Update on the last 74 Days

The last 74 days have been a whirlwind of emotions and events. Two days after I wrote this post, something interesting happened. Something wonderful that we have been waiting for finally happened. We got "the call" from our first agency (the one out of state).

A young woman had given birth that morning and hadn't made and adoption plan (though she had all intentions of making one, she thought she had 3 more weeks to make one). Her doctor told her about an agency he knew (our agency) and called them. Two representatives from our agency came over with LifeBooks for her to look at. Her criteria: 1) An infertile couple, 2) a couple that have been waiting the longest.

There were other books in that pile, but we were told that she kept referring to our book. She liked that we lived in CA and that we like to travel.

So we dropped everything and flew to Tulsa, OK.

We didn't sleep well that night. We were in such a daze, I'm surprised we were able to book our flight.

When we arrived at the airport L from our agency was there to pick us up. She gave us some information about the birthmom. I think I was in the mentality that we were "auditioning" to be the adoptive parents.

We arrived at the hospital and meet K, the birthmom...our birthmom, and I have to say that after only conversing with her those 20 minutes, I felt like I had known her forever. There was an instant connection with her that I didn't feel last year with J.

We talked about names and she loved the name we picked out, so she let us name her.

Then they brought the baby in, and I was encouraged to pick her up and hold her.

I was estatic and scared.

It was awesome, even when she started crying as I disturbed her sleep, jostling her in my shaky arms.

I held her close, whispering to her that I was happy to meet her, and apologizing to her that I didn't sound or smell like the woman she had been getting to know for the last 9 months. She quieted in my arms after a while. I didn't take the crying personal.

The hospital had arranged a room for us. We were told that K wanted the baby in her room for a few hours, but that we would have the baby in ours for the rest of the night.

It was a very surreal couple of hours.

It still hadn't hit us that we had been picked to parent this baby.

1 day old


 

 

Our new daughter Ariana* was born on October 5, 2012 weighing in at 6 lbs 14 oz, 19 inches long. While staying in Tulsa until K's court date and the ICPC was completed, A faced some health challenges that forced us to have her re-admitted to the hospital. She stayed there for 10 days, but made a full recovery amazing her doctors and nurses.

We came come on Nov 1st (yes, we stayed in Tulsa for nearly a month), and life with a newborn has been both challenging and amazing. I wouldn't trade it for anything.



1 month old - 8lbs 2oz.

She really is a good baby. She started smiling really early and while others told me they weren't social smiles, I like to think that she smiled just for me. She will let you know when she is hungry, and if she has a very dirty diaper.

2 months old - 9lbs 4oz.

Because she was a preemie (born 4 weeks early), she is still a bit tiny for her age. She still fits into Newborn size onesies, but because her legs are so long, she fits into the 0-3 month pants and pjs.

I love when she smiles at me and follows me with her eyes. I love to hear to coo and gurgle at me when I'm talking to her.

I am thankful that she is our daughter and I love being her mom.


*I will refer to her in future posts as "A".