Yesterday morning Karen got a call from the adoption agency that there was a baby available for adoption. We made quick arrangements and got to the hospital at 3:30 to meet Ashley from the agency. She filled us in on the background of the situation and let us know it would be a closed adoption. We had been hoping for an open adoption, especially after reading what a difference it can make in the life of an adoptee as they grow up. But we're thrilled to work within the parameters we were offered. We brought flowers and a card for the birthmom and Ashley delivered them, since we will probably never meet her.
Anyway, then we went into the NICU (Neo-natal intensive care unit - ICU for babies) where we met him. He's doing great, he was born on Sunday morning, 6lbs 13oz. 19inches long. He's just having some trouble eating from the bottle, so he has a feeding tube. At each feeding they/we try with the bottle and do as much as he'll take, then the rest goes in the tube.
At the hospital they have a shift change at 7pm, so we have to leave at that time. We can come back at 8, but it works good to go home at that time. He has feedings at 10, 2, and 6 - so today we were at the hospital for all three day time feedings. Our nurse has been really nice and helpful. It's strange how much we forget about infants since Jacob was born.
As we were really caught off guard, we didn't have everything in place - like a nursery, carseat or name for a boy (we had one picked out for a girl). So last night we borrowed a car seat from Nate & Heidi, then headed home and spent an hour and a half processing name options and coming up with Samuel David Dillenbeck.We're really happy about it and think it suits him well.
We have only been waiting for 3 months, so that's really fast. We had been told to expect anywhere up to 6-12 months. We were also thinking we would be matched with an expecting mother and have time to process everything, but that wasn't the case so quick thinking was in order. I've had to drop everything at work, but really glad for the blackberry to keep up with the email traffic.
There are some things that are different about adoption that most people might not realize. Mostly that Samuel will be coming home with us, but the adoption will not be official until a court date in 3-5 weeks. So we won't be posting any online photos of him until that time, just to be safe. After that the adoption isn't completely finalized for 6 months to allow a period of observation on how we're doing with him. Based on the particulars of our situation, we don't foresee any problems and these will all be formalities.
We'll continue to post updates via twitter/facebook - and for longer stories we'll continue to use the blog as things progress. Thanks to all for your continued support during this process, it means a lot to us.