I believe it's time for me to fly

Twelve hours and counting....

Assignment: compare and contrast experiences of bringing a child into your home.

Name: Kristine Causton -I will contrast first

Contrast:

• when we had biological child nobody knew when we left for the hospital (except for the person who answered the phone to hear Kris say "I am on the way and YES I will be wanting the epidural!") For adopted daughter everybody knows we are leaving tomorrow. (no epidural has been offered). We have said a lot of goodbyes this week!
• distance traveled for biological child: 22 miles, round trip; distance traveled for adopted child: approx. 13,000 miles round trip.

Compare:

• with both children we will have left the house in the wee hours of the morning
• with both children there was a drawer full of clean, tiny clothes, waiting to be worn upon return
• with both children we couldn't wait to see what they looked like in person
• both children were prayed for and anticipated for many many months
• both times the night before was/is pretty surreal -is this really it? Am I really in labor? Am I really flying to Seoul tomorrow?
• both times had us praying a lot: Dear Lord: make us good parents, keep us safe as we travel, don't let her grow up to be a serial killer, help her know she is loved by you and by us, make her a good sleeper, give her a strong stomach (I don't like to deal with puke), help her to always know she belongs, empower her to live up to her name...

Eleven hours, fifty minutes and counting...