Our Adoption Story: Part 9

David and I knew that he would be driving back to Mississippi with Aubrey, Jude, and Alaina, and that I would be flying home with Francie. Her legs were going to be wrapped together for 2 weeks after she came out of traction, and even if she had been able to be in her carseat for 16 hours, that's not something that I was comfortable with or even considered. Anyway, we were sure about those two things, but what we weren't sure about was if we would be flying and driving by ourselves or if we would bring people to Baltimore to help us get home. I wasn't really comfortable with David driving that long by himself with the kids, and he didn't think that it was feasible for me to fly alone with Francie. I'd obviously be holding her the whole time plus mixing bottles and doing all of the check-in at the airport. It was hard to justify buying plane tickets for two extra people just so that they could turn around and travel home with us, though.

David and I were going around and around about what we should do when a very generous friend offered to fly my parents to Baltimore on his plane. This was the perfect solution, and we were so grateful! So, late Friday night after Francie came out of traction on Wednesday, my parents got into town. The kids were already asleep and I was with them, so David picked my parents up and took them to meet Francie. It was so sweet for Francie to FINALLY be able to meet some of her grandparents!

On Saturday morning, David picked my parents up from the hotel and brought them to The Children's House. The kids were excited to see them after being away for two weeks! We went over to the hospital so that the family could say goodbye to Francie, and then David, Aubrey, Jude, and my dad loaded up and started the long drive home. As they left the hospital room, Alaina was crying and screaming for me :( It was really sad to see them go. I was super thankful to have my mom there with me, though! We weren't sure exactly when Francie would be discharged, but we found out that it was going to be that day! We just had to wait for some prescriptions, and then we were on our way. I cannot even tell you how wonderful it was so pick up my baby and carry her out of that hospital FOR GOOD. I was on cloud nine :)

My mom, Francie, and I had plane tickets home for Monday, so that meant that we had the rest of Saturday and Sunday to just hang out and relax at The Children's House. On Saturday, I held Francie all evening while we watched some football and ate dinner at The Children's House. That night was a little...challenging ;) Francie was up a lot, but I was still so happy to have her with me!

On Sunday, we ventured out once. We walked several blocks to Walgreens for some formula and food. We cooked a frozen pizza for lunch and just hung at at The Children's House some more. We ate dinner there that night and did a bit of packing before bed. It was another long night. I was really missing David at that point ;)

Speaking of David, they made it home on Sunday night. Apparently the trip went ok.... I think there were some stressful parts, but they made it home safely, so I'll call that a success. Especially since I didn't have to experience any of the screaming that went on in the car. Haha!

On Monday morning, we woke up very excited to be heading home that day! We spent the entire morning cleaning our room and packing. Apparently Francie accumulated a lot of stuff in the hospital because we could barely get my suitcase to close. We even had to throw a few things away and my suitcase was still 3 pounds over the weight limit. When we checked out at The Children's House, we had been there for 37 nights. Whoa. That doesn't even count the 5 nights we spent in a hotel close to the hospital where Francie was born and the 2 nights we spent in the Ronald McDonald House. Wow.

We took a cab to the airport that afternoon. I had to hold Francie during the cab ride, which isn't something I'm comfortable with, but that was our only option. Thankfully, we made it to the airport safely. Our trip home was uneventful. I'm SO glad that my mom was with me for the trip. There's no way I could have done all that by myself. We flew to Atlanta and then to Jackson. On the trip from Atlanta to Jackson, my mom and I weren't sitting together. I was trying to hold Francie and mix a bottle and then feed her and burp her all without bumping into the person next to me. And then right before we landed, Francie had a massive spit-up and her leg wrap fell off. (It was just an ace bandage wrapped around her legs to keep her from moving them apart too much.) So, that was super stressful. I was trying to wipe up the spit-up and keep her happy AND hold her legs together. Needless to say, I was SUPER happy to land!

My mom and I got Francie all cleaned up and re-wrapped in the bathroom, and then we went to see our family. I teared up when I saw David and our kids, my dad and brothers, my two grandmothers and my grandfather, plus two of my best friends who had surprised me by coming to greet us. It was just so wonderful to be home, and to be greeted by people who love us and who had been praying for this day for so long was just such a special moment. I'll remember that homecoming forever.

I think I'm going to do one more post in this "adoption series" before I wrap it up. Mostly because I can't stand to end with 9 parts instead of 10.... haha!