This blog was post was written as a letter to Adoption STAR by clients Cara and Shawn!
We would like to say thank you for making our adoption journey awesome. From the time we attended the informational session we felt very comfortable with the agency. The classes were informational, but even more they were comfortable. We felt at home with the staff members as well as other classmates. Your outlook on the adoption journey is amazing, we could not have chosen a better agency to help us through. For that we thank you.
Here we are 6 months later with our baby girl Mikayla Jo. When we received the call from Missy that we have been selected we were in a bit of shock. So excited we immediately told our friends and family so they could share in our excitement. The next couple weeks were a little tense, not knowing what was going on as the birth mother was a bit detached and not staying in touch with you. We hope we were not too bothering calling and asking if you have heard anything! Then we got another call from Missy saying the birth mother set up a follow up meeting and everything was still going as planned. This was great news, but we were still a little hesitant to believe it was real considering the last 6 years of becoming parents has been such a struggle. Then a miracle happened on September 25th 2012 at 2:27PM. Missy called Kara and told her we have a baby girl!!! Kara was speechless with excitement. She tried to contact me, but I was in a server room with no cell service, luckily I was stepping out and got the news about 10 minutes later. We just wanted to run home and grab our things and head to Buffalo, but with the timing we would not be able to see Mikayla until the next day. So we kept ourselves busy at a company award outing then home to pack up everything we thought we might need for our baby girl. Sleep was not plentiful that night, it was like being a kid on Christmas eve just knowing the morning was going to bring the best joy of our lives! The next morning we head to Buffalo bright and early, grabbed some breakfast to kill some time, stopped by the bank. Even the teller at the bank had tears in her eyes when we told her the news. We arrived at the agency right around 9am, our stomachs filled with butterflies as we anticipate what’s to come. Missy went through the paperwork with us and explained everything very well. She is awesome to have as our advocate! Now we head to the hospital…
Missy joined us shortly after at the lobby waiting room. The three of us had enough anxiety for the whole world, waiting for Sue to let us know everything was good. About an hour went by and we were a little nervous. Then Sue said come up to level 2!!! Our hearts dropped and I am pretty sure I didn’t breathe for a few minutes. We walked in to the nursery and they brought in Mikayla Jo. She was the most beautiful thing we have ever seen. Tears of joy accompanied us as we embraced our little angel for the first time. This moment was definitely worth the journey we have been on for many years. We are so blessed to have Mikayla in our lives and thank adoption star for helping us through the journey. It truly is the best feeling in the world to become parents and share our love with our baby.
That evening we did not want to leave her alone at the hospital, but new she was in good hands with the girls on duty. They were very motherly and ensured us they were giving her as much attention they could while she was waiting for us. As we headed out for the night to get some sleep and prepare to bring Mikayla home on Thursday I spent a couple hours sending some of the 100’s of pictures I took of Mikayla to our friends and family. They have all been with us through our journey and we could feel the love from afar when they heard the news. Even now writing this letter brings tears of joy to my eyes.
The next day we arrived bright and early at the hospital. We sat in the nursery, holding our baby girl until her discharge was authorized. The doctor came in and told us Mikayla was healthy with no concerns and she is ready to be discharged. That was amazing news and at the same time was so surreal. Sue arrived and walked the nurse through the discharge process and took care of everything we needed at the hospital. She was a blessing to have by our sides for this. Our first challenge was changing Mikayla out of her hospital gear. Had we planned a head we would have brought a button down outfit, as dressing her was a bit of a challenge the first time. It was more us being a little worried about her than anything. Once we got her bundled up we figured out how to get her in the car seat, again thank you Sue for helping us figure that part out! I headed out to get the car and met them outside the hospital. We put her in the car, hugged everyone and headed home!!! At this moment we looked at each other and reality set in that we are now parents of our precious baby girl.
The next few days were full of family and friends meeting Mikayla and congratulating us. Our house continuously looked like Christmas morning from all the gifts. Grandma Bennett came to stay with us the first few days to help out if we needed anything. Grandma and Grandpa Petti came up the following week to help us out as we get back to work slowly. Mikayla has been an angel and is getting so much love from all of us. All her grandparents are so proud and excited.
We have had two pediatrician appointments so far, they say she is doing great. She gained 9 ounces so far. We have gone for walks already and even a trip to the mall and Babies-R-Us. She is such a sweetheart.
That’s our journey so far. We just wanted to say thank you for making it an amazing one.
