[sadiegirl]

Hello all!

As you can see from my signature, we've been matched! I have a couple of q's:

1. Anyone do KS ICPC? (as a sending state) How long did it take?
2. Anyone do OH ICPC? (as receiving state) How long did that take?

Last q: spending a week in a hotel with a newborn, did you venture out (to the mall, etc. )? Any "germ" worries? What did you bring (besides the obvious; bottles, formula, clothes) We'll be driving and can stuff the car. Was there anything you WISHED you had brought?

Thanks so much!

[nycfsa]

Congratulations! Sorry, I don't know anything about KS or OH.

When our son was born, we considered going to the mall but then our ICPC cleared and we were busy getting ready to go home. Looking back, I definitely wouldn't go to a mall. Some infants get sick really easily, and even if yours doesn't, you don't want to be far away from home/pediatrician with a sick newborn.

We traveled across the country so we didn't bring alot of stuff, but if you have room, you should definitely take one of those stroller frames that the infant seat fits into. I wouldn't go to a mall but you could go for walks outside, or even to an outdoor activity like a zoo or a park. We did have a baby bjorn with us but my son hated it. Plus, they have to be at least 8lbs. and maybe 20 or 22 inches to use it.

We did take our son to a couple of restaurants because we were going stir crazy in the hotel room. If you go early when it's not too crowded, the baby won't be exposed to too many people and you won't have to worry about disturbing people if the baby cries.

[momof3kids]

I don't know about either of the states you listed, but I have done three out of state adoptions with each of our children being a newborn at the time of adoption.

We went everywhere with our kids. The mall, restaurants etc. WalMart is where we practically lived since we were buying forumla, diapers etc.

Granted the thought of germs was in the back of my mind, but I would have gone mental sitting in a hotelroom for a week or so. Our three kids made it through just fine and I would do it again all over in a heartbeat!

When we were in a mall, we just had them in the carseat/stroller thing with a receiving blanket draped over the top of the canopy so we could peek in every so often. I think as long as you are careful about washing hands, don't let strangers touch your baby etc-you will be just fine!

Good luck to you! How exciting-I remember the excitement of being matched so well! -Sarah

[lisa in venice]

We did OH as a sending state and they were terrible. We waited two and a half weeks for them to clear the paperwork. Apparently they lost two thirds of their staff a couple of years ago because of budget cuts. Hopefully they have been able to rehire folks in that time.

lisa

[redhedded]

Sadie, Congratulations again. We have twice adopted out of state. We were away from home 40 days when we adopted our dd and 14 days when we adopted our ds to finalize in birthstate (rather than await ICPC). I highly recommend a corporate apartment. They are available in virtually every large city and the cost is comparable to an extended stay hotel; we paid $70 a day for a two bedroom (my parents came at the end) with new washer/dryer in apt, full kitchen with all amenities, and VHS/DVD player with television. You can locate them in the yellow pages under apartments; the ad will state short term or corporate stay. Neither time did we give notice of arrival or departure (as we did not know), and they were awesome.

We used ready to use formula only both times. The hospital will probably give you some RTU formula and individually packaged, pre sterilized nipples.

Being 2000 miles away from home, family and friends for 40 days mandates that you go out - EVERYDAY. We went out to eat with our dd, went to the bookstore and coffee shop daily; and I am a self confessed germ phob. I put cotton mittens on her hands, a blanket over her carrier and did not let anyone get close enough to see her, much less touch her. She was 5 lbs. My son spent most of our wait in the NICU, so he had only one adventure out before we returned home.

With dd, we flew there and drove home but wished we had brought the stroller to accompany the infant carrier; it would have made all of the walking we did easier. Both of my kids were much much too small for Baby Bjorn, which has a minimum wt of 8 lbs.

One thing that is really special is that we purchased a book for her several times each week that we were in her birthstate, inscribed it with a message and the date; she will always have those. We also took photos of landmarks and other sites in their birthstate to be a part of the journal that I keep for them.

Have a safe and peaceful trip. Cannot wait for your update.

[cynthia900]

Sadie,

I had a different experience - and highly recommend that you NOT take your son out to public places. My daughter got a fever at 2 weeks and was hospitalized for 2 weeks because of it. Turned out to be a cold but since it can be really serious, and it was an adoption, they had to rule out all possible causes. Especially in cough and cold season it is really common for newborns to get sick (3 newborns on my block were hospitalized for fever that year). Peds recommend no contact with strangers (or extended family) for a certain amount of time because of this. I think it is 4 or 6 weeks. Of course you cannot prevent any contact but any unnecessary contact should be avoided. So go for walks etc but I wouldn't take the risk of a mall or restaurant or any other enclosed space with strangers.

I stayed in a Homewood suites and they were great - and had a dishwasher and a separate bedroom from the living room which was nice too. I wished I had brought some nice bath products, manicure stuff etc since it is a good time to pamper yourself - stuck in a hotel....

[katmom2]

Congrats Sadie!!!
We adopted from Kansas and live in Missouri. We have adopted from Kansas twice now. It is a great state to adopt from. What state will you finalize in? We just finalized our adoption in Kansas they will final in 60 days with only one post-placement visit. Both times ICPC was fast for us. It took 4 days on both of our adoptions. What city will you be traveling to? Our first adoption through KS we stayed at the Ronald McDonald house because our son was in NICU for 3 weeks. This last time the hosptial had a hotel that we stayed in. It was really nice. It had everything just like home. Plus a real convience was it was right accross the street from the hospital, so when my kids were tired daddy took them back to take a nap. We could cook, they serve breakfast, there was washer and dryers and computer internet service. It was great, very clean and almost like new. We felt very comfortable. Plus there was a huge fireplace and TV in the family room for our kids. Our rooms had TV also and phones just like a hotel would. My parents ended up coming to stay with us for two days and they stayed there also. Cost was only $35 a night, so you might check them out. I searched the hospital internet site and called them before we left to make reservations. So you might check that on yours.
We kept the baby in except when we ate out. We always asked for booths or a corner booth. We kept her covered until we got to our table and then would put her on the inside seat so nobody could touch her or get close to her. It seemed to work out pretty good.
Gotta go. Keep us update and good luck.

amom to
dd 8 years old
ds 4 years old
dd 10 weeks old