Here is the story of how we became a family of 3 ...
MONDAY:
It
all started the evening of Monday, March 2nd. I had been talking with
Dallas' birth mom on the phone, just getting to know each other better.
She was filling me in on everything that her and the doctor talked about
at her last appointment and we ended the conversation with her saying,
"If my water does break early I will call 911 and then I will call you!"
TUESDAY:
The next morning (Tuesday, March 3rd) Chris and I got up like normal at about 5:30 a.m. and got ready for work, thinking that it was going to be just another normal day. At about 9:30 a.m.
(snack time in kindergarten) I was by my desk and my phone started
ringing. I looked down and saw his birth mom's name on the screen and
thought I would call her back during my break then I walked to the other
side of the room to put up some papers. As soon as I made it to the
other side of the room her words from the night before went through my
head, "If my water does break early I will call 911 and then I will call you!" so I immediately ran back to my desk and answered my phone. My heart began pounding as I heard her say, "I think my water just broke!"
I said, "Oh my gosh, okay, I'll call Chris, we'll get home, get packed and be on the way!"
While she was still talking I ran to Marilu's classroom (next door to mine) and told her I had to leave. I then proceeded to run to the front office to let my principal and assistant principal know what was going on, I was literally going in circles. I knew I NEEDED to leave but at the same time I didn't know what to do with my kiddos back in the room! My mind was RACING!!! I called Chris praying he would answer his phone, he NEVER answers while at work, and he did!!! I was BAWLING while trying to tell him to get home QUICK and that her water broke! Once he was able to understand what I was trying to tell him, he began running around like crazy at work trying to tell everyone that needed to know and get out of there.
While we both were trying to get home as fast as we could we were trying to call everyone and fill them in. Our original plan was to have one of my bffs, Amy Horton Photography, come with us so that she could capture all of our first moments with Dallas. Since he was coming almost 3 weeks early I figured she was not going to be able to make it and would probably have to come up later. By the time we made it home and started packing Anna, Amy and my mom had already starting packing and were getting everything organized so that they could be there with us when we met our sweet boy for the first time.
After Chris and I got home we began packing and going in circles around the house trying to make sure we didn't forget anything. Thankfully I had already packed Dallas' bags and had them sitting in his room ready to go. Ashley, our caseworker from the agency, called and said that she would let us know what the doctor said after she checked her. Not long after that his birth mom called me and said, "I know it was my water so if I was y'all, I'd get on the road!"
At about 11:45 a.m. we hit and road and began, what felt like, the LONGEST and so far the only car ride that I stayed awake the whole time to Baton Rouge, LA.
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We arrived at the hospital at about 7pm that evening. The whole ride there we were receiving updates from the birth mom and her progress. We were so worried that we were not going to make it but she was progressing VERY slowly and Dallas was very comfy right were he was.
We got to the waiting room and made ourselves as comfortable as possible ...
WEDNESDAY:
Throughout the night, the nurses and our case worker would come out and give us updates.
It was a long night!! These 2 were taken at about 2:30 a.m. Wednesday morning ...
At 3:37 a.m. we received a text from Ashley (who was in the room with her) that she was dilated to 7cm. Not long after that text, the birth mom asked Ashley to go find the doctor. By the time Ashley got back in the room, Dallas was already making an appearance. The cord was wrapped around his neck so his poor little face was purple and bruised but he is doing so much better now!
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Over all, Dallas is doing great but they have to keep an eye on him and at times they give him a little bit of morphine to help his body relax as it is healing. Thankfully we can come up or call 24/7 to check on him.
THURSDAY and FRIDAY:
Chris and I spent as much time with him as we possibly could. They let us both do "skin to skin" for hours at a time so that he could relax, listen to our hearts beat and bond. We wanted to spend as much time with him as possible even though in the back of our minds we knew that if his birth mom changed her mind, this would be our last time to spend with him.
SATURDAY:
This was the day that Chris and I had been waiting for since we began the adoption process. The birth parents were supposed to sign their rights over at 10 am but we were told that it may take little longer but we would get the text when everything was done! It was a VERY emotional day for us as well as Dallas' birth parents. My dad, brother and future sister-in-law came down to night before to be there for support. We got the text at 10:47 a.m. and it felt like an elephant was lifted off of our shoulders.
Little Dally will be in the NICU for another 3-4 day as his little body makes it through the withdrawals of the medication and he is able to go 72 hours without any morphine to keep him comfortable.
Starting Monday, the agency will begin the process of getting all the paperwork in order so that we can have legal permission to cross the state lines and bring our little bundle home. We have been told this part can take 10-14 business days but after talking with the agency they are hoping and going to try to get everything done by this coming Friday.
**We also owe our forever thanks to Dallas' birth parents for picking us and trusting us with this AMAZING gift!!!
I said, "Oh my gosh, okay, I'll call Chris, we'll get home, get packed and be on the way!"
While she was still talking I ran to Marilu's classroom (next door to mine) and told her I had to leave. I then proceeded to run to the front office to let my principal and assistant principal know what was going on, I was literally going in circles. I knew I NEEDED to leave but at the same time I didn't know what to do with my kiddos back in the room! My mind was RACING!!! I called Chris praying he would answer his phone, he NEVER answers while at work, and he did!!! I was BAWLING while trying to tell him to get home QUICK and that her water broke! Once he was able to understand what I was trying to tell him, he began running around like crazy at work trying to tell everyone that needed to know and get out of there.
While we both were trying to get home as fast as we could we were trying to call everyone and fill them in. Our original plan was to have one of my bffs, Amy Horton Photography, come with us so that she could capture all of our first moments with Dallas. Since he was coming almost 3 weeks early I figured she was not going to be able to make it and would probably have to come up later. By the time we made it home and started packing Anna, Amy and my mom had already starting packing and were getting everything organized so that they could be there with us when we met our sweet boy for the first time.
After Chris and I got home we began packing and going in circles around the house trying to make sure we didn't forget anything. Thankfully I had already packed Dallas' bags and had them sitting in his room ready to go. Ashley, our caseworker from the agency, called and said that she would let us know what the doctor said after she checked her. Not long after that his birth mom called me and said, "I know it was my water so if I was y'all, I'd get on the road!"
At about 11:45 a.m. we hit and road and began, what felt like, the LONGEST and so far the only car ride that I stayed awake the whole time to Baton Rouge, LA.
We got to the waiting room and made ourselves as comfortable as possible ...
WEDNESDAY:
Throughout the night, the nurses and our case worker would come out and give us updates.
It was a long night!! These 2 were taken at about 2:30 a.m. Wednesday morning ...
At 3:37 a.m. we received a text from Ashley (who was in the room with her) that she was dilated to 7cm. Not long after that text, the birth mom asked Ashley to go find the doctor. By the time Ashley got back in the room, Dallas was already making an appearance. The cord was wrapped around his neck so his poor little face was purple and bruised but he is doing so much better now!
Dallas arrived at 3:48 a.m. on Wednesday, March 4th.
He was 6lbs 4 oz. 19 1/2 in long.
After he was born they let us come in and see him for the FIRST time!
I am so thankful Amy was able to come and capture all of it .
Click on the link below to see the amazing video she put together!
http://video214.com/play/izIR9z2mbwaHKz81AaPWBA/s/dark
After we were able to spend some time with him and his birth mom, a nurse came in to evaluate him and told us that they were going to take him down to the NICU to keep a closer eye on him. He was about 3 weeks early and he is going through some withdrawals from the medication the birth mom was on while pregnant so his little body needs some extra attention as it is healing.
THURSDAY and FRIDAY:
Chris and I spent as much time with him as we possibly could. They let us both do "skin to skin" for hours at a time so that he could relax, listen to our hearts beat and bond. We wanted to spend as much time with him as possible even though in the back of our minds we knew that if his birth mom changed her mind, this would be our last time to spend with him.
SATURDAY:
This was the day that Chris and I had been waiting for since we began the adoption process. The birth parents were supposed to sign their rights over at 10 am but we were told that it may take little longer but we would get the text when everything was done! It was a VERY emotional day for us as well as Dallas' birth parents. My dad, brother and future sister-in-law came down to night before to be there for support. We got the text at 10:47 a.m. and it felt like an elephant was lifted off of our shoulders.
The baby that we had been snuggling, cuddling, changing, feeding, soothing, and LOVING was really OURS!
Now we get to love on him knowing that he is OUR son and we are his MOMMY and DADDY! :)
THANK YOU!!!
Thank you so much to everyone for all the prayers, words of encouragement, congrats and support. We would not be here if it were not for y'all!!**We also owe our forever thanks to Dallas' birth parents for picking us and trusting us with this AMAZING gift!!!
Thank you God for our perfect little boy!!!
