Merry Christmas From Kazakhstan!

Merry Christmas from Kazakhstan! It feels so strange because I forgot that it was even Christmas Eve yesterday until leaving the baby house, the Belgium couple wished us a Happy Christmas, and I then realized ‘wow, it is Christmas Eve today.’ I don’t have a calendar on my wall here (maybe I will make one today) so it is very easy to lose track of the days. I am writing this post at 2:00 a.m. on what would be my Christmas Day, yes, I am having a tough time sleeping………still. Smile! Actually not too bad this night, I was so pooped I missed supper and went straight to bed around 7:00 pm and slept until about 1:00 am this morning. Getting better! So now I find myself munching on Cinnamon Teddy Grahams as my pre-breakfast snack.

Earlier I posted that I wasn’t sure that anything that the International Doctor was to say would sway me in my decisions to adopt this little Z, and after yesterday’s review with the Doctor at the Baby House, I have decided to hold off no longer on introducing you all to Miss: ZAHRIA ALIA or as we will call her Zahri or Z. In Russian Zarya (their spelling) stands for sunrise & is the ‘goddess of beauty’ in Slavic mythology, Alia is Kazak for ‘Chosen One.’ As my great friend Suzanne mentioned, it was kismet that her birth name was Zukhra as the transition from her birth to her given name will be quite painless for her. I have chosen not to keep her birth name as part of her given as it is fairly difficult to pronounce, but I will have it handy for her to always reference back to.

Yesterday I learned that Zahria arrived at the orphanage at 27 days old and this is where she has lived ever since. She resides in room/group #3 and from what I understand there are 2 day & 2 evening caregivers in each room/group who care for the children. I will have to now ask how many babies are in each group. Yesterday Aina told us that there are 8 groups at this orphanage, they start from youngest babies to oldest (about 2 years is the oldest I believe) and then there are groups with the sick children (chicken pox and such) as well as a group with the children that are only here for short term / their parents are coming back for them we are told. We are not able to visit their sleeping rooms, but we do get to bring our babies down to their rooms after some visits, so we do know what the waiting areas look like and who their caregivers are. Z seems to be very connected to her caregivers, when they pop into the play area, she is very in tune to where they are watching them the entire time.

I must say that yesterday, Christmas Eve, was filled with mixed, or shall I say many, emotions for me. When they brought Z in, she seemed under the weather – to say the least, she had very little energy and had a difficult time even focusing. It was unnerving to say the least. Actually many of the children were this same way yesterday. We were told that a couple of the children are being given cough medicine, so I have to believe that there is some form of alcohol or something in there that has them a bit lethargic. I did not like it! I am finding that after just 3 short visits, I am conflicted on what is and what isn’t. What is normal for a child in this setting, what is real about her diagnosis from her orphanage doctor, what is healthy & what isn’t, what is justified to worry about & what isn’t, what will improve when we get home with love and care, and what will need extra attention……. And so on. I must say that Zahria is much less delayed than I had thought she would be, but she does have several little concerns (some put in my mind by the Russian doctors that may or may not be valid in the U.S.) that have me constantly questioning the what is and what is not. Luckily, there is nothing major for me to worry about, she is seemingly healthy but that darn cough and those boogs that fill her little nose are so saddening to me. I just want to pick her up now and bring her right home to make it all better. I want to give her milk from a bottle, vitamins, rock and sing to her, give her a nice warm bath with yummy Lavender wash & lather her little dry body up with lotion……but I cannot, I can only listen to the direction of the orphanage and caregivers and live within their parameters for now. I must say that you can tell that their caregivers truly adore these babies; they stop into the play room to peak, play and help feed the babies and the babies do react with affection to the caregivers as well.

Another mixed emotion for yesterday was my first feeding with Z. Talk about emotional; I was nearly gagging for her and my heart was just sick the entire time. I keep having to remind myself that this is all they know and that they are okay, but man, it is just not normal for a 9 month old baby to eat porridge from a bowl (a full adult size bowl of porridge) with a large man size spoon. The trick is to lay them in your arms, as if you were going to feed them a bottle, and start shoveling it in. There is no other way to say it. Remember, Zahri has a cold (or something respiratory related) and I could tell that this was not comfortable for her, I did slow it down a bit for her, but then she got antsy as she was used to her routine. Starting today, Christmas Day, I will be able to bring her in additional baby foods and juices, so I am really looking forward to that. I plan to make her up a bottle of part juice/part water with a little pedialyte mixture in there. I also will bring her in some bananas or carrot baby food today, I am so glad that we get to feed them ourselves, and that the orphanage allows for us to bring in our own food and juice. We are also asked to bring in 4 diapers a day for our baby, and tomorrow I will also bring in one of the outfits that I purchased for her, she will start wearing her new outfits tomorrow. I wish that I would have thought to bring extra tights and those little legging pants as they like to layer these babies and I didn’t think that far ahead.

Tip for Aqtobe Parents: Do bring at least 4 outfits for your baby, baby clothes are very expensive here and you can find much better deals in the states. I would also recommend that you bring layers for each outfit, meaning bring two pairs of pants, a onsie, and a shirt, and possibly a sweatshirt or second shirt as well – this is the get up for just one outfit in the winter months. I am told that you are able to bring these clothes back home with you, they do not stay here at the orphanage when you leave.

For the past 2 days they have asked me not to take off Z’s hats as she has a cold, (um-ok), and yesterday they did not want her playing on the floor at all as she has a cold, (again um-ok.) That is a really tall request seeings how this baby just wants to roll and stretch her legs. Ugh! Stressful Morning!

It is amazing how just a couple days of exercising her legs has improved their strength. The first day we met, I don’t think that she knew she had those legs, and now she reaches for my fingers and we pull her up to a standing position. Smile! Yesterday when I way laying on the ground, she was standing on my tummy, and I started to bounce her up and down holding on to her upper body, and she was keeping her legs stiff and actually starting to use them to help us bounce – a small but big step! It is true, daily you see changes in these babies and it is such a testimony to what just a little love and one on one will do for a child.

On a different note, Laurie, the other single mom from Illinois, and I did venture out together yesterday. Between our visits to the orphanage, we went shopping at the Mall connected to the Mosque. We did find that great souvenir shop on the bottom floor of the mall, I can’t remember who gave me that tip, but it was in my memory and we found it! Thank you!

Tip for Aqtobe Families: In the mall you need to find the stairway and head down to the bottom floor of the mall, it will feel like you are going the wrong way as it seems that nothing is down there, but soon you will see the carpet selling place and the place that sells antiques, in that same area there is a great little store that sells authentic Kazak trinkets and holiday clothing. For now, I have purchased a little handmade purse, 2 Kazak figurines with the big fur hats, and a little Kazak boy & girl couple. I am sure that I will venture back there before I leave.

Another Tip: Things are not cheap here! I have yet to figure out how people earn such a small amount of money and are able spend this kind of money.?????

Last Tip: If you don’t have a full on fur coat, the real kind, a 12” high fur hat, the real kind – some even with a little fur animal tail on the hat, and stiletto knee high leather boots (yes in the snow and ice) you will not fit in here. It is just crazy! The women here are dressed to the nine and stunning! I admire them for being so brave and putting fashion before comfort or practicality.