We said yes.
As I told Carrie, the baby's case worker on the other end of the phone, she respond "Congratulations! I'm so excited to meet you and your family. Diana shared so many wonderful things about your family, this little baby is going to be very lucky. Are you ready to meet her? "
Moments later, we were making plans to meet her in person just an hour and a half later.
As we drove to the hospital with our boys (who we also talked with in making our final decision. They were excited beyond belief just at the option of bringing home a baby), millions of thoughts raced through my mind. I was nervous, I was excited, I was scared, I was happier than I had ever been. It was the same emotions I had when we went to meet our boys.
In some strange way it seemed to be perfect, that we (all 4 of us) were on our way to meet our newest little bundle of joy.
Arriving at the hospital, we met with Nana and Papa who agreed to watch the boys while we went to talk to the case workers and to meet her.
As we exited the elevator we met another caseworker who hugged us and said congratulations. Before you meet her, I want you to know in the 17 years I've been doing placements, I have never seen a more beautiful baby. She is absolutely beautiful.
We quickly learned about her background and how she came to be with us. And then, we were escorted into the nursery to meet our baby. As we turned the corner, and entered the nursery, I saw a group of nurses (4 or 5) all huddled together doting all over a baby, and when the case worked spoke they turned (in almost slow motion) and I saw my first glimpse of my daughter. Just like that, I had fallen in love all over again.
Her beautiful, tiny, porcelain skin and flawless body was wrapped in a blanket and she had her eyes open, almost waiting for our arrival with as much excitement and anticipation as we had for meeting her. I quickly washed my hands, and one of the nurses (who had stayed well beyond the end of her 1:00 p.m. shift end time, just to meet us), handed her over to me and said, "Congratulations. You have a little angel."
Immediately the tears started flowing from my eyes and as I carefully placed her close to my chest and wrapped her tightly in my arms, I could feel the love strains in my heart reaching out of my chest, and embracing her in all her tiny entirety. It was real, I was holding my daughter.
For the next hour we listened as the nurses shared their experiences and interactions with her and doted about how beautiful she is, how pretty her lips are (they compared her to Angelina Jolie), and what name they had given her until the learned what name would be.
That is when one of the nurses asked us if we had picked out a name. I looked at Jarrett, and he looked at me, we smiled and said we hadn't picked out a name yet. In the short time we had learned about the wonderful news, the only decision we had decided for sure, was that we knew more than anything, we wanted to be her parents. Her name would be something we needed more than an hour and a half to decide upon.
Jarrett got to hold her and in that moment watching him connect with and love such a tiny little angel, I fell in love all over with him.
Our hour together went extremely quick and before we knew it we were having to wrap up our visit. We took our first pictures of her, our pictures of the three of us together (our first family picture with all of us, would have to wait). And we made plans to come back the next day for another visit.
And in just that short amount of time, we had been smitten and leaving her behind was difficult. We left the hospital and went to meet Nana, Papa and the boys who were just as excited. After giving them the recap and driving home, I couldn't stop thinking about her, about us, about what our new family would be like.
Every few moments, my mind would go back to relive everything that had just happened and then I'd grab our camera turn it on an look at the pictures of her. Could this really be happening? Could my dream be coming true again?
As you can imagine that night I don't think I slept for more than an hour. We were told to get as much sleep as we could, but seriously how could one sleep when there was so much to do, so much to think about , so much to be thankful for.
The next day, Thursday I went into work and shared the shocking news with my colleagues and my boss. I'm truly at a loss for words, to express my appreciation at how supportive they were/are. Who do I think I am telling them with less than one day to prepare that we were going to be parents and I'd like to take some time off again. I was met with their overwhelming support and for that, I am thankful.
Thursday afternoon I went back up to the hospital to see her and to spend time bonding with her. She was more precious than I remember and we learned that the very next day we'd be taking her home. Most people have 9 months to plan, we had 48 hours and all we had was a bottle of baby lotion the boys didn't want to use.
We called some of our friends and it seemed like within minutes our house went from a home with a 6 and 4 year old boys to a home ready and waiting for a newborn little girl. So many friends offered to help, and as I type this, her room is stocked and ready for almost any need she would have. The outpouring of support again, is overwhelming and I find myself asking, "Do we deserve such kindness?" We are so thankful.
On Thursday night we made our final arrangements and then prepared for the next day, the day we would bring home our baby girl...
Stay tuned...
Until next time,
Angie
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