Wow. This update is loooooong overdue! (And fair warning – it is long!) I had planned to update just over a month ago, but got delayed. Check out this timeline of events from the time of the last entry:
March 30th - found out that B’s c-section was scheduled for April 27th
April 7th – doctors told B they wanted her to deliver a week earlier… I was waiting for our new date before I updated here!
April 11th – original day of B’s appointment for new scheduled date, appointment was rescheduled
April 13th – actual day of B’s appointment for a new date… She had generally been going to the doctor later in the afternoon and updating me around 4 or 5 o’clock. I expected the same this day, but boy, was I wrong! Here’s my Facebook story from that day:
~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I woke up this morning just like any other day. Took a shower and ate breakfast. Planned to finish one of my last work projects and then start sorting through the baby gifts and putting things away.
Around 9:30 my phone rang. It was our birth mother. She never calls, she just texts, so I knew something was up. She told me that she had just left the doctor and was headed to the hospital because they were admitting her and going ahead with the c-section.
I called Tim and then my mom, and sent a few texts to girlfriends. A little after 10:00 I got a text from bm telling me they were doing the procedure at 11:00. OMG!!! Tim wasn't home from work yet. Sweet Tara ran over with the camera for us to borrow. We threw some of our things and a few baby things in a bag and headed on our way!
Once at the hospital, we were greeted at the maternity ward and the nurse said, "I think they're here already!" The words had barely left her mouth before we turned the corner and there was the nursery with its long window... and two beautiful new babies. I immediately lost it. Tears jut streaming. Out came the doctor and then the social worker and I seriously have no idea what they told us!
Later on we were able to go into the nursery and help with bathing a feeding. The hospital has given us a room, and we're here with them now watching them sleep!
Oliva Carrick was born at 11:52 am weighing 4 lbs 12 oz and is 18 inches long. She is so quiet and content! James Callan was born at 11:53 am weighing 5 lbs 6 oz and is also 18 inches long. He's the fussy one. ;-)
Most of you know the story about all of this and the big and little ways that make it so clear that it's a God thing. Well, one of the most instrumental people in it all is our friend Jennifer M., and today is her birthday! How amazing! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So, there you have it! The last week of March we were preparing for twins in four weeks. The first week of April we were preparing for twins in two weeks. The second week in April we thought we had roughly a week left, when VOILA! The twins arrived!
As you can imagine, the past month has been quite a whirlwind. April 13th was absolutely the most amazing, crazy day of our lives. In a matter of minutes we went from what was our “normal” to being parents… of twins! There were so many emotions that day; it all happened so quickly that we barely had time to process it all.
The staff at Ephraim McDowell Medical Center was absolutely outstanding. From the moment we arrived, we were treated like the twins’ parents and nothing less. Right when we got to the nursery, the babies had just been brought in and were being checked, weighed, etc. We watched in a state of shock and awe! Pretty soon the nurse came out and told us we could come in. I actually looked at her and said, “Really?” I mean, I had no idea how all that worked! Obviously we’ve never had a baby before - I didn’t know if we were allowed in the nursery or when we would be and all that, and especially given our adoption situation I was totally unsure about what would happen. We went into the nursery where ours were the only babies that day. We were able to give first baths and bottles to the twins. At that time our phones were also blowing up with voicemails and text messages - everyone wanted to know how things were, what were the details, and, most importantly, what were their names! We had talked and were 90% sure on names, and I finally looked at Tim and said, I think that’s just got to be it. James Callan and Olivia Carrick.
So now the name explanation. James is Tim’s middle name and also his grandfather’s first name. Callan, well, that one is a lot more obscure! We had talked about another “C” name, but weren’t set on it. One night we were watching one of our favorite tv shows where a guy often gets called by his last name – Callan. I jokingly said to Tim that it would be a cool name, and for a week or two it was mainly a joke. But the more we talked about it, the more we liked it. Tim really wanted him to have a name that was really his, something a little different. I even found it in a baby name book, which sort of sealed the deal that we could really use it. So there you have James Callan Reynolds!
Olivia comes from absolutely nowhere except a baby name book. We were both TOTALLY lost on a girl name. (Good thing the twins didn’t turn out to be two girls!) We had gone through and made a list of the girl names we liked, and narrowed it to the ones we both liked. It was a very short list, and Olivia ended up coming out on top. While Callan takes James from Tim and his family, I wanted Olivia to take a part of my family heritage. If you don’t know, my name, Doherty, comes from our Irish ancestors whose last name was O’Doherty. I didn’t want to give her my first as her middle, so I went in search of other names in our family history. Carrick is actually the village in County Donegal in Ireland where our ancestors are from. And there you have Olivia Carrick Reynolds!
Okay, I know that this is getting lengthy, but there’s a lot to say! Back to the hospital – we were given a room right across the hall from the nursery and they even brought in an extra bed. Plus I got hospital meals. (I think that’s a positive???) We stayed a very comfortable 48 hours in the hospital and then the twins were released to come home. We were home late afternoon on Friday, April 15th. (Best tax day ever!)
I have to say now that if you haven’t followed our story from the beginning, you can go back to the first blog entry and read from there. It’s almost impossible to put into words just how evident the hand of God has been in all of this. Some of it we were able to see at the time, and some only in hindsight, but it’s all incredible. I’m going to try, as best I can, to quickly lay some of it out for you. And let me say, though not to be cliché, to God be the glory! (Cool – now I’m a poet!)
I was rarely able to go to the women’s Bible study at church due to overseeing childcare. The one night I did finally go in the spring of last year, I met Jennifer. It was the first night of the semester, and we both shared about our plans to adopt. I wasn’t able to get back to the study much after that, but going to that one meeting was more important than I could have ever imagined.
Last May, Jen shared with me about an agency they’d found. They had begun working with them and we were also within a few weeks.
In August we held our giant yard sale fundraiser. Our friends Drew & Catherine were renting a house in the perfect location for the 127 Sale, and were kind enough to let us use their yard. Because of their generosity we raised a huge amount of money to go toward our adoption expenses. They had to move out soon after, but are we ever grateful that they were there for the time they were! There were also tons and tons of people who were instrumental in making that yard sale a success. It’s all in the post “Fundraiser #1 a Success”.
In September we were presented with an adoption opportunity from our agency. It was twins – a boy and a girl. Long story short, the fees were going to be doubled, and at the time that just wasn’t a possibility for us. We were disappointed to lose out on the opportunity, but more so that the agency was acting the way they were about the fees. (See “One Step Forward, Two Steps Back”) That situation was what made us forego working with an agency and focus on a private, independent adoption.
The next few months seemed to go by with nothing happening, but little did we know that God was working all along for something great. Jen & her husband began talking about getting involved with adoptions somehow. Our friend Dave began considering leaving his large law firm to work in his hometown for himself, able to do the things he really wanted to. A teenage girl discovered she was pregnant and made the decision to choose an adoption plan for her child. Tim began a new full-time job. (That started just days after we were told about this adoption situation!)
Fast-forward to February of this year. Jen – the same Jen that I had only met roughly a year before – called to tell me about B. I was able to take a trip to LA to visit my baby sister, and tell her IN PERSON that we had a possible situation come up. Then we found out B was pregnant with twins – a boy and a girl. (Sound familiar?) Jen has been our liaison and mediator. Dave has been our attorney. So many little things all coming together at the right time.
Yes, we were slightly unprepared for the twins to arrive the day they did. Heck, we had three baby showers scheduled for the following weekend! But thankfully I was all but finished with the work projects I needed to do before the twins’ arrival, and I had finally finished our taxes just two days before. To top it all off, twins’ birthday, April 13th, also happens to be Jen’s birthday. How cool is that?!?
We fully expected the twins to be small and to spend a few days in NICU. They were good sizes and never spent a moment in any type of special care - a huge blessing!
Very quickly I will add the blessing of our friends. They've shared so much with us from struggles to joys. They helped us get our house and the nursery prepared. They threw a great shower and even surprised me with a second one. They snuck into our house while we were at the hospital to put finishing touches on the nursery before we got home. They fed us well for three weeks. They are amazing!
Wrapping up… The twins are doing great. They are happy and healthy and gaining weight. At their last check-up they were both about a pound above their birth weight. They eat well and sleep well and are generally pretty content! B texts me occasionally just asking how they are doing. Tim and I saw her in the hospital, and she gave us some blankets her aunt had made for the twins. We continue to pray for her and her daughter, especially now that the pregnancy is over and the adoption has become a reality.
I absolutely love being a mommy and was overjoyed to celebrate my first Mother's Day this year. I can tell you also that Tim loves being a daddy! Now that we're finally settling into a routine, I hope to be able to update more often about how our loves have changed and how the twins are doing. The first month has flown by and I'm sure the time will only continue to!
For more photos, go to http://s1231.photobucket.com/home/Doh379
No comments:
Post a Comment