Prince Charming

1-20-12

Gus was at his part time job and I was running errands when I received a text message from our birth mother that she was on her way to the hospital.  I asked her to let us know the update when they checked her in and that we would start heading that way.  Gus and I met at home and grabbed our bags and headed over to our friends house to drop off the dog.  Weather was good...until we got about an hour down the interstate and that is when cars started ending up in the ditch.  ICE STORM.  And then, traffic stopped moving...I told Gus it was either going to happen and we wouldn't be able to get there or it was going to be another false alarm.  Traffic started moving very slowly...we went 2 miles in 1 hour, but we were thankful to be moving because the other side of the interstate was shut down.  Once we got past the congested area, we were able to move along fairly well, so I sent a text to the birth mother letting her know how far away we were and that traffic was moving slowly.  She was just getting to the hospital, she was fighting her way through traffic and ice as well.  By the time we got to the hospital, they were just checking her.  Her friends, who were also going to be in the room for the delivery, met us in the waiting room.  They told us she was at 2 cm still but her contractions were strong and close.  I went back and saw her, and it was obvious she was in pain with the contractions this time.  But I still thought they would send her home.

The hospital staff decided to let her walk for an hour and see where that got her, so the five of us went for a tour of the hospital.  Up and down stairs and Gus made her do high knees.  Must have worked because she was at 3 cm and they decided to get her a room.  So Gus and I went and had dinner at about 11pm in the cafeteria and then headed back to her room to see how she was doing.

1-21-12

We hung out in her room for a little while and then I had to walk because I was beyond tired and ready to pass out.  When I came back to the room around 3am, everyone had decided to go down to the waiting room and take a little snooze.  So Gus slept on the floor of the castle that was in there for children to play in and I slept in a chair.  We didn't sleep much, because it was just TOO comfortable. :)  I think by about this time she was at 4 cm.  We kept bouncing back and forth between her room and the waiting room.  We decided to call the future grandparents and then we went and got some breakfast in the cafeteria.  Most of the rest of the day was spent between her room and the waiting room.  She wasn't progressing much, so they broke her water in hopes of speeding things up.  She was at the 4 cm/5 cm range for a long time. 

The on call social worker from the adoption agency showed up to check in on everyone.  Apparently, her non-supportive family members were trying pretty hard to get to our birth mother, but the black out plan at the hospital was working and no one made it to her.  We didn't know much about this until the social worker mentioned something to us.  Once the social worker left, Gus decided to go check in to the hotel and get a quick shower.  (We were all feeling pretty disgusting by now.)  He thought about taking a nap, but I'm glad he didn't.  He called to tell me he was on his way back and asked if I needed anything.  About 5 minutes later, I got a text from her friend telling me our birth mother was at 6 cm and I should probably come back to the room.  Once Gus got back to the waiting room, I headed back to her room thinking it was going to be a while yet.  Shortly after getting there, she called the nurse in because she was having a lot of pain.  The nurse had her re-situate herself in bed and upped the medicine in her epidural.  She said she would be back in about 10 minutes to see how she was doing.  She wasn't gone long when our birth mother said she felt like she needed to push.  Her friend made her call the nurse back in.  The nurse checked her and said that yes, it was time to push.  I sent a text to Gus to let him know.  I was asked to stay on the opposite of the bed as her friends so that I could help hold her leg and be close to the baby when he came out.  The doctor had her do a practice push and stopped her before 10 seconds because she moved Little Man so far.  The doctor put her gown on and with one more push Price Charming entered our world!  It was by far the most incredible thing I have ever witnessed!  Once they moved Little Man to his table to be "cleaned" and checked over, I snapped a picture and sent it to Gus.  A few minutes later, our birth mother was all cleaned up and Gus was allowed back to the room.  I was allowed to cut the excess of the umbilical cord off and help with the weighing, etc.  And then the moment I waited for for over 6 years, he was bundled up and placed in my arms!!  I only held him for a short time before passing him over to our birth mother.  She checked him out and then handed him over to Gus.  Once they did a blood sugar test, I was allowed to feed him his first bottle.  LIFE WAS GOOD!!!!!!

We hung out with the birth mother while she ate and then Gus walked her friends out to their car.  When he came back, we went with Samuel up to the nursery where we watched his first bath and took our first family photo.  We checked in on the birth mother one last time before heading to eat and back to the hotel. 

1-22-12

We got to the hospital and checked in on our birth mother, she was asleep so we headed to the nursery.  (She allowed me to have the second arm band, allowing us access to him whenever we wanted.)  It was time for a bottle, so we both took turns feed him and then Gus was called in to the birth mother's room to go over circumcision info with the doctor.  He came back in with the birth mother and we hung out in the nursery until they came to take him for his circumcision.  We then hung out in her room until lunch time and then we went to find him his first outfit, as we didn't bring anything with us.  (So many conflicting messages from the adoption agency about how he wasn't ours yet but then "if you have something you want him to wear home bring it tomorrow.")  So we let her have some time alone with him and her friends who were coming back to see her.  We spent some time at the mall and purchased his incredibly cute first outfit.  We ate a late lunch and then headed back to see our boy.  We stayed until our birth mother crashed for the night and then we took off to get some sleep too. 

1-23-12

This was a very emotional day for everyone.  We tried to do a delicate balance of spending time with Sam and letting her get some alone time with him too.  He had his hospital pictures taken that morning.  Discharge was also pushed back from 11 to 3, which was good because it gave us more time with him.  When the social worker got there about 2:30, we were asked to take Sammy to the nursery so she could have some time alone with the birth mother.  We both took turns rocking him while we cried knowing what was coming.  The social worker for our end showed up and started the discharge process for Samuel Mitchell.  We met the interim care mom, and she is great, she could see we were both having a hard time and said we could follow her to her house and hold him a little longer before leaving.  Our birth mother asked for some more time with him, so we went and sat in the conference room.  Our social worker got a text that they were ready for us, so we all headed back down to her room.  It was so surreal.  You could tell she was having a rough time and no one really said anything for the longest time.  They had her sign a few documents and then she held him for the last time as his mom.  There wasn't a dry eye in the room.  She then turned around and placed him in my arms and thanked us.  The three of us stood there hugging and crying for a while and then they started to gather her things.  There was an awkward moment after they called the nurse to wheel here out and then the nurse took her sweet time.  We had already said our good-byes, and no one was in the mood for small talk, so we just stood there in uncomfortable silence for a while.  She was finally wheeled out and then our social worker helped us raid the room.  She was stuffing all kinds of things in our bag telling us it was paid for and we should take it.  Then we put Sam in the interim care mom's car seat and we all headed down the hall.  We went to her house and she let us spend another hour or so with him.  It was nice to get to know her a little and see where he is going to be for a few weeks.  And then the dreaded moment happened.  We had to say good-bye to our new born son.  I sobbed on and off the whole way home. :(  And tears keep popping up unexpectedly even now.  We set up visits for Saturdays and Tuesdays, so we are counting down the days until our first visit this weekend. 

I told Gus that I felt like the Grinch this weekend, I actually felt my heart grow upon meeting Little Man.  I will admit, I was a little scared that I might not fall head over heals upon seeing him, but boy was I wrong.  The moment I saw the back of his little head, I was wrapped around his little finger.  He is an angel, OUR ANGEL! 

It has been a weird mix of emotions.  Sadness for our birth mother, and incredible joy for us.  I had a lengthy "conversation" with our birth mother today through text messages, which made me feel better.  My heart breaks for her and yet I'm so, so, so happy for us.

The interim care mom has been awesome.  She has already sent two emails with updates and sent us 26 pictures from her first day with him.  We don't think she is going to be too strict about the 2 hour visit rule either.  With any luck, our court date will be scheduled for the week of February 13th and he will be able to come home with us the following week.  Please keep praying for Sam, our birth mother and us!

And I love his hair!!!!  I can't keep my hands out of it. :)  Miss him like CRAZY!!!!!

Love,

One Happy Momma Who Misses Her Son More Than Anything