Elliot's Birth Story - Part 3

The beginning of the story is beautiful - if you missed it, catch up here

Our first night was pretty typical.  I was up a lot, jumping at Elliot's every sound and move.  Kain snored away, that guy can sleep through anything :)

The next day we did normal stuff, Elliot was examined, circumcised, vaccinated, and smothered in love and kisses.  My sister came back up for a visit.  B came to our room once or twice for quick visits.  She didn't say much, took lots of pictures with her phone.  Her grandmother came to see him as well.  What a privilege to meet part of Elliot's biological family.  To add further dimensions to who he is by nature.  She was funny and loud, and gave us her stamp of approval.

Holding on tight to his Daddy's finger

Elliot eats, daddy eats

This kid has huge hands and feet!!

Our little family

I love how they were both holding their hands by their faces

So so handsome!

Daddy surivived his first dirty diaper!

B was being discharged to head home towards the end of day 2.  She came to our room again to hold Elliot and take some more pictures.  She was much more quiet this time.  Not really saying too much to us or to her boyfriend.  I saw her wipe silent tears from her eyes.

I was prepared for a lot of things during this experience, but I did not expect for my heart to completely break for her.  I tried to imagine how impossible her life felt at that moment.  And all I could do was cry for her.  I already loved Elliot so much after just hours and she had known him for so much longer!

I felt 100% happy and 100% sad.  My gain was her loss.

Forever grateful, B.  Forever.

Day three was full of ups and downs.  The hospital pediatrician had noticed a heart murmur during Elliot's exams.  They recommended a consult with the cardiology department.  Elliot was given an exam by the cardiologist and an echocardiogram confirmed what we feared, he was diagnosed with a Ventricular Septal Defect (VSD) - a hole in the wall dividing the pumping chambers of his sweet little heart. It doesn't affect him too much right now, but open heart surgery to repair it is likely in his future.

Also during this day, Kain and I had to leave the hospital.  We had to leave Elliot and B alone together so that she could have some time without the pressure of our presence.  She needed to be able to think about her decision and make sure that placing him with us was absolutely what she wanted.  We went to our social worker's office and signed a mountain of paperwork.  The paperwork that would make his placement official when the appropriate time came.

It was so hard to leave him, our fear was that B would change her mind and decide that she wanted to parent him by herself.  We had already fallen hard for this little guy and the idea that something could interrupt our family was impossible to bear.

Thankfully, B didn't change her mind about adoption.  But instead loved on Elliot, took in as much of him as she could, and then when it was time for her to leave, handed him to Kain and walked out quickly with a simple goodbye.  I don't know how she was feeling at that moment, but I hope it was peace.  I hope it was confidence in her choice.  I hope that it was love for Elliot and trust in us as his new parents.

That evening, we were discharged from the hospital with Elliot.  At this point we were considered his foster parents - because Ohio law is that a birth mother cannot sign her surrender paperwork prior to 72 hours after baby is born.  When we left, we were still about 24 hours away from that point.  It was with great joy but great anxiety that we headed home with our little man.

There's one more post to wrap up our story of becoming a family of 3 - be sure to check back!
  As I've said several times, when it comes to adoption, nothing is certain until it's certain.