Our Allie

Tonight around 9pm the birth mother relinquished her rights making Brad and I Allie's parents.

We are so overwhelmed with joy and I am pretty sure I cried for an hour straight! A three year journey that started in December 2010 has the most happiest of endings.  I give God all the glory on this....I know it was without a doubt all part of his perfect plan.  So many little things happened leading up to this which once I get  few more hours of sleep I will write:)

I will be praying for the birth mother.  She made such an unselfish and courageous decision.  I hope over time she finds peace with her decision and realizes in spite of her pain she has made so many people happy.  I can't imagine the pain she must be feeling.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Allie Shiloh Holdbrook

Sunday Brad and I had our typically day.  We went to church, ran some errands and went grocery shopping then went home to watch.....football.  I ALWAYS have my phone by me but I guess a day of running around made me tired so I took a nap and left my cell phone in my purse.  At 5pm Brad noticed a text from our agency it said the BM was in labor!!  I looked and sure enough she had called me one hour ago.  Luckily, we just through on shoes and drove there so fast we are pretty sure we broke some laws, ha!  We go there right after she had the epidural so Brad and I got to be in the deliver room and see her enter this world.  It was the most amazing experience...I even got to cut the umbilical Brad could have but he was about to pass out the doctor made him sit down, ha ha ha!

Allie was born 7:08pm weighing 6lbs 4 oz 19" long.  She is just the most adorable little girl I have ever seen.  Our lives have changed so much already.  The BM has allowed us to keep her through both the nights and really have her most of the day!  All of the nurses and doctors have been so great too.

Tonight around 7pm the adoption will hopefully be finalized.  Today will be a very long day while we wait for discharge and the BM to relinquish rights.  The BM has been so strong and sweet to us..... I love her almost as much as I love Allie. 

It is already so hard to leave her even for a few minutes.

Brad and I feel so blessed to have her in our lives and for all of our AMAZING friends and family that have helped us out so much.  Getting the house ready, bringing baby "supplies" and praying!  

Please pray for today to go well.  For BM to stay strong in her decision to adopt.  I will post more once it all finalized.

My love bug and answered prayer

Test Results and Sono

Thursday we went in for the BM's sono.  From what they could see everything looked nice and normal!  I got to stay in the sono room and see everything as the tech pointed out the face, heart, stomach.  Her little face was adorable!! The estimated weight is about 6lbs 3oz.  The baby's legs were still crossed so we still don't 100% know if it is a girl but we are going with girl until she comes out a boy, ha!  After the sono the technician gave her 3 pictures of the baby, the BM immediately asked the technician to cut one off.  The tech did and the BM handed it to me.  It was soooo sweet that I almost started crying but the BM said to save all of the tears until the baby arrives, ha! 

Friday, we went for her follow up with OB.  There is nothing really big to report except we didn't have to wait that long and all of her test came back NEGATIVE!!  Praise God!  I also got to meet her oldest son, who is so adorable and sweet.  He knew I was the lady that was getting the baby and really was just a sweet kid- sweet much like his mom.

I am still cautiously excited but everything is looking positive!  She is about 35weeks and dilated to a one so hopefully in the next few weeks we will have a baby!!!  Brad and I can't agree on any names so luckily we still have a few weeks to keep discussing that, ha!

Thank you all for your prayers and supports!  Since she still doesn't want to take any iron supplements or folic acid please just keep praying for the baby's health.

Another long day at the Hospital

Today at 9:30am I went with the birthmother to Parkland's Irving clinic for a full OB exam.  I got home at 5:30pm.  It was a very long day (again) but I think successful.  First, the nurses and aids at the clinic were so incredibly nice!!  It helped the birth mother and I feel much more at peace.  The BM got a pap, blood work and measurements.  We were not able to get a sono but have appointment next Thursday at 9am.   

What I know/learned so far is, is the baby is measuring (by tape) about 35.5 weeks. We will get her blood work and other test back in a couple weeks. 

There a couple red flags which added to the stress of the day.  First, the BM was real hesitant to release her medical records.  Which caused me to worry that is she hiding something.  However, when it came time to get the test and request the records she was fine and on board. Red flag now back to yellow.

 Next, she mentioned her mom, who was once on board with adoption, has changed her mind.  This is concerning b/c her mother has custody of her other two boys.  I spoke with the agency about this and she is going to keep talking with her and remind her of why she made the decision in the first place. This is very normal and a risk with any adoption.

I really wish we could have had a sono today just to confirm the baby looks healthy....and know the sex but I can wait a week;)

Lastly, the BM, again was very sweet and I think pretty honest with me.

Thank you all for the support, text, calls, and prayers.  Please help me in continuing to pray for the baby to be healthy and the BM to stay strong in her decision.

love and hugs,

Amanda

Doctor Appointment Set!

The appointment yesterday was cancelled because of some silly reasons that just irritate me!  Basically, they wouldn't see her without any of her past medical records.  Sounds a little suspicious. Now, the birthmother is going to the doctor tomorrow at 9:30am....and I get to go too!
I am so excited yet worried.  I pray that little baby is healthy and coming soon!!

Nothing else really to write to about;)

Doctor's appointment- Maybe

I am so mad at my email.  It spammed the response from the agency....so I went days frustrated.
The birth mother has an appointment today at 11:15pm- assuming they were able to get her previous medical records in time.   Hoping I get to go but don't know yet.  Trying to be patient.....I am awful at being patient......

I will update when I know if she was able to get in:)

Just a little update

So, the update is there really is no update.  We are still waiting to get the birth mother to a doctor.  Since I do not have direct contact with her it has been challenging for me to gauge when and if she is planning on going. I just keep praying she will and that the baby is healthy!!  It is a very weird feeling in knowing you could get a baby any day but don't really know anything else......

Blessings:

1. Friends who have offered to help- A sweet friend offered some of her basically brand new baby essentials to us- a car seat, stroller, baby jogger. Another offered bottles and bassinet.  Another offered swing, stroller, etc.  It such a humbling feeling to have friends that are loving enough to help in any way.

2. Church family- my church family is so amazing. They helped us with our video and have prayed over us through this three year journey.  Most recently, at a friend's Christmas party, I discovered one of my friend's husband is an OB at Parkland.  Long story short, he sent me allllllll this great information to pass along to my agency and he and I even talked about getting the BM into see him.  If nothing else this has given me comfort and knowledge in a situation where I have no control.

Once something happens I will for sure update!!

Oh! and my brother is engaged!!! 2014 could be a really fun year full of babies (i hope) and weddings!!

Baby time

We had a very nice talk with the agency Monday and they said their goal is to get her to a doctor.  Which is really all we want.  We have been praying, thinking, and talking and until something changes are mind we are in!  So, this means we could be bringing home a baby girl in January. We are still not 100% sure of the due date but I am guessing it will be early-mid January. I am also not 100% certain it is a girl but we are about 90%.

I am super excited but very guarded.  I would love to say I am going to go out and start putting together a nursery or have a baby shower but history has shown me that maybe sitting back and waiting is the better path.  So, I will start getting necessities together, I have already copied some of my friends registry, keep praying for our little girl to be/stay healthy and then once we get her home plan a few sip & see's:)

Thank you all for your support and love! Please continue to pray for us, the baby and birth mother.

Met with a Birthmother

Okay soooo.  To bring everyone up to speed.  Monday of last week we got a call about a potential birth mother that was due any day and was looking for a family.  This was through another agency that our case worker connected us with.  We obviously were fine with her showing our profile and found out Tuesday night that she picked us!!  So, the next step was to meet:)  I had sooo many emotions on the way to meet her on Thursday that I had to pull over and let Brad drive- I thought I was going to have a panic attack.

Thursday ended up being a LONG AND EXHAUSTING DAY.  Brad and I started off having brunch with the birth mother ( BM) and the agency contact at 10am. During that time the BM said her upper stomach was hurting really bad.  So we convinced her to go to the ER..... 7.5 hours later I left.  That's a long time to hang out in hospital with someone you hardly know.  That time was valuable though.... We found out she's only 33wks along and the baby "looks" healthy.  The bad news.... She has had no prenatal care (not a shocker) and the biggest red flag is she starts talking to me about how much sex with different partners she is having.  (can you believe she just started talking about that- Awkward!!) .   Other than that awkwardness, she is very sweet and it was a very humbling experience for me to hang out with someone who has nothing....I mean she barely has food to eat and lives at a budget suite hotel.  I was also shocked by the way people with no insurance are treated.  It was just sad.  As far as the pain in her stomach, she is a very tiny person and it looks like the growth of her stomach has caused her to pull/ strain her abdomen wall.   I have had a friend that this happen to and from what she has said it is very painful.

We are nervous about so many things, mostly,  does she have any STDs (like HIV) the ER did not do any of those tests so we don't know.  Also, since her due date has changed the baby daddy might be someone different.  She doesn't want to go to the OB but we are pretty insistent.

I don't know what we will do.  We have a call today with the agency to discuss our concerns.  Meanwhile we will pray for some type of guidance....