[Shoshana]

I never expected Xiomara's adoption to be completed so quickly. My pre-planned sight-seeing & visit trip turned into the pick up trip. I flew to Florida, met my parents & sister at Miami airport, and went on to Guat with my sister. She drank coffee from morning to night with no concerns about sickness. My sister is an experienced mom and a social butterfly so she did most of the baby care & socializing while I handled paperwork and business stuff. I was so nervous I could hardly eat and was careful about what I did eat.

My mom made sure I packed one of those nose squeegee things and sure enough, Xiomara had a cold. My sister was down stairs at the Marriott drinking yet another coffee and I was (gasp) alone with my little one. I thought I'd take the plunge and squeegee her nose. I laid her on the bed and kneeled down next to it. Well, the darn thing didn't work. I tried and tried, all the while cussing our ability to send people to space while being unable to invent a proper tool to clean a baby's stuffy nose. I even looked at the back of the package for directions -- none, so it went into the trash. When my sister returned, she was not impressed with my rant and promptly removed the squeegee from the trash. I hadn't removed the plastic cap.

We spent an extra day in Guate so we could visit Angtigua. No tour, just walking around. I was such a push over. The kids were following me around town because I couldn't say no. At one point, a sibling group of four, the oldest was probably ten, gave me a lesson in properly bundling my daughter.

We flew back to Florida and Xiomara and I were staying for a few days to give my parents a chance to meet their new granddaughter. I still wasn't very hungry and the morning after we arrived, I became very ill. That night, my mom took Xiomara to a baby shower, and my dad stayed home with me. I remember him bringing me ice chips which just fell out of my mouth onto the floor. After the shower my mom had the wisdom to stop at a pharmacy and ask if she should give me any particular medicine. Upon hearing the symptoms, the pharmacist said to take me to the hospital. I was admitted for 24 hours and not allowed to care for Xiomara for 4 days. I was SO sick. The whole while, tho', I kept a good frame of mind -- I kept thinking, "if this is the worst that happens, I'm lucky!"

Today, my daughter is 2 and a half. She weighs 30 pounds! and she got her first pair of glasses! She seems to be adjusting well, she didn't try to take them off more than once or twice. I think she realizes how much better she can see. She's the love of my life!