Michael's Story - Part 10: Hello Baby

We got to the hospital a few minutes before my mom and sister, Maggi, arrived. We thought we were going to be seeing Yulia and our new baby almost immediately. We had just been in the car for 20 straight hours. We had only slept a few of those hours. We hadn't showered or brushed our teeth or anything since the previous morning. We were still wearing the clothes we'd put on the day before. We were not looking our best. We didn't want to meet our son looking like total slobs so we took a few minutes to freshen up in the lobby bathroom.
Ashlene, our adoption worker, met us after about 10 minutes. She had secured a hospital room for us, which was awesome - we were very grateful. But a new nurse had just come on duty and was working with him and then they were going to feed him so it was going to be another hour before we'd get to see him. That was hard on me. We'd just gotten there as quickly as we possibly could, just to find out we had to wait longer! An hour isn't that long, but it felt like it was.
During that time we ate (my mom and Maggi had picked up some Wendy's for everyone on their way from the airport to the hospital), I worked on my hair a little more, we talked, The nurse came in to talk to us and give me a wrist band (parents get those!), Maggi gave us some gifts (chocolate covered raisins [a family tradition - we like to think it helps your milk come in] and some sparkling cider - she's so sweet and cute!), and tried to rest - we were exhausted but too excited to really rest, so Magi gave me a massage :). Sisters are the best.

Yulia had asked that when we met the baby it just be Ryan, Abby, and me, so when the time FINALLY came my mom and Maggi stepped out. Eventually he came, with his nurse, Ashlene, and Beth and Michael (Yulia's parents). They had to roll him from Yulia's room to ours in his bassinet. The nurse had him. We glimpsed him through the bassinet - she picked him up and handed him to me :). Love! Instant love!
When we met Abby we didn't know if she was going to be our daughter. We didn't know if Cheyenne would pick us. We didn't know how set she was on placing. We didn't know if Heavenly Father wanted Abby to be with us. Seeing her for the first time was different for me than seeing Mikey. Seeing him without all that uncertainty there was just peace, and joy, and LOVE. After basking in his beautiful perfection a few minutes I handed him to his daddy and went to hug Beth and Michael and talk to them. I really don't remember what we talked about. I would guess we talked about our drive and how Yulia was doing. It was good to see them! Although I could understand Yulia's decision not to see us right away I was still so disappointed. I had been almost as excited to see her as I was to meet our baby. I felt that we had grown closer than friends - she felt more like a sister - I missed her, I ached to see her, and I ached for her and all the emotions and pain she was experiencing.
It was fun to show Mikey to Abby. She had wanted a baby for so long. We had talked so much about him. She'd been so excited our whole drive. She was so cute seeing him and holding him the first time! She loved him right away!

Michael and Beth stayed about ten minutes, then went back to be with Yulia. At that point my mom and sister came back. (Yulia had just wanted our little family have time to soak him in on our own before sharing his wonderfulness with others.) They took turns holding him and falling in love, then took pictures of us while we held him some more.

He started acting like he may be ready to eat some more, so I sat down on the bed and started nursing him. I know that getting a baby to latch is a serious challenge a lot of the time. And if you have just delivered a baby your milk hasn't come in yet so you don't really have anything to offer. And that it can be incredibly painful. I had been pumping for weeks so I already had some milk and had gotten past the super sore nipples. And Mikey latched on like a champ. We didn't have to teach him anything, he just did it. He latched on and started sucking and it was amazing! I can't even describe how amazing it was for me. I loved that my body was doing something to nourish him. I loved being so close to him. I loved the way it felt. I loved everything about it. (I will tell more about inducing lactation and our nursing journey in another post. It's a story all of its own :) ).

Yulia had decided that he would always be with us during the night. After a couple hours my mom, Maggi, and Abby left to go to Maggi's and go to bed. Nurses would come in every couple hours to check on him. We were exhausted, so after a little while we all went to bed. And that was it - we had a son!