How It All Started - Part 3

Posted July 19, 2010
We are now a family of three!

Posted July 31, 2010 (about July 19, 2010)
I am not sure how much I slept Saturday night. I do know that I was up bright and early. We didn’t want to spend all day at the hospital. It’s not that we didn’t want to see Baby C; it was that we were afraid that things were going to fall through. We were to meet our SW at the hospital at 3pm.

Unfortunately, our truck’s AC had been acting up in the days leading up to all of this. We had scheduled a maintenance appointment for 8am this day. We decided to not cancel. How could we bring a baby home with AC that was messed up? DH had tried to call the service center Saturday and Sunday, but they were closed. We were afraid to take the truck in because we would be stuck driving mine (my car has no AC at all). So, at 8am my DH called the center and told them that we still wanted to bring the truck in but had to have a rental that could fit a car seat. Needless to say a couple of hours later my DH pulled in our driveway with a 2010 Y.ukon that was fully loaded. Sweet!

The week before, we had also scheduled our two puppies for their yearly shots. Again, we didn’t want to cancel. To prepare, I gave the puppies a bath. When my DH got home, we loaded up to head to the appointment. The littlest had an accident in the office and both wanted to sit on the benches with us while we wanted. It was cute. The vet we go to is a family friend. The appointment probably lasted longer than normal due to all of the small talk. I know, he didn’t know that our lives were about to change in a big way and that we were nervous and in a hurry.

We then headed back home to finish getting things ready. I packed our diaper bag and we grabbed our video and still cameras (which we made sure were charged). We installed the car seat and the seat protector (that went…well, we got it in). Then, we finally hit the road.

I can’t remember at this point what we ate for breakfast or if we even did. At this point, that is not what matters most. I do remember still wanting a BIG bow for Baby C. We stopped at M.eijer to see what we could find. We didn’t have any luck.

We then proceeded to head to the hospital. We had been parking in a parking garage the days prior, but the rental truck was too tall to park there. Trust me, we tried. I was afraid that we were going to make the rental truck in to a convertible. So, we found a nearby parking lot that ended up also being free after validating our ticket. As we were parking, we noticed a gentleman filling up his gas tank. Had he ran out? Nope, that didn’t do the trick. We were in a rental, we didn’t have jumper cables. As we crossed the street, the gentleman yelled for us. We were parked close to him and another gentleman (who was parked outside of the lot) had offered his cables for us to use. DH looked at me; we couldn’t say no. So, as my DH moved the rental and helped, I stood in the parking lot holding my purse, the diaper bag, the cameras and the car seat. And, it was hot out! But, we felt like we did the right thing by stopping to help out. Wuldn’t you want someone to help you if this happened to you?

Once we walked into the hospital lobby, we went into the gift shop. The day before I had noticed that they had bows for sale. They were little bows, but I thought that the headband would be small enough for Baby C. We also got something to drink. After a quick potty break, we decided to wait in the lobby. During all of our conversations with our SW, the day before and that day, we never said where we were going to meet. Around 3pm I texted our SW saying that we were in the lobby. It took her a while to text back. She told us to wait there. It made us nervous that it took her a while and that her response was one word. Was something not going as planned? I tried to not let my mind go to crazy places by people watching.

A couple of minutes later she arrived. She had a smile on her face. It took her a while to text us because she was driving and then she had a shake/ice cream to finish before coming in.

We got our parking tickets validated and headed up to the third floor. We scrubbed our hands and met up with the hospital’s SW. We were placed in a small conference room. It was dim and the lamps were bolted to the center of the tables. We had one pen between the four of us (there was student SW there with our SW). We barely had any hard surfaces to write on.

We had to sign a ton of paperwork. Our SW had to read everything to us. We had to sign two of everything. One copy of the documents would be the agency’s and the other would be ours. Our SW kept telling us that there were two pieces that we couldn’t sign until we got the call from the other SW. Our BM was supposed to show up at the agency’s office between a certain time frame to sign her final pieces of paperwork.

I kid you not; our SW’s phone rang a million times. She received calls and messages about other cases. The student SW had to call before she got there to see where we were. Her phone even locked up. She had to take the battery out to fix it. She has one of those s.martphones were you have to enter a password each and every time you want to use it. OMGoodness, it made us so nervous every time we had to pause because of her phone! At one point, we did get word that our BM had gotten lost going to the agency.

We had gotten to the point where all that we had left was the final pieces of paperwork. Our SW had even signed the paperwork that the hospital required. Right then, her phone rang. Our BM had signed. We lost it! I looked up at the clock; it was 4:40pm. Our SW read the last of the paperwork to us and then we signed.

It was time to go met our daughter, Baby C.
Posted August 3, 2010 (about July 19, 2010)
We left the conference room and headed for the area in which Baby C was being kept. She was so peaceful. I didn’t want to wake her. But, I wanted to kiss her all over. I’ll be truthful, I hadn’t kissed her up until this point. I was afraid to. The next few moments are blurry to me. The area in which she was being kept had gotten pretty busy with more babies. Therefore, there were more family members and more nurses.

Within seconds of us walking in, the discharge routine was started. She was taken away to get her hearing test. She passed with flying colors.

One of the nurses asked us for the details of her first pediatrician’s appointment. What? We didn’t have one. They told us we needed one in order for Baby C to be discharged. Luckily, I had a practice in mind. I stepped out to call, but they had already closed for the day. Thankfully, the nurses understood our situation and simply put in Baby C’s file the name of the practice. They said that they would call us the next day for the details, but they never did.

We changed Baby C’s diaper and were able to change into her “coming home outfit” her for the ride home. What I had originally picked out, the blue dress-like outfit, didn’t fit. It was too big! So, she came home in a flowered zip-up sleeper (preemie size) and the hat in which we originally saw her in.

The nurses we amazing to us. We left the hospital with a ton of formula, diapers, dry wipes and soothies. One of the “Blanket Brigade” members happened to be around when we were being discharged; she sent us home with two blankets, a burp cloth, changing cloth and another hat. I also got a nice Si.milac bag.

DH left to pull the car around. We had received so much that I sent it down with him. While he was gone, I had to put Baby C in her car seat for the first time. She wasn’t too happy. But, I was actually happy to hear her cry; she had barely cried the first two days. Then, a nurse escorted us (the SW also) downstairs. Baby C cried most of the way. I felt so awkward trying to carry everything and trying to sooth her with her pacifier.

When we got downstairs, DH was waiting for us. After a few hugs, we were on our way. Of course, I sat in the back with her. I guess I started to feel a sense of relief on the way home because my stomach started growling. I was hungry! We stopped at Mc.Donalds. DH went in to get our food while Baby C and I waited in the car. She got a little fussy as we waited (probably because I started taking pictures). I have never eaten so fast before. Mickey D’s has never tasted so good either.

Then entire ride home, we talked about how we were going to tell everyone. We got home around 6pm and had to change two diapers within minutes of walking in the door. It was time to let our family in on our secret. We set up the video camera to capture our side of the conversations. DH called his Dad, Mom, brother and brother’s girlfriend first. They had just grilled steaks, but once they heard we wanted them to comer over, they left dinner behind. He also called his other brother, sister-in-law and their children. They too came right over. While we were waiting for them, I called my sister (that lives near us). She was at work (she is working for the C.ensus). She said she would get to the house as soon as possible.

I want to remind you that they knew nothing. My sister knew something was up since I had ditched her Saturday morning. But, we had been pretty much ignoring everyone since we had received the call.

As we waited, we got our gum cigars and pink angel bow ready. DH had purchased these on his way down to bring the car around. We also set up our video camera. It seems like it took everyone forever to get to our house. DH’s family showed up at the same time. As they were walking up, I pushed the record button. Our hearts raced. Our lives had already been changed and now it was their turn.

As they came in the front door, DH handed everyone one of the cigars and I held Baby C where they could see her. The reactions were priceless. Tears flowed and emotions were let loose. Smiles were plastered on all of our faces.

A little while later, we did the same thing when my sister and her daughter arrived. Again, words cannot explain these moments.

We told them what we could about the adoption, but mostly we focused on Baby C. Her name, weight, length, eyes, skin tone, etc... were all topics of conversation. Everyone wanted their chance to hold her. Eventually, my sister went back to her house and brought back a bouncy seat and play yard. Around 9pm, we set up the camera again and called my other sister and my brother. They too were in complete shock.

Our family then had to leave, they had jobs to get back to the next day. It had been a long day for Baby C. It had been a whirlwind of a weekend for us. It was time for our first night as a family of three.