Tuesday was Orion's two week birthday! To celebrate, yesterday all of us (me, my mom, dad and Orion) took a field trip to InOrbit mall. Honestly, I don't know what I would do without InOrbit. Every Canadian having a baby here should visit there at least once. There is a Shoppers Stop there which includes a Mother Care section on the 2nd floor. Then there is a Spencer's which is like a grocery store and value clothes store. You can find essentially anything there like cheap but good quality t-shirts (250 rupees each = $5 CDN), sandals, belts, toiletries, snacks and comfort food you love in Canada (i.e. chips lol). They have 2L bottled water for 70 rupees a pop, juice, etc. Thank goodness for InOrbit! Anyway, we took Orion with us and he slept the whole time. We were only out for 3 hours but we timed everything with him well. I brought my diaper bag with an extra bottle, change of clothes, diaper etc but he stayed in dream land the whole time. Not 5 minutes later after we got back to hotel home, he started to wake up for feeding time. Such a good and well behaved baby :)
Rewind to last Wednesday when we spent most of the day at the Canadian Consulate in south Mumbai. I thought I was prepared and had everything ready such as the photos for the passport, visa, citizenship application etc but I wasn't. Upon arrival, I was told the sizes were not acceptable. This was unfortunate as I had been very clear regarding measurements to the photographer at the photo studio we went to in Mumbai. My advice for other Canadians doing this in the future: don't spend the time, energy and money going to just any photographer with your baby at any photo studio. Before going to the consulate, go see a photographer about 5 blocks away from the consulate building. Specifically, as you're exiting the consulate building from the main entrance, go right and then about 5 blocks later, you'll come to "Mamta Foto Centre." After our photo sizes were not accepted by the consulate, they recommended we go there before the doctor came in for the DNA testing. We found Mamta and they knew the sizes for all the photos by heart. Just go to Mamta and ask for Chintan. I have their card so if anyone wants their contact information, just e-mail me and I can provide you with their coordinates.
At Mamta, ready for his photo shoot but he had other plans, i.e. napping!
So I was with the contact from the consulate all morning, finalizing all of the forms and payment. I must say, the contact and the rest of the staff at the consulate have done nothing but gone above and beyond in terms of service and trying to help us. Not having a support system while being on the other side of the planet is difficult so having their help has meant a lot. After lunch at 1pm, the doctor came in to do the DNA test on Orion. Specifically, he took a swab and also a fingerprint which the consulate staff wondered if really necessary and if newborns even have fingerprints at that age. One person remarked, "That is definitely the smallest fingerprint I have ever seen."
Once the test had been done, we were able to leave. The DNA sample was Fedexed to the lab I had chosen to work with on this, Maxxam, in Guelph, Canada. They received the sample Friday afternoon and now we are waiting for them to confirm the results. We've kindly asked them to help us and expedite things but I have not heard anything from them in the last 2 days, which is unusual. I've sent e-mails everyday, called and left voice messages for several people from India, kindly asking to be updated as a courtesy but no response. To be honest, I don't think I will do business with them again and I can't say I would recommend them. I get better service at McDonalds for a $2 cheeseburger opposed to a $800 DNA test with a baby involved. Any response would be appreciated to give us an update but the one thing I can't stand is when businesses don't reply to correspondence from clients that have already paid for a service.
Amidst the waiting and anxiety to get home, we are all spending time with Orion and getting to know him better. Swaddling didn't last very long as he worms his way out and likes to sleep like this:
Look dad! No hands!
Victory dance! Rawwwwwwwr!
Little bug.
On Grammie's shoulder.
Happy dad!
Until next time :)
Rewind to last Wednesday when we spent most of the day at the Canadian Consulate in south Mumbai. I thought I was prepared and had everything ready such as the photos for the passport, visa, citizenship application etc but I wasn't. Upon arrival, I was told the sizes were not acceptable. This was unfortunate as I had been very clear regarding measurements to the photographer at the photo studio we went to in Mumbai. My advice for other Canadians doing this in the future: don't spend the time, energy and money going to just any photographer with your baby at any photo studio. Before going to the consulate, go see a photographer about 5 blocks away from the consulate building. Specifically, as you're exiting the consulate building from the main entrance, go right and then about 5 blocks later, you'll come to "Mamta Foto Centre." After our photo sizes were not accepted by the consulate, they recommended we go there before the doctor came in for the DNA testing. We found Mamta and they knew the sizes for all the photos by heart. Just go to Mamta and ask for Chintan. I have their card so if anyone wants their contact information, just e-mail me and I can provide you with their coordinates.
At Mamta, ready for his photo shoot but he had other plans, i.e. napping!
So I was with the contact from the consulate all morning, finalizing all of the forms and payment. I must say, the contact and the rest of the staff at the consulate have done nothing but gone above and beyond in terms of service and trying to help us. Not having a support system while being on the other side of the planet is difficult so having their help has meant a lot. After lunch at 1pm, the doctor came in to do the DNA test on Orion. Specifically, he took a swab and also a fingerprint which the consulate staff wondered if really necessary and if newborns even have fingerprints at that age. One person remarked, "That is definitely the smallest fingerprint I have ever seen."
Once the test had been done, we were able to leave. The DNA sample was Fedexed to the lab I had chosen to work with on this, Maxxam, in Guelph, Canada. They received the sample Friday afternoon and now we are waiting for them to confirm the results. We've kindly asked them to help us and expedite things but I have not heard anything from them in the last 2 days, which is unusual. I've sent e-mails everyday, called and left voice messages for several people from India, kindly asking to be updated as a courtesy but no response. To be honest, I don't think I will do business with them again and I can't say I would recommend them. I get better service at McDonalds for a $2 cheeseburger opposed to a $800 DNA test with a baby involved. Any response would be appreciated to give us an update but the one thing I can't stand is when businesses don't reply to correspondence from clients that have already paid for a service.
Amidst the waiting and anxiety to get home, we are all spending time with Orion and getting to know him better. Swaddling didn't last very long as he worms his way out and likes to sleep like this:
Look dad! No hands!
Victory dance! Rawwwwwwwr!
Little bug.
On Grammie's shoulder.
Happy dad!
Until next time :)
Sounds like fun, we look forward to the experience!!!
ReplyDeleteWelcome to India guys :) When is Alan expected to be due? Are you guys staying at service apartments in Delhi or a hotel? Looking forward to hearing more :)
ReplyDeletesorry things are going a little rough with trying to get out of the country...hang in here! This will be just a blip on the screen when you get little Orion home. Take care.
ReplyDeleteSounds like you're doing everything right. Just keep at it! The squeaky wheel gets the oil and all that! I'm so happy that your parents are there with you and Orion as you go thru this part of the process. You clearly have an amazing family! Best wishes!
ReplyDeleteThanks Doug and Allie! :) I am happy to say that I got the DNA results on Friday and Orion is confirmed to be mine with a probability of 99.96%! Woot woot! I'll take it. Tomorrow is independence day in India so I'm looking forward to that and then the process resumes on Tuesday. Hoping for a miracle... maybe get all of Orion's passport documents by Friday. Then we could be home next week. That would be a welcome break!
ReplyDelete