Skip to content

The Alignamaths: Creating Strong Bonds

May 10, 2019

two parents with their baby pose for a photo

Adopting a newborn baby can be scary. And it can be exciting. When your baby needs critical medical care and has to spend time in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, it can be completely overwhelming.

For the Alignamaths, it was all that and more. Lizzy and her husband Randle traveled to Tucson in January 2018 all the way from Tennessee to adopt baby Jubilee. Jubilee had to spend 4 days in the hospital and the family had to stay in Tucson for another 9 after that. That was 13 days away from home, in an unfamiliar city, with uncertainty about the health of your new baby.

Luckily, Lizzy’s mom, Deanna, was able to travel with them, and they all had a place to call home –- the Ronald McDonald House. Not only did staying at the Ronald McDonald House remove a huge financial burden (sometimes in January even motel rooms can be as much as $200 a night), it was home base. A place to regroup and rest. A place to meet other families with similar experiences. Lizzy and Randle even met another family from Tennessee that they have stayed in touch with in the year since.

And Jubilee? She’s perfect. She has a loving home and doting parents. In fact, they all visited Tucson again for her first birthday to see her birth mother. Because Lizzy’s dad and sister were able to come for this trip, they couldn’t pass up a visit to the Ronald McDonald House.

Families and staff alike create such a strong bond while they are here together. We are always happy for families when they get to go back home after a long stay – yet we miss them all the same.