The purpose of this whole blog has been realized. I started this blog way back in 2009 and had absolutely NO IDEA what I was doing or where I wanted to take this thing. So I took a break - for like a year - and then did some more blogging research and got to it. Originally this blog was called "Keeping up with the Parsons" but then last year I changed it to "Life on the Parsons Farm" I thought it suited what I write about better; our animals, gardens, and us living our life! We were having difficulty getting pregnant when I started this blog, but that was ok. I wanted to start a blog and have followers get to know US before we were three and I didn't want to be one of those cliche bloggers where now we have a kid so lets blog. Little did I know it would be so long before she made her appearance on the blog! But I am so happy that I have had the chance to meet so many wonderful bloggers and be inspired by them that I really have learned my voice. SO there you go, a little background.
Ok back to the reason your reading this post:
I finally got to hold her, this baby we have been praying for and waiting for for 4 years arrived the same month we made the decision to seriously start trying to make a family back in May 2009. Its been a long journey but SO worth it to finally get to hold her!
We got to spend some time with her cuddling and cooing over her. I got to feed her a bottle and boy did she suck that puppy down quick! After I a little while I sent Thomas to the car to grab something (who knows what it was) and the birth father's mom (her paternal birth grandma) comes into the room - we told the nurse to let them know they were welcome in anytime - and a gave her over. It was so special to be able to witness this exchange. Soon after the birth father and son (her brother) came into the room and got to meet and hold her. Thomas came back and we all talked a little, then the nurse came in and said that birth mom wanted to see her.
We spent a few hours with birth mom, we really weren't sure what the whole protocol was so we didn't think we could leave the baby there (nor did we really want to leave her). It was so incredible emotional seeing this birth mom hold her/our baby and looking at her and then making the ultimate choice and decision to give her to us!
When it was just the 5 of us (birth mom, birth dad, me, Thomas and the baby) we started talking about name options. We had a name in mind and the birth mom had a two page list of names she liked. We looked it over and found a few that we also liked. We all were able to quickly agree that her middle name would be Faith. That was easy. Then we were down to two first names: Ellie and Reagan. We decided that we would sleep on it and try to decide the following day.
NIGHT 1 with our little one. I didn't want to put her down. She didn't want to be put down so I fell asleep with her all swaddled up and in my arms cuddling in the bed. It wasn't a sleepless night but we got enough to feel "rested" or maybe it was just adrenaline? She is such a quiet breather I woke up and had to touch her to make sure she was still alive!
Day 2: we had a lot of visitors from the nurses, pediatrition, lactation consultant - learned how to bottle feed correctly guys!, and the social worker. We had many visits and time with her birth mom and learned that we were supposed to leave her alone with her birth mom so that she could have her time. So we went out to eat lunch at Tomato Street I tried something new, chicken parmesan and fetucinni alfredo. The chicken was delish but the alfredo not so much. We also did a little bit of shopping at Babies R Us and picked up some cute little headbands and mittens for her hands. Then back to get our baby, we were only gone maybe 1 1/2 hours. We got to have some more time with the birth parents and we decided on a name: Ellie Faith. Then we left again for another hour to have dinner at Arbys and give the birth mom some alone time with Ellie.
Night 2: baby girl still wanted to be held and I was more than willing to oblige. So co-sleep we did. I think I slept a little better this night but I was still so afraid that I was going to roll on top of her, but she survived!
Day 3: I got to take a shower. We got complimentary professional photos taken of Ellie - though we have to pay for the prints should we choose to get some. Gave birth mom some more time with Ellie alone and had lunch at Jimmy Johns - YUM!!! then it was just waiting time for the discharge. We got to leave the hospital around 4:30. It was probably one of the hardest days just watching this mom say goodbye to her daughter, my heart was so raw for her and the decision she was making. I am so happy that she chose us to raise Ellie. We went to my aunt's home. My aunt was the first person in our family to see this sweet little girl in person and my heart ached so much that my mom will not get to meet her but so thankful for the wonderful family that will.
It was a little rough sleeping with her in a big bed but we made! On Friday we had a nice morning and my cousin got to meet her. Then we had to run some errands so little Ellie got to go to Target and TJMaxx with us. On our way we got the phone call from our agency that we have the "Go Ahead" to take her home. So we called the birth mom to see if we could set up another visit that night or early the next morning so we could head home, we decided on that evening. We had a great family dinner with my aunt and her daughter's, then headed over to see birth mom one last time.
We left early on Saturday morning to head home. Little Ellie was such a good little girl in the car. We made it all the way to Ellensburg before she really needed to eat and we did a diaper change in the car - try to avoid this if you can! Then we got home around 2pm and had a little bit of time to settle in before we were welcomed by Thomas' family (parents, brother's, sister in law and nieces). We had the best dinner of Pot Roast and showing off our new little addition!
I was in communication with the birth mom and she was scheduled to go into the court the following Thursday to give up her rights. Got the call on Thursday evening that all had gone smoothly and Ellie was legally free!! She will soon be ours!!
♥ Ashley
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♥ Ashley