May I introduce to you our precious, lovely, beautiful, and sweet daughter, Ada. Surprise!!!

Steve and I are parents!! Oh. My. God. We are parents!

If you asked me at the end of September if Steve and I would be in the position we’re in now, I would probably ignore you. We have been through such a roller coaster in the last few months outside of our adoption journey (my grandmother passed away in December), so this was a major surprise.

On Sunday, January 5th, I got a call from Emily at The Hope Box. A new mother had contacted them about her healthy newborn baby girl that she wanted to find an adoptive family for, and that she had chosen us. Emily asked if we were interested. All she could tell me is that the baby was still at the hospital, and that birth mom wanted to meet us that night. After speaking with Steve, we said that we were interested and drove into the city to meet with everyone. All we new is that the baby was healthy and was born on Friday, January 3rd.

When we met with her birth mother, we got along well. We found so many connections that just made her feel good about her decision. She wanted what was best for her baby and had chosen to use adoption. That was important to us when adopting. We wanted to be about choice. (See this past post about why we worked with The Hope Box.) That night, she signed over parental rights to us. There is no verbal or written way to express how grateful and honored we are to be chosen by her to raise and love her baby. All we can do is be the best parents possible and honor every part that makes Ada into Ada.

When finalization is done, she will be Ada Jean-Marie: Ada for Steve’s great-grandmother; Jean for her biological family and ours; Marie for my grandmother, mother, and me. The birth mother, Steve, and I picked out the name that night. She loved the name Ada.

(After what happened in September, we decided to still use the name Ada. The name is very important to us.)

On Monday morning, we got to meet our new daughter in the NICU. The first thing I noticed when I saw her in the crib/ open incubator was that her legs were sticking up in the air. I laughed and mentioned that she stuck her legs out as she slept like I did as a baby. From there, it was holding, feeding, singing to, talking to, and dressing her. Steve cried. I cried. Ada cried when we changed her. (Ha ha.) She was discharged, and we took her home that afternoon. (See below.)

Per Georgia law, we had to wait four business days for the birth parents to change his or her mind about signing over parental rights to us. During those four days, Ada met all of her grandparents and several family members. More are coming. We started learning how to function as a little family. (I got vomited, peed, and pooped on. I guess I’m a mommy now. Lol!) It’s been very hard not to shout it from the roof tops, but we wanted to respect all the things that go into the four day waiting period. It exists for a good reason.

Today, the waiting period is over, Ada is a week old, and we are on the path to finalizing the adoption. She is our daughter, now and forever. Baby showers are being planned. A nursery is being designed. Ada changes everyday. Steve and I are so tired. We love every minute of it.