April 9th marks the 8th anniversary of the day we picked up Maeve. I remember the day like it was yesterday. Getting up and have a bowl of Pho, and hurrying to get in the van for the hour plus ride out to Ba Vi, northwest of Ha Noi. Driving through the farms and small villages, finally arriving at the orphanage.
The orphanage was a small compound that housed women and children, which included a school and social center. Children that are not adopted are taught skills, this center specialized in furniture. We were given a brief introduction and then taken to the building which housed the infants. The building was comprised of four or five small rooms, each room had accommodations for 4-5 infants with 1-2 nannies in each room.
We were with three other families, we all waited anxiously for the infants to brought out. We were called first, and escorted into the middle room. We were told to bring an outfit for her to be dressed in. As we entered my wife handed the outfit over and the nanny started to get her ready. As my wife leaned over to see our daughter, she looked up, saw my wife and screamed at the top of her lungs in shear panic. This panic continued as she was placed in my wife's arms and continued for the next few minutes. While this was going on, a nanny handed me a bottle. When it was my turn to hold her, she spotted the bottle in my hand, and her demeanor changed immediately. She was quickly pacified by the food. (She still is, btw)
After the other families had received their children, we were herded into a group for a photo, and then loaded back into the van. Maeve fell asleep on my chest (yes, no car seats in Viet Nam), waking once very hungry, and was sated with a banana (her first solid food as far as we know as the orphanage usually only does formula and bottles for infants).
We got back to our hotel and she was bathed in a tub, which she seemed to enjoy and to this day still loves to be in the water. That evening we meet up with the other families at an Irish pub in Ha Noi (yes, an Irishman like myself will always be able to find pub no matter where he is). While my daughter was given the name Nguyen Thi Hoa at the orphanage, she was given a strong Irish name. Her first night with us ended with her a sleep on the floor of the pub.
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