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All cleaned upSaturday, March 5, 2011
Birthday Time
I cannot help but think back to this week in our lives in 2010. Then, the anticipation and nervousness was so painful that all we could do was keep ourselves busy while we waited and waited for a phone call. Now, I can look back on those diversions with fond memories.
I remember arriving at our bed and breakfast on March 4th, waiting all day just to find out we would not meet our birthmom before the baby was born. I remember waking up on March 5th knowing that we should get a call in the early afternoon letting us know the baby was born. So we drove downtown to the Tower City Mall and walked and walked. We went to see Alice In Wonderland in 3D. We had lunch. Finally, on our way back to the room we got a call that a healthy baby girl had been born. We were also told that we'd have to wait another day to meet her. So we started a game of Scrabble in our room and tried not to think about the fact that she was less than a mile away. We also decided then that we would name her Elsie, "consecrated to God". We were hopeful that March 6th would be the day, so we strolled through Wal-Mart looking at baby stuff. We ate lunch at Applebees, which is where we received our very first pictures of Elsie. The waitress also informed us that the building we were seeing out the window was her hospital. But today would not be the day. March 7th passed so very slowly. March 8th passed even more slowly.
But on March 9th, we got the call that we were to meet the birthmom at 3 PM. We'd talk with her for a while, then she personally wanted to hand baby Elsie over to us before we parted ways. We walked into the hospital with an empty carseat and sat down in the lobby. A few minutes later, our social worker met us there and escorted us to the birthmom's room. We chatted for about 45 minutes, both of us wanting to find out as much about the other one as possible. She was turning her baby over to us, and we wanted at least a few answers to the questions Elsie may one day ask. I can still remember every detail from the time I walked off the elevator onto the nursery floor. I remember it being very quiet...no babies crying. The lights were dim. I remember some puzzled looks from the nurses. But all happiness overcame us as we held her in our arms for the first time. I didn't want to let her go, but I politely passed her back to her birthmom to say goodbye. Then it was a buzz of paperwork before our trip home, all the while I held her and watched her sleep. The social worker kept having to prompt me to sign here and here. Finally, we walked out those hospital doors with a precious baby girl. The first night with a newborn is rarely full of sleep, but we tried. I remember wondering if she was a little frightened being in a new place with new people, new sounds, new smells. I couldn't wait for the day when she would feel comfortable in her bed and in our home.
A year later, I'm pretty sure I can say this is true. She knows her momma and daddy. She knows her crazy siblings. She even knows her slurpy little dogs.
This post may be too full of detail for some of you. I don't want to bore you, but I actually feel like this post is for Elsie herself. Someday I'll show her these posts and remind her how much we love her. Happy 1st Birthday Elsie!
I remember arriving at our bed and breakfast on March 4th, waiting all day just to find out we would not meet our birthmom before the baby was born. I remember waking up on March 5th knowing that we should get a call in the early afternoon letting us know the baby was born. So we drove downtown to the Tower City Mall and walked and walked. We went to see Alice In Wonderland in 3D. We had lunch. Finally, on our way back to the room we got a call that a healthy baby girl had been born. We were also told that we'd have to wait another day to meet her. So we started a game of Scrabble in our room and tried not to think about the fact that she was less than a mile away. We also decided then that we would name her Elsie, "consecrated to God". We were hopeful that March 6th would be the day, so we strolled through Wal-Mart looking at baby stuff. We ate lunch at Applebees, which is where we received our very first pictures of Elsie. The waitress also informed us that the building we were seeing out the window was her hospital. But today would not be the day. March 7th passed so very slowly. March 8th passed even more slowly.
But on March 9th, we got the call that we were to meet the birthmom at 3 PM. We'd talk with her for a while, then she personally wanted to hand baby Elsie over to us before we parted ways. We walked into the hospital with an empty carseat and sat down in the lobby. A few minutes later, our social worker met us there and escorted us to the birthmom's room. We chatted for about 45 minutes, both of us wanting to find out as much about the other one as possible. She was turning her baby over to us, and we wanted at least a few answers to the questions Elsie may one day ask. I can still remember every detail from the time I walked off the elevator onto the nursery floor. I remember it being very quiet...no babies crying. The lights were dim. I remember some puzzled looks from the nurses. But all happiness overcame us as we held her in our arms for the first time. I didn't want to let her go, but I politely passed her back to her birthmom to say goodbye. Then it was a buzz of paperwork before our trip home, all the while I held her and watched her sleep. The social worker kept having to prompt me to sign here and here. Finally, we walked out those hospital doors with a precious baby girl. The first night with a newborn is rarely full of sleep, but we tried. I remember wondering if she was a little frightened being in a new place with new people, new sounds, new smells. I couldn't wait for the day when she would feel comfortable in her bed and in our home.
A year later, I'm pretty sure I can say this is true. She knows her momma and daddy. She knows her crazy siblings. She even knows her slurpy little dogs.
This post may be too full of detail for some of you. I don't want to bore you, but I actually feel like this post is for Elsie herself. Someday I'll show her these posts and remind her how much we love her. Happy 1st Birthday Elsie!
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