Arrival

So today is Wednesday, December 16th. I arrived in America on Monday. My journey was quite a long one and one I hope to never have to make alone. Thanks to my amazing friends at SYIS (I miss you guys so much!) I was taken care of while my husband was away. I had many places to go for dinner and houses to visit so I was not too alone. The Christmas concert came and was fantastic. The kids looked great and sounded great. I could never ask for a better performance. Since I will be a stay-at-home mom next year I have to say that this concert was a good note to end on. After a traditional visit to KFC and Starbucks I headed home to begin packing for me to leave on Sunday. Oh, I almost forgot...I also went to the doctor on Friday and they said everything looks good for the baby. I gained weight, which I have been losing the past few visits and next visit we will find out if we have a boy or girl and do the full ultrasound (potentially in 3D) so we can see that all the vital organs have developed. I can't wait!

I jumped on a plane on Sunday morning with the help of an amazing Chinese couple that spoke English and helped me with my bags and translate for me when the airport only translated info into Korean. I landed in Korea at round 3:30 and headed to the hotel room. My room smelled like a tanning bed and felt like one too. There was a little mess up with the hotel giving my room to someone else too but after that was worked out I settled down to rest, watch TV, and enjoy some room service (thanks my SYIS fam for helping me to get a hotel room. I had a great sleep!). The next morning I went to the hotel and had the highlight of my dad. I told one of the desk people that I was pregnant and would like to be moved to an aisle seat if that was not too much to ask. I have just hit the spot in pregnancy where I do eat every 4-5 hours, only small portions, and go to the bathroom fairly often. The lady returned and gave me a new seat number. As I was boarding the plain I realized, "Hey, I am going to get to sit on the 2nd floor of the airplane, so cool. I've never done that before!" HOwever, I was even more surprised when I was escorted to my seat and discovered that the airline had put me into 1st class with the reclining chair and everything. It was heavenly! I had snacks every few hours and lots of comfort. I love you, Korean Air! However, I couldn't really sleep very well because every thought of sleep reminded me that I was still not with my husband. After a 12 hour flight and many bathroom breaks I landed in the Chicago airport and found that two different screens with two different types of information about when and where my next flight was leaving. After finally finding it I sat down and realized that I was going to be delayed about an hour and I was longing to be in America with family so badly. By the time I landed, with being awake for 20 hours and having to go to the bathroom almost once and hour I realized, as I waited to meet my parents, that I was on the verge of tears when I met my family. I was exhausted and so ready to be with them. I have lived in this numb/confused/incomplete place of about a week and now I want to settle. Once I arrived my parents took me out to dinner and then off to the hospital. Random thought: I have discovered that the longer I am in China the weirder it is to come back here. I had a sandwich at Quizzno's which should have been super yummy but because of all the meat and extra stuff on it I found myself unable to eat any but 1/4th of the sandwich. So sad!

My parents told me that Nathan did not want me coming to the hospital to see mom yet. This was a shocker. Last I had heard from Nate the doctors had said that the dangerous swelling in mom's brain had gone down and that none of the bad things that could happened had happened. I thought we were our of the danger zone and when I arrived I found out I was wrong. Apparently, mom has not made any process since being off the medicine. She is involuntarily responding to stimuli but she is not where the doctors want her to be. Now I am here and very glad but when we stepped out of the car to see Nathan's family I had no idea if I would be able to hold it together. Once I hugged Nathan's dad it was all gone. It's so hard when everyone is so excited about the baby and all I an think about is how much I miss mom and hope she is ok. I slept and went to the hospital the next morning to meet with her. It was a good time. I sat with her, just me and her, and told her how much I loved her, talked to her about the baby, and sang for her. Even though she is not responding they say she can hear us so we keep hoping. IF she doesn't respond in the next 24 hours or so we may have to make some hard decisions. We pray and beg for a miracle and for her to respond. Please keep us in your thoughts. There is still hope! Either way, I know that death will not have a victory but I want her to live with us for a little longer. Keep praying. I will keep you informed. Thanks! Your comments here and on facebook have been so encouraging. My students have also been so amazing praying that Mr. Forrest won't be sad anymore, that his mommy will be ok and that even if she is not she will go to heaven, which is great. I am blessed!