After a long journey, and a few sleepless nights, the MacRae family from Port Coquitlam returned to the Lower Mainland on Saturday with their adopted son.

"It's been a long, long, long day," Michelle MacRae said at YVR airport on Saturday morning. "We've had no sleep for two, three days."

In her arms, MacRae was carrying Woodson, a 19-month-old Haitian adoptee. He joins MacRae and husband Don's three other children, Aaron, Austin and Ashley.

The moment the couple met Woodson they made a connection, MacRae said.

"He went straight to my husband, hopped up on his lap," MacRae said. "He just took to us like a duck to water."

For the past several days, Woodson was cared for by a children's hospital in Pittsburgh, PA. He was flown to the U.S. by American authorities after the earthquake in Haiti destroyed his orphanage, leaving him homeless.

Unfortunately, his adoption papers were lost in the quake, MacRae said, putting the family in a potentially sticky situation.

But with help from Canadian immigration officials, the MacRaes were able to wade through the piles of paperwork and red tape separating them from their new son.

They arrived in Pittsburgh on Friday morning to pick him up, and it was love at first sight.

"It's truly a wonderful thing, but it's a surreal feeling. I'm not sure when we'll ever come down."

Dozens of other Canadian families are also hoping to meet their adopted children within the next few days. Eighty-six Haitian orphans are due to arrive in Canada over the weekend.

The first planeload is expected on Sunday morning. Unfortunately, it will not be carrying Travis Whims and his wife Jennifer's two adopted sons.

"They're not on the flight," Travis Whims said.

Even though the U.S. government provided faster access for the MacRae family, Whims said he was happy to know that the Canadian government was using the proper immigration channels to bring his children home.

"We've heard that the Canadian embassy has gone to the orphanage and started taking pictures to get their visas ready," Whims said. "The orphanage was very impressed with how Canada came to them."

Whims said he's been told that his children, brothers Steevenson and Sterling, will be coming to Canada shortly.

"We're hoping to get word from Ottawa in the next few days. They said it should be soon."

Hope Adoption Services has been inundated with calls and is planning an information meeting about adopting children from Haiti on Feb. 8 at 7 p.m. at the Mennonite Educational Institute in Abbotsford.

With a report from CTV British Columbia's St. John Alexander