Willow is doing very good. She has been discharged from the hospital today, which is great! We were also approved by the California office of ICPC which is the office that allows us to LEAVE the state with her. The paperwork then gets emailed to the Ohio office of ICPC to have them approve us to ENTER the state with her. This SHOULD take anywhere from 24-48 hours to do, depending on the caseload they have. They were expecting the Ohio ICPC to be approved today or tomorrow and then we could fly home friday evening. So... today we were approved in CA and when they emailed the paperwork to Ohio, we found that the ONLY person (in the whole state) that is able to approve us is OFF until Monday! Soo very frustrating! So now we've been discharged and we are confined to our hotel room. Willow is too small and we are not willing to expose her to whatever germs by leaving the hotel to see the sights. We also don't have a car because we are trying to limit cost and our hotel had a service that would take us to and from the hospital. We have spent soo far above what we had originally planned on this adoption (totally worth it and not complaining) but the extra 5 days in a hotel and paying to switch flights is not really an exciting change of events. Obviously, we are not going to add to the extra cost by renting a car to entertain ourselves. Another GREAT Bonus is that Willow was released early to go home to continue weaning her there. Since we wont be home in less than 3 days, we need to find and take her to a doctor tomorrow. Thats really fun. However.... I really think my favorite part of this delay is that apparently our hotel is under renovations that take place during the day. We never knew it because we were always at the hospital, but now are enjoying the full extent of what sounds like a jackhammer running in the room above ours. Poor Willow is taking it pretty well.
So, that's my update for today. I am extremely frustrated but know that we have been very blessed to get such a sweet baby girl. I promised Squeak that if we can change hotels (closer to the airport since we dont have to be close to the hospital anymore) after our dr appointment tomorrow, I would really try to adjust my attitude for the better.
We are missing the boys greatly but thankful for all the helpers we have had to take care of them. -Laura
So, that's my update for today. I am extremely frustrated but know that we have been very blessed to get such a sweet baby girl. I promised Squeak that if we can change hotels (closer to the airport since we dont have to be close to the hospital anymore) after our dr appointment tomorrow, I would really try to adjust my attitude for the better.
We are missing the boys greatly but thankful for all the helpers we have had to take care of them. -Laura
prayer request!
Written Sep 30, 2012 10:02pm
Tomorrow is the day that the only person in Ohio that can approve our ICPC paperwork gets back! Please pray that we can pass as soon as possible. We have many reasons to want to get back soon. We miss our boys at home and while they're doing very well, they are feeling the difference. Wyatt has been taking it hard and has been crying a lot in school. I feel terrible but know that this is a brief time and hopefully it will soon be over. Another important reason is that Willow needs to continue her weaning off methadone. They dont recommend any changes in her prescription until we are home as it isnt good to wean her and have her need a 'rescue dose' when we are in California or at the airport. where we don't have access to her pediatrician. It goes without saying that we would obviously want her weaned as quickly as possible, and it has been on hold for a week now. Lastly, (selfishly) we are tacking up a lot of expenses by staying. We had to change both of our flights ($), stay a few days longer, and with taxi costs and food its getting up there! We are also going stir crazy locked in this hotel room! I know that Willow is too small to take out and expose her to the world, but..... wow am I bored!! She is not awake more than 3-4 hours a day and the remainder she sleeps. There is nothing to do when she's sleeping! I know that God hears our prayers.
Written Oct 1, 2012 6:27pm
Today we found out that the icpc paperwork sent from CA to OH on Thursday was......... lost. Ohio could not find it. When they were able to locate it, it was a small portion of what they needed. They think that the email attachments were too large to send it completely. Another bonus is apparently OH thinks CA filled out some paper wrong. We were able to contact our lawyer and have him get the CA office to fax all the papers to the OH office. As of now, I believe OH has the paperwork needed. I am not sure how much this will delay us from getting back. I don't know if we will now be at the end of the line or if there is even a line. Squeak flew home today to be with our boys. Willow and I will fly home when our ICPC is approved.
Written Oct 6, 2012 8:16pm
Sorry I haven't updated this, it has been pretty busy the last few days! Tuesday Willow was cleared by Ohio ICPC to leave California and come home to Ohio. It was pretty crazy, I booked the soonest flight and was packed and at the airport by 8am (PST) to fly out at 9:20. You would really not believe the number of people that were obsessed / curious / appalled by Willow's size and the fact that she was already in public and flying. I had many comments and questions about being alone, why we were flying, and how great I looked for recently giving birth to an infant! :)
The morning went very smooth, I made it to my gate with plenty of time to make my flight to Houston. From Houston I only had an hour layover and was to be in Cleveland by 6. Unfortunately, if I was on time didn't matter much when my plane was 2 hours late arriving. The United staff handled everything and assured us that since there were 26 passengers headed to Cleveland from my flight, Houston was going to hold the plane to wait for us. That was a huge relief until we landed in Houston and the plane had left on time. Willow and I had a 5.5 hour wait for the next available flight to Cleveland. For those of you that know how I despise attention and almost get physically ill at the idea of having to make small talk with strangers will be glad to know that Willow was basically a magnet for every person in the airport. I met very nice people and shared most of my life story with everyone at the airport, but in particular, a very kind women on both of my same flights. Right before we boarded our final flight, she told me that she had been drawn to Willow since she first saw her in CA that morning. She wrote down her name and email and asked me to give her updates on Willow's life the whole way through. This story is very in depth, but the shortened version ends with her asking about long term effects that Willow may have from prenatal drug exposure. I relayed what the doctors told me, which is that she may in the long run but they do not expect her to as she does not exhibit any delays/ symptoms that they would have expected to see. They give her a 99% chance of not having any long term effects. I said she must have a guardian angel that was protecting her in the womb. This woman got really quiet and said " Actually, that's why I have been so drawn to her. That's what I do. I can see angels. She actually has had 3 angels around her the whole day." I really don't know what I think of that, I don't know this woman but we had talked about Christianity and she is a believer. Another interesting part, a coworker of mine says she prayed extra hard for me since I was going to be travelling alone and says she was praying that we would have extra guardian angels to help us get home safely. Interesting. God is powerful and able to do these things, who am I to say it wasn't true?
We did make it home late Tuesday / early Wednesday morning. Our flights were good, Willow slept the whole time. The boys have been great, Willow has LOTS of Love!!
The morning went very smooth, I made it to my gate with plenty of time to make my flight to Houston. From Houston I only had an hour layover and was to be in Cleveland by 6. Unfortunately, if I was on time didn't matter much when my plane was 2 hours late arriving. The United staff handled everything and assured us that since there were 26 passengers headed to Cleveland from my flight, Houston was going to hold the plane to wait for us. That was a huge relief until we landed in Houston and the plane had left on time. Willow and I had a 5.5 hour wait for the next available flight to Cleveland. For those of you that know how I despise attention and almost get physically ill at the idea of having to make small talk with strangers will be glad to know that Willow was basically a magnet for every person in the airport. I met very nice people and shared most of my life story with everyone at the airport, but in particular, a very kind women on both of my same flights. Right before we boarded our final flight, she told me that she had been drawn to Willow since she first saw her in CA that morning. She wrote down her name and email and asked me to give her updates on Willow's life the whole way through. This story is very in depth, but the shortened version ends with her asking about long term effects that Willow may have from prenatal drug exposure. I relayed what the doctors told me, which is that she may in the long run but they do not expect her to as she does not exhibit any delays/ symptoms that they would have expected to see. They give her a 99% chance of not having any long term effects. I said she must have a guardian angel that was protecting her in the womb. This woman got really quiet and said " Actually, that's why I have been so drawn to her. That's what I do. I can see angels. She actually has had 3 angels around her the whole day." I really don't know what I think of that, I don't know this woman but we had talked about Christianity and she is a believer. Another interesting part, a coworker of mine says she prayed extra hard for me since I was going to be travelling alone and says she was praying that we would have extra guardian angels to help us get home safely. Interesting. God is powerful and able to do these things, who am I to say it wasn't true?
We did make it home late Tuesday / early Wednesday morning. Our flights were good, Willow slept the whole time. The boys have been great, Willow has LOTS of Love!!
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