Good News: A son is born

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Lisa writes: This is the email I got from Tom at 10:15 a.m. on April 9. I was in the middle of training a new nurse and wasn't checking email and had my phone off.

Dear Lisa,

Um, things are happening.  Please call

Love,
Tom
Tom resourcefully found the number of the IT department and got the executive secretary to call over to one of the other trainers to go find me. When I finally called him back, he said that a baby was born at Fairfax Inova on April 7 and the mother choose our book. That took me a minute to process. Choose our book? Did that mean she had chosen ... us? And did he know anything else about this baby, like was it a boy or a girl? "I forgot to ask." So he conferenced in the adoption agency social worker and we asked our questions. Yes, that meant the mother had chosen us to adopt. It's a boy. He's perfect. There's a legal risk period, during which the baby will be placed in "cradle care" foster care. If the mother doesn't change her mind, we will have a baby on April 22 or 23rd.

Wow.

We had been trying to have a baby the usual way, and then the medically assisted way, and then through Fairfax County Foster & Adopt, and finally through Catholic Social Services for more than four years. In fact, we had just recently (like, like month) had to redo our fingerprints and home study because the period paperwork had all expired and at the time we seriously wondered whether we should even bother. We were getting older, it had been years, there didn't seem to be any chance of a birth mother choosing us over younger, cuter parents. And then we got a phone call.

I hung out in the hallway as long as I could trying to pull myself together, then went back into my class. They immediately recognized something was up, so I spilled the beans. Hugs and congratulations all around. But, here's the thing, I can't get excited about this. The mother has two weeks -- and every right -- to change her mind. So that's two weeks of telling only the absolute minimum number of people (my boss, my manager, HR) and not preparing anything. No shopping. No shower. No celebrating. Just waiting.

Comments

Holly said…
Lisa--
I am sorry that it has been so long to tell you this, but I cannot be more happy for you and Tom. Watching the pictures of you and him and the baby has filled my heart with joy. (and a deeper gratitude for my teenage children which I sometimes wish I could give back!) You will be the most fabulous parents to this sweet boy because he will be able to feel the tangiable love that you have for him. Thank you for sharing your pictures and your joy with me. :)Holly
5:54 PM
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