Our Adoption Journal: Journey to Jemma: Day 15 - Home (and that's what matters)

The final day of our trip ~~was a day of misery~~ will be a laughable part of Jemma's story.

Some day we will laugh as we describe how she screamed and threw tantrums most of the 15 hour flight,

how she hated Daddy holding her and only let Mommy hold her for the flight,

how the airline didn't let us bring any fluids on the plane so we felt very unprepared for the surprise that Jemma would also not be receiving any meals,

that I looked at the time left on the flight and it said 12:02 left. TWELVE HOURS left.

that I looked at the time left on the flight wondering how I could go another hour and it said 7:52!

that the guy next to us received a gift from the airline right in front of us (as if it's not bad enough to be the ones with the crying baby - you have to present him with a gift right in front of us to validate the misery of his trip???),

that we were all so hungry we shared the few snacks we brought on the plane and then I proceeded to barf in the bathroom wasting the precious little food we had,

that the stewardess came and asked me what she could do while Jemma was screaming so hard her lips her purple and I decided instead of answering it would be better to just start crying with Jemma,

that after going through security no less than one million times between HK and the gate at MKE, I decide to FOLLOW THE SIGNS TO THE BATHROOM and realize that I left the secured area and not only had to go through security AGAIN, but had to have a security person go get my boarding pass and passport from Phil since I left everything with him and couldn't get back

that Jemma's lip cracked and started bleeding because the airplane air was so dry

that I let Jemma try to sip my Starbucks drink to avoid another meltdown

that just as we were supposed to board our final plane, the desk announced that the stewardess had hit her head, needed stitches, and they needed to find a replacement stewardess and that there was no estimated time of departure

that when we asked the desk if they were calling the new stewardess from home or was there one at the airport, the reply was that he didn't even have a stewardess identified

that lightning struck in the area so our plane got delayed a second time

that once they found a stewardess to work as the replacement, she got delayed because there was a ground stop due to lightening and so she couldn't land

that I cried the moment our plane touched ground in Milwaukee

and I cried when I told the kids I missed them

and I pulled out the ugly cry when I hugged my friend Shauna and might have snotted in her hair and told her what an awful day it had been and that it was the most miserable flight of my life hoping not to be adding to any concern she might have of making her own trip to China in a few short months

... and these are only a few A FEW of the stories that we'll laugh about some day.

What was amazing is that when we finally walked out of the concourse and up to see all our waiting friends and family waiting to welcome Jemma home, the long hours of ~~misery~~ labor of love started to fade and seem insignificant. Our friends and family were there to offer hugs and say, it's okay - you're home - you made it - it's okay.

Sorry if I snotted in your hair, Shauna. :)

The homecoming was beautiful. Our 4 waiting children ADORED Jemma and she figured out very quickly that they all wanted to hold and kiss her so she kept going from one sibling to the next. She caught on very quickly that the love fest was extending to all other waiting people and would have pretty much let anyone hold her. (She crawled into the camera man's lap - hahahaha). We tried to have a balance, telling her to give high fives to our friends, introducing her to grandparents and family members, letting the moments kind of happen as they did and praying for wisdom on when to intervene. Everyone was so respectful of our wishes to limit the stranger love overload, but still welcome Jemma in such a compassionate and gracious way.

We got off the plane in MKE and changed Jemma's diaper and put her in her coming home outfit. When we walked up the quiet terminal, I could see people standing and waiting. Titus was already running and yelling Daddy. We got to have a private moment with just our children as they met their sister. Titus was enthralled with Daddy while the other three were saying hi to their "baby sister Jemma Josephine" as Sammy told everyone. After several moments, I asked the kids if we should go up and let the others meet her. Sammy took off running shouting, "this is my baby sister, Jemma Josephine!" It was priceless. Phoebe and Lily were over the moon. The girls had carnations which Jemma took and like holding.

Phil and Andy went to retrieve our luggage and Brody and my dad got us all loaded up in the big van to go home. Daddy sat in the way back with the girls. I sat between Jemma and Titus. Jemma, at first, seemed sad to be buckled into a carseat as she's never been in a carseat before, but she was reassured enough to go to sleep on the drive home. Sammy also fell asleep on the way home. Jenny might have fallen asleep too. ;D As we drove home, the kids asked questions and told us lots of fun things they did while we were away.

We got home last night and unloaded and the kids showed Jemma her new room. Out of the 4 of them (Sammy was already asleep), I couldn't tell who was happiest to be there. Oh my heart! We reminded the kids not to overwhelm Jemma with every wonderful thing they wanted to show her and that they'd have plenty of time. They all went to bed and I gave Jemma a bottle for the first time in my rocking chair - savoring the moment of having my precious baby girl in my arms in her nursery at home. We tried her crib a few times but she was afraid. A few times it sounded like she was crying Ayi in her sadness. Big tears from her anxious fearful little heart. I prayed with her and told her I was her mommy and I would take care of her. She settled in my arms with a second bottle and closed her eyes. I laid her in her crib still sucking on her bottle and covered her up. She reacted like she has every other time I've covered her up, but whipping the blanket off of her. But then she surprised me, she reached down and pulled the blanket back up over her and my heart smiled.

I think we brought China home with us!

Happy to be on our way home!!!

Officially a road trip - we had donuts because fortunately The Garden kitchen gave our breakfast away to a different family on accident so we were able to go get our own take-away breakfast from the buffet.

Hello, Hong Kong! So good to see you again!

A really sweet adoptive family had pity on us and gave us water for Jemma's bottle. She was making it known to the entire airport that she was unhappy with the no liquids policy (and Phil and I didn't realize that the airline made exceptions for baby formula).