I'm A Mommy!

I've been SO excited to write this post and now, I really don't know what to say!  We wanted to wait until things were final to post any information or pictures on our blog or on facebook, and so now I guess the best way to start this post is by saying that as of 12:00am this morning it's official!  Baby Kate is here, and she is ours.  Katherine Ava was born last Wednesday at 12:15.  She weighed 8 lbs 3 oz and was 19" long... she is perfect!

Kate's due date was last Monday (August 8th) and on Monday she still hadn't made her arrival.  So, our birth mom was scheduled to be induced Thursday (August 11th), which just happened to be mine and Kevin's 4 year anniversary.  We both assumed she would hold out until Thursday, but apparently she had other plans! 

At around 9:30 Wednesday morning at work, our adoption worker Erica* called to let us know that our birth mom had gone into labor around midnight that morning, and had been checked into the hospital around 3am.  Baby Kate was on her way!  She told us that our birth mom wanted us to come to the hospital the next day (Thursday) to spend some time with her, the birth dad, and to meet Kate.  We were so excited!  I was so excited, that I couldn't concentrate at work.  Even though we weren't leaving for NC until the following morning, I wrapped up everything that I needed to at work and headed home around lunchtime to finish packing and getting things ready.

I met Kevin at home and we decided to go eat BBQ for lunch first.  On our way, Erica called us back to let us know that Kate had been born at 12:15 and that she was 8lbs 3oz and perfectly healthy! :) YAY! We ate lunch and then made our way back home to get things ready for the following morning, and head to church for our last Wednesday night as a family of 2!

On Thursday we were able to make the long drive to Raleigh, NC and it seemed to take FOREVER.  We met Erica in the parking garage and walked up to the Labor & Delivery floor of the hospital to see our birth mom, birth dad, their families, and Kate.  We walked in the room and there were about 15 people in there!  Our birth mom was holding Kate and the first thing she said to me was "Do you want to hold her?".  Of course I did.  I know all parents say this, but she is beautiful and it's true! She also has a FULL head of hair.  Seriously, it's probably an inch and a half long. I see lots of bows in our future...

Kevin and I were both able to hold her for a little while, and we stayed to visit for about an hour. It was awesome, and so generous of the birth mom and dad to allow us this time.  Although we have an open adoption (meaning, we'll have ongoing contact through emails/pictures and a few visits each hear), this hospital time is really the birth family's time with the baby.  We have been so blessed to have been chosen by the birth mom and dad that we did and have been amazed (yes, I used that word) by their generosity in allowing us to be a part of the hospital time with Kate.

So, I'll share a few more pictures of Kate and will definitely post some more tomorrow about the rest of the hospital time, Kate's discharge, our first WEEK with her (we've had her with us since last Friday), meeting some of her family, and finding out that she is OURS.  We're so excited and can't thank God enough for the miracle of adoption that He has worked in our lives.  :)