Love You to the Moon and Back!

It is with great excitement, elation, gratefulness, and relief that we are able to finally announce the birth and adoption of our son Lincoln Xavier!  It has been a 2+ year journey and we have finally arrived at our goal: parenthood!  When we began this process we had no idea how it would turn out, where it would take us, or who we would meet, but we could not be happier at the turn of events that led us to our son.

Just the facts:
Lincoln was born 7.2.15 at 9:09 am at Community North Hospital here in Indy (Shout out to our wonderful nurses, Angela, Brittany, Neda, Casey and Nadine).  He was 8lbs, 8.6oz, 22 1/4 inches long.  We were able to be in the hospital from the day before he was born until the day we took him home.  We shared his care in the hospital with his birthmother and her family.  Papers were signed and he came home with us on the 4th of July!  It really was a beautiful experience.  He was welcomed with fireworks! Last 4th of July, we set off paper lanterns with our wish for a child written on them.  This year we set off lantern's thankful that our son was home!  On the legal front, we were not certain until this past week that his adoption would not be contested.

The background:
We were contacted by Lincoln's birthmother back in late March and began developing a relationship with her.   We decided it was best to keep our relationship private due to our close proximity.  This was also a new relationship and we wanted to guard our hearts and expectations after what we had already been through.  We continued to talk and we met several times to get to know each other better.  In early May we had our official "match" meeting where we both committed our intentions to each other and talked in more detail about what the hospital plan would be and what we imagined for the future in an open adoption.  We were able to accompany her to 2 doctor's appointments.  Her last doctor's appointment was 4 days past her due date.  We were able to see baby on ultrasound to check his estimated weight and mom's fluid levels.  We had no idea we would end up staying for the next 3 nights.  They decided to prep her for induction that afternoon!  We were going to have a baby!  It was a bit of a shock, we had to have our family bring us some overnight things, but it all worked out. 

Lincoln's Birth Family:
We have been blessed beyond measure with a young woman and her family who have been incredibly supportive of her adoption plan. She was steadfast in her decision, and never made us feel uneasy that she was going to change her mind.  Her family was with her in the hospital and we got to know them much better in those few intimate days in the hospital.  We truly hope that they came to see our love for Lincoln and for his birthmom.  We continue to develop our relationship and we look forward to more meetings and get-togethers with his birthfamily in the future.  It was really important to us to include her in Lincoln's first portraits.  She is a very important part of his life, and we want him to know that she has been involved in his life since the very beginning. 

Parenthood:
Lincoln has been a really perfect baby so far! (knock on wood)  He has slept like a baby :)  He has gotten on a pretty regular 4 hour schedule for several weeks now.  He is growing and eating and playing.  He is starting to smile, and coo.  We are learning his cues and adjusting our sleep schedules to his needs.  

 

 

To those of you who followed our story, who shared our story, and who prayed and sent good vibes, we Thank You!  It really was networking and lots and lots of sharing that helped Lincoln and his birthmother to find us.  So what's next?  We have to wait for a court date for finalization.  Finalization is a formal legal process where we will stand before a judge and he or she will officially sign the paperwork and we will legally become his parents, and that is still several months away.  We have to finish our homestudy update, because it has to be current at the time of finalization. Home studies have to be updated annually.  After that, it should be lots and lots of love, hugs, learning, growing, and more sharing.  We are so happy that we can now share with you our amazing news!