Aaron
Aaron was born on Wednesday February 18th 2009 at 8:45AM CST.
He was born at the Hillcrest Baptist Medical Center in Waco, Texas. we were first contact
ed by the birth mother less than a month before the birth. She found us by searching many web sites and then found this site. Aaron's birth mother is an exceptional woman who did a very hard and wonderful act by giving her son to us. We love her very dearly and hope to stay in contact with her for many years.
We met her for the first time in person just a little more than a week before the birth and we struck up a good relationship from the first moment. Since Aaron was scheduled to be delivered by C-Section, we traveled down to Texas the day before the birth and then took the birth mother out for a good southern style meal!
Early the next morning we picked her up and took her to the hospital. We were with her every moment until the birth and are very grateful to her for letting us be so invloved in the birth.
According to the laws of Texas we were required to wait 48 hours after the birth before the custody order took effect - while this is a nerve wraking time, the birth mother
was very consistant and gave us no reason to worry. In fact, we spent almost all of those two days sitting in her hospital room chatting, laughing and taking care of Aaron. This was a very special time for us and one that we will remember for the rest of our lives.
It had been a very long and hard year for us while trying to adopt. we had had many false starts, learnt to identify the scam artists - and there are many nasty people out there trying to make a quick buck off of our predicament, we had a few "almost" adoptions where the birth mother changed
their minds at the last minuet and of course, we had tried everything. with our past experiences in mind, we were very nervous about this adoption, but it seemed to be the real thing. we didn't buy any furniture for the nursery, nor any clothes, or anything - just in case the adoption fell through. Really we were totally unprepared to take Aaron out of the hospital.
A freind gave us some baby clothes - just in case and after the birth we rushed off to Wallmart and bought a car seat, stroller and other critical items.
The birth mother wanted Michele to be present in the delivery room during the birth - she had a C-Section. Michele saw baby Aaron being pulled out of the birth mother's belly. After he was cleaned up, they bought Aaron out to the waiting area to see me - this was a supprise and really amazing.
Domestic Adoption is a very hard journey - there were many times that I wanted to give up - , but when it's meant to be - it happens and is an amazing thing.
Aaron was given a clean bill of health and released from Hospital on Friday afternoon. Since this was an interstate adoption, we couldn't leave the state of Texas untill both Washington State and Texas had given their approvals. washington completed the paper work that Friday and sent it off to Texas. we spent that weekend in Waco and then moved to Dallas on Sunday. It was monday lunch time that we finally received the OK to travel so we booked an early morning flight back to Seattle on Tuesday.
Aaron was great during the flight and slept most of the time. He was really a delight to travel with. we reached our home, just outside Seattle on Tuesday morning and quickly went about setting up the nursery.
we've only been back a few days now and are quickly getting into a routine of feedings and sleep. Michele takes the late shifts, since she likes to go to sleep late and I take the early morning shift since I prefer to wake up early - this seems to be working out OK for us. Aaron has his first doctors appointment on Friday and we believe that everything should be OK.
Yesterday we took Aaron out to babiesRus to get some more essentials - this was his first outing in Seattle.
On Sunday his Grandma from Los Angeles will come to visit him for the first time - I am sure that she is going to spoil him rotten!
Updates - March 5, 2009
Aaron is now 2 weeks and 1 day old. He is doing very well and is eating well. He had his first doctor's appointment last Friday and that seems to have gone very well - the doctor was happy with his progress and he had already gained his birth weight back + some. They screened him for serious problems and since we haven't heard anything back, we are assuming that all those tests were OK. Obviously he didn't like having blood taken from his foot!
We have been getting into a routine - Michele takes the late shift - since she in any case goes to bed late and I take the early shift since I always wake up early. Generally I get him up about 4 - 5 AM, feed him a little and then do some work while Aaron sleeps in his chair next to me.
When we first arrived home, we had made no real preperations for Aaron since we could not be 100% sure if the birth and the adoption would go well. So, when we got home we had to make do with what we had and go out and buy the essentials. We now have the nursary setup very nicely and yesterday I put together his changing table that we received the day before. His crib is on order and should arrive today.
Sharon is coming in today and together we will decorate his room with decals and pictures. It will still be a couple of weeks or months before he sleeps in his room, but if he continues eating and growing at his current rate, I think that he will outgrow the bassinette that we have him in at the moment.
Aarons Grandmother Cathy came up from Los Angeles early this week and stayed a couple of days. She absolutly fell in love with her first grandchild and didn't want to leave. No matter, she will be back this coming Saturday.
Aaron is a good natured baby who is very alert and likes sitting in his car seat, or laying on his baby Einstien carpet and looking around at different things. He does get frustraighted when trying
to grab at toys hanging from the baby Einstien of from his chair, sometimes he manages to grab onto something and hold it for a while. Otheer than that, Aaron really is our lovely bundle of joy!
Updates - May 23, 2009
Well, it's been 3 1/2 months already and Michele goes back to work next week. Aaron is doing great - he's a very easy baby and is growing like a weed! He's already traveled on a plane 7 times, mostly to see his grandparents in Los Angeles. He's
smiling a lot and has also started laughing a little. He sometimes tries to hold little conversations with us and is very vocal when he wants to eat - this is really the only time that he cries. He's been sleeping through the night for more than a month now and has a set bed time which makes our lives a lot easier. In the last week or so he has started sitting upright and loves the new views. In the evening, when we watch TV, he loves sitting with us and now that he can sit, he likes sitting next to me and enjoying the wonderful world of TV.
Yesterday was a beutiful day in Seattle and we sat out on the lawn in our garden and he was enjoying looking at the trees, birds and the flowers. we tried putting a pair of sun glasses on him, but he really didn't like them!
He has already learnt how to roll over from his stomach to his back, once he learns how to roll over from his back, we will have to be very careful - this little dude wants to be on the move ASAP!
A couple of weeks ago we went to court and got the final adoption decree. It was a very emotional and beautiful event. After the hearing, the judge allowed us to take pictures with him. Finally Aaron got his full name and became our legal child.
In the King County Superior Court in Seattle. The final adoption decree was signed by the judge, then we took photos.