After Stephanie said good bye to Hunter, I followed him up to the nursery. There they put him under a warmer and took his vitals. The nursery staff were so wonderful. They let me be in there and take some pictures and ask a million questions. After Hunter was under the warmer for a few hours, I was able to go back to the nursery and be there for his first bath. He screamed so loud and turned bright red. After that, the nurse let me feed and burp him. He spit up all over his clean self- better get use to this. At this point, I was the only one allowed to be in the nursery, so Noel had to watch through the window. A few more hours later after Hunter was warmed up enough, we were able to both go into the nursery and be with Hunter. I could not wait to get him into his own clothes. Over the next two days, Noel and I spent time in and out of the nursery. There was not really space for us to be in there, but the nursing staff was so accommodating for our situation. They gave us two rolling desk chairs and we set up camp in the least busy corner of the nursery. They were all so excited for us, especially since our adoption seemed like it would be going through. They told us that they have seen plenty of adoptions not go through and it was just heart breaking for them. While we were spending time in the nursery, we saw many babies come and go. One baby boy in particular was having a hard time. We think he was born addicted to drugs. We kind of over heard that the birth mother was given a choice to have CPS take custody of him or place him for adoption. She chose an adoptive family who arrived at the hospital the next day. We met them and talked to them for a little bit. It was comforting to know there was another couple going through the same situation we were. The funniest thing was that the agency who was representing this family, was the one who we originally going to adopt through. The caseworker kept looking at us and then finally said, " you look familiar...how do I know you?" I then told her that we were considering their agency and she met with us two years ago. I just couldn't help but think how the Lord has brought us full circle from where we started two years ago.
Part 6: Two hearts connected forever
On Friday morning, we got to the hospital around 9:30 AM. We peeked in on Hunter in the nursery and saw that he was sleeping sound so we decided to go see Stephanie before she left. The doctor had already seen her that morning and would be discharging her soon. We were so glad to be able to spend those last few minutes with her before she left. She said that she was feeling better and not in much pain. She was so glad to be able to go home and was ready to be out of the hospital. We talked about the birth and laughed at how the doctor surprised me by having me cut the cord and how everything happened so fast. We then started our good-byes. I told her that we didn't really know what to say because thank you was just not enough. We told her how much we really enjoyed getting to know her. We made a promise that Hunter will always know about her and know who she is. We told her that we admire her so much not just for what she is doing for us, but for who she is. Stephanie got teary eyed and said that she knows she made a good decision even though it is hard. She said the birth father wanted to come up to the hospital but was a little too sad to do so. We then gave her a gift of a pendant that has two hearts connected as one. I chose this pendant because of its symbolism. I told Stephanie that if first symbolizes that she and Hunter will be connected forever and nothing can every change that. He will always be a part of her. Secondly, I explained that she and our family will also be connected. I got the same pendant for me and told her that every time she wears her that I would be wearing mine. Every time I wear mine, I will be thinking of her. At this point, I was already crying and so was Stephanie. She was so cute and said, "its hard for me to cry, and now I am crying." It was such a touching and special moment that I will treasure forever. We hugged and said good-bye and promised to keep in touch through letters and pictures for as long as she wants us to.
Part 7: The last waiting game
So, at 12:19 PM on 9/1, the clock started ticking. We had 48 hours to wait until Stephanie signed her relinquishment papers. Going into Hunter's birth, we continued to feel really good about everything. The Lord gave us so much peace about everything. Every time throughout our adoption process I asked the Lord for confirmation, He would always give it to me. Even after years of reassurance and confirmations, I was so anxious as soon as I woke up Saturday morning. Noel and I took our time getting to the hospital that day. We arrived between 10:00 AM and 10:30. Our caseworker was going to meet Stephanie at 11:45 AM so she could sign after 12:19. I can honestly tell you that starting at 11:45, as we sat in the nursery with Hunter, Noel and I looked at the clock about every minute. We were expecting to hear from our caseworker no later than 1:00. At one point, I jokingly asked the nursery staff to take all the clocks down. As we waited, the nurse started the discharge paperwork, we signed the documents, and we got ready to go. We changed Hunter into his going home outfit and were all set. Well, 12:20 came and went, then 12:30, then even 1:00 and we had heard nothing. We were getting very antsy at this point. As the clock hands kept ticking, we got more and more nervous. Noel and I were even just silent because we didn't know what to do. FINALLY at 2:00, our caseworker called. She immediately said that Stephanie signed and apologized that it took so long. After a HUGE sigh of relief, we arranged to meet her at the agency office in 20 minutes. So we rushed over to the office and signed enough paperwork to "buy a house" (as Noel said). After our i's were dotted and t's were crossed, it was official! We then rushed back to the hospital to bring our son home!
Part 8: Homecoming!
At 3:30, we finally were able to leave the hospital. We thanked the nursery staff for their hospitality and the nurse walked us down. Noel drove us home, and Hunter and I sat in the back seat and I admired him the whole time. We finally got home around 4:00. What a long and exhausting day--- but we were FINALLY home. This was the day I have waited for for two years and I must say Hunter was well worth the wait.
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