Whirlwind

That is the perfect description for the last month.

We found out we were matched on Tuesday, July19th.

We met Isaac's birth parents that Friday, July 22nd.

He was due August 9th, but at her appointment the Thursday after we met them, her amniotic fluid was low, and so they sent her to labor and delivery for induction.

We cleaned the house, packed our bags, and headed to Louisville about midnight.  We drove all night, and got there about 8am Friday morning.  She still had not had him, but continued to labor, so we checked into our hotel, slept a little bit, grabbed lunch, and waited.

About 6:00pm , they decided to do a c-section, because she only progressed to 4cm.

I was running (jogging/walking/whatever you call it trying to train for a 5k) at the gym at the hotel, so I ran upstairs, told Travis, and jumped in the shower.  We arrived at the hospital right after he was born, and was able to hold him quickly in the hallway before they took him to the nursery.

He was in the nursery for about an hour before we could go in and see him, and even then, he had to stay under the heat lamps for about another hour.  Once we finally did get to hold him, they let us go to the 'family room' (also used for nursing) attached to the nursery, and we stayed with him until about 3am.  We were able to do all his feedings, talk, sing, pray, cry, and simply be amazed where we were.

He loved the swing in the nursery, and still loves it!

We had the most amazing nurses, they were so supportive of us, talked with us, showed us what to do (to say we were overwhelmed might be an understatement).  We spent so much time with the nurses in the nursery, we've become friends, and took Isaac back to see them while we were there.

The rest of that weekend was spent either at the hospital with Isaac, or at the hotel sleeping.  

On Sunday, he got released, and we headed home. 

The last picture we have of him before we left Kentucky.  

In Kentucky, they don't have 'legal risk' placements, so he had to stay with a foster family, who had adopted from our agency before.  The 8 hour trip home that Sunday was the worst trip ever.  We cried when we left the hospital.  We cried when we passed the state lines, each city that went by.  We had left our son, and already we missed him.

His birth parents had to wait 72 hours to sign the termination of their parental rights, but since he was born so late on Friday (6:21pm- after business hours), they signed Tuesday morning.  

We were blessed by the foster family.  They were always welcoming to phone calls and emails, and sent us several pictures every day. 

His first doctors appointment

The weekend between when he was born, and when we went back was my 28th birthday.  This was the best present I could have received.  I will never be able to thank his foster family enough to have captured those days for us on film.  They are pictures/time that we would have missed out on entirely.  

We knew not to expect a court date the week the birth parents signed, so we prayed (and asked everyone around us to pray) that we would find out a date the second week.  We were told it could take 2-3 weeks. On Tuesday, August 9th, I got a phone call from the case worker in Louisville.  She told us we had court on Thursday  and I said "oh, awesome, we have a little more then a week" as I was thinking about everything that had to be done between now and when we left.  She laughed and said, "No, in 2 days!".  Panic.

Two days, we just wanted to know the date of court, never expecting it would be that soon.  Our God is an awesome God, and herd our prayers!

The next two days were frantic, trying to get things ready, packing, preparing our house/dogs for the pet sitter, trying to figure out what baby things we needed for the first few weeks of his life, and what other things (cutting board, mixing bowls, etc) we needed to live in a hotel for 2-3 weeks (the possible estimate of how long we would be there).

Court was that Thrursday morning, we were somewhere in Indiana when we got the call that everything was done, Isaac was ours!  The adoptive parents are not represented at all during court, so there was no need for us to be there (and it was suggested we don't show up).  The case worker had another piece of business to attend to downtown, so we planned on meeting her at the foster families house.

Reunited at last! My two favorite guys!

Our first family picture... well, once court was done, family picture!

There is a baby... in MY car!

So that is the beginning of the story, sorry I've been so absent.  I'll try to get our 'Kentucky Adventures' post done soon, with of course, more pictures!