Healthvues

This is it - we’ve never felt as much pressure as this day. They have until 5:00pm today to change their minds. The plan in place is for Dena to call the county clerk’s office at 5:01 to see if there were any filings and we call Dena at 5:02 for the results. Since our flight out is right at 5:00 out of Little Rock (about 5 hours away), we have to get on the road fairly soon. One last stop at Dena’s office to say our good-byes and we’re outta here. During our entire stay here, we’ve realized that the State of Arkansas must have some aversion to the use of guardrails on their roadways. Especially in the mountains, we often wondered how long it would be for someone to be discovered if they had the misfortune of guiding their vehicle off the side of the road and down one the numerous chasms that line the road, unprotected by a guardrail. We think it’s Arkansas’ version of natural selection - only the alert survive and the weak and slow are weeded out. The 5 hour drive to the airport is made even more stressful by probably the worst stretch of uninterrupted, continuous washboard roadway in the state. If you go ever go down I-40, stay in the left lane! We count down the reclaim time remaining in hours, then halfhours, then literally minutes. It’s interesting to see strangers react to a baby, but it’s really amazing to see their reaction upon learning this is an adoption. Many people came up to us to gawk at Alex (total strangers mind you, but they also seemed mindful of germs as not one got so close to cause us concern), but they were very interested (in the legalities and the notion of open adoption) and seemed genuinely happy. Maybe we were one of those “feel good” stories you encounter at makes you smile the rest of the day. Maybe we’re full of ourselves - but who cares; we’re about to become parents! One young man (probably early 20s) even told us what we were doing was very “noble” - he was adopted himself and only recently met his birthparents. While waiting to board the plane, Spike called Dena and heard the only word we needed from her: Congratulations! Connie (the clerk) had been expecting Dena’s call and told her that no one heard a peep from the birthparents - no filings took place for reclaim. After many years of fertility treatments and several years of adoption, in one small moment we officially became parents. You can imagine the release we felt. It took a little time for us to gather ourselves and make a few phone calls to family and friends. All the worry about the birth going well, the worry about Alex’s health, the worry about being new parents and the worry about a reclaim is now behind us. Now we can get to worrying about the normal, everday fears of being parents.

We arrive in Atlanta late for a weekend of decompressing with 2 of Alex’s grandmothers (Peggy and Judy). Peggy and Judy meet us at the gate - we fully expected 2 little tazmanian devils, plowing through passengers and baggage to get to the “precious cargo.” We were surprised to be greeted by the opposite - 2 quiet, teary-eyed grandmothers. They’ve been waiting almost as long we have for this moment and they savored every second of it. We finally hit the sack at about 2am, only to get up again for a PD that extended outside the boundaries of the diaper. Welcome to parenthood…

Fran drives up from Charleston for a short overnight jaunt - this time, she is greeted by our daughter. Activities for the weekend pretty much revolve around watching Peggy, Judy and Fran vie for holding rights of Alex. And taking pictures. She’s in good hands. Peggy and Judy’s friend Kelly comes over for the afternoon - and another encouraging adoption story. Just a day of relaxing and feeling the chest pains go away. To top if off, Johnnies Pizza and a few Coronas. Aahh, relaxation ensues.

…more of the same… Alex meets one her uncles today as Brian comes over for a visit. More pictures…more congratulatory phone calls…more holding… We get word that there’s a “storm of the century” brewing over the northeast, with potentially hurricane force winds and up to 2 feet of snow. Not looking good for getting home tomorrow as planned. Most airlines have already cancelled all their flights to the northeast’s major cities.

We have to reroute our flights through Chicago. They tell us that our flight into Syracuse will probably be cancelled due to snow. We tell them that they don’t understand - we know how to handle snow: Book us. And of course, everthing was just fine (except a minor mechanical delay leaving Chicago). Alex was once again great on the planes - the attendants told us she was their youngest passenger. More oohs and aahs and congratulations from strangers. We fly into Syracuse during the snowstorm - no problems at all. Nineteen inches on the ground, but like we said, the airport was open. We get off the plane and not a single soul was waiting for us at the gate. At first, a bit of panic and disappointment as we think our ride didn’t even show up. Then we remember that security closes the gates to onlookers after a certain time. Sure enough, we round the corner to go up to the lobby and there’s a crowd waiting for us. Flashbulbs, video cameras and cheers greet us! Very, very heartwarming! About 25 of our friends, family and neighbors are waiting for their first glimpse of Alex. It was such a fitting end to a long journey. 36 days earlier we walked down this ramp to the plane with anxiety and apprehension in our stomachs - now we walk up the other way with relief and joy in our hearts as we are now parents. It is so good to be home, to see Jersey and to finally start our new life. In addition to the ton of mail waiting for us, several people went grocery shopping for us - there is no shortage of food! We came home to cake, chilled champagne and a decorated house (“It’s a Girl!”). The last guest left around 2am, just in time for Alex to blow her first diaper in her new home!

Of course, we can’t end this travelogue without thanking everyone who
supported us in this in many ways - whether it was a reassuring phone
call or email, or taking care of something for us back in Syracuse, or
taking care of us in Siloam Springs - or simply praying for us. It has
meant everything to us - now it’s Party Time! OH HAPPY DAY!!!!!!!!!

This is the adoption blog.