A Family of Two

The agency worker's husband met me at the door of the hospital. He led me down the hallway, where we were met by all of the maternity nurses. They congratulated me, handed me a poster that they all signed with good wishes for my son and me, and took my camera so that I didn't have to worry about taking pictures. Then they pushed me into the hospital room and there he was, being held by P. 

He was burritoed up in a blanket, the smallest baby I had ever seen. He was perfect. They placed him in my arms and I began to cry with happiness. All of the emotions I had been feeling about adopting my son came together in that moment. I unwrapped him and counted his little toes and fingers. He had, and still has, the longest little fingers and feet. He had the softest skin and looked a lot like Mr. Magoo (but my sister said he looked like Gollum) with his little wrinkled face. He was without a doubt the cutest baby I had ever seen.

The camera was snapping, recording our first moments as a family. The doctor who delivered my son, who I will call "E" on this blog, came in and answered my questions. I was staying overnight with my baby at the hospital and signing the initial paperwork the next morning. I still had to book my hotel for my stay in the agency's city and unpack a few things to get me through the night.

Apparently, the statewide high school FFA was in town and there were almost no hotel rooms available. I think I found the last one and booked it just in time, all at the hospital. Also, E had to be held at all times. He would not settle down unless he felt your arms around him. The second he felt your arms pull away, he would cry. Loudly. Sleeping would prove to be a challenge. Thank goodness for the night nurse, who took him for a few hours so I could sleep. It would be the last night of uninterrupted sleep for a very long time.

The nurses and staff were so kind to us. One nurse gave me her son's preemies clothes, another gave me a bottle of Dreft. The best gift was the hospital social worker, who gave me E's sonogram pictures. 

The paperwork went through smoothly and we were off for E's first car ride. P offered to drive, as E was still fretful and I was exhausted. Our road to our little family of two was lying ahead of us.