On Thursday, December 29, 2011, my friends threw me a beautiful baby shower, in anticipation of our new arrival. It was a wonderful evening filled with food, friends, family, talking and laughter and I was excited to inform everyone that our baby was going to be coming a week earlier than his due date. Our birth mom was going to be induced on Saturday, the 31st.
Around 9:20 p.m.that night, just after the last of the shower guests had walked out the door, my phone rang. When I saw our birth mom "K's" face on the screen, my heart froze.
"I am at the hospital and they are admitting me. I am in labor"
I will admit, my brain left me as soon as I heard those words.
Mike's mom was the only one left at our house, and she had overheard the phone call. She was so excited, but I had no time to explain as I began running around the house calling Mike's name. Apparently, he had gone outside to move his car into the garage, so I ran outside to find him. I told him it was time, and he screamed, "WHAT?!?!?!"
With no further explanation, I looked across the street and saw two of my friends, who had just barely left my house, who were still out there talking. In my insanity, I screamed across the street,
"We're having a baby!!!!!"
I then went into planning mode. I went back inside the house to call my sister and see if Ian could spend the night at her house. (Luckily, because of the shower, he was still awake and we didn't need to wake him up to get ready to go anywhere!) After I got the okay to bring him over, I called my parents. I told them we were heading to the hospital, that I would keep them updated, but to be on standby in case my sister needed help watching Ian over the weekend.
As I started throwing Ian's things into a bag, I called my friend Steph, who lives right around the corner and had been in line to be my emergency, middle-of-the-night-drop-off-point for Ian, should we have needed it. As soon as I hung up the phone, Mike yelled, "Stop calling people!!! Talk to ME!!!! Apparently, "It is time" was not a sufficient enough explanation to have given him=)
I calmed down, took a deep breath, and we talked out the plan and what was happening. We put Ian in his p.j.'s, grabbed the camera, and headed off into the night.
We didn't stay long at my sister's house, just long enough to tuck Ian into bed, kiss him goodnight, and say our thanks to Jamie and her family for taking care of him for us.
It was now about 10:30 p.m. and we decided to make a quick stop at a convenience store to load up on some snacks and caffeine. We were potentially in for a LONG night! As I put our stuff up on the counter, the clerk asked, "Are you having a good night?" (I really don't think it was my ear-to-ear perma grin, or my inability to stop bouncing and hold still for two seconds that gave us away!!!!=) I answered, "YES! We are headed to the hospital to meet our new baby!" After a confused look and an explanation that no, I was not pregnant but that we were adopting, the clerk surprised us by breaking out in happy tears! She said, "Wow! I am so happy for you! I am so glad there are people like you in this world!" So sweet!!!
We arrived at what looked like a completely deserted hospital just around 11:00 p.m. The loan security guard at the front desk gave us secured arm bands and pointed us in the right direction. We walked in to find that "K" had gotten an epidural by then, so she was feeling MUCH better!! Her best friend Jason, her Dad and step mom and two sisters were also there. We had a great time laughing and getting to know one another better while we waited for "K's" doctor, who was busy at another nearby hospital. Her doctor finally arrived right around midnight. He checked her out, tried unsuccessfully to get the baby to turn (as he was still breech) and informed us that it was time to get this baby out via c-section.
"K" was SO brave!!! She wasn't scared at all. She just said "okay" as they prepped her for surgery. Once they wheeled her back, everything went pretty fast. A nurse came into the room while we were waiting and asked, "Okay, which one of you is the mom?" I raised a shaking hand as she brought the security bracelet to me and said, "Then this is for you. This grants you clearance to go into the nursery with baby while he gets checked out and has his first bath". I got a little choked up=)
At 12:44 a.m., Logan arrived.
"K's" step mom and sisters had gone to find the snack bar and were not back when the nurse wheeled our baby past our room, about 15-20 minutes after they had taken "K" back. However, me, Mike and "K's" Dad got to see him for a brief minute and then we all followed the nurse toward the nursery, with me pushing the baby=) We left Mike and "K's" Dad outside to watch through the windows and I followed my new son into the nursery. At this point, I realized that the hospital was definitely NOT as deserted as it had first appeared! There were 19 babies born that day and I think all of them were in that nursery that night!!!!! Mike later said, "Well, that's Utah County for you!" =)
I held Logan's waxy little hand while he was tossed around and inspected.
The nurse was trying to get him to cry so she wasn't very gentle!
After that, he got his first bath,
his footprints were taken,
and then I was able to feed him his first bottle.
After a couple of hours in the nursery together, "K" got to hold him for the first time.
I will admit that I was very worried about how "K" would do when Logan got here and she saw his sweet little face. I was so worried that it would be too hard for her, but she has proven to us, time and time again, that she is one of the strongest and bravest people we have ever met!!!
By then, it was after 3 a.m. and we were all feeling the effects of the adrenaline starting to wear off. Mike and I decided to head home to get some sleep, so we kissed "K" and baby goodnight and arrived home to fall into an exhausted sleep around 4:00 a.m. When I woke up at about 8:15 the next morning, I thought to myself, "Well, that certainly was NOT enough sleep, but that will have to do". I had a baby to go see!!!!!
We spent most of the day at the hospital on Friday and Saturday. That time that we got to spend with "K" and the baby at the hospital are days that are precious to me and ones that I will certainly never forget. She is a rock star!!!!!
Ian also got to go to the hospital for a short time on Saturday and meet his new baby brother!
Even though he talks about "Baby Logan" nonstop, he was rather bored at the hospital and just wanted to get outta there!
Grandma, Grandpa and Aunt Jamie also got to sneak in a snuggle when they came to pick up Ian=)
The Sunday following Logan's birth was January 1st, Ian's birthday. We told "K" that we would not be coming to the hospital that day so that we could spend it with Ian, but told her to call us if she needed absolutely anything! We had a great day with Ian, but that is another post=)
Sunday night, we had Ian's birthday dinner at my parents house and then we left him there to sleepover that night. It was our last night to get some good sleep in a long time to come, and we had to be at the hospital bright and early Monday morning to bring our baby home, so we thought his staying there was the best option. In, what I can only assume was preparation for the long nights to come, I found myself wide awake after only 5 hours of sleep that night. I guess I was too excited to sleep!!!
Monday morning, we got up early and headed over to the hospital, diaper bag, tiny outfits and car seat in hand. We had to watch a terribly boring video before they would release "K", but soon it was time. We all walked out together and hugged as we put Logan into the car. It wasn't a sad moment at all, but rather a "see you soon".
The drive home was SO much less stressful than the dark, snowy night that I drove Ian home from Primary Children's, by myself! This time Mike was with me and it was a beautiful and warm January day.
Our first night at home went pretty well. Logan still seems to have his days and nights mixed up a little bit and wants to play more at night. Sorry little dude, but that is going to have to change, and fast!!=)
Tuesday morning, we got up early (again!) and drove to the courthouse downtown. "K" is my new hero!! She was amazingly brave and strong as she signed the relinquishment papers. She told us that she was humbled by this whole experience and was completely sure that she was absolutely doing the right thing and the best thing for Logan. Man, I love her!!! Now, according to Utah Law, we have to wait 6 months before we can finalize the adoption, but the hard part is over. Thank heavens!! Now I can breath again!!!=)
This part is where I have to tell you a very sweet story about Ian. We had to wake him up to head to the courthouse, and as I was kissing him and trying to wake him up, he sleepily asked, "Do I get to open a Santa present now?" I smiled, told him that no, we were going to the courthouse and loaded him into the car. As we were driving, I started to explain to him where we were going and what it meant. He said, "Can I sign papers too?" So we talked about a "paper" that he could sign that would tell the world that he was Logan's big brother and that he promised to always take care of him. He was pretty squirmy during the hearing at the courthouse but tried really hard to be quiet and as soon as we were done, he asked, "When do I sign?" So we got a piece of paper and borrowed our attorneys pen, and little Ian signed an oath to always watch out for his little brother=)
I LOVE that I have such a sweet son who will teach his little brother to be just like him. I LOVE that I can now say I have boys, plural. I don't say, "my son" but rather "my sons" or "my kids". And I LOVE how good and right that feels!!!
Mr. Logan is a tiny, beautiful, wrinkly little miracle and has fit into our family just like he was always meant to be there.
Maybe that is because he was=)
Welcome Mr. Logan. We're so glad you finally made it=)
The drive home was SO much less stressful than the dark, snowy night that I drove Ian home from Primary Children's, by myself! This time Mike was with me and it was a beautiful and warm January day.
Our first night at home went pretty well. Logan still seems to have his days and nights mixed up a little bit and wants to play more at night. Sorry little dude, but that is going to have to change, and fast!!=)
Tuesday morning, we got up early (again!) and drove to the courthouse downtown. "K" is my new hero!! She was amazingly brave and strong as she signed the relinquishment papers. She told us that she was humbled by this whole experience and was completely sure that she was absolutely doing the right thing and the best thing for Logan. Man, I love her!!! Now, according to Utah Law, we have to wait 6 months before we can finalize the adoption, but the hard part is over. Thank heavens!! Now I can breath again!!!=)
This part is where I have to tell you a very sweet story about Ian. We had to wake him up to head to the courthouse, and as I was kissing him and trying to wake him up, he sleepily asked, "Do I get to open a Santa present now?" I smiled, told him that no, we were going to the courthouse and loaded him into the car. As we were driving, I started to explain to him where we were going and what it meant. He said, "Can I sign papers too?" So we talked about a "paper" that he could sign that would tell the world that he was Logan's big brother and that he promised to always take care of him. He was pretty squirmy during the hearing at the courthouse but tried really hard to be quiet and as soon as we were done, he asked, "When do I sign?" So we got a piece of paper and borrowed our attorneys pen, and little Ian signed an oath to always watch out for his little brother=)
I LOVE that I have such a sweet son who will teach his little brother to be just like him. I LOVE that I can now say I have boys, plural. I don't say, "my son" but rather "my sons" or "my kids". And I LOVE how good and right that feels!!!
Mr. Logan is a tiny, beautiful, wrinkly little miracle and has fit into our family just like he was always meant to be there.
Maybe that is because he was=)
Welcome Mr. Logan. We're so glad you finally made it=)
