Placement

We were asked to meet at the hospital around 2:00pm on Tuesday December 20th for placement. That was the longest day of our lives. We were of course very anxious and apprehensive about what to expect in the coming hours. The morning was spent making sure we had everything ready to go...carseat, diapers, formula, and bottles. Plus all our super important paperwork. That morning we had gotten a call from our Birth mothers Mom making sure we still wanted to go with the name we had picked out and the correct spelling of it so they could have it on the birth certificate. It was a relief to hear her voice and for her to tell us that our birth mother was doing okay.

The time finally came to go to the hospital. We met the caseworker in the lobby and he put us in a room to wait...and wait...and wait. The longer the wait, the more scarred I got. I knew deep down inside our Birth mother would not back out of placement....but I was still on pins and needles none the less. After all, we were so in love with this little girl. Some time passed and the caseworker came into our room. He had us sign some paperwork...and said "okay lets go." My fears were gone. I knew our birth mother had signed the necessary paperwork, and she was ours.

Again we found ourselves at the door to our birth mothers hospital room. Although this time it was a very different atmosphere. It was very quiet and everyone was sobbing. We didn't say much. It was hard to know what to say. There are no words in any language that could give the comfort that was so desperately needed. My extreme excitement was covered up due to the fact that I ached for this family. It was very difficult seeing these people we had grown to love so much hurting so badly. Some very tender moments were shared and then our birth mother placed our tiny baby in my arms.

"Here's your baby."

I don't think I had shed that many tears in a long time. We then carried our baby to the room we were previously put in and spent some time alone as a new family. The nurses then took us to the nursery and showed us how to care for a newborn and all that fun stuff new parents get to do. At six o'clock that night are little angel was discharged. We cautiously placed her in her car seat and buckled her into the car. We then drove "slowly" back to our hotel where we would stay until we would be able to go home. Typically adoptive parents are required to stay in the state they have adopted a child from for anywhere from 3 days to 2 weeks after placement. Well our second miracle happened on day 2.5 when our caseworker gave us the okay to bring our baby home. They really wanted to get us home for Christmas...a Christmas we will never forget. We were given the greatest gift...a gift that has enriched our lives, increased our faith, and united us as an eternal family.