Our Journey to being Spencer's Parents...part two

 When we received the call on June 19th that "D" was being admitted and induced within the hour, I called Art and raced home to pick him up and have the bags loaded into the car...we were on our way to meet the Little Dude!  Of course the drive posed some obstacles with road construction bringing us to a dead stop, backtracking and  leading us to a single lane back road - I know they were all signs to slow down, but we did not want to miss being there!

We finally arrived at the hospital and were told the progression had been slow, so we sat in the Labor & Delivery room and visited with "D" and her mother. "D" had mentioned her goal was to be through with labor by 9:00 pm.  At 7:30 pm the nurses checked her and she was only 4 cm, looked like it was going to be a long night.  Just as 8:45 pm rolled around, I made a joke that "D" might need to set a new goal in that 9:00 pm was quickly approaching - funny...not 5 minutes later the nurse came in to check her again.  As we were sitting outside the room, the nurse runs out and calls the Doctor on call and said "we're having this baby soon!"  I couldn't believe it as I looked at the clock, "D" was right on her goal.

Once the Dr. arrived, "D" was told to push and was so strong, I swear it only took her two solid pushes.  As I was so Blessed to be holding one of her legs to assist, Art was standing behind me.  I think tears started flowing immediately as I looked at "D" in absolutely adoration. She was so amazing, brave and had so much strength. I actually missed them putting this Little Blessing into his bassinett to take to the nursery. 

As we followed the bassinett to the nursery, our hearts were filled with so much joy and anticipation.  We observed the nurses getting him cleaned up, bloodwork drawn, weight 6lbs, 2oz, height 18.5", a full head of hair - this Little Dude was little but so strong!  His cries were so funny as he would scream for 10 seconds and then complete quiet.  We were able to sit in the nursery and hold, rock and talk to him within the first hour of his life.  "D" also requested to visit with him and hold him, this is the first of many visits with his birthmommy throughout our stay at the hospital.  He's so lucky to be loved to much by so many! 

The next morning, we had a Family visit with "D" in her room.  She seemed to be doing pretty well and was holding him close as her son was giving the baby kisses.  I cannot express enough the awesomeness of this visit.  We had our first Family Picture taken with "D" holding him.  That picture will forever be a treasure and hold a special place in this Little Dude's room.  "D" mentioned she had a little gift for us - SERIOUSLY, through all of this she had the thoughtfulness and heart to put together a gift for this Little Guy.  We opened the gift to find the most perfect bib that had "Little Dude" embroidered on the front, a soft blankey, a cute stuffed caterpillar and loads of snacks for Art & I.  I was brought to tears yet again. We visited a little longer and talked to "D" to confirm his name:  Spencer Daniel.  "D" explained she needed to give him a name of her own and wanted it to have meaning;  Theodore meaning "A Gift from God", Noah meaning "Comfort and Rest".  Have I mentioned how incredibly lucky Spencer is to have her as his "Mommy "D". 

We visited "D" again the next morning as Spencer was having his circumcision when the Lawyer and Social Worker came in to go over the adoption paperwork.  This was a bitter sweet moment for Art & I as we were so elated to have Spencer be legally ours to  love, but to grieve for "D" as she was about to sign her TPR forms.  After the Lawyer and Social Worker left, we visited "D" once again and were able to give her our small token of thanks for being such an amazingly strong person and taking such great care of Spencer while he was growing in her womb.  Don't get me wrong, there's NOTHING that would ever be able to express our appreciation for all she has done, but we wanted to give her something special to think of Spencer.  We left her room in all out tears, even Art was sniffling and just about to lose it as she thanked us for being in her life.  She's a Blessing in ours.

When we first started this adoption journey, I never imagined having such an awesome young woman in our lives as a birthmom. Now, I cannot imagine our future without "D" in it. We look forward to sharing Spencer's life with "D" and giving him the opportunity to know her and to see how amazing she is and how much love she has for him.