Well, we have been on an exciting journey the last month and I need to start off by saying if I've seemed pre-occupied and have been bad about following through with things, I appologize. My mind has been on one and only thing the last few weeks and at the moment he is snuggled tightly in my husbands arms. I'll fill you in a little and share with you this incredible baby God has brought into our lives.
November 10th, 2010 we found out that we had been chosen by a girl in Atlanta, Georgia to be the parents of the baby she was carrying. We were so excited and had no idea how wonderfully God would orchestrate it all. She is 13 years old and from what we can gather is a very shy and quiet young girl. She had no idea she was pregnant until she was 6 months along, but thankfully she had been eating well and not putting things in her body that would harm the baby. When the baby was tested shortly after she realized she was pregnant everything was fine! Praise God! Her mother was right along side her helping her through this process and doing her best to help her daughter focus on future goals and getting past this difficult time. They both went into separate rooms to look at profile books, when they came out they both had our profile at the top of their stack. We were ecstatic when we received the phone call. We were told she was due on December 17th and would likely be early due to her age.
We decided to keep this exciting news in our family because we still had a while and plenty of time for her to change her mind. We spent much time in prayer that God's will would be played out whether that meant we were to be the parents, or not. When we first told our family there were tears, joyful smiles and lots of hugs! Everyone could not wait for this baby to become a part of our family. The birthmom had decided not to find our the sex of the baby, so we were going to have to wait until they were born. We actually really liked not knowing and it gave us one more thing to look forward to.
The weeks leading up to December 17th were filled with anxiousness. Although I prayed to "be anxious for nothing" it was difficult to keep myself calm. We were filled with such peace and trust though. God was faithful to keep our minds and hearts on his will even as we awaited, not-so patiently, the arrival of this baby.
December 17th came and went, no sign of this little joy. The doctor made an appointment to induce the birthmother on December 20th at 6am-Idaho time. Tyler had to work that day, so he was able to stay busy and keep his mind on work. I did not, however, so my family made sure to help me fill my day. I spent lunch with all the girls on my mom's side of the family. We had a wonderful time and it was so nice to have some girl talk to keep my mind from going crazy. I still kept my phone in my hand the entire time. After lunch mom and Grandma took me to look at a rocking chair, which ended up being PERFECT for the baby room....so that was my early baby shower gift :) When I was headed home my mother in law called, knowing I might be home along, and asked me if she could keep me busy, I said, "YES!" We went shopping and then met the boys (Ty and his dad) for dinner. Then, we went shopping again. By this time it was 8pm and I still had not heard any news. I was doing alright while Rhonda was with me, but we parted ways for a while and my mind started racing. As soon as we met back up she gave me a huge hug, I think she could tell I was on the verge of losing my mind. It is such a surreal feeling to be so many miles away when one of the most life changing moments could be happening any moment.
I had already been falling in love with our baby, whether this was ours, or not I felt like a mother. A mother who desperately wanted to hear her child's first cry and comfort them in her a arms. I've been overwhelmed by this experience to see how God can give you the same connection and love as a mother who carries her child for 9 months. He has no limits to what he can do to a persons heart.
Still no word when I finally got home at 10pm. Chase came over and helped lighten the mood by making us laugh and again God knew just what I needed. It was very comforting having Chase there. He told us how he thought it was a boy....it just had to be a boy.....he really wanted it to be a boy :) I know he is going to make such an incredible uncle. He'd have that baby following his ever footstep whether it was a boy or a girl! Chase headed home because it was getting close to midnight and boy I had no idea the emotions that were next.
December 20, 2010 at 11:33pm a baby boy was born in Atlanta who would steal our hearts and could not be more perfect. He was born happy and healthy weighing 6lbs 9oz. and 18.5 inches long. The week of Christmas seemed to go by like molasses. Georgia law states that the birthmother has 10 days after surrendering her rights (which she did 24 hours after his birth) to reclaim her rights. We were encouraged to wait the ten days, but after finding out that the birthmom was very sure about her decision we decided to take the risk and come to Atlanta after only 5 days. We flew in on December 26th. Flights were cancelled all around the U.S., but when we landed in Denver it was sunny and when we landed in Atlanta there were a few bumps, but we made it safely! Our baby was placed in a "caring home" in Lawrenceville (about an hour north of the airport) The caring home family had offered their basement apartment to us, to stay while we waiting for the Interstate Compact to finalize....ANSWER TO OUR PRAYERS! The Interstate Compact basically means once the baby is placed with us the State of Georgia has to release the baby to the state of Idaho and it can take up to 14 days. It is such a blessing to not be cooped up in a hotel, or to be paying for one each night.
We pulled up to the house at 5:00pm and tried to walk calmly toward the door...we were skipping :-) Mary, the caring home mother opened the door with a bright smile and said, "Come in, go meet you baby."
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