, but she quickly came around as we showed her the house and all of the new toys in her room! Now it will be so fun to get to experience all the firsts with her as we start our new lives as a family together!
We want to thank everyone that has shared in this journey with us! It was a long time in the making and the reward is so worth it! We thank you all for your prayers, concerns, and comments that helped us get through this crazy time in our lives. More to come!
