Packing list challenge #7 - baby meds

I haven't written about the packing list challenge in a while and slacking off is only part of the explanation. I skipped the March challenge (caretaker/orphanage/government official gifts) because our agency provides guidelines by province. I want to follow their guidelines, but it means that we can't purchase gifts until after we receive our referral. I consider this sort of an excused absence.

April's baby meds challenge was doable, though -- and even prompted me to find a pediatrician! Part of what I discussed with her in our first consultation was travel meds for Nora. I know that a lot of people take antibiotics with them to China, but I was concerned about this, mostly because I don't believe that I am qualified to diagnose a bacterial infection and I know that improper use of antibiotics is partly responsible for drug-resistant "super bugs". We talked about this for a while and agreed that the human body, if well cared-for, is amazingly capable of healing itself. What I will carry are Elimite (a prescription for scabies, a kind of louse prevalent in orphanages), hydrocortisone cream (to relieve itching due to scabies), pain reliever, and not a lot else. If Nora is sicker than that, she needs medical attention anyway.

Here's my list-to-date (all over-the-counter, except for the Elimite) and a photo of what we've got so far:

• Aquaphor for eczema
• Little Noses saline drops
• Neosporin antibiotic ointment for cuts/scratches
• Benadryl
• Bulb aspirator
• A&D ointment
• Digital rectal thermometer
• KY jelly (assume this is for the thermometer)
• Adhesive bandages
• First aid tape
• Gauze
• Alcohol wipes (not shown)
• Aveeno hydrocortizone cream for eczema or itching due to scabies
• T-gel shampoo for cradle cap -- do I need this?
• Baby Tylenol
• Baby Motrin
• L'Occitane lavender wipes (as bug repellent, not shown)
• Orajel (not shown - we have a couple of different kinds, in a couple of different flavors)
• Children's ear planes (for ear pressure on the plane)
• Children's sea bands (for motion sickness)

Still needed:

• Elimite
• Echinacea
• Pediatric electrolyte powder
• Baby sunscreen
• Small scissors

Ok, give it to me straight. Too much stuff? Not enough? (I have a bias toward thinking it's too much)

Also, I have a funny husband story to share. Rob and I were talking this evening about the possibility of being referred twins and what our second name would be. We have an already-agreed-upon second name -- or so I thought -- but Rob seems to think that all names should be nickname-able. I disagree. I didn't like either of his suggested nicknames for our second girl name and I think a really good name stands on its own. So, I asked Rob what nickname he thought he'd use for Nora (which I consider non-nickname-able). His answer: "No".

Score: Rob 1, Jennifer 0.*

*notice that Rob goes by a nickname and I use the name that my parents gave me, just thought I'd point that out.

Pocket language guide

Last week I ordered the "red card" language guide from OCDF. It arrived in the mail yesterday and is even better than I had hoped! Who knew that so much could fit in such a small space?!

I had been sort of casually working on my own pocket phrase guide, but I think I'm going to abandon that effort in favor of this handy little card (it's a 22 page fold-out). I'll also probably bring the travel language guide that we ordered from our agency, since it isn't very big either.

It's fun to actually be thinking about travel!

March SP - a panda pack for Nora!

Thank you SP for the adorable panda bear backpack and Little Einsteins book for Nora. I actually had a dream that we took the backpack to China with us so that Nora could carry some of her own stuff (!).

I think the family rule of not bringing anything you can't carry yourself has been thoroughly drilled in. We'll probably help Nora with her bags this time, though.

Blogging in China

Have any of you had any experience using Blogger while in China? I've heard from a few people that it doesn't work at all, but then I've seen a couple of people use it with some success (good success posting, limited success with photos, no success with video).

I would really like to use this blog to post updates while we're in China, but I don't want to create headaches for myself either. I realize that we'll be busy and, obviously, Nora will be our first priority. If blogging is going to be a big headache or eat up a bunch of time, then I don't want to mess with it. Our best other alternative is our little-used family website, but that requires that I publish updates via FTP and I don't know if that will work either.

Any words of wisdom? If neither of these will work, what about one of the commercial sites like BabySites or JourneytoMe? I really would like to avoid creating a personal Yahoo! group or emailing to someone else to post on my behalf. I know that both of those would work, but the way I see it, this is my problem and I don't want to create any difficulties for anyone else.

Please let me know if you have any suggestions! I also emailed our agency this evening - if I learn anything from them I'll let you know.

Care package challenge!

Once we get our referral, we'll be able to send a care package to Nora at the orphanage (or foster home). Since it's packing-related, the care package is this month's packing list challenge. This was a very fun challenge - WAY more fun than the paperwork challenge that I still haven't finished.

Here's our care package so far:

Pictured are:

• camera 2-pack
• baby's family photo album (Nora's referral photo will go in the window on the front)
• labels for photos (they are ready, but not stuck in yet because we are missing photos of a couple of family members. You know who you are -- if we don't get photos, we'll draw you. You've been warned!)
• 2 bags of Jelly Bellys for the nannies or foster mom
• 4 small boxes of Frango chocolates, also for nannies or foster mom
• "taggie" blanket that I bought on Etsy (sooo cute!)
• fleece blanket that we got from one of our secret pals
• a bunny lovey
• two sleepers
• 4 pairs of baby socks
• rattle

Missing from photo:

• letter to orphanage director (not finished)
• baby questions book (ordered from Sharp books, but not here yet)

All of this stuff has to fit in a shoebox-sized box. I've had some trouble finding a box like that (I don't save shoeboxes and Pack and Mail didn't have the size I needed), so I haven't had a chance to do a test-pack yet and don't know how much of this won't fit. If there is a space problem, I'll pull out the fleece blanket and the "taggie" blanket.

It's in the bag!

Today was "luggage day" at the K house. Rob and I went to a mall and two luggage stores (one of them moved - so anyone who lives in our area who is thinking of going to the travel store on County B2, check the address before you go. The store has moved - it's not where you think. We actually didn't find it, but we went to the other location and it wasn't nearly as good as it used to be.).

Macy's at the mall actually had the best selection of the places we went - a couple of different styles of TravelPro, Delsey, Victorinox, Atlantic, Tumi and others. We opened them up, wheeled them around, stared at the price tags in shock (that was Rob, I've been looking at luggage for a couple of weeks so I knew about what we'd have to spend). Of everything at Macy's we liked the Victorinox Werks Traveler best - they had this in red, black, royal blue and basil green. We (both!) preferred the basil green color and decided that the 24" wheeled suiter was a good size. Victorinox's suiters are nice because the suit insert (which we won't need for China) is removable. It also turns out that the green must be exclusive to Macy's or something because I couldn't find it anywhere online except Macy's

After Macy's we went to the second luggage store and played around with their surprisingly limited selection. There the bag we liked best was a 30" wheeled duffel. Rob really liked the duffel and at this point decides that it would be best to get two different bags rather than two of the same bag to broaden our experience and spread the broken bag risk. The bag was HUGE, though, and it was Ricardo brand - which I knew nothing about - so we decided to come back home and do some more research online. Mostly I think Rob was just tired of shopping, but that's ok because it turned out to be a very good thing.

Once we got home I headed to the computer and quickly checked email before googling Ricardo luggage. In my email was a reminder from Macy's about a special today where you could save 20% off your entire purchase by donating $5 to the American Heart Association. I read the fine print. Luggage was included, even sale and clearance luggage. So off I went to Macy's website and found the green Victorinox for less $ than in the store (at least less than it what it said on the sign in the store). I also found a 26" wheeled drop bottom duffel that has all the features of the Ricardo bag that Rob liked - only it was smaller and it was made by High Sierra, a brand I'm more familiar with (see photo above, graphite gray color). I ordered both. I also ordered a green Victorinox duffel that matches the 24" bag - I thought that we could pack it on the way over and use it for souvenirs on the way home - and a light weight backpack that will be our second carry-on (pictured right - it is also High Sierra, like carry on #1). And it was all an extra 20% off!

This was an incredibly successful and satisfying day for me. I had been so stressed out over luggage. It feels really good to have found stuff that we think will work for us and to have gotten it for a price that didn't break the bank.

P.S. I did google Ricardo luggage online and people really like it. I think that the duffel Rob liked probably was a good bag - but 30" was way too big. Having something like that would pretty much guarantee overpacking (me, not Rob)

Luggage - we could use some advice

This month's packing list challenge is luggage and travel aids ... and I think I'm in a little over my head. We don't have the right bags for our adoption trip. Everything we have is either too small or too heavy. I've done some research online and visited a couple of stores and I'm overwhelmed by the selection. Right now I'm thinking either a 24" or a 26" suitcase and a 26" or 30" wheeled duffel, hopefully with a third bag (non-wheeled duffel) packed inside one of the other two. We'll each have a carry-on also. Does that sound about right for two people and whole bunch of baby stuff? Keep in mind that we can't go over the 44lb/bag limit on our in-China flights.

And once we settle on size, which brand? We need really durable, lightweight bags. I'm leaning toward TravelPro at this point because the best bag we ever had was a little 22" Rollaboard. I have to say, though, that I really liked the Victorinox bag that I saw at the store - and it was super-light, but I'm not sure it's worth the extra money over the comparable TravelPro. Any words of advice?

Update: I thought that the TravelPro Platinum5 25" expandable rollaboard might have been the bag, but I emailed to find out the weight -- 13.2 lbs. That might be a little bit too heavy; I was hoping for closer to 10 lbs. The search continues...

The baby care packing challenge!

Well, it's the end of the month and time to post this month's Packing List Challenge. This is a cross-post of my entry over there. If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know!!

This was a really hard challenge for me - I didn't know anything about most of this stuff. Please let me know what I've missed or if you have any other comments about the list - Thanks!!

Feeding:
- antibacterial dish soap
- sink stopper
- Rubbermaid container for wash bin
- nipple brush
- tongs for swishing nipples in hot water
- bibs (2 - 1 in backpack)
- disposable bibs
- 2 8-oz Playtex drop in nursers
- 6-8 Playtex fast flow silicone nipples
- 120-150 Playtex drop in liners
- snack bowls w/lids
- spoons and forks
- teething feeder (I got the Sassy one because it had a cover)
- extra mesh bags for teething feeder
- formula bags -or- twist ties for drop in liners -or- powdered formula dispenser
- thermos (in backpack)
- cheerios *buy later*
- rice cereal *buy later*
- goldfish *buy later*
- biscuits *buy later*
- powdered electrolyte *buy later*
- formula (n/a - agency provides first bag, we'll buy more in China and transition to US formula at home)
- Rubbermaid canister for formula (I've heard that Chinese formula comes in bags and gets all over the place unless you transfer to another container)
- scoop for formula do I need this?
- funnel for formula do I need this?
- plastic measuring cup *still need*
- pacifiers (4 - 2 in backpack)
- sippy cup do I need this? won't she be taking a bottle?
- 3 burp cloths
Bathing/Diapering:
- Huggies size 3 diapers - enough for a few days, buy more in China does this seem like the right size? may buy some size 2 when we know her size
- Huggies Natural Care wipes (5 - 40 ct soft packs)
- swim diapers
- diaper disposal bags
- Aveeno diaper rash cream
- California Baby baby wash
- California Baby baby lotion
- Burt's Bees Baby Bee apricot massage oil
- changing pad (in backpack)
- disposable changing pads
- disposable wash cloths
- baby comb and hairbrush
- baby nail clippers
- baby nail scissors
- baby toothbrush
Nora's Clothing:
- hat (in backpack)
- 1 pair shoes (probably white tennies - to keep baby safe from the clothing police until we can go shopping)
- swimsuit
- 5 sleepers *still need*
- 5 outfits
- 1 sweater
- 1 hooded jacket
- 5-10 pair socks *still need*
Toys:
- stacking cups
- Baby Einstein Mirror Me board book
- Snuggle Puppy board book
- soft photo album w/family photos
- lovey (in backpack)
- inflatable safari roller
- Taggies bucket buddies
- Haba rattle
- plastic keys
- beach ball
Misc:
- anti-bacterial wipes
- table cloth for floor play *still need*
- outlet covers
- night light

It was probably smart to do this before the luggage challenge -- I've learned something about the size of bags I'll be needing! If anyone has any suggestions for how I can pare back, please let me know!!

The diaper bag challenge!

Well, it's the end of the month and time to post this month's Packing List Challenge. This is a cross-post of my entry over there. If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know!!

Wow - no where near ready and already I need a Sherpa!

Here's what I've got so far:
* Backpack. I'll probably also bring a smaller packable bag or tote for use on short outings while we're there
* Thermos, Playtex nursers, extra nipples, formula bags, formula (formula not pictured)
* Change of clothes for Nora
* Hat for Nora
* Lovey or blanket
* Bib for Nora, snacks (including some for Rob and me, not pictured), bottle of water (not pictured)
* Changing pad/clutch, wipes, diapers (diapers not pictured/purchased)
* Diaper rash cream, Teething gel, other meds for Nora (tbd), probably also a small first aid kit and meds for us as well
* Soft rattle, teething toy, rings. I'll probably also toss in a small book.
* Pacifiers, probably a couple of kinds
* Tide pen, Purell
* Map/travel guide (tbd when we know where we're going), China language reference, Baby care reference -- probably not the whole books, our agency suggests tearing out selected pages of travel guide in particular once the itinerary is set.
* Camera (not pictured - it was taking the picture since I'm still trying to get used to the little camera)
* Cell phone/Panda(?) phone (not pictured)
* My little Coach wristlet with cash, credit cards, lip balm and Altoids minis

Thanks, Stephe, for creating some motivation to get this done -- I really appreciate it, cuz I would have waited til the last minute for sure. Can't wait to see everyone else's post so I can figure out what I've forgotten!

A whole aisle of baby bottles

So, I went to Target this afternoon to start buying some of the little essentials that we'll need for our adoption trip. It was completely overwhelming- Target has a whole aisle of baby bottles. How the heck am I supposed to know what we need? I thought I remembered seeing in something (from our agency, I thought, but now I can't find it in any of the materials from them) about a Playtex nurser, so that's what I bought even though everyone seems to get the Avent ones now. I also got bottle liners, a few nipples (and realize we need more and different kinds), a thermos for hot water, a package of disposable bibs, two packages of disposable changing pads and a Cheerios travel box.

I've also been thinking about which toys we should bring for Nora. I need small/light toys that will hold her interest. Here are some of the things that I'm thinking of bringing with us:

The Safari Roller was one of the very first things I bought for Nora. It's inflatable, so easy to pack and I thought it would help encourage crawling, if she's not already doing that.

The Taggies Stack and Nest cups were a sale find yesterday. It seems like a really good toy and it's very light weight and crushable, so good for packing.

Bear in Ring is a very nice wooden Haba rattle that I bought a while back. I really love it, but wonder if it might be better to bring a plastic teething toy instead.

Planning Ahead

Fellow January DTC LIDer Stephe has started a Packing List Challenge. Every month there will be a new challenge to help us prepare for our adoption trips. Isn't that a fantastic idea?? Thanks, Stephe, for doing this! I dislike packing and need all the motivation/inspiration I can get!

This month's challenge is "Diaper Bag in China" and Rob and I have decided that it would be best to bring a daypack that can hold our laptop and camera in addition to the baby gear. This is the High Sierra Access daypack and as you can see from the photo it's expandable so that we can reduce the volume for the times when we leave the laptop behind and have just Nora's stuff to carry. Hopefully it will continue to have a life when we return home as well.

I just ordered the pack last night, so hopefully it will arrive sometime this week. I'm off to Target this afternoon to start picking up some baby bottles, disposable bibs and other buy-ahead baby essentials. So glad to have this challenge to get me moving, otherwise you know I would surely leave it til the last minute and get myself all stressed out.

An important travel consideration

I am a naturally curious person, which means that I visit a lot of different websites, which puts me on the distribution for a lot of e-newsletters. One of the lists I'm on is from International Assistance & Adoption Project (IAAP), originally I think I signed up to view their waiting child list and have stayed on the distribution just because they share some good information. This week's newsletter had a little snippet about prescription drugs in China.

Talk to Your Pediatrician Before Travel
We have always recommended you talk with your pediatrician before you travel to get antibiotics you might need for your child. We recommend this even more strongly now that so many counterfeit drugs have been exposed in China. Some drugs approved in China are also dangerous. The former head of the Chinese
FDA was put to death on Monday July 9th after being convicted of approving drugs
that were ineffective and also drugs that resulted in the death of many
people.

You cannot trust the drugs you may buy in China and you may not be able to find what you need when you need it.

I'd heard about the execution of Zheng Xiaoyu earlier in the week, but somehow didn't make the connection to our adoption trip. I wonder how safe Chinese medications are now that the FDA is under new leadership. It's probably smart to play it extra safe and bring everything with you.

Here's a list of travel meds and toiletries that I found of the University of Minnesota International Adoption Clinic website:

For Parents

• Personal hygiene items, including items for feminine hygiene
• Disinfectant soap (e.g., Dial)
• First aid kit including antibiotic cream, Band-Aids, scissors, tape, gauze, rubber gloves and Benadryl
• Disinfectant (e.g., Lysol)
• Contact lens supplies, including saline solution
• Prescription medications
• Tylenol or ibuprofen (e.g., Advil, Motrin)
• Decongestant
• Preparations for diarrhea (e.g., Pepto-Bismol tablets, ImmodiumAD)
• Sink stopper
• Rubber thongs for showers
• Mosquito repellant
• Sunscreen
• Scissors
• Facial tissue
• Toilet tissue
• Wet Wipes
• Transparent tape
• Alcohol wipes

For Baby

• Disposable diapers
• Infant formula; powdered milk-based (e.g., Similac, Enfamiml, Carnation)--only to be used with boiled or bottled water
• Oral electrolyte solution (e.g., Pedialyte or Kaolectrolyte packets)
• Moisturizing cream (e.g., Lubriderm, Aquaphor)
• Infant thermometer
• Plastic gloves
• Infant or Children's Tylenol and ibuprofen (e.g., Advil, Motrin)
• Antibiotic cream (e.g., Bacitracin, triple antibiotic cream)
• Hydrocortisone cream or ointment (1%)
• Oral antibiotics (e.g., Amoxicillin)
• Scabies treatment (Elimite cream)
• Lice treatment (e.g., Nix creme rinse)
• Pacifier
• Infant Sudafed for nasal congestion
• Diaper rash cream (e.g., Desitin, A+D Ointment)
• Fungal diaper rash cream (e.g., Lotrimin cream)
• Baby soap/shampoo
• Mild detergent (e.g., Ivory, Dreft)

Say hello to my little friend

I have a new "toy" - a brand new crackberry pearl from work (yes, I know it's not a toy, but the idea of 24/7 availability sits a whole lot better with me if I think of it as a techno-cool plaything instead of an electronic ball and chain).

So far I've got the phone part working ... and my work email, my calendar, and two personal email accounts. Pretty good, I think, for day 1 set up. Now I'm starting to wonder if it will work in China, possibly as a backup plan for posting to this blog.

I googled "blackberry in China" and found this. The posts are a little bit old, but still encouraging. I'm going to check with my carrier and see if it will work. My employer will probably not be thrilled with the $2.99/minute, but if it keeps me connected to the office and lets us publish an occasional update to the blog it will probably be worth taking along. I never would have guessed that it would even work. The last time we went to China my supposedly global cell phone was completely useless.

Has anyone out there gotten either their cell phone or blackberry to work in China? What did you need to do to set it up?

Today's lesson in opposites (aka the camera dilemma)

We have not done much preparation for our trip to China, but one thing that has become clear to me over the past year or so is that I will not be able to carry my beloved digital SLR every place we go. It's a great camera, but it's big and it's heavy. Too big. Too heavy.

So, for Christmas, Rob got me a teeny little camera. It is so teeny that I can carry it in my pocket ... and it's 10 megapixel so the images are really quite good. It can also take short video, which will be nice for our first days with Nora. There are a couple of tradeoffs though. The big camera has better optics and it's MUCH faster; it powers up instantly and takes some crazy number of shots per second. The little one, you push the button and wait for what feels like an eternity. I took it with us to the dog park once and came away with a bunch of pictures of Maddie's tail (the rest of her was out of the frame).

I'm determined to learn to use the little one, though, because there is no way I'm going to schlep the giant camera and a baby and a boatload of baby stuff all across China. Now what I wonder about is video. Is it worth it or will we never watch? Is a video camera something we'll want or can we get by with video clips from the Elph? What about those one-use video cameras from CVS?

Too much time on my hands...

I really don't have too much time on my hands, but I am feeling anxious, like I should be doing more to prepare for Nora. Even though her arrival is still many months out, it feels so much closer now.

I bought a book (at Borders, of course) over the weekend. It's called Raise a Smarter Child by Kindergarten and was written by a neurologist. It is fascinating.

We also received a phone call from our agency on Monday and a "Waiting Families Support Packet" from them tonight. The support packet is wonderful - it talks about the logistics of match day, travel arrangements, attachment... 20+ pages of really useful information, all new to us. I've already read it twice and will probably print off a hard copy to read tomorrow.

Oh, and we're resuming Mandarin lessons. This time we're taking a community ed class with my friend and co-worker "J" and her DH. Nicole will be our teacher again, which is great. Our previous dropout had everything to do with our lack of discipline and nothing at all to do with Nicole. We're excited, we're hopeful and I've had enough caffeine to make me feel like I can accomplish anything.

The New Year's resolution about Diet Coke. Let's pretend I never said anything about that.

Travel Training DVD!

Yesterday we received CCAI's travel training DVD in the mail. We tried watching it last night, but Rob and I were both so exhausted that we fell asleep before finishing. I watched most of it on my laptop in the van pool today, though. It was very informative. I think I need to start on a packing list!

Travel Packet #1 Received

At long last, we have received Travel Packet #1 from CCAI. It is great to have reached this milestone and we are so happy to have some additional information about the process to come. However, despite having received and read 15 pages of new information, I'm still hungry for more!!