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A little more than 4 months from now hopefully my husband and I will be on a plane heading to Kazakhstan to meet our forever child. Once we receive our Invitation to Travel we will have 2 – 3 weeks to get everything together and be there. I’m the type of person that needs to have everything organized ahead of time. The trip is going to be stressful enough without having to worry about did we bring all that we need. My husband on the other hand would wait till the night before to get things ready. What are they thinking

Anyway, I decided to find out some information on a website I belong to for people adopting or have adopted thru our agency to find out what items we need to bring on the trip. I’ve connected with this one mom who is turning out to be a bundle of information for me. She has adopted twice from Kazakhstan so she knows the ins and outs. I asked the following questions:
1 – Do we need to bring a car seat with us for the plane ride home or do airlines provide anything for an infant
2 - Should we bring a stroller with us
3 – What about gifts for the orphanage, etc
4 – Who prepares the travel arrangements
5 – When will we receive the list of things to bring on the trip
Basically anything having to do with the trip I am trying to find out ahead of time.

Within an hour she responded back to me. She said not to worry about a car seat, that some planes have bassinets that hook on the wall in the bulkhead section of the plane although it’s not a guarantee that we would get one. Instead she recommended getting a Snuggli (Baby Bjorn) since this will help with the bonding process. She recommended that we do bring an umbrella stroller with us. The initial travel arrangements are done by us. Once in country, any other travelling that needs to be done is handled by the Agency. It was recommended to shop around for airfare and try to use a travel agency that deals with international adoptions. They can get much better fares. As far as gifts and such I was told our adoption agency provides a very detailed list of what to bring so not to worry about that.

I was a little surprised when she said she did not have a car seat for the plane. There are 2 flights involved and they are both at least 7 hours if not longer and this doesn’t include any stop overs. My mind starts going on overdrive. The only thing I could think of when she said this was “ how did you manage to eat on the plane if the baby was strapped to your chest”? “How did you get the food tray down”? Her exact response back was “ Ahhh...wait until you become a parent and you will quickly learn that your needs come way down on the list...even when it comes to eating! Hahaha! You trade off, and you can take the child out of the snuggie for awhile ...it just helps when you and hopefully the baby (and I do say hopefully, don't count on it!) want to rest. If you and your hubby are a good team, all of this will be easier than it sounds. If one of you begins to feel a bit nervous or uncomfortable with the baby then it can be hard for one parent to carry most of the caretaking load. Teamwork is the key!!!

Do you hear this hubby of mine ? T-E-A-M-W-O-R-K is the key !!. Be prepared to help out on the plane!!!

A little later on I noticed I received an email from our adoption coordinator. She saw my post on the Yahoo group and responded as follows:
“I had to laugh when you posted your eating on the plane question on the Kaz yahoo group....it brought back memories of when my daughter came home. I don't know if you are aware, but I am an adoptive mom, and our daughter was what you call a "high needs" baby. She would not allow me to put her down for ANYTHING....I had no idea how much you have absolutely no "YOU" that first year....I lost 30 pounds because I had to do a lot of baby dancing both day and night and also didn't get to eat an uninterrupted meal for the first year. In fact, I had to cook with her on my back in a carrier, because she wanted to be close to me. And of course....she preferred me over dad.... Ahhhh the joys of parenthood. However, she is now 17 and independent and I of course gained my 30 pounds + back.
Just look at it as an adventure and hold on for the ride..... (I hope you don't mind my joking).

I wasn’t trying to be funny when I asked about the eating question. I seriously wanted to know how she was able to eat on the plane with the baby strapped to her.

Our coordinator was nice enough to send the entire travel packet to us now rather than waiting until we find out what region we are going to. I open up the document and it’s 44 freakin pages!!! I have to say it’s very thorough. It covers the entire trip and then some. There are over 40 items alone we have to bring just for the baby!!!! I sure hope the holidays are going to be nice to us this year

I’ll end this with something I found funny that this Mom told me while she was in Kazakhstan years ago for her adoption.
Whatever you do, bring along lots of hats and warm clothes. You will be expected to have your baby bundled completely and WILL get yelled at by people on the street if your child is not as warm as they think it should be. We are from Colorado and even going back with our 4 year old son whom we obviously know how to dress for cold weather, we got yelled at a couple of times by babushka's because his hood wasn't up on his jacket...and he WAS already wearing a warm hat!