Fifteen days after my last blog post, you know the one 10 months ago, we were supposed to have a call with our adoption agency to hit pause and take a break. After 3 failed matches we needed time to heal before jumping back in.
That day, November 14, I was at work when our social worker's number popped up on my phone. I was in the middle of a work project so thought I would just call her back later. I was putting off having the call to go inactive as long as possible. Because as much as we needed to heal, my heart also broke at the thought of missing out on the baby that was meant to be ours. Less than 10 minutes later the agency number popped up, so I decided to answer and let them know we could chat later in the day.
I was not expecting the words on the other end of the phone. "Ashley, we have a healthy baby boy who was born two days ago. He is ready to be discharged from the hospital, and his birth mom has chosen you to be his parents. If you want to proceed you need to get here soon so he can be discharged."
In a moment of disbelief and shock I called M to get his thoughts - I mean, we were supposed to go inactive, not be leaving again to go meet a baby and birth mom. But, he didn't answer. I called him over and over and then texted over and over. He was at work and couldn't step away. When he finally called me back, he said yes, let's go. So, I called the agency back and things went in full speed after that. I had to print agreement papers at work, Marty came by my office to sign them. I faxed them back to the agency then started looking for flights to leave that night. Unfortunately, my boss wanted me to wait to leave so we could go over a few outstanding things before I left to potentially be gone months. So, I booked our flights to leave first thing the next morning. Then, we met at the bank at lunch time to wire the money to the agency and get notarized copies of some pieces we had to send. I went back to the office, met with boss, then went home. In a hurry I was washing baby clothes, packing bags, and making plans for our dog.
The next morning we left for the airport at 4am CST. We were nervous, excited, and scared. Thankfully we had a direct flight, so we didn't have to deal with crazy travel with all of the adrenaline we had going. We landed then drove straight to Target to buy a car seat, rock and play, and few other things we would need for our stay. When we left Target we went to the hospital to meet birth mom and the social worker.
When we got to the hospital we sat in the waiting room, well, waiting. First we waited on birth mom and social worker, then we waited on paperwork. While the social worker and hospital were working on papers, we sat with birth mom where we spent time telling her more about ourselves. She told us her older son helped pick us because we looked cool and did fun stuff like go to sporting events. She showed us pictures of the baby and her other son. The baby had dark hair and eyes and was biting his bottom lip in every picture. And just about the cutest thing I had ever seen!
After we chatted with birth mom, the social worker came out and birth mom went back to be with baby. This time, we went over paper work like power of attorney, etc. Then we went to a hospital room. And then . . .
Moments later birth mom rolled baby in to the room. And we got to meet him for the first time. He was even cuter in person! I stroked his face and arms, not wanting to pick him up and get too "lovey" in front of birth mom. But then she told us to pick him up. I said, "first let me give you a hug.". And there we stood embracing for quite a while, both of us with tears streaming down our faces. And M too.
I then picked up baby boy and started loving on him. Birth mom asked if we had a name picked out. I told her the name we had picked out, and she loved it. We all stayed together in the room for a little bit, and then she left. And there we were, just the three of us. M, me, and baby.
But, we had been here before. In a hospital with a baby boy. The difference this time was that we would be leaving with him because he was being discharged. However, birth mom could not sign consent until 9am the next day. So we risked taking him home and her not sign.
We stayed at the hospital for a few hours (we had been up since 3am that day), waiting on discharge paperwork and talking to nurses about his eating habits, diapers, etc. Once we got the discharge paperwork, we went to our hotel. With a BABY. I don't think I have ever seen M drive so slow in all my life. When we got to the hotel we settled in for our first night as a family of three. Still anxious for the next morning.
After a great first night we decided to sit in our hotel lobby sitting area to wait to hear from the attorney. At 9:22am, we got the call. She HAD SIGNED! Now we just had to wait out the 5 business day revocation period . . . that would be 5pm the day before Thanksgiving.
We were so nervous during that time period. The 5 business days ended up being 7 actual days This was the furthest we had made it in a match. But, we spent our time loving on baby, taking way too many pictures, and finding all of the closest Targets. Who knew we would need so many diapers and formula?!
Two days after consent signing, we received ICPC clearance from both states to travel home. But, we didn't want to leave until revocation was up. We still had 5 days to wait for that. But, good news was we had clearance to leave once Wednesday at 5pm came.
Our agency mentioned that birth mom wanted to get together with us before we left, which I had also mentioned to her in the hospital. So, we made plans to get together on Monday (yes, before revocation). When we met with her, we had the best time talking more and getting to know more about her story and her family. It was so nice to be able to share that time with her. She asked us when we were leaving, and we told her we were waiting until revocation was up. At that point, she said, "Don't stay here. Go home and spend Thanksgiving with your families. I am not changing my mind."
And so, we made plans to start the trek back home the next day. We split the trip up over two days and at exactly 5pm Wednesday, we pulled in our driveway and welcome home our baby.
Yes, we have a baby! The adoption is now finalized, and we are forever a family.
Our son is now nine months old. His hair is lighter, his eyes the brightest blue, and he still chews on his bottom lip/ He is the cutest thing I have ever seen!
That day, November 14, I was at work when our social worker's number popped up on my phone. I was in the middle of a work project so thought I would just call her back later. I was putting off having the call to go inactive as long as possible. Because as much as we needed to heal, my heart also broke at the thought of missing out on the baby that was meant to be ours. Less than 10 minutes later the agency number popped up, so I decided to answer and let them know we could chat later in the day.
I was not expecting the words on the other end of the phone. "Ashley, we have a healthy baby boy who was born two days ago. He is ready to be discharged from the hospital, and his birth mom has chosen you to be his parents. If you want to proceed you need to get here soon so he can be discharged."
In a moment of disbelief and shock I called M to get his thoughts - I mean, we were supposed to go inactive, not be leaving again to go meet a baby and birth mom. But, he didn't answer. I called him over and over and then texted over and over. He was at work and couldn't step away. When he finally called me back, he said yes, let's go. So, I called the agency back and things went in full speed after that. I had to print agreement papers at work, Marty came by my office to sign them. I faxed them back to the agency then started looking for flights to leave that night. Unfortunately, my boss wanted me to wait to leave so we could go over a few outstanding things before I left to potentially be gone months. So, I booked our flights to leave first thing the next morning. Then, we met at the bank at lunch time to wire the money to the agency and get notarized copies of some pieces we had to send. I went back to the office, met with boss, then went home. In a hurry I was washing baby clothes, packing bags, and making plans for our dog.
The next morning we left for the airport at 4am CST. We were nervous, excited, and scared. Thankfully we had a direct flight, so we didn't have to deal with crazy travel with all of the adrenaline we had going. We landed then drove straight to Target to buy a car seat, rock and play, and few other things we would need for our stay. When we left Target we went to the hospital to meet birth mom and the social worker.
When we got to the hospital we sat in the waiting room, well, waiting. First we waited on birth mom and social worker, then we waited on paperwork. While the social worker and hospital were working on papers, we sat with birth mom where we spent time telling her more about ourselves. She told us her older son helped pick us because we looked cool and did fun stuff like go to sporting events. She showed us pictures of the baby and her other son. The baby had dark hair and eyes and was biting his bottom lip in every picture. And just about the cutest thing I had ever seen!
After we chatted with birth mom, the social worker came out and birth mom went back to be with baby. This time, we went over paper work like power of attorney, etc. Then we went to a hospital room. And then . . .
Moments later birth mom rolled baby in to the room. And we got to meet him for the first time. He was even cuter in person! I stroked his face and arms, not wanting to pick him up and get too "lovey" in front of birth mom. But then she told us to pick him up. I said, "first let me give you a hug.". And there we stood embracing for quite a while, both of us with tears streaming down our faces. And M too.
I then picked up baby boy and started loving on him. Birth mom asked if we had a name picked out. I told her the name we had picked out, and she loved it. We all stayed together in the room for a little bit, and then she left. And there we were, just the three of us. M, me, and baby.
But, we had been here before. In a hospital with a baby boy. The difference this time was that we would be leaving with him because he was being discharged. However, birth mom could not sign consent until 9am the next day. So we risked taking him home and her not sign.
We stayed at the hospital for a few hours (we had been up since 3am that day), waiting on discharge paperwork and talking to nurses about his eating habits, diapers, etc. Once we got the discharge paperwork, we went to our hotel. With a BABY. I don't think I have ever seen M drive so slow in all my life. When we got to the hotel we settled in for our first night as a family of three. Still anxious for the next morning.
After a great first night we decided to sit in our hotel lobby sitting area to wait to hear from the attorney. At 9:22am, we got the call. She HAD SIGNED! Now we just had to wait out the 5 business day revocation period . . . that would be 5pm the day before Thanksgiving.
We were so nervous during that time period. The 5 business days ended up being 7 actual days This was the furthest we had made it in a match. But, we spent our time loving on baby, taking way too many pictures, and finding all of the closest Targets. Who knew we would need so many diapers and formula?!
Two days after consent signing, we received ICPC clearance from both states to travel home. But, we didn't want to leave until revocation was up. We still had 5 days to wait for that. But, good news was we had clearance to leave once Wednesday at 5pm came.
Our agency mentioned that birth mom wanted to get together with us before we left, which I had also mentioned to her in the hospital. So, we made plans to get together on Monday (yes, before revocation). When we met with her, we had the best time talking more and getting to know more about her story and her family. It was so nice to be able to share that time with her. She asked us when we were leaving, and we told her we were waiting until revocation was up. At that point, she said, "Don't stay here. Go home and spend Thanksgiving with your families. I am not changing my mind."
And so, we made plans to start the trek back home the next day. We split the trip up over two days and at exactly 5pm Wednesday, we pulled in our driveway and welcome home our baby.
Yes, we have a baby! The adoption is now finalized, and we are forever a family.
Our son is now nine months old. His hair is lighter, his eyes the brightest blue, and he still chews on his bottom lip/ He is the cutest thing I have ever seen!
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| On the drive back home |
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| Finalization Day |
Congratulations! He is adorable.
ReplyDeleteWas wondering--do you live in Ohio? I promise I'm not a crazy stalker, I just noticed your license plate in the back of your picture. I'm also a loss mom and adoptive mom and live in Ohio, so I was wondering if we live close to each other.
I'm speechless. This whole post made me cry. I'm so so happy for you guys!!!! And I'm glad to see a post from you!
ReplyDeleteOH MY GOD! I keep checking back here for news and this just made my entire day, week, and month! Congratulations on your handsome little man and please keep the updates coming!
ReplyDelete