We were a little nervous about the first meeting, which would be lunch with N and a social worker from the agency. What do you say, “nice to meet you, can we please have your baby?” We got some advice from some friends who are adoptive parents.
Everything went very smoothly, the social worker did a great job. N was happy to meet us and even wanted to spend another day with us while we were in Colorado. We had a great time getting to know her--she is a sweet and kind person. N wanted us to be her daughter’s parents. She was due in August so we had about 2 months to plan for a baby. WOW!
We went about our summer, excited about becoming parents and a little overwhelmed about the whole thing. We had 2 months to prepare! It was also a change in mindset—we were ready for a boy (most likely) from Guatemala who would come home to us at about age one, here we were going to have a newborn girl! Exciting!
How to start planning? I was at Wal-Mart one day and dared to venture into the baby section and got completely overwhelmed. I called Muskie Man in tears as I was leaving the store! He advised me in his wise way, to call a good friend who had a one year old and ask her what we really needed. She was so sweet and had a list for me by that evening. Thanks Amy, for making our life easier! We purchased the basics—travel system stroller and car seat, bottles, burp cloths, etc. My family had given us a diaper bag full of “stuff” so that helped. We would get the rest of the items as we needed them.
The weeks and months went quickly. We painted the baby’s room and arranged to borrow a crib and changing table from my sister. My sister and family delivered the furniture on August 13. We put it together that afternoon “just to have it ready.” I had been researching flights and rental cars. I knew the schedules of the airlines. We had been graciously offered a place to stay so that was not a worry. We had suitcases out and mostly packed, just some essentials that had to be packed at the last minute.
At 12:30 a.m. on August 14 my cell phone rang. N’s water had broken and they were on their way to the hospital. WOW, what a wake-up call that was! We rushed out of bed. Muskie Man jumped in the shower and hurried to work to put his “out of office until further notice” messages on his voicemail and email. I got on the internet to look at flights and rental cars. Did you know that if you have to book a flight less than 12 hours out, you have to actually talk to someone? We booked a 6:00 a.m. flight to Colorado, and a rental car for when we got there, and hit the road at about 3:00 a.m. for our hour and a half drive to the airport. We got a call on the way that N had to have a C-section because the baby was breach. Our daughter was born at 1:37 a.m. (mountain time) and everyone was doing well.
The flight was smooth and on time. Our bags made it—both bags came out at the same time! When does that happen?! We got our rental car and went to the hospital. We were about to meet our daughter!
. . .to be continued
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