The Story of How We Became Six (Part Six)

Day 1

Tuesday morning. Another waiting period. The social worker was going to call the hospital sometime in the morning to find out what was going on. From there, she would call us and have more information as to when we would be able to pick up our newborn baby. We waited and waited and waited.

And then, the phone rang. Nope, was somebody else. Finally, the social worker called and let us know that the baby would definitely be released at 10 in the morning. We were to bring a change of clothes for the baby, a blanket and a car seat. No problem.

According to the social worker, the baby was having a difficult time in the nursery. Since she had tested positive for crystal meth, she was now experiencing the typical signs of meth withdrawls, fussy, didn't want to be touched, not eating well, sensitivity to light, etc. Oh my goodness, what have we gotten into?

Before leaving for the hospital, we told our families that we would be home sometime after 11 and that the baby was not having a good morning and to expect her not to want to be held or around lots of commotion. They understood.

After completing all the paperwork at the hospital waiting area, the social worker escorted us into the nursery. I was beyond nervous. I wasn't nervous about the baby, I was nervous that someone would see us. I didn't want anyone from the birth family to know who we were. Here we were, taking their baby. What would they do? What would they say?

When we got into the nursery, the nurses were busy tending to other babies. One nurse grabbed our baby and began instructing us on umbilical chord stuff and follow-up instructions. She then placed the baby into her car seat, strapped her in and asked if we had any questions. Uh, uh, uh. All I could think was, when do we get to hold her? Oh my goodness, those eyes are big and beautiful. Wow, is this really happening? I was in shock more so than I was the day before.

The social worker needed to do more paperwork with the hospital so she sent us on our way. We left the area and headed for the elevator. I was still nervous and kept looking over my shoulder making sure nobody was following us. We got in the elevator and proceeded to the ground floor, baby in tow. The elevator stopped on the 3rd floor and a woman entered. "Oh how cute. How old is she?" she asked. I said, "3 days old." Her response, "My goodness you look great." Hahaha! I confessed that she was a foster baby. My husband thought it would have been funny to just say thank you and let her think that I had given birth and was back to my 130 pounds like nothing.

We got in the car and headed home. Our little girl didn't make a sound. I kept thinking, is she okay? I mean, the nurses had said that she was having withdrawls and she was having a bad morning yet, she was fine.

We got home and there were decorations outside with "Welcome Home" and "It's a Girl" signs and balloons. Our family was excited! Throughout the day, people stopped by to visit. Our daughter did just fine. I don't recall her even crying that first day. She was actually very easy.

What's her name? Well, when she left the hospital, she did not have a name. Her legal name was Unnamed Female Girl (insert birth mother's last name). The birth parents didn't bother to give her a name. Meanwhile, when we went through our training, they had told us that babies are sometimes given names by their birth parents but we may be able to choose a name for them so we should be ready with boy and girl names just in case. So, we were ready. Her first name is the Hawaiian name for Angel, since she is our little angel. (On this blog, I refer to her as Bell.)

I also forgot to mention, Bell is my mom's 1st grandchild. She also shares my mom's birthday. Yup, both were born on May 17th. This was an extra special birthday for my mom.

The first of many father/daughter moments.