I'm sorry it's been so long. I was thinking about this site the other day, and I promised myself I would update it so that I culd remember it all. I thought that I would never be able to forget, but those days are starting to become hazy as I've settled into my family.
In my last post, I had arrived in Karachi. I got off the plane, went through Immigration, collected my luggage and met up with my mom. I had spent the last 36 hours in transit, and I was exhausted (however, I wasn't airsick at all. A first!) It was 4am local time, and I was a little nervous because I had never been in Karachi alone before. My mother and I would be staying with distant relatives. They weren't even our relatives; they were cousins of my sister-in-law's cousins. They lived in a poorer part of the city. My mother had told me tales of seeing a van set on fire in front of her after the driver was beaten up, and how the locals would casually talk about dead bodies in the streets. I was nervous about being in that area, but the warm welcome of our host family help me deal with it all. The family was warm and welcoming, and they did all that they could to help us out. The mother in the family went with us everywhere and helped us in every way that she could. The daughter and the son were equally welcoming and gracious. I will never forget them, and I plan on taking Samir back to see them.
I went to the Edhi center about three hours after reaching our temporary home. It was Monday, October 11. I was nervous, to say the least. I waited in this small room, on a chair in the back. There were other women there, and we were waiting for Mrs. Edhi to come down from her living quarters above the clinic. She came down promptly at 8. My mom waited outside because she didn't want Mrs. Edhi to associate her with me, and deny me again. I got up the courage, and sat down in front of her. I told her who I was and why I was there. I told her that I left my husband and my job to plead my case. She exchanged a glance with her assistant Almas, and asked me why I gave her the number of an unreliable person. I apologized and begged her for another chance. She said that I'll have to wait, and to come back on Wednesday. We went back home and slept. After we woke up, we made a plan for the following day. On Tuesday, I called the Edhi center and let them know I was still interested and if there was any news. They told me not yet, and be patient. After that, my mother, Auntie and I went all over Karachi, visiting the Hope Foundation and private doctors for a lead on children who were waiting to be adopted. Even though we were unsuccessful, we still felt better because we knew we were at least being proactive.
Wednesday morning (October 13), we returned to the Edhi center with a letter from my kids and pictures of my classroom in hand. I showed them to Mrs Edhi and as she was flipping through the pictures, she nodded to Almas and told her to take me up the stairs on the end of the room. My heart started pounding and my head felt light. Auntie and I went up, and we were told to wait in a small room beyond the hospital beds they had set up for women giving birth. About ten minutes later, a woman came in with a bundle in her arms and laid a baby girl in my lap. I started crying. Almas asked me if she was acceptable, and I remember answering her with something like How could she not be? I named her Maryam Fatima Bhalli. Auntie went down the stairs to tell my mom and I cried, said a prayer over her and signed some papers. Our picture was taken and I went down the stairs to my mom. She was already crying, saying that she was finally a nani (maternal grandmother.) Thanks to my lawyer in Karachi, Tahera, I knew I had to take her for tests to make sure she was fine. We went to the City Hospital, where they took her blood. They wouldn't let me stay in the room while they did so, and my heart pinged when I heard her cry. We stopped on the way home for formula and a couple of bottles. I could't stop looking at her. Once we got back, I called home and sent out an email, sharing our wonderful news!
We took Maryam to the local doctor to have her physically checked out. The doctor said that she was about 2 to 3 months old, and that she looked healthy enough, even though she was a little small. However, something was bothering me. I had a feeling that we should call the lab and see how her tests turned out. I had my mom call around 10pm, and we received some horrible news. Her blood had come back positive for HIV and Hepatitis C. We were all devastated. My mother and I spent the night crying. I called Tahera the next morning to ask her advice, and she said call Edhi. I did, and they said bring her back that afternoon. I will never forget having to turn her over, and how my mother and I were crying as Maryam left us. On the way back, I remember turning to my mom and telling her that my lap felt empty. Depressed, we went back and fell asleep around 1pm. Around 5, Sohail called to talk to me. I was half asleep, so I didn't realize that the call waiting was going nuts. When I finally figured it out, I noticed that it was my brother. I passed the phone to my mom, and she flipped to the other line. I could hear my brother as he yelled "You're going to lose another one! The Edhis called! There's a boy!! WHY AREN'T YOU ANSWERING THE PHONE??" My mom called Almas, who asked her if we wanted a boy. My mom told her YES, and that we would be there in an hour. The minute she hung up, we were out the door, half asleep and going nuts as we grabbed a taxi, not even bothering to take the time to bargain. Soon we were on our way...
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