These last few weeks have been .... well, I'm not even sure what words to use to describe the last few weeks! Where do I even begin? I will give you the quick version, b/c there is so much that has happened since my last entry. After our call on the 25th, things flew into a very quick whirlwind! On that following Monday afternoon (around 4 or 5 pm), our Guardian Angel case worker called me and asked, "so, how soon do you think you can get here?" I was a little baffled by the question until she informed me that our birthmom, was going into labor! There was no question in our minds what our decision was going to be...Let's go tonight! In less than 3 hours we were packed and heading to the airport to fly to Utah!
As we begin to check into the airport, Jodi, our case worker, calls and says, "Congratulations! You have a healthy baby boy. He is 7 pounds 3 ounces, 19 inches long!" We couldn't get there fast enough. With built anticipation we boarded our plan for our 3 hour flight, landed in Utah about Midnight and met Jodi to help guide us to our hotel. We had to wait until the morning to meet our new bundle of joy!
T, the birthmom, asked us to be at the hospital by 8am to meet her and our baby boy! We got there and were anxious, nervous, excited, and ready to meet both of them. As we walk into the room and laid eyes on our new son, my heart melted and immediately fell deeply in love with our precious little Elijah! At the same time my heart went out to T, the birthmom, and the most sacrificing decision she has made! We had the chance to sit down and talk to her and get to know her a little bit.
T is an absolutely beautiful woman. She is so sweet, kind, loving, and self sacrificing for her children. Although, her circumstances were unstable and her life crazy back home, she knew beyond a shadow of doubt that her little boy needed more stability and need our family. As we continued to talk with her, she told the story of how she chose our family for Elijah. She had received about 5 profiles on Wednesday, June 22nd, to review and to choose from. This stack did not include our profile. She felt that none of these families were the right family for her little boy, so she asked the agency for a few more. They obliged and found three additional families to show her. This is where we came in. I was called on Friday morning, June 24th, and was asked if we would like our profile shown to her, the only thing...mom is due on Thursday, June 30th. Well, after talking to Jon, we decided, why not! We have nothing to lose. We didn't think much about it after that because Jon's cousin was getting married the next day! God is so good, and He knew that this was our precious little guy!! We continued to talk to T and really began to like her so much.
The next few days were spent going back and forth from the hospital, waiting to spend time with Elijah, yet being careful not to hurt or step on T's feelings as this was such a hard decision for her. We continued to hold our breath until papers were signed on june 27th at 7:30pm. The following day, we waited for what seemed like hours for our son to be discharged from the hospital. We were finally able to bring our baby "home" well our hotel room. It was so surreal that we still were in this cloud of thinking that this is all a dream. That evening we had dinner with our birthmom and the caseworkers for the final good byes.
For the next few days we began our wait for the ICPC paperwork to get approved in Utah and then Texas in order for us to cross state lines with our new bundle of joy. I must say, those few days were the longest days ever! Trying to get a sleep routine in a hotel is not easy, but we were so excited about our son that it didn't seem to phase us. We had our son, Elijah James Stewart!
Well, that Friday, July 1st, we got our call from Jodi, saying our paperwork had been approved and we were free to go home. We booked our flight for Sunday, and got ready to bring Elijah home! Elijah was great on the plane trip home, sleeping the entire time!
As we arrived at the airport we were greeted by Jon's parents, sister, Kristi, and brother in law, Peter. "Welcome Home, Elijah James Stewart!"
In the midst of the craziness, God's hand was right in the middle of the whole adoption! We were able to pay for the whole adoption with grants, and money we had saved, minus the mom's medical expenses that we managed to put on a credit card. We were able to use gift cards for the hotel that we received from Jon's reward points from our bank cards. We actually thought they were going to pay for half of the cost, but as Jon went to pay for the room with our 2 $200 cards, the man swiped one and it pulled up with $400 on it. We ended up paying $90 for our hotel room! Really?! God, You are so good! It was little things like this that truly encouraged us that God was right in the middle of this whole journey! We still pray that God will provide the finances to pay for the remainder of the medical expenses! God is bigger and He has proven his faithfulness so far!!
I will continue to post about our journey with Elijah at home, but for now, the little man is getting restless...time to eat!!
