Vacation 2018 - Part 2 (Raleigh)

By chance, Karsten was born in the city that we currently live.  It was 100% coincidence because with adoption, almost all personal information of birth families and adoptive families is private. So when we were chosen to be Karsten's parents, her birth mom had no idea where we lived.  We could have been anywhere in SC.  When we got the call that she had been born, we only had a 15 minute drive to get to the hospital!  

Since Karsten was born local to us, we pass by her hospital regularly.  She often yells out and points "Hey! That's where I was born!"  Kate, however, had never been back to the place where she was born. 

So, next up on our family vacation was a trip to a city that is very special to us. It's the place where Kevin and I became parents - Raleigh, NC. 

We visited the hospital where she was born. 

We ended up staying at the very same hotel where we brought Kate "home" from the hospital.

We potentially stayed in the very same room. Ha! We know we stayed on the same floor and side that we were on nearly seven years ago, but have no idea if it is the exact same room or not. How crazy would that be though.

What a difference (almost) 7 years make!  Kate sure looks a bit different, but the hotel decor remains the same.  This was about 5 minutes after we walked into this room with our newborn.  It was pretty much the moment where we realized "what in the world are we supposed to do now?".

We also took her by the hotel where we spent 10 days with her, while waiting on NC and SC ICPC paperwork to go through so we were allowed to travel home.

It was a quick trip, but totally worth it. Now our girl knows where she was born, and where she spent her first few weeks of life.  Our first memories as parents were in this city and it will always mean so much to us because of that.