Not to sound cliche, but my how time flies! Baby Girl is officially one today!!
On August 3, 2005, we were privelaged to be invited to the hospital will J delivered Baby M via C-section. We didn’t sleep much the night before–we were up late doing not too much of anything. We made it to the hospital by about 7am, I think, and headed to the maternity floor, carrying cameras and cell phones, a laptop and a few baby clothes. We checked into the nurses station, and everything became real when she gave us the wrist-bracelet that would match us to M when she arrived! J had arranged for that, so we could see her in the nursery while J was still in recovery.
We were shown into J’s room, and saw G, his mom K, Z, J’s mom H and Z’s godfather/caregiver, P. K greeted us right away, J introduced everybody, and we all sat down and made small talk. K gave us a few things for M, and L lightened the mood by taking pictures of everyone. Z warmed up to him right away, and started hamming it up for the camera. Soon enough, J and G went into the delivery room, and we sat and chatted with everyone there. P took Z home. In hindsight, it was all very surreal, but at the time, it seemed perfectly natural.
M arrived at 8:50am, and somewhere around 9:30, she was brought into the room by G. Then hubby and I got to hold her–truly amazing. K held her too. The whole time we were acutely aware that as much as we were gaining a family member, they were, in essence, losing one. We did our best to seem happy yet subdued–again, surreal yet natural.
We followed the baby out when she was taken to the nursery for all the screenings and bath and whatnot, and watched through the glass. At some point, we each went to where cell phones were permitted to call a few people, including the adoption agency.
That was one surprise–the hospital SW wouldn’t let the agency SW come to the hospital for 24 hours after M’s arrival. So we were there, w/o guidance, I guess you could say, but we did just fine. J asked that I call the SW, so I did, and that’s when we learned they’d be able to come to the hospital the next day.
Most of that day (and the day after) is a blur of visiting with J and G, mooning over M, calling friends and giving them updates.
One moment stands out though–my first time alone with M. J was resting, G was taking a break from the hospital, L was making some phone calls and I was alone, watching her through the glass. After a few minutes, I realized that I could go into the little room off of the nursery with M, so I did. The nurse wheeled in her bassinett and left us alone. So I held her and we rocked in the rocking chair, and I welcomed her into the world. Truly one of the best moments of my life.