Destination Paradise

...We're all here together in Mexico! Here's the photo everyone's been waiting to see: This is actually a screen capture from my parents' computer while they were talking to us on Skype as soon as we got home. Hopefully we'll get a nicer one taken while we're here... Some photos of Carlos getting to know his son: Carlos' dad meeting his first grandchild: Wake up, Daddy!!! I decided the last straw was when, after postponing our trip due to the "swine flu outbreak" in Mexico, I fell ill with a nasty strain of the flu. Ironically, it's very likely that what hit me was the same swine flu, due to the fact that there were a number of confirmed cases in the schools where I was substituting right before getting sick. Just when I thought I was recovering, Lucas started showing signs of it. Fortunately, after a check-up at the doctor and lots of Tylenol, he recovered, but we were nervous for awhile. It's always scary to see your ...

Lucas' Birth Certificate: $14 and 10 days Lucas' Social Security Number: 3 months Mexican Notary Stamp on signed Passport Consent Form from Carlos: $50 and 1 month DHL fee to mail said consent form to the US: $35 and 3 days Lucas' Passport: $85 and 2 ½ weeks Round-trip airfare from Chicago to Mexico for me and the baby: $450 ...Having to postpone our much-anticipated reunion because of a swine flu outbreak? Priceless. I would prefer to think that caution and care are all we need, and that a flu outbreak should not deter me from finally seeing my husband after 7 months, but I've been forced to shelve that approach in favor of extreme wariness. If it wasn't enough that all the health professionals in my life on this side of the border were urging me not to go, now it's being confirmed from the Mexican side. Carlos' father, who is a health professional in the non-alarmist tradition, said we must not come. Apparently hospitals in Monterrey ar...