The Waiting Game

I left off on July 2, the day we got to leave the hospital. That was also the day that we and Alecia signed all of the paperwork. (Had to wait until HG was born to sign.) Because we had a power of attorney signed we were able to leave with Holland Grace and we can get her medical treatment, etc.
After the legal paperwork was all completed everything was to be sent to our Alabama lawyer for him to put the Interstate Compact (ICPC) packet together. The packet includes all of the legal paperwork, our adoption home study packet that our AL social worker did (includes a write-up of our backgrounds, family info and relationships, a review of all our financial info, fingerprints, back ground check, physical exams for Jarrod, myself, and Easton, shot records for our dogs, info about our house, interviews from friends, family members, bosses and co-workers; literally everything about our life in a stack of paperwork.), social/medical interviews and paperwork done by the TN social worker with Alecia, biological father and legal father, medical documents from the hospital from Holland Graces birth. I'm sure I am leaving something out, but you get the just- its everything you could think of that has to be put into a packet and first reviewed by the state you are adopting from, then the state you live in. All has to be perfect. It varies from state to state I'm sure, but my lawyer has been doing out of state adoptions for years and he makes sure every I is dotted and T crossed before a packet is sent off. He says you wouldn't believe the things packets get denied for. Small things. Seemingly irrelevant things. That's why he makes sure they are perfect. With that being said, we had a hard time finding a lawyer here in TN. Something about there being a birth father in jail 2 hours away from here and also a legal father that is going through a bad divorce with the birth mother makes the case not so appealing. I did find a kind soul who was willing to take our case. She was very familiar with adoptions, but had never done an out of state adoption. However she had a long conversation with our AL lawyer (I know bc I had to pay for it), and she seemed like she knew enough that he could guide her a little and all would be fine. AL lawyer guided her through all that would need to be done, sent she and I all the paperwork needed, and even sent an instruction sheet on how everything should be filled out. All should be easy peasy.

So. Lets go back to July 2.

We left the hospital a day earlier than expected. HG was discharged just 24 hours after she came into the world. We left the hospital ready to begin the waiting game. I knew my AL lawyer was going to get everything together and I just had to wait on the phone call to say we can leave. We knew the 4th of July holiday was going to set us back a day or 2. No problem, whats another day when we have been here 2 weeks already. Fast forward to Wednesday, our first full day home with HG. I get a call from AL lawyer reminding me of how everything was to happen and what all was needed. At that point I remembered that the TN social worker had given Alecia some paperwork to fill out and get back to her. I called Alecia and the paperwork somehow got lost in the shuffle at the hospital so I printed a copy and Alecia filled another one out. I found out that Friday that the paperwork needed from the hospital was not gotten. Ugh. HG had a pediatrician follow up that day and they wanted her bilirubin checked again so we went to the hospital for another heel prick and to gather the paperwork that was not gotten. I got all the paperwork that I could and HG got stuck again and we left. The hospital HG was born in is 30 minutes away from the town we are staying and by the time we got everything done the post office was closed so I went Saturday morning and overnighted the paperwork. Whew. Now we just wait. The packet should be put together on Monday when the stuff I sent got there and sent to TN ICPC.
Well, mid morning Monday I got a call from my AL lawyer. He had received my paperwork, he had received the TN lawyer paperwork and then he told me all that was wrong with it.
The legal father and Alecia did not sign their name as it was typed. They only signed first and last name and not middle name even though it was listed. The TN lawyer did not sign her notary signature the same way her stamp read (left off her middle initial), TN lawyer dated her notary with 2 different dates (same date in all places and a different date in one place), the specific ICPC processing form that ICPC requires before a packet can even be looked at was not signed, our zip code was wrong on our paperwork and TN lawyer correctly crossed it out with one line, however she did not initial it.
It may be because I work in the medical field and I am a notary, but all of these things are just common sense to me. You sign as you name is written, you initial a mistake, etc...
Anyway, as long as we could get this corrected that day we would just be behind one day so I made a plan. I figured my hardest obstacle would be to get the legal father to sign again. I mean, its not even his baby so I am just thankful he signed in the first place, I could totally understand him refusing to do it again because the lawyer didn't have him sign correctly. Luckily I had to text him to ask him (beg) to sign in the first place so I had his number. I text him and he agreed to do it again. (I am so glad I got to meet him at the Jr. rodeo a few weeks ago. He and Alecia understandably don't get along, but I was able to meet him that day and I think it helps him knowing he is helping Jarrod and I out with the adoption, not doing a favor for the woman he is divorcing. No offense to Alecia, she would agree I am sure.) Anyway, he agreed again. God bless him. I knew Alecia would help me out again so I emailed TN lawyer to ask when we could get all this done that day and sent back off.
I am going to make a long story short here. Instead of answering with when she could help she answered with why everything my lawyer wanted corrected was petty and would hold up in court. (Just FYI, "Holding up in court" and passing the criteria of ICPC is 2 different things. If ICPC denied we could take them to court over it and we would probably win. However that process could take months and we would have to be in TN until there was a ruling.) Her answer came 2 hours after I asked when we could meet. She said she had spent the past 2 hours calling "other senior lawyers" as well as the TN and AL ICPC offices. All emails went to me, AL and TN lawyers and we all went back and forth. I asked TN lawyer if she would at least just fix her inconsistent notary date and get the required ICPC form signed that day. She replied that she had no time in her schedule until Wednesday afternoon. Seriously, oh yes she did. That sent us and AL lawyer into orbit. I will digress there, but just know AL lawyer sent a very professional, yet a little sarcastic email to her. It made me laugh for the first time that day.
ANYWAY, I took matters into my own hands. I found back in my emails the ICPC form and looked at it. It did not have to be notarized, only signed by Alecia. Alecia was busy that day and was a little hard to track down, but I did it and I got the form signed. Also, something I forgot to mention earlier- the discharge summary from the hospital is supposed to be signed by the doctor. When I got the summary and other paperwork it had the doctors name typed on it and I was told that with their new computer system it was considered signed. It bothered me when I sent it off on Friday like that. On Monday with everything else going on it still bothered me about that not being literally signed. In my job, before I can admit someone to the rehab/nursing home, a discharge summary from the hospital has to be signed by the doctor. AL hospitals have gone to electronic signatures as well, but in AL (with the hospitals I deal with anyway) it states beside the typed name of the doctor "electronically signed by". So, since this bothered me so bad and because I was having to track down other information to I decided to get it signed. I had not made copies of the paperwork I got from the hospital so I had to start over. I got the paperwork AGAIN and took it to the doctors office. Luckily he was there and was willing to sign every single sheet I had of HG's paperwork (might as well have him sign it all just to be sure, right?). I called the AL lawyers office and told them that the ICPC form and signed hospital paperwork would be there via fed ex by 10:30 the next morning. Whew. I felt somewhat accomplished that I was able to get the most important part done. We decided to hold our breath and send in the packet though it was not perfect like AL lawyers packets usually are.
Now we are at Tuesday morning. AL lawyer received what I sent and they put the packet all together. Sometime after lunch I got an email from AL lawyers secretary that they don't have the supporting documents from the AL social worker home study. What the heck?! AL social worker gave me a copy of everything the beginning of June and told me she mailed the originals the next day to my AL lawyer...
I called and emailed AL social worker. She usually answers quickly. An hour and a half later I had no response. I remembered that I had a copy of everything at our house. Our dear friend David Miller went to the house for me to look for our copy of the paperwork (I couldn't remember where I put it). He found it and was able to scan and email it to the lawyer with BARELY enough time for them to get the packet out that afternoon. Oh yeah, and that afternoon  they discovered that a copy of our power of attorney over HG was not send by TN lawyer. Luckily I had a copy and found a place to fax it. Anyway, packet mailed. Praise God.
If all went perfectly TN would receive packet Wednesday, Approve within 2 days and send to Alabama who would hopefully approve fast too. Earliest we could get an answer would be Friday or Monday.
On Wednesday AL lawyer called TN ICPC to verify our packet had been received by the person who would look over it. That persons voicemail said she will be out of the office until July 25. He tried to reach others in the office and couldn't.
Thursday after Easton's party AL lawyer called again. He had been calling and emailing people in the TN ICPC office and had not heard from anyone. He asked me to start calling them to.
I called right away and reached someone :-)
She said she had not personally received our packet and the other lady who could have received it left early. She said she had no way of knowing if the other lady had gotten it and I would have to call back tomorrow.
Tomorrow is today. I called the lawyers office to see if they had heard anything. They included a fed ex package in the TN packet for them to send to AL. They continuously checked the tracking and told me that it had been sent out to Alabama today.
Yep, that means it was approved in TN and now just has to clear Alabama. We may be going home in the next few days!! Praise the Lord!!!!!!!!!!!