March Madness!!

Ok so it's been a while since I've written any blog posts, but it's all been with good reason. I know it's April now, but March was CRAZY for us... crazy in a good way.

As most of you know, we were matched with an expectant mom, K, several weeks ago. We went out to visit with K and her family at the beginning of the month and it went really well. I got to go with K when she had her ultrasound to check on the baby's developing anatomy and to find out the sex of the baby. I was really honored for her to pick me to go with her because the ultrasound technician said only one person was allowed. I expected K's mom to be the one, but K picked me. It was really special. AND we found out that the baby is a boy. The due date was originally April 13th, but after the ultrasound the due date was moved up to March 30th. K had a doctor's appointment a few days later and the due date was moved up again to March 24th. So we made plans to go back out a few days before the 24th so that, hopefully, we would be there for the birth.

On March 20th, K's dad called me in the middle of the night to say that K's water had broken and that they were heading to the hospital. I kinda panicked. I hadn't packed anything yet. It was two days before my flight out and I hadn't done laundry. I hadn't organized what I wanted to pack. I hadn't even cleaned the house! I got online and saw that there was a flight leaving our airport in two hours. So I frantically grabbed a couple items to cram in a carry-on bag (I think I had two shirts, a toothbrush, two blankets, two onesies, and the 4 oz. bottles) and was in the car going to the airport in less than 45 minutes.

K's dad called me back while I was in the car to tell me that she'd had the baby. Apparently it was a mad photo-finish to get K to the hospital in time. She was ten centimeters dilated when they arrived at the hospital, fighting the urge to push while still in the car, and she delivered in less than an hour after they arrived. It all happened incredibly quickly. John weighed seven pounds, three ounces and was 19.5 inches long. I got to the airport and managed to get a seat on a flight leaving in an hour. I arrived at the hospital around lunch time. James left in the car, started driving out with all our stuff, and got there the next night.

We only had to stay for a week before we were cleared by ICPC to go home, which really surprised me. I expected to be there at least two weeks. We got together with K's family twice while we waited for all the paperwork to be filed, which was really nice. K is such an amazing girl and we really love her and her family. Sometimes I really wish we lived closer together so we could have an even closer relationship with them. But we're just going to see how things develop. We're starting with a semi-open adoption, sharing lots of pictures and updates as we go. I don't know if we'll ever move to phone calls and visits, but we're not opposed to it either. We're just going to see how things go and take it one step at a time. But K will always always be part of our family and have a very special place in my heart.

So while we were waiting for the ICPC clearance to come home, my dad was puppy-sitting and house-sitting for us. While we were sitting at the pediatric clinic waiting to have John's bilirubin rechecked, I got a phone call from a girlfriend of mine. She'd just gotten her acceptance letter to the nursing program and wanted to let me know that the deadline to turn in confirmation paperwork was only a week away. So I asked my dad to sort through our mail to see if I had gotten a letter too. And as it turned out, I had! It was a little stressful trying to get all my paperwork returned on time, but it was totally worth it! I start nursing school June 1st. Woo hoo!

After we came home, I started going through all the rest of our mail and discovered that our tax refund check had arrived while we were away! Dropping dollar amounts is kind of tacky, so all I'll say is that this tax refund is HUGE! We were able to claim our adoption expenses from 2009 and we're getting about a third of them back this year. We'll get the rest back next year and the year after that. As soon as the deposit clears the bank, we'll be able to pay off both of our credit cards (which we had to use for plane tickets, hotel rooms, and lots of other travel expenses) and the personal loan we took out to finance the adoption. Phew, what a relief.

March was a crazy month for us and I couldn't be happier. I'm exhausted from adjusting to a new lifestyle and a new routine, but I wouldn't trade it for anything. Check back soon as I start a new series of first-time-mommy blogs!

And may the peace of the Lord be always with you.