Lost our Daughter while traveling to CPS!!

[Marisa'sMom10]

Nearly a month ago, I drove from Arkansas to Alabama with our 3 month old to pick up her father, my fiancée, from his military station in Mobile to bring him home for Thanksgiving. The night we arrived, I laid our daughter on a sofa and made the mistake of turning to get a diaper to change her. Well, 10 hrs of traveling made her quite the wiggle worm and she managed to scoot to the edge of the sofa and fall off striking her left temple on a coffee table and the concrete floor of our hotel room. We immediately rushed her to the ER and after a CT and check up, they determined she was fine, just some bruising where she hit her head. 2 days later, I took her to a local pediatrician who looked her over and commented that while her bruise looked nasty, it was healing as it should and she was doing fine. 2 days after that, she began vomiting so we thought she picked up a bug. Called her pediatrician at home to ask what to do and was told to give her some pedialyte to help settle her tummy and keep her hydrated. Well, 24 hrs later, she was still vomiting so we took her back to the ER. They start an IV and do another CT scan. Next think we know, we're being told she has fluid on her brain and we're being taken by ambulance to a women's and children's hospital. We get there and we're immediately questioned by Drs. We told the truth and were finally allowed to see our daughter. We were told she had a subdural hematoma and they didn't believe our story and were contacting CPS for an investigation. We were told she had fresh bruising on top of old bruising indicating abuse. We couldn't believe it. The Dr told us she had an expert on bruises that she was contacting and took pictures of our daughter with her iPhone claiming the batteries were dead in their digital camera. We stupidly believed her. The next day, we asked about the expert and what they said, she recanted and said there was no expert, just some literature. We should've asked to see it. CPS comes in and after a short interview, clears my fiancée after learning he wasn't even in the hotel room when she fell. But they spent an hr and a half interviewing me trying to get me to say I hit my daughter. I would never even dream of harming one hair on her. Eventually, they gave up and had me show them the hotel room and where she fell. So I did. The social worker told me It is impossible for a 3 month old to scoot herself off a couch. Not true. I'm sure anyone here can vouch that a 3 month old is anything but still. My mother and grandmother came down from AR to try to get custody of my daughter since they already made it clear they were not going to release her to me until I was cleared. When CPS refused several times, my family left. Our daughter got better and was ready to be released from the hospital, but CPS refused to let her be discharged. The nurses stopped coming to check on our daughter unless they had to 3 days before she was released. 2 days before, she was taken off her monitors. I was asked to take a polygraph to clear myself but I have a heart condition that prohibited that and a letter from my cardiologist prohibiting me from taking that test as well. CPS told me if I took the polygraph and passed, we could have our daughter. When I told them my cardiologist prohibited me from taking it, I was told I was no longer cooperating with the investigation and I either take the test or they were taking our daughter. I tried my best to find an alternative to taking the test and even looked for an attorney to no avail. Finally, I was called and told I had 2 hrs to either take the test or kiss my daughter goodbye. So I ran to risk my health to take it and they refused to administer the polygraph. Then I get another call telling me I have 45 min before they were coming to take our daughter and I couldn't do anything. All an hr earlier than they initially told me. So I could do nothing but hurry to my daughter's side to be with her as long as I could. After they ripped her sleeping body from my arms and carried her away, CPS spent another hr trying to get me to say I hit my daughter and that I had hit her while she was in the hospital because the bruise had spread. She was in the PICU, the nurses would've seen or heard me if I had done that. When I became too upset to be coherent anymore, they left. The next day, we were finally able to get an attorney. He pulled the accusations against me claiming I refused to cooperate with CPS, that I refused to give them any of my daughter's items, that there were no relatives willing to take my daughter, And a host of other false accusations. We had proof against nearly every one. A few days later, CPS interviewed my fiancée trying to get him to admit to hitting our daughter and me. When he refused and asked for our attorney, he was arrested and taken to jail. I bailed him out and then we find out his charges were dropped for lack of evidence. Finally we get to court and learn that CPS is using a birthmark on our daughter's forehead as evidence of old bruising from abuse. We immediately tell them it's a birthmark and offer pictures from the day she was born with that mark. They refused. My family comes back and tries again to get custody of our daughter and are refused again. We are refused custody of our daughter because while they have no proof we did anything outside of her injuries, they say they have no proof that we didn't do anything either. The judge puts her back in foster care but wants our case moved to AR immediately. Nearly a week later, we are finally called in for a service plan and told we will be able to see our daughter for one hr once a week until the case is transferred. It's been 2 weeks and we still haven't seen her. We don't know what to do. Our attorney has cost us $5,500 so far and we're living in a hotel until we can get our case transferred to Arkansas. We ere just trying to take the best care of our daughter we could and CPS takes her away anyway. What can we do? Thank you!!

[LanceBabe]

What state do you live in?

What state has your child?

She said in the very beginning -- she lives in Arkansas and was in Alabama when the baby was taken.

[Marisa'sMom10]

Our daughter is still in AL somewhere. We haven't been allowed to see her still.

We have already contacted AR and they are more than willing to accept the case. All of the paperwork is in place, AL just needs to send a formal request for transfer of jurisdiction. And AL Is dragging their feet and we don't really know why. Won't be in their budget anymore. We Had hoped to get her home in time for Christmas. Still hoping but highly doubtful.

We do have a criminal defense attorney. He also does family law. But he doesn't seem to have much experience with CPS. Actually, every attorney that I called either hung up on me when I mentioned CPS or referred me to a non working number. Seems they are scared of CPS around here. Our attorney is even treading lightly explaining that while we want to make enough commotion to be noticed, we don't want to anger them or they will choose to ignore us all together until they absolutely have to. This isn't right nor fair. We've done nothing wrong!

Thank you all for the suggestions!!

[MaggieC]

I am not an attorney. As such, I can not not nor will I offer legal advice.

I can offer information and perhaps suggestions but all matters MUST be discussed with your retained legal counsel.

I have some questions:


Have all criminal charges been dropped? Both against you and your finance?

In moving the baby to AR, is she being removed to AR foster care or to kinship care with a relative?

As to a criminal defense attorney; often, a criminal defense attorney is the best way to go no matter in which court you are involved.

In my experience, criminal defense attorneys know how to handle themselves and are cognizant of constitutional rights and the nuances of court activity.

I would, if I were you, continue to try to line up an attorney in AR. You could call the AR Bar for recommendations. Yes, I know, many attorneys can not and will not handle a CPS case. That's how tough they tend to be.

Stay strong and focused.

[MaggieC]

Marisa's Mom:

Try contacting these folks: National Coalition for Child Protection Reform www.nccpr.info

They do not take individual cases. But, they might be able to recommend an attorney in AR (be sure to state the county in AR to which the case will be transferred) who handles CPS cases. Be very clear in your request that you are only looking for a referral to an attorney or entity (parent advocates, etc) in AR.

Stay strong.

[Marisa'sMom10]

MaggieC,

1) There were never any charges brought against me. They tried to charge my fiancée with Wilful Child Abuse but those were dropped quickly. He has no court date or anything. There aren't even any pending charges. All we're told is while they can't prove we did anything, they can't prove we didn't do anything either. Which is obviously stupid.

2) She will be placed in a temporary foster home in AR until a home study on my mother or grandmother is complete. Then she will be placed with one of them until the investigation is over and we are cleared. We hope AR will find this frivolous and drop the case but I'm not holding my breath.

3) That's what we currently have. He just also deals with family law as well. He was the only attorney that didn't hang up on us and has tried to help. He's doing the best he can, he's just really expensive.

I'm not real sure about contacting an attorney in AR. I don't think it's a bad idea to have one on standby just in case things get ugly. The fun in AR is I have friends and former classmates that work for CPS. And my mother has worked with them for the last decade so I have a few connections. I know none of them will be on my case but hopefully it will have some help in knowing we're not that kind of family that could ever do this. Still hoping they will get the case file and see how crazy this is. I hope so anyway. But I'm still going to have an attorney on standby if possible in case things go wrong.

I know this happened at the worst possible time. There is a case down here where a father murdered his 3 ye old son and 4 ye old daughter and buried them in different states. I know that just made every CPS case in the US a lot more difficult.

Thank you all for the support and suggestions! It's given me a wonderful place to start looking for help. I only wish we could do something to keep this from ever happening to another person.

[Marisa'sMom10]

Thank you everyone!!

Now I'm beyond angry. I got a phone call this morning and I'm finally given a visitation date. Dec 27. They are refusing anything earlier. Now 4 weeks since I've seen my daughter. We never did anything wrong and we're being treated worse than maximum security prisoners.

Now I really want that social worker, her supervisor, and the idiot doctor that doesn't know the difference between a bruise and a birthmark or even how a bruise heals, to all lose their jobs and licenses. No one deserves to ever go through this. Plus, they ruined my Christmas, I want to ruin theirs. Who or where do I go to to get this done? There has to be some place or something I can do. Any ideas??? Thank you!!

[LindaJM]

Marisa'sMom10,

What is the status of your case? Any news about a transfer to your home state yet?

The four weeks of waiting for an opportunity to see your child was excessive. When your case ends, you might want to sue the Department of Social Services. But until then, don't rock the boat too hard. Getting your case transferred is a big plus.

[Marisa'sMom10]

Hi! We're still waiting. They wouldn't do anything before Christmas. I did finally find the director of DHR in Mobile. We went to their office and while we couldn't see anyone, we did get a phone call from someone high up. She did ask us some information and she said she would call back. Amazingly enough, she kept her word. She called and said that there was nothing we could do with the holidays. But come Monday morning, a motion is being filed to dismiss the ICPC and just take our daughter back to AR. AR has finally officially received jurisdiction from AL. I told this lady the entire story and she said she was writing some down what I said. I told her about the Dr being odd and some of the things she did. I told her about our treatment from the case worker and her supervisor. She took them off our case and took over it herself. She said she would look into what happened. I also submitted a letter and an email to the Governor of AL. My hope is those two join the unemployment line before long. We feel better with this new person but we're not placing all of our trust in her. However, she said some things seemed fishy to her and hopefully our home state will feel the same and just drop the case. Guess we'll see.

So I guess the lesson is don't go to Mobile unless you want to risk losing your kids for them just being kids. And yes, I'd love to sue them when this is over. Fun will be finding an attorney willing to take that case. I want to go after the Dr too. But we'll see. Thank you all for the support and I'll update as soon as I find out anything!

[LindaJM]

Has your case been transferred yet? I'm hoping to hear you've got your child back now.

[Marisa'sMom10]

Hi Linda!

I wish I could tell you I did too. But all I've gotten are more lies. So Monday came and the initial social worker called and then a foster worker called for our address. And I went up front to wait for them as I was so excited to see my daughter finally. So I wait and wait and they finally call for me to let them in to the hotel. And they walked up and to my huge disappointment, they were empty handed. They didn't bring my daughter. I immediately got upset and started asking where she was. They told me they never told me they were bringing my daughter. I almost lost it and broke down. But I brought them back to the room. They said the foster worker is supposed to meet me and they needed information to get my ICPC going. All they wanted were addresses and pretty much to taunt us. The social worker said she had told us we were supposed to give her food, clothes, and diapers for my daughter and that she told us That. Not true. She told us we are supposed to reimburse the state for taking care of our daughter and that she told us that too. She said she never hung up on me and that I've never called her asking about my daughter. So it seems the lady we talked to at the director's office had only reprimanded the social worker and the social worker was pissed I had gone to the director's office. But that also caused them to have to really step up the ICPC. However, I got really upset and just started bawling because they had not brought my daughter like they said they would. And the foster worker tells me I need to calm down and quit being hostile and uncooperative. I didn't do anything!!! I never went near them or got angry or anything. I just couldn't hold back the tears anymore. All they said was the foster worker now has to go meet my daughter and get together with the foster parents for a convenient time for them to bring me my daughter for visitation. And I have to go Tuesday for another ISP. So nothing but lies. Our attorney swears there is a motion filed, just the judge is on vacation until next week and will sign it when he gets back. Meanwhile, they're continuing the ICPC just in case the motion falls through. So now we don't know anything again.

It's now been a month since our daughter was kidnapped from us. We're through hoping and trying to stay positive. All they've done is lie to us and we figure we'll be moved to AR when we're moved. We feel completely defeated at this point. I asked our attorney if there is any way to go after them for kidnapping and he said no, that they're protected from that. But depending on what we find in her medical records, we may have a pretty strong case for malpractice. I found out yesterday that our daughter's insurance has rejected the hospital claims because the hospital marked the claims with a code for abuse/injuries caused by someone else.So now we know her medical records are full of made up crap and DHR still has me blocked from them. I'm more determined than ever to get my hands on them now. I'm just Not sure how yet. But we have to wait until after we get our daughter back and everything is cleared before we can file for malpractice. Not completely what we want. We really want DHR to pay for kidnapping our daughter but we don't know if that will ever happen or even how to do it. This just sucks so bad. So here we still sit. Still waiting. But completely defeated.

[Frustrated]

If this was a normal case, this would be classified as a state kidnapping, because across the state border and jurisidiction, some one could be charged for keeping a child in another state where the parents really lived in another state, I would see this as state kidnapping. Please check out the jurisdiction laws. I am sure you can use some laws to use against CPS for "kidnapping" and needs to be returned to the proper state where parents reside in. I do distinctly remember in the CPS manual that the child needs to be within the parent's jursidiction area, ie: the residence where the parent reside in. Please check out your CPS manual, on both states. and then when you do find that policy rule, point out the clause to CPS to state that the child needs to be in the jursidiction on where the parents reside from. That's the policy rule. Point that out to CPS and they will have to make arrangements to transfer the child to another CPS in your state.

[LindaJM]

Frustrated, I don't think that law applies in the USA. Here, they take children in whatever jurisdiction they're in - not just in the jurisdiction they live in.

Marisa'sMom10, have you written a letter to the hospital for the records, or filled out a form they might have for records request? You are still the LEGAL parent of your baby even if the state has custody, and they should give you her records. They probably won't do it for a verbal request.

When is your next hearing?

[Marisa'sMom10]

Frustrated,

I can't even get a copy of my rights as a parent. I guess it's safe to assume there are none.

Linda, provided we don't go back to AR, it's set for June 14. Yep. Nearly 8 months since abducting her. This is crazy.

I have been told the motion has been signed now. But the person in charge of coordinating the transfer is on vacation, of course. However, they do expect to fly her to AR this week. And the ISP Tuesday should schedule a visit before they fly her out. Yeah, I'm not holding my breath. I'm sick of their lies.

[Marisa'sMom10]

Linda,

Yes, I have filled out a form. All I've been told is DHR has me blocked from her records and I have to bring them a letter from DHR stating I can have them. I found out the hospital put a code on her medical claims for abuse/injuries intentionally inflicted by another party. That right there says her records are full of crap. The fun of going through and finding all of the crap and proving it's crap should be interesting. It's a university research hospital and we may have a good malpractice suit against them. We'll see though. Thoughts?

[treytrey1]

You hAve the rights to all of your childs records unless your rights have been terminated, and it doesnt look like they have.
Im going to do some research for you on your parental rights and Ill get back with you.

[treytrey1]

Ok you need to google Parents Bill of rights, center for Arizona policy. This gives all the rights of a parent.
It doesnt say anything about non custodial parent which you are at this time. However I believe they have to honor
the rights to medical records and the right to make major decisions unless a Judge has ordered otherwise.
I didnt check the state where you are now, but you can google it to see what applys there. Hopefully you will
get transfered back very soon.

[MaggieC]

Has your attorney requested the medical records? A simple part of the discovery process.

[treytrey1]

I'm so sorry. I just realized that I looked up the parents rights
for the wrong state. I

[treytrey1]

Ill look them up for Arkansas and also.Alabama. Ill post when I find it.

[Marisa'sMom10]

Treytrey1,

I haven't signed my rights away. But I can't find anything towards the parental rights in AL. They still won't let me access them.

MaggieC,
I asked our attorney but he says they're not important. Getting us back to AR is.


Yesterday, I had to do another ISP with the foster workers this time. The supervisor was kind enough to apologize for me not seeing my daughter for so long. Appreciate that but it doesn't make up for what time we've lost. But they scheduled my visitation and it's tomorrow for 2 hrs. We're still waiting for her to be moved to AR. From what I hear, paperwork has to be signed and approved all the way up to the Govenor of AL. I don't expect this to go quickly. I asked again about the medical records and I did get them to agree to send them to her Drs back home. I guess that will have to work for now. I Did tell them I didn't believe anything they were telling me. No attitude, just matter of fact. The supervisor was shocked at my statement wanting to know why. I told her I've been lied to so much and I'm done. I'll continue to cooperate and do what I need, I just won't believe them. She just said she understood. Yeah right. Anyway, they then tell me our daughter is sick with a nasty cold and they were taking her to the Dr. They asked me if I would go and fill out the paperwork and answer questions. I got concerned but of course I agreed. They also agreed to let me see her off when she goes to the airport so I can see that she's actually going home. They agreed. Then the supervisor asked why we were there, what happened to our daughter. I told her. And I pointed out the birthmark being confused with a bruise. She seemed surprised. We left. They called me later to give me the Dr.'s name and address.

[Marisa'sMom10]

This morning, I left an hr before her appt to make sure I was there on time. Plus I wanted to fill out the paperwork before she got there so I could spend time with her. And guess what happened?

I'm given the wrong Dr's name and the wrong address. I know. Shocking, right? I'm still kicking myself for actually believing them.

Well, I got my phone and figured the Drs last name had to be correct so I Google it and find the only other Dr with the same last name in Mobile. I call and ask if my daughter has an appt with them. She does. So I get directions from them and still get there before my daughter.

So I'm finishing up the paperwork when my daughter arrives and she looks nothing like I thought. She looked like she barely grew at all since I last saw her. She didn't scream when I took her. She just looked at me like I'm just another person, no hint of recognition in her. She just looked sad. I pulled out her rattle and she immediately grabbed it and tried to shove it in her mouth like always. That made me happier. Of course I covered her in kisses and told her I loved her about a million times. I look up and notice the foster mother and worker have moved and they are actually redoing all of the paperwork I just did. Later I found out the screwed it up pretty bad saying my daughter was born in 3 different hospitals, mine and my fiancée's birthdays were reversed, and I was listed as the maternal mother. Pure genius. But what can I expect from AL?

My daughter begins to get fussy so I decided to breastfeed her. Immediately, I get in trouble and a bottle is shoved in her mouth instead. They were afraid putting her back on breastmilk would hurt her. And these women work with kids???? Well, she doesn't want the bottle so I decided to change her diaper. I go in the bathroom and start to change her. As soon as I laid her flat, she screamed. Next thing I know, the foster mother and worker bust through the bathroom door wanting to know what I did to her. I picked her up and she quieted down. So I laid her back down and she screamed again. They kinda relaxed but stayed right there watching me.

I get her diaper off and discover she's covered front to back with a nasty diaper rash!! She never Had that with me!! She screamed again when I wiped her. I almost cried. I finished her diaper change with two hawks on my shoulder and we go back to the exam room.

[treytrey1]

Ok what I found for Alabama is that for the non custodial parent
there has to be a court order saying weather or not you
can have acsess to the records. Have you been to court?
I don't remember if I read that or not. Make yiur lawyer work
for you. I believe you siad you hired him. Tell him what you except
from him since he's being paid to help you.

[LindaJM]

You can't just "tell" these types of lawyers anything. The instructions have to be written so they know you've got evidence on paper in case you have to sue them for malpractice.

Make your court appointed attorney work for YOU

Visitation Report: Write down everything that happened. Send your report to the caseworker telling her she has ten days to respond in writing if she disagrees with your report. This is important only because they sometimes they will say bad stuff happened at the visitation so they can use that in the next social worker's court report. If you're making your own reports and they aren't responding to your observations that keeps them from being able to bring up false allegations later. You should definitely mention the bad diaper rash and that she'd never had such a terrible rash while in your custody. Also, mention that she doesn't appear to have grown much while in foster care. I wonder about doctor's height/weight measurements before and now.

[Marisa'sMom10]

Thank you treytrey!! We only went to court long enough for the judge to say "expedite to AR via ICPC." That was Dec 6th.

LindaJM, this is an attorney that we hired. I've told him I want the records and he refused just saying I can get them when we get home. He's really getting annoying. We're basically paying him $150/hr to make phone calls and send an occasional email. I'm getting more information making those calls myself than he does. And when I tell him what I found out, he doesn't trust me until he hears it from his sources. It's quite annoying. I hadn't thought to make a report for the visitation but I guess it shouldn't surprise me that they would make up more garbage. I'm finding out now that AL has told AR our daughter was bruised from head to toe and that I'm an alcoholic drug addict with mental problems. Now when I get back to AR, I get to be drug tested and have a psychology exam. We really, really, really, REALLY want to sue them for kidnapping our daughter and slandering us. We don't even know where to start though. Our attorney has told us they are protected from that though. But he also doesn't understand why I'm still here and he's still involved when our daughter is supposed to be going home any day now. I refuse to abandon our daughter and I can't stand the thought of her being here when I'm not. We can't find any other attorney to take our case though so we feel trapped with him. As for her weight, November 22, she was 11lbs, 8 oz. January 5, she is 12lb, 13oz at 23 1/4" tall. Barely gained a lb in a month and a half.

Continuing...We go back to the exam room and the nurse instructs me to strip her down to her diaper. The hawks are still staring me down as I lay her down and undress her and my hands start shaking so bad, I can barely get the buttons undone on her outfit. But I get her undressed and wrap her in a blanket to keep her warm. The nurse comes in and weighs her and measures her and I'm left alone with the hawks. The foster mother asks me about the mark on her forehead and I told her it's a birthmark called a stork bite, she's had it since she was born and I have the exact same mark to this day on my forehead. She just shrugs and asks about her eyes because they are goopy. I explained she's always been that way and she has a clogged tear duct and our pediatrician at home has me massage the inside corner of her eye with a warm wet wash cloth to help. Then the Dr comes in. She's nice until she learns my daughter is in foster care and I'm her mother. Then she turns her nose up at me and ignores me the rest of the visit. But I still answered and added information as much as I could whenever necessary. I did get aggravated when the Dr asked me about why my daughter was in the hospital a month and a half ago and about what her injuries were and how they happened and all that stuff. She didn't do any type of follow up with Marisa so what did all of that information have to do with her currently having a bad cold? They check her for RSV and do an x-ray of her chest which all com back clean. She just has a nasty cold and I find out she also has an ear infection. The Dr also mentions that her gums are badly swollen from teething. I told them she was teething when they took her. I also find out that they stopped adding cereal to her bottles to help with her acid reflux the day they took her. She gets ice cold formula bottles instead and her feedings have not been increased. She also never had the follow up CT the hospital Dr ordered the day they took her and even told the foster mother that. She is not current on her shots, which I'm kinda glad about because I've been scared I wouldn't be able to get the lot number incase of a recall on a batch and I know what allergic reactions to watch out for. They aren't working on her developmental skills with her, she has actually regressed. She doesn't suck her thumb anymore, nor does she really coo or talk like she used to. She barely even smiles. It's completely heartbreaking. The Dr doesn't look at her diaper rash but asks the foster mother what she's using. Corn starch. Dr asks if she's sprinkling it on or if she puts it in her hand and rubs it on. Sprinkles it on. The Dr scolds her telling her never to do that because Marisa could aspirate on it and get pneumonia. Great. They're trying to kill our daughter. The Dr tells her to make sure to use a humidifier, elevate the head of her crib, and use saline drops in her nose before trying to suction it out. All things I already knew and had been doing at home. The foster mother laughs and just says it's been a while since she's had an infant in the house. I wonder if she's ever taken care of an infant at that point. The Dr also mentions Marisa is full of gas and to add Mylacon drops to her bottles. I quickly said no because I've done it and it always tore up her tummy. The Dr just looks at me and says that she's older now so she can tolerate them better. I said no again and I was just ignored. We left.

I take her outside and carry her to the foster parent's car. I go to put her in the car seat and notice not only is the cover nasty, but the seat is old and outdated. Probably from the early 90s or so. I almost ran to get her car seat from her father's car and demand it be used instead. I gave my daughter her rattle and the foster mother took it away and handed it back to me telling me she didn't need any toys, they have those at her house and they would just get lost anyway. So I asked if she needed anything for me to bring to the visit the next day. She said no and got in the car and left. I went to the car and sat there and just cried for a while. Our daughter is suffering badly in pain and is clearly being neglected. They pulled her from people that love and cherish her more than anything in the world and put her in far worse conditions. And there doesn't seem to be a thing we can do. I called our attorney and he kinda scolded me for still being here and said there's nothing we can do about her conditions but he would see what the hold up is to get her home. Haven't been able to get a hold of him since. So that night, I went and spent over $100 on diapers, wipes, baby Oragel, pacifiers, and toys for her. I took pictures of everything I bought. I couldn't make things better for her but at least I could try to make her more comfortable.

The next morning, I boiled the pacifiers and washed the toys. I got her a bottle of breastmilk with her cereal in it and warmed it up for her. I go to the visit. They are 20 min late and instead of getting a playroom, we're put in a freezing conference room. Lovely. I asked if she has eaten yet and the foster worker tells me she had half a bottle but didn't seem hungry at all. I pulled out her warmed bottle I brought and told the foster worker it's breastmilk with cereal and she says ok. I give it to Marisa and she just goes to town on it. The foster worker is surprised and asks if I brought anymore. I didn't because I couldn't find a cooler to keep it cold. Marisa ate 5 of the 7 oz I brought. The foster worker brought an older lady in to supervise and all she did was read a newspaper the whole time. I gave my daughter her toys one at a time to play with and I changed her diaper to the ones I bought. I sang to her like always when I change her diaper and I blew raspberries on her belly and she smiled and squealed. We played until the foster worker came back to supervise the last hour. I gave Marisa a pacifier and she didn't have a clue what to do with it. She finally figured it out and got sleepy. So I told her it was ok to go to sleep and mommy would be right there when she woke up. I sang her usual songs and out she went. I laid her on my chest and kept singing and kissing her and telling her we love her and I promise we will get her home soon and we'll go back to normal soon. I also clipped her long fingernails since the foster mother complained how hard it was saying Marisa throws a fit. She has never thrown a fit when I've done it. She woke up and looked at me and finally it seemed she recognized me. She smiled at me and cooed a bit and just held on tight. Unfortunately, she woke up 15 min before visitation was up so it was hard to give her back. The foster worker took the diapers and wipes and everything but her toys and pacifiers. I finally convinced her to take at least 3 pacifiers of the 6 I brought. She also told me she would take the car seat I have when they fly her out. That made me glad. Again though, I sat in the car and I cried again. I miss her so much and I really want to get her home and let her be happy again. It's torture.

My mother has been talking to her connections in AR and they said they were going to try to fly her out Wed. Her 5 month birthday. My mother gets to go with a social worker to pick Marisa up from the airport where she will be placed in my mother's custody immediately. However, because of the garbage AL is now making up, I won't be allowed to stay with her and I'll still have limited visitation with her until everything is cleared up. I'm beyond angry. There has to be something we can do. Where would we even start to try to get any type of lawsuit against AL?? Once this is all cleared up anyway. Thank you!!