Corbin's Story::The Birth

Read The Phone Call here.

Read Corbin's Story::The Start here

The Hospital

We all were prepared for M's c-section that was scheduled for 7 AM so Gregg and I arrived at 6:30.  When we arrived at the hospital we found out poor M was told the wrong time and wasn't scheduled until 9:00.  I felt so bad for M and K because they had arrived at 5:30 AM and had a very long day ahead of them.  The extra hours did give us time to hang out with just M and K though and we were able to grab a little breakfast before all the business of the day started. 

Just the four of us. I love M's hands on her belly. 

The hospital Corbin was born at was different than Emme's.  M wanted us to be the first to hold Corbin, but it just wasn't possible the way this hospital was set up.  Emme's hospital had a recovery room where we waited and once she was cleaned up they brought her out to us, then M joined us shortly after she was finished in the operating room. 

 This hospital didn't have a recovery room so they kept M in the same room the whole time until she was able to go back to her assigned room.  Only one person was allowed with her in surgery and only one person was allowed to have a wrist band other than M.  Meaning only M and one other person would be able to go into the nursery and be alone with the baby.  We all personally thought they should make an exception, but what do you do?  The hospital offered me the other wrist band, but I knew without a doubt K needed it and deserved it.  He supported M throughout her pregnancy and  he was by M's side the entire time in the hospital.  Not to mention he was the father and we wanted him to have as much time with Corbin as possible.  K was such a sweetheart the whole time and only left M if Gregg and I were there to be with her.  He even slept on the horrible chair/bed every night.  

So needless to say Corbin's birth was a lot different than we were expecting, but it was still beautiful and exciting. 

The Birth

Newly born Corbin.  They had just passed him through the window from the operating room.

Getting our first glimpse.

This nurse was awesome.  Here she is telling us the birth weight.  

7lbs

9oz.

Showing us Corbin up close.

The nurse came out to tell us he was perfectly healthy.

K's mom showing us pictures.

K holding Corbin in the nursery.

So sweet!

Bundled Corbin in the nursery waiting for M to get done in surgery.

M's first time holding him.  She was checking to see how much hair he had. 

After we checked on M and made sure she was doing okay, we left so her and K's family could have time alone with Corbin.  We made plans to bring Emme back later that day.  We didn't get to hold Corbin by this point, but we knew we would have an opportunity later and also knew this would be a special time for M and K.

The Phone Call

Life was about to get busy. We were really focused on Em and were having a lot of evaluations and appointments for her. Almost every day I didn't work we had some type of appointment.  Plus, she demanded our full attention at all times.  Gregg was excepted into an amazing MBA program which we felt very blessed about, but I knew I would be alone most days from sunup to sundown.  Scary thought.

Let's just say at this point I was content with our one child. Not because I didn't want more kids, but because I felt so overwhelmed.  We were just starting to get professional help with Em and didn't know she had ADHD.  Plus, we were drained after countless infertility tries and going back and forth with starting the adoption process again. We decided to put our next child on the back burner.  With Gregg going back to school and Em needing a lot of attention it seemed like the best decision.  I really felt like we had a boy coming, but after trying so hard to get him here I told The Lord I did my part and the rest was up to him.  (Never worked for me before)  

Out the blue, a week before Easter, I saw Em's birth aunt's phone number appear on my phone screen.  I always get excited to talk to Em's birth family so I quickly answered.  She shared with us that M (Mem's birthmom) was pregnant again and wondered our feelings about her placing the baby with us again. I was both caught off guard and yet wasn't. It was like I was waiting for a phone call like this. Not necessarily from M, but from someone.  It just made it even better that it was about M!  I told J (M's sister) that we would love to adopt again. I knew Gregg would too so I didn't even have to talk to him. J told me to expect a phone call from M soon so we could talk about it.  After we hung up I text Gregg to come home soon because I had BIG BIG news. He had no clue what I was talking about. :)  I couldn't hold it in any longer.  I called him and shared what had just happened. He was shocked, excited, and down right speechless. Meanwhile, M's number popped up on my screen so I hung up with Gregg and answered her phone call. 

M confirmed what J had told me. She told me she was unexpectedly pregnant again and had no idea what to do. Her mom mentioned that we wanted to adopt another baby (we told her mom last time we saw them we were starting the adoption process again) and immediately a peace came over her. She knew that was exactly what she wanted to do and her family was happy with her decision as well. She thanked us for raising Em like we have and giving her the opportunities we have.  That totally made my year.  To get a compliment like that from the woman who chose us to parent her child was so amazing.

The next week was so exciting.  We had amazing news and wanted to shout it from the roof tops.  We were like the character from SNL that couldn't keep a secret and had to run through windows to keep her mouth shut.

With Easter being that weekend, we found candy binkis that we slipped pieces of paper in that said, "you're going to have a new cousin October 15, 2013."  Then we put that into a big egg and wrote all of our nieces and nephews names on the outside.  Gregg's family was completely caught off guard and there were many tears of joy.  With my family, we did an Easter egg hunt and the kids knew not to open the egg with their name on it until we were all together.  Once they opened it my family started to question who was pregnant.  I think I was the last on their mind!  Finally, the accusation came to me and I explained that I was not pregnant, but that Em would be getting a biological sibling.  They were ecstatic and we had some more tears.  Gregg and I were so happy that we got to surprise everyone in a fun way.  We never thought we would be able to so we loved every minute of it!

Sorry the lighting is so bad!

I can't even express how truly blessed we are to have an open relationship with M and her family.  If we didn't, it would be very likely we would not have crossed M's mind.  Because she has been a part of our lives, she has been able to see Em grow and know she made the right decision for her.  Plus, she knows we keep our promises because we have with Em.  If we didn't have visits with M's family, her mom would never have a clue we wanted to adopt or have more children at all and wouldn't have been so quick to tell M our plans.  We are so thankful for the angel M has been in our lives!

Coming Soon