Meeting Number Two: Asleep on the Couch

Today we had our second meeting with MeeHyeon, her foster mother, and our social worker.  It was another 10 AM meeting so we had the morning to worry and wonder about how it would go.  We filled our time with a load of laundry and breakfast.  We took the subway over to ESWS and arrived about 12 minutes early. 

To thank Mrs. Shin for her wonderful services at our first meeting we bought her an arrangement of flowers.  All the social workers in the office clapped when Mike handed her the flowers.  MeeHyeon and her foster mother were early just like us.  I was left alone with them while Mike delivered the flowers.  I was able to get a quick tentative smile out of MeeHyeon.  Her foster mother wanted to show off MeeHyeon's walking skills and wanted her to walk to "mommy" so she placed her on the floor and it all went downhill from there.  She began to scream and climb up her foster mother's body then clung to her for dear life.  It was so hard to see my little girl so scared.  I know it's completely normal, but it still breaks your heart just a little.  Soon we all headed upstairs again to the playroom where MeeHyeon continued to scream.  Nothing her foster mother could do was helping.  We tried toys, bubbles, cookies, puffs, and carrying her piggyback style, with no luck.  Our social worker, Mrs Lee, suggested to make the trek back to the park again with her, and that her foster mother stay behind just like the first time.

MeeHyeon was handed to me and she cried for about 20 seconds and then collapsed into my arms and buried her head again and hung on tight.  We learned that she has never once been away from her foster mother, so this is going to be a hard transition.  Luckily our social worker accompaied us to the park and brought along all her previous well-being reports on MeeHyeon.  We were able to ask her many of the questions we still needed answers to on her basic schedule.  Of course, it would have been nice to directly ask her foster mother but our time was limited.  So we walked and patted her back and swayed with MeeHyeon while we chatted and found out more about our baby girl.  After awhile Mike wanted to hold her and he must have the magic touch because shortly after he began to hold her she feel asleep and stayed that way for the rest of our meeting time.  Eventually we headed back to the agency and MeeHyeon continued to sleep with Mike on the couch while we had the chance to ask her foster mother more questions.  

All too quickly our meeting was over.  Luckily our foster mother has asked that we please, please keep in contact with her, to send letters and pictures as MeeHyeon grows.  What a blessing!  She is such an amazing woman.  My heart breaks when I think about what she will go through tomorrow as she says goodbye to this sweet precious girl she has loved and cared for this past year. 

After our meeting we had the chance to see the baby rooms/nursery.  Children spend their first few weeks to several months here being cared for by a group of wonderful nurses and volunteers.  They stay here until a foster family is available.  It was so overwhelming to see these cute little ones in row after row of bassinets.  We had the opportunity to interact with two babies.  Mike held a newborn while I played with a two month old who had a heart condition.  It felt so wonderful to play with this little one and make him smile.  He loved to dance in my arms and bounce and be talked to.  

After baby duty we met with Dr. Kim along with a teenage adoptee who was visiting his home country for the first time.  She went over the history of Korea, adoption, and what other services ESWS provides.  She presented us with a small gift and then handed us off to three other staff members, including two agency department directors, who took us out for lunch at a Chinese resturant.  Normally lunch is held at Eastern, but since there was such a small group of us they decided to send us out for lunch.  We had some great conversation with the teenage adoptee and the staff members of Eastern.  And the lunch was wonderful.  The food just kept coming and coming and filled every last inch of the table!  

Following lunch we parted ways with the staff and headed back to our hotel to drop off MeeHyeon's paperwork and bottles, formula, diapers etc...that we were given for our flight home.  What an emotional day!