Day 68: Certifiable

Great news today!

Vinnie picked them up at the embassy today along with the CRBA certificates that state our children are United States citizens.

We also made a long trip across town this evening to an ROP surgeon and all is clear so far. Vivek is out of the woods and Tara will need one more checkup in two weeks, but by then we'll be back in the US.

Vinnie leaves in the early AM hours Monday, and Monday morning at 9:30 I'll be at the FFRO applying for the babies VISAS! It normally takes 1-3 days, so barring any problems we could be out of here by the end of this coming week!!!



Day 52: 2 mos old and US embassy trip

Today was a big day. Not only did they turn 2 mos old, but they made the big trip to the US Embassy to fill out the paperwork to get us home and take their DNA test. I used my specially bought Build a Bear outfits in order to make a big impression on the embassy employees deciding our fate.


Tara hopes that her rousing display of patriotism will sway embassy officials



Vivek pays tribute to a national pastime and his mother's Alma Mater. Fightin' Texas Aggie class of 2034!

They gals witnessing the DNA test were so charmed by their outfits that they wanted to take a photo but were upset because all cell phones and cameras get checked in at the entrance. The twins both cried something awful for the 3 cheek swabs each because he had to roughly scrape the cotton swab on their cheeks. Vinnie didn't cry for his. It was hilarious watching the two ladies try to get  a thumb print of their teeny tiny thumbs on the card, and next to my husband's giant print it was adorable and I wish I had a photo. The paperwork went smoothly except that despite an instruction sheet to the contrary I'd followed to the letter the night before, they made Vinnie fill out a continuation sheet documenting every time he had been out of the country. It demanded specificity but the boy went to India when he was 5 and that was dates of one of many trips he could not perfectly recall. Idiotic bureacracy but you do the dance they tell you to in order to get your babies home. They did open doors and usher us to the front of the lines, and were mostly helpful.

The main snafu of the day was the dope from Karan studios didn't make our passport photos the correct size and I didn't check them myself. Fortunately they had a photographer on site. Unfortunately Vivek decided to break his alert streak and refused to open his eyes, while Miss Tara was muggin for the camera no problem. It took almost 15 minutes and I was sweating and frustrated after flicking his feat and rubbing and singing and whistling and snapping and drumming the table, and the camera man was getting impatient. He cried and flailed but refused to open his eyes until the last minute when instead of antagonizing him I broke and grabbed him off the table and comforted him. Then I put him back on the table and we managed to get a photo of the right size printed after he clicked the shutter during the millisecond he had both eyes open.

They did forget to have Vinnie sign 1 document, but called our cell and were extremely apologetic about it and he can come back by himself while I care for the babies. They said that once the DNA results are in they will process the paperwork and call us to pick it up there between 2-4. We felt safer doing that then paying a courier service to deliver it to where we are staying. They said that they will process it as an expedited emergency passport to speed up the process, and with our DNA test being paid for 72 hour expedited processing too I have high hopes of being out of here in about 3 weeks. I did get my main question answered...I DO NOT have to purchase my plane ticket before going to the FFRO, which concerned me since I didn't want to pay transfer fees if the process took longer than the average 2-3 days. The only thing left to worry about now is whether they try to make us go back to the Anand FFRO, but if the tricks I learned on the net to go to the MHA first and put your local address on everything you can for residency works then we'll be home free.

Yes Vivek...did you have a question? (He was actually sleeping with 1 hand in the air!)


After taking a taxi back Vinnie did two diaper and wardrobe changes, and I taught him how to administer all the supplement drops. It was hilarous and he was missing their mouths and making a mess. I think it took him a half hour for each baby. We got in trouble for not informing the family that we had gotten back and all was well, but we are not used to so many folks worrying about our welfare all the time. We apologized and promised to make sure they knew our whearabouts, even if we are confident we can get around India on our own.

Mom returned and I took a long awaited four hour nap while they took care of the babies. Vinnie had forgotten my advice to change diapers at every feeding if they don't show signs of discomfort beforehand, and so I awoke to some diapers so full that they defied the laws of physics.


My little man filling up diapers to their utmost limits

I think the best moment of the day was when they called the "Grover family" up to the window. It was the first time I had heard someone say that, and it made me feel super warm and squishy inside. Then she had us take an oath of parentage, and it was a quick official moment but felt good to say as we stared at passport photos of our children and vowed that we were indeed their parents.

Day 36: Light at the end of the tunnel

Tody was a huge day! After a long wait we finally have been given a discharge day!!! They can come "home" on the 18th as soon as my Snuza apnea alarms arrive by FedEx. I know it isn't set in stone, but I'm so excited anyway that this NICU journey has a visible end in sight. I rapidly dove into my to do list and took care of the following:

1. Told my husband to arrange a flight for Monday the 24th to Delhi and to get packing and pre-order the DNA kit. I found out today we should have ordered it a month in advance to be safe because they are used to keeping them stored there for folks like us.

2. Emailed the US Embassy in Delhi and set a CRBA (citizen report of birth abroad) appointment for Thursday the 27th at 10:30 am. I had the hotel print out the appointment confirmation because you have to bring it there.

3. Emailed the DNA specific embassy address to let them know the DNA kit is being mailed and to set our DNA collection appointment (cheek swabs) for the same day as the CRBA.  

4. Emailed my husband's cousin to book flights to Delhi on Monday the 24th from Anand for Mom and I and two babies, and help us ship our less necessary luggage there.

5. Booked the large room with the double and a single bed for the nanny from the 18th-24th and let them know when we'll be checking out.

Tomorrow's to do list is important as well. I've got to see Dr. Hitesh to do a money exchange for Mom, but also to book a good nanny and make sure Manju re-signs the contract and we get the original before we leave. Later I'll also have to make sure to get passport photos done by Karan photo studio below our hotel, but they come to the room and bring the pics back in an hour or two so that should be cake. When the babies are discharged and I get Dr. Kothiala's records and a letter that they are okay to travel we should be good to go!

But the day wasn't done there. Vivek had a very big day. His 2nd testicle dropped! Hopefully this means no hernia worries, but Dr. Kothiala can't be sure until she checks when he is crying...but she says he never cries. But this definitely means no worries about testicle extraction procedures, which don't sound fun.

Dr. Kothiala said she thinks that Tara looks like her grandmother! She also his having a cardiologist come in and just double check her heart for me, since I want to be sure the hole is closing up and so minor as to not be a problem.

But Vivek wasn't done yet. The eye doctor came and re-evaluated after the 15 day waiting period. Tara had stage 2 ROP (see previous post) in her right eye while her left was 1 and both of Vivek's were stage 1. So we thought if anyone needed laser surgery to halt irregular vessel growth it would be her. Wrong. Her eyes stayed the same over those 15 days but his both progressed to stage 2 and weren't stopping on their own. So he said the sooner we did laser surgery the better, and I agreed and said today was fine with him if could be arranged. The cost was only 11,500 rupees. I'm sure in the US it would be thousands.

Plans were made and he was packaged up in the carrier after much fussing over by the nurses and Dr. Tipica. Then he ventured out into the world for the first time with me carrying him and Mom carrying his bag of essentials and the nurse Daksha following along. We took a tuk-tuk about 2 minutes away just past Dr. Patel's to Dr. Amin's eye surgery center. It was a bouncy ride but it didn't seem to bother Vivek much, who was taking in the fresh air and napping. I was beyond wierd to see him with no wires attached out in the big world. I wanted to form a force field around him to keep him safe, and I'm sure I'll feel that way many times throughout my life. It was surreal but exciting to see him on his first big adventure, and made me even more excited for when I get to take him with me forever.

Nurse Daksha and our precious cargo


When we arrived he attracted much attention, though fortunately everyone kept a safe distance. I got my first taste of showing off my baby boy to strangers. While we waited Vivek decided to fill up his diaper and stink up the waiting room. That's my boy! Fortunately this was something Mommy anticipated and I tucked some diapers and wipes in a baggie hidden in the carrier seat.  Daksha changed it for us, but seem perturbed that we would be stuck holding a dirty diaper for a over an hour and seemed to want me to take care of it. Like most of India there were no obvious trash cans. I temporarily stuffed it in the ziploc baggie and hid it beneath the carrier. When we finally were called into the waiting room the Dr. had his back turned and I saw a wastebasket and went for it. Daksha got a bad case of the giggles when she saw me do it.

I had wanted the nurse to be allowed to stay with him, but they kicked her out too. Mental note: Next time you are in a waiting room while doctors are doing something to your child, do not sit in the chair closest to the room where you can hear him scream and cry. It was hard, but refused to let myself cry though Mom did break down halfway through her prayer book. I think Daksha kept chatting with her in Hindi to keep her distracted. I knew crying meant he was okay, and it was mostly him crying because he was being held down and his eyes were being held open. He did not sound happy in the slightest. They gave him a 10 min break in between eyes and let me hold him, and I'm not sure if that was more about comforting me or comforting him. 

View from the waiting room. Relief of ancient eye surgery with a dude being held down and a big stick poked in his eye adorns the wall. Not comforting at all.

Either way it was over in a grand total of 45 minutes and we had him packaged back up then settled in the NICU before I knew it. Vivek should not have any ROP vision problems now and is snug as a bug in a rug resting up. He'll probably not open his eyes for 24 hrs due to swelling and will have eye drops 4 times a day, but otherwise he is good as new. I wanted to stay and give him his next bottle and cuddle, but I know he probably needed to rest and they seemed to want us out of the way because a critically ill baby with a ventilator was brought in. We left him to sleep, and since Mom and I are a little worse for the wear so we both had some ice cream after a hard day. 

I just hope I can sleep now that I'm so excited that we have less than a week until I don't have to say goodbye.