World Class Traveler!

If you are not familiar with Air Force aircraft... or are too lazy to look it up... this is a C-17 and the interior:

The exception to the interior picture is that the center aisle held no cargo, but rather was transporting wounded warriors as well. 48 hours after Jeremy was born we were medically evacuated from Germany on one of these bad boys with about 100 wounded warriors traveling from downrange, through Germany to the US. I am not one to typically complain, but unless you've given birth, and flown in a jump seat for 9 hours less than 48 hours later, while your milk comes in... you don't know what being uncomfortable is. 

Jeremy was given first class treatment the whole way. He flew in his own incubator to keep him as comfortable and safe as possible. He had a team of four nurses and one doctor (who flew in from the US) escort him the whole way. And because of military rules and EFMP processes, only one parent could escort him. So Joe and I made the decision that I would go with Jeremy, while he stayed with our son... and they would join at a later date. 

Moving is difficult to do under any circumstance. I've done it my entire life. While still at Landstuhl we were told we would have to medivac within a week to two. Within a few hours that changed to a few days. Our time in Germany was coming to a close that summer so we were told that whoever flew with Jeremy would need to be prepared to never return to Germany. I had roughly 5 hours to pack and be prepared to be without anything for 4-6 months, while at the same time get all documentation the American Embassy needed to emergency process Jeremy's paperwork and passport for entry into the US.  

Our first stop was Walter Reed in Bethesda, Maryland. We spent a week in the NICU, waiting for Jeremy's vitals and breathing to level out before transporting him further. The hospital had no idea where we were supposed to go. You see, the problem with moving quickly is that the paperwork takes longer to catch up. I told them we were supposed to be at Naval Medical Center Portsmouth, Virginia... there was no proof on any end that NMCP was our final destination. I think I could have told them we were supposed to be in Hawaii and they would have processed everything to send us there! A week later the Air Force finally verified that we were indeed supposed to be at NMCP and chartered a jet for us. 

 While at Walter Reed the genetic test results came back from Germany: a positive for Trisomy 21.  During this week my husband was finally authorized medical leave to come to the US. Towards the end of the week my husband and son finally made it to American soil, and were even able to pass through Walter Reed to see us before heading to Portsmouth (where his orders authorized him to be). We were lucky enough to have my husband's best friend stationed at Langley AFB (right down the road from Portsmouth), he made the 6-hour round trip drive to pick up my husband and son from Baltimore-Washington International, swing by the hospital, and take them back to Hampton Roads.

That weekend Jeremy and I left Walter Reed on our own private jet to go to Portsmouth.