Our one year anniversary GOTCHA day!

Today one year ago at 4:37 p.m we got the news that would forever change our lives. We found out Isaac's birthmother signed the papers and that HE WAS OURS! Today one year ago was our Gotcha day and we were able to bring Isaac home! I pulled up a post and Isaac's gotcha day video from that time to reminisce and remember all that we were feeling at that time...

The day we got the call, the day we met him and the day we brought him home!

I have SO much in my head and heart that I would love to share with you but unfortunately I know I will fall short of doing so!  I am going to try my best in this post to share with you all about the day we got the call, the day we met his birthmom and our son and the day we brought our son home!

DAY 1: JUNE 22nd

That morning I had woken up and packed the diaper bag because I loved doing things like that to help me get through the waiting period.  Little did I know that as I packed the diaper bag up and got it ready that we would soon be using it.  That morning I had also just received in the mail 5 awesome children's books that address adoption or skin/hair color and I sat in the nursery and read them all!

Around 1:15pm, I got the phone call but missed it so I called right back and she started telling me details about a baby and I thought it was just to have our profile looked at and see if it would be picked.  So I started writing down all the details about medical history, situation and such and then she told me that actually they already gave the birthmom all the profiles and she picked us and loved us.  At that point, my heart started to race as I realized this was actually happening.  Our moment had finally come and after 4 1/2 years of waiting we were getting the call that would forever change our lives!  What is even more exciting is we were only on our agency's adoption waiting list for 5 weeks!  How awesome is that!  I remember looking up at the verse on our wall (Jeremiah 29:11) and I just touched my hand to the words and wept out loud as I read it and thanked God.

So immediately I called everyone and I called Jim at his work and was SO excited to tell him that I could barely stand it!  I think I said something along the lines of "we have a boy, your going to be a daddy" or something like that!  I remember calling my mom and could barely get out the words without bawling and I said, "I have a son and he was born on Father's day" and at that point her and I were both crying!  The day went on and we took time to call/text/facebook/email everyone and let them know the AMAZING news!  The outpour of your love from comments on here, on facebook, texts, calls, emails, you name it...amazed us!  We were so blessed by you all!

That night we figured out everything we had to do!  We wrote lists, questions, got pictures ready, prayed, cried some more, prayed some more and got everything in order for the following day!


DAY 2: JUNE 23rd

I woke up at 5am because I just could not sleep!  I was excited, I was nervous, I was so thankful!  We headed up around 10:30 and got there around noon.  When we pulled into the hospital and started walking in, my heart immediately started beating so fast and I literally thought I was going to puke as we walked off the elevator onto the floor we needed.  Our social worker greeted us in the lobby right off the elevators and she asked how we were doing and I told her how nauseous I was so she told us some details and a little bit about of the birthmom and how chatty and easygoing she was and that she was really sure and that she thought the meeting would go well and that helped me so much!  As we made our way to the room my fear, my nausea was replaced with strength and peace!  God is so amazing!  We walked into the room and I saw Isaac's birthmom sitting on the bed holding him and as soon as she saw us she started crying.  I walked up to her and greeted her and told her we had been praying for her and asked if I could give her a hug.  She said yes and then right away handed me our son.  I was so blessed and thankful that right away she gave him to me and let me hold him the whole time!  As I looked at Isaac for the first time all swaddled up and a teeny tiny little guy, I could not take my eyes off of him.  He was precious, he was beautiful!  My mom told me to put my cheek against his and take in his smell because she said she did that with us girls and will always remember it!  So I did and I smelled cotton candy and he smelled so good!  I thought maybe his birthmom just had cotton candy spray on or something.  Yet, to this day even after a bath today he still smells like cotton candy!  I tease him saying God infused him with cotton candy! ;0)


Throughout the next two hours we talked so easily that the social worker didn't have to say anything or bring up any suggested questions to spark conversation.  She gave us many baby tips, which we thought was nice!  Shared why she chose us, why she chose to give him up and so many other things!  We found out her and I both have a BIG love for sweets and dark chocolate and mint chocolate chip icecream!  She told me some of her favorite shows and what she craved during pregnancy and I wrote them down to tell Isaac later on in life if he is curious!  

She let us know that the BIG reasons why she picked us was our age, our diversity in our family (i have 5 african-american cousins and 3 bi-racial cousins) and that we were non-denominational christian.  She had been hurt by a certain denomination before so was very happy to hear we were christians and went to a non-denom church!  


She shared with us that she found out she was pregnant around 4 months along.  She was shamed when she started sharing this next part but I am glad she shared her heart.  She told us that she wanted to abort him but that it was too expensive and the birthfather told her to just put the baby up for adoption.  When I think about this, it brings tears to my eyes because what the enemy meant for evil, for death, for destruction...God turned it around and brought life to it, love to it and changed it for the good.  God has plans for Isaac and it did not include him being aborted.  PRAISE GOD!  As I look into Isaac's face and hold him, I cannot imagine this world without him now.  If you didn't read our last post, go check it out and read paragraph #3, it will blow your mind!  

The birthmom decided to be discharged after we left and would leave.  The social workers would go to her house the next day to sign the papers so she would not see us or her son again.  So we gave her time to say goodbye, which was hard for all involved!  We got to go back up around 4-4:30 and we stayed until 9:00pm and just took him in and started bonding as a family!  They allowed Jim's parents to come too since they were leaving for vacation so that was nice to introduce them to their grandson!  When it was time for us to leave for the evening, we didn't want to leave him but was hoping it would just be for a night!  We got together, the three of us and held eachother and prayed over Isaac and our new family and it was one of the most beautiful things ever!


DAY 3: JUNE 24th


That morning was a hard morning for me personally.  Our social worker had to be honest with us and let us know that most mothers say they are 100% committed, even the ones who decide to parent.  So even though the birthmom told us she would not parent, we still had no guarantee until 4:11pm.  Our social worker told us that they were going to call and see how she was doing this morning and this would tell how things would go because they said if the mothers are going to parent they usually decide then and rarely does it wait and happen at the signing.  So we were waiting on the call from our social worker to hear how the birthmom was before we were going to go and visit more with Isaac!  


I was in the shower praying to God about this when my mom came knocking on the door and said our social worker was on the phone. So I rushed out and she told me that it went well, the birthmom knows this is the right thing to do and that we were the right family for him and was ready to sign papers today.  After hearing that, I got back in my shower to finish but instead I just lifted my hands to the heavens in praise to our heavenly Father and I wept and sang praises to Him thanking him for that awesome news!  


Jim and I got to the hospital that day around 12:15-12:45.  We were so pumped, so excited, wondering how the day would turn out!  We knew that we were still taking a risk by spending the day with Isaac since we would not know for sure until 4:11pm but we just could not stay away from him!  God again amazed us by giving us an amazing nurse that day who herself was adopting!  She sympathized with us and even hugged us when we got the good news!  We found out Isaac had failed his first car seat test because he was so small.  So the nurse, Julie, said she would do everything she could to help him pass the test.  While he was testing we had to watch a discharge video and we went and had lunch!  We sent out a message to have everyone pray for him to pass and sure enough he did!  To God be the glory!  The rest of the day flew by!  The nurse did his footprints again for us since the birthmom took the first set.  It was fun to watch and she showed us how to spongebath him, since we were kind of nervous since he was so small.  We held him, took lots of pictures, sang to him, video taped some.  The time came and passed and we were waiting to hear from our social worker.  Each minute felt like an hour.  Finally at 4:37 we got a text first and then a call from our social worker saying "Congratulations" Papers are signed and he is yours!  


I cannot even begin to describe to you what I felt!  Tears came to my eyes and I could have just bawled but then we realized we had to let everyone know!  Within the next hour we changed him into his going home outfit and signed all the papers and gave the last big check to our agency!  Buckling him into his carseat and watching him in the car as we drove home was an experience I will never forget!  Our family welcomed us home with signs and video taped it!  They all have seemed to fall in love with Isaac just like we have!  He is such a great baby and we are so thankful to God for bringing Isaac into our lives!  To think that God would chose us to entrust us with one of His children!  The verse God gave us in the beginning of this journey has been true the whole time and at the end...still true!  I have loved to see God work in this journey and I am excited to continue to watch Him work in us and through us now that we are a family of three!  

EPHESIANS 3:20 ~ "Now to Him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power that is at work within us, to Him be glory..."