WE GOT THE CALL

It's a boy! We're going to call him A.

I didn't find out until late this afternoon. Today, of all days, my cell phone battery was dying so I kept it turned off during the day. I teach for Citizen Schools on Tuesdays, and I got to the school about 30 minutes early. I was bored, so I turned on my phone, and there was a voice message from the agency. My heart just about stopped when I heard our social worker telling me to call her back! I called her, left a message, and went into the school to start getting the classroom ready. About ten minutes before my class was due to start, at 4:50 PM, she calls me back. I started pacing the hall of the school courtyard, crying, shaking, and grinning, as she tells me the news. Several students walked by with a really curious look on their face, LOL.

J. was scheduled to help me teach the lesson, which was such a relief. Because he was at the school with me, I got to see him in person just minutes after I got the news. Amazingly, the class went well. Four years of teaching middle school helped me to focus no matter what. J. did great, too. Adrenaline is a good thing:-)

As for the mom (she's still the mom, at least until we bring the baby home), we don't want to say too much about her on my blog. Respecting her privacy is a huge priority. I will say that she choose us because both her and J. share an interest in Computer Science. There may be other reasons, of course, but that is what the agency shared with us. We don't know much about the birth father yet. We know there are older siblings, but no details about them. For right now, it is looking like it won't be a very open adoption, which is a disappointment, but that may change.

Neither of them have signed yet, and either could change their mind. This is a legal risk situation, meaning only that the ball is still in their court, and anything may happen. We have to prepare our hearts and home fully, to be as ready as possible, while still guarding our hearts.

The baby is over 7 lbs., healthy, and had a good Apgar score. We haven't seen him yet, nor do we have pictures. He is at least half Anglo. He is currently scheduled to be released from the hospital on Thursday, and, as of right now, we get to bring him home then!

How do I feel? It doesn't seem real. Tomorrow I'm going into work for the morning, to pick up my desk, train others as much as I can, and tell my boss and coworkers. I hate leaving so soon, with no notice! I never imagined that we would get the call only 2 months and 1 day after turning in our profile. At least they can call me with questions, and my job isn't too hard to learn. I wrote the best instruction manual I could just in case this happened.

I'll leave work around lunch, and then I'm going shopping with a nearby friend who is a fairly-new mother herself, to get the basics. Then, tomorrow night, we're going to install the car seat, clean furiously, launder all the baby clothes and linens, and whatever else comes up.

I'm freaking out, but on the outside I'm calm. OK, I can't really eat much, and I've never changed a diaper before, and there is so much to learn. I prepared as much as I could before, and I've got help locally. While it's insane to have so little time to prepare, I had hoped that, when the call came, it would be a hospital call instead of a pregnancy. I'm impatient, and waiting for the pregnancy to progress would strain my nerves. I can't believe there is a little boy out there, right now, who we'll likely be the parents of. Unbelievable!

Please pray for J., me, the mom, the dad, and the older birth siblings, as well as all the people we're all going to lean on in the months ahead.