A reason to update!

The email below came from a member of our church who is in Rwanda right now. She picked up E today to take him to the Dr.

Dave and Melissa,

Jane and I went to the orphanage this morning and picked up Ethan to
take him to the hospital for his PCR test. We got there at 7:30 AM,
but had to wait about 10-15 minutes for him to come to us (they left
us at the front gate). He was still asleep when we got there, so
they had had to wake him and dress him! He was in good spirits and
wide-eyed. I tried to get him to have something to do with me, but
he wouldn't have any of it! After we got to the hospital, Jane had
to talk to the lady at the admitting window to let her know why we
were there and where did we need to go to get the test done. I tried
to hold him but he kept looking intently at me, then puckered up and
started crying! Jane would take him then and he would quieten down.
I decided that he didn't know what white skin looked like and was
afraid of me.

I have decided that if you want to get something done in this town,
you had better have Jane by your side! It seems that she knows most
of the people in this town. I bet there were 10 people that walked
through where we would be waiting that knew her! One of the men that
she saw early on took us the back way to the emergency room, because
that was the quickest way to be seen. They checked him in there,
then someone else that knew her took us directly to the lab, where we
waited maybe 15 minutes to get in.

The two nurses were very impressed with him and how alert he is. I
was concerned that they would have trouble finding his little vein in
his arm, but she didn't have any trouble at all. She put the needle
in without the syringe attached and just let his blood drip into the
test tube. That little stinker didn't cry AT ALL while this was
being done! He reacted to the needle going in, but by that time, I
was around behind the nurse and distracting him. He visibly relaxed
and really enjoyed being the center of attention, then. The nurses
went on and on about him and how happy they were that he would have
such wonderful opportunities in America. They also wished that all
the orphans could have such a chance. I showed them you all's
pictures and they just went on and on about you guys, then. They
were disappointed that he couldn't or wouldn't put any weight on his
legs. They also were concerned about his head being flat on the back
from lying in his crib so much. This will correct itself quickly,
I'm sure, once you guys get him.

I checked on the size clothes he had on and they were 12 months
size. They were pretty large on him, but they fit him better than 9
months would have, probably. The outfit they had him in was pretty
cute, as you will see in the pictures. I thought they were going to
weigh him at one point in the emergency room, but they ended up
aborting most of what they usually do in that process. The doctor
circumvented a lot of it for us, since he wasn't really sick.

The test results will be back next Friday, from what I understood.
This is sooner than what they had first told us, which was 2 weeks.
The nurse said that she thought it was a very good idea to get this
particular test done, and thought that all the orphans should get it
just to be sure.

I hope you enjoy the pictures I took. I took one of his little feet
(I love baby feet!). He has the longest toes!! Even the nurses
commented about them. He came out of the orphanage with little socks
on, but one immediately came off, so Jane just took the other one off
so we wouldn't have to keep up with them.

I showed the nun your pictures that you wanted put in his crib, and
she was delighted with the idea! She took them and the toys and said
that all of it would be put in his crib. I just hope that that is
what truly happens. He really enjoyed the stimulus of being out and
about this morning, so he will probably really benefit from the
pictures and toys being where he can see them. He was reaching and
trying to grab anything that came close to his hands. He also was
sticking his tongue out every time we came near his mouth before Jane
fed him his bottle!

I hope I haven't given you too much detail, but I would have
appreciated more information about our adopted kids lives before we
got them 37 and 34 years ago, so I gave you what I wish I had been
given then!!

All the best to you guys! We are sending the pictures in a separate
email, so hope it works!
Sue