Today, Ha went with Poppa to get a medical exam and photos for her Visa. We had lots of questions for the doctor - what is the rash on her cheeks and legs? Why does she have so many black-and-blue marks? What should we do about her constipation? Luckily, we were advised by other adoptive parents that the idea is to say as little as possible - that we just want to get Ha 'cleared' so they issue her visa. The immigration doctor did bring up her rash and thought is was eczema (we brought some hydrocortisone, and it does seem to be getting better), we e-mailed our pediatrician in the US about the constipation, and the black-and-blue marks are probably from her being an active, on-the-go little pixie. The clinic was packed with other people waiting for medical clearance for visas. Apparently there is only one clinic in HCMC that has been approved by the USA to give medical exams for visa purposes. Ha hated the process, was squirming and crying on the scale, getting her clothes off and while the doc did his exam. She kept reaching for me, which the doctor pointed out, proclaiming that she had already bonded to her daddy, even after only 3 days. He sure knows how to swell a dad's head with pride. When he asked about our family, I explained that Ha already had an older brother, but that we were probably done after that. "No, no, no," He said, "Each family should have four children, 2 boys and 2 girls, if possible". I nodded and smiled and said, "well, you never know, (NOT!)". So, Ha passed with flying colors. We then went for pictures for her visa, and later, to buy tickets to Hanoi. It was pretty cool handing the travel agent the Ginocchio family's FOUR passports. Of course, one was a green Vietnamese passport (obtained the day before), but hey, it definitely had that wonderful, "its official" feeling.
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