With a very early wake up call of 4 am, I had a pretty grumpy, coughing Liam for the first leg of our flight to Atlanta. I was pretty absorbed with taking care of Liam and really didn't notice anyone else on the plane. Apparently a lady kept giving me and and Liam the stink eye and Rylie got her to stop by giving her one back.😳 I understand his coughing fits will have people looking at us, concerned to see if he is sick (I might do the same), but there is no reason to stare us down. As always, the attendants on the flight were wonderful and the pilot even helped me get Liam through the door.When we got to Atlanta we had a two hour layover where Liam got to stroll the airport and really relaxed and enjoyed himself. He was having such a good time that we actually missed our early boarding to Santo Domingo. When we got to our terminal, with 45 min to spare before takeoff, they were on zone 2. I was a little panicked about trying to get a forty lb boy sitting in his car seat, down the tiny aisles with people already in them. Thankfully a wonderful gentleman in first class offered to help me take Liam down to my aisle and I took him up on it. Liam did amazing on this flight. Probably due to me being able to get him out of his seat and into my lap. He relaxed, and hung out with me the entire flight. I had another lady who kept looking at us on this flight too. I looked at her and smiled. A little while later she looked back and smiled. I did the same. Then she started a conversation with me telling me how much she loves kids like Liam and that it's what she does for a living in the Murfreesboro school district. She was such a sweet lady and so fun to talk to. And she exhibited the perfect way to approach a special needs parent, smiling, gentle, and genuine in her approach.
When we landed in Santo Domingo the weather smacked us in the face. It's hot. Liam doesn't do heat. The last time we were here it was February and perfect. I didn't even think about it still being so hot here right now. Liam kept it together as long as he could and made the hour drive to the hotel (in an air conditioned van) before the heat got to be too much and he threw up. We were literally sitting in front of the hotel unloading and all I had left to get out was Liam when he had had enough.
I was happy that if he was going to throw up that he picked the end of the trip, right as we were getting our hotel room. Unfortunately, the hotel was not ready for us and we had to wait over half an hour for our room to get ready. Liam was crying and drenched in sweat so I took him to the lobby couch, stripped him down, and cooled him off with some wipes. It helped some, but he pretty much cried for the entire wait. He was done.
Once we got to the room he settled down and had a great night. We watched the sunset and all of us were asleep by 9:00.
Our driver will be picking us up at 12:45 today to take us to the hospital and I suspect Liam's procedure will start about 2:00. I anticipate getting back to the hotel about 8 or 9 tonight.
I can't believe the day has arrived already. It's almost surreal to be here again. Thank you so much for all your love and support and prayers. We are so thankful to not be doing this alone. 💚
