Happy Birthday!

We received news yesterday that the birthmother was close to delivery. The doctors actually began inducing labor this morning at 5am. By 10:05am a baby girl was born. She is 5lbs 8oz and 17 inches long. She is amazingly beautiful. There is a pretty funny story that goes along with today that could have only happened to us.

We got the call to go to the hospital at about 11:30am. Luckily the hospital is just 5 minutes away from our house so we were there before noon. Our birthmother wanted to make sure we were in the building for her support and for the baby. So we waited in the lobby until the proper paperwork could be done to clear us to go to the nursery. Well, there was a complication with the birthmother's last name since she was recently divorced and does not have a photo ID with her now legal last name. This went on for 4 hours and the funny part happened at about 2:30pm or so.

As we are waiting and talking with one of the social workers from Generations, they announce over the intercom "Code Purple, Infant Abduction!" With that several staff and police began running thru the lobby to guard the entryways and hallways. Jenny and I looked at each other and without saying a word about it both were thinking the same thing - what if a family member found out about the birth and tried to steal the baby for the family. This went on for about 5 minutes before they announced it was only a drill. At which point Jenny and I almost hit the ground in laughter, of all things that could happen and make this journey any more difficult. The stress overload just made us laugh, what an emotional test.

So finally around 4pm we were cleared and allowed to go back and see the baby girl. She is so small and adorable. We got to do the first feeding and Jenny got to change the first diaper. We took pictures and videos and were able to stay with her for about 2 hours. The birthmother requested to spend time with the baby tonight before she is discharged in the morning. The baby will stay in the hospital until after 48 hours and the paperwork is signed giving us the ability to bring the baby home. So we will go see the baby tomorrow morning and spend most of tomorrow with her.

We appreciate your continued prayers of peace for the birthmother. She is making an extremely brave and courageous decision. We hope that her recovery is quick and that she finds peace with her decision.

36 hours to go!

Daily in Christ,
Jerry