On February 21, my mom called stating one of her friends had shared a post from her pastor on facebook. He stated an attorney he knew had a birth mother giving her baby up for adoption. In my head I was thinking, yeah right, such a long shot! As my dad always says, "ask not, receive not!". So I got the paralegals number and called. I left a message every day for four days without a call back. Discouraged and figuring it just wasn't meant to work, I gave up. The Lord had different plans though! My sister called the following Sunday and stated she went to church with a paralegal who stated they had a birth mom giving a baby up for adoption! What?! Of course, it was the same lady I had been trying to call! I called and left a fifth message (poor girl!). On Monday the 27th of February, she called me back. Finally! She stated the birth mother would be reviewing portfolio's on Tuesday the 28th and to bring ours down for her to review. Uh oh, what portfolio?! Yikes! We pulled an all nighter making a portfolio to submit the next morning. Thank the Lord I have amazing parents who let us stay and use their computer and printer into the early morning hours. Long story short, finished the portfolio and drove down to SLC the next morning to submit it to the attorney's office. Then the waiting started.....
The Lord knows I'm not a patient person and didn't make me wait long, we heard the next afternoon that she would like to know more information on our childhood's. So, that's exactly what we did. We submitted more information on our childhood's and again, waited....
On Friday, March 3rd, I got a call around 6PM stating that she would like to meet us on Sunday! What?! What an amazing, crazy week! Monday morning not knowing anything to Friday evening the birth mother wanting to meet us! Wow, the Lord is amazing!
I can't begin to tell you the emotions that were running through us. It was funny the things that we were thinking. What should we wear when we meet her? What if she doesn't like us in person? What if I say the wrong thing? What if I talk to much? What if Cody doesn't talk enough? Lol! We were a bundle of nerves that weekend! Sunday came and the day seemed to drag on. We couldn't eat because we were so nervous. We met her at her advocates home in Park City at 5PM that evening. We arrived a little early and she hadn't arrived yet. Our stomachs were turning and hearts pounding! Finally we got to meet our wonderful birth mother and her mother. It is amazing how she was able to put us at ease with how easy going and funny she was. It sure settled our nerves quickly. We had a wonderful time getting to know each other and left about three hours later. (Although, I'm sure I didn't accomplish my goal of not talking so much!)
We left feeling really good about things but also trying to not get our hopes up. We were up most of the night thinking, talking and praying. The next morning, I got another call from the advocate stating she would like to meet with us again tonight! Yay! Cody and I drove over after work. Again, so many thoughts going through our brains. Kathlene (our birth mother) was wonderful. She told us in such a special way that she had chosen us. She had made us a build-a-bear with a "Baby Boy" onsie on it. She handed it to us stating it was for our son. Wow, talk about excitement and pure joy. The emotions were wonderful! We hugged and we said thank you probably a million times which still didn't seem like enough. Seriously, how do you tell someone thank you for that kind of gift? I am excited to share that story with Greyson one day. We was due on April 22nd. Wow, six weeks to get ready!
The next few weeks consisted of all the legal side of adoption. We had to get a bunch of paperwork submitted and a home study done by the state. We had the honor of meeting her family and her meeting our families. She has an amazing family with amazing support. Kathlene was wonderful in the fact she let us be so involved. I was able to go to a couple of ultrasounds with her and listen to his heartbeat. The Lord again knew I wasn't a patient person and it was sounding like Greyson might make his debut quite early! Poor Kathlene was dealing with mild pre-eclampsia and her doctor was watching her pretty close. Kathlene was so good through all of this and took such good care of him.
On March 30th, she called me around 1PM stating her doctor was inducing her to get there quick! Ahh!! Holy cow! I was scared! Kathlene's mom was so cute, she called me shortly after and told me to breathe. She said she probably would have two of us she would have to keep telling to breathe! Lol! I called Cody and off we went. We arrived around 4PM and she was dilated to a 3. She did so good during labor. It was a true picture of strength, determination and faith. By midnight, she was ready to push! She gave us the wonderful honor of being in the room when she delivered Greyson. We were able to watch our son be born! Wow! What an amazing miracle that was! God is so good!
Greyson weighed in at 7lb 6oz and 19inches long! What a sweet little boy. We all had a little time to spend with him before they had to take him to the nursery to do their full assessment on him. Our families had been out in the waiting room the whole time and finally got to see him around 2AM! They were all so excited.
The next few days went by quickly and all families had a chance to spend time with Greyson.
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| Happy Grandma's! |
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| Grandpa Butcher |
By Monday the 2nd, we were hoping to be able to bring him home. He was looking a little more yellow that morning and was diagnosed with jaundice. :-( Poor guy!
After 24hrs under the Bili lights, his billirubin level was normal and was ready for discharge! Yay! This day came with many emotions. We were so happy but we also knew Kathlene was hurting. It definitely was a difficult day. Kathlene was so strong through all of this and she continued with that strength and faith as we drove away with Greyson. What an amazing, strong woman. We will be forever grateful to her and thank the Lord daily for her.
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| Headed home! |
I was a nervous wreck the whole way home! I sat next to him in the back seat and didn't take my eyes of him. I just wanted to get home so I could snuggle him! When we pulled up to our house, this is what we saw!
Aw! It was so exciting! My mom, Cody's mom and Kaysie all met us at the driveway! We were finally home!
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| Our dog Otis was so excited to see us! Don't mind me, I know I look horrible! I was tired! |
What an amazing story!! Thanks for sharing!! Congrats to you both!
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