One morning while Connor was napping, I was packing away his baby four ounce bottles. As I was packing them, I heard the words enter my mind, "You'll need these sooner than you think" in my head. I laughed, thinking of the six month number I had mentally given myself and continued packing them. Later that very same day, I got an unexpected call from a friend that would change our lives forever.
She said, "My relative is having a baby and was wondering if you guys would be able to adopt him. They have looked at your profile and have chosen you guys. Oh, and she is already dilated to a two and the baby could literally be here any day or up to a week. Are you guys interested?" I was in complete shock and literally don't remember what I said next, haha. Somewhere in there, I told her I would talk to my husband and then get back to her. Another family member of hers piped in on the phone and said they'd need to know by that evening since the baby could be here literally any second.
I got off the phone and called Ben. No answer! Called agin. Nothing. He texted me that he was in a work meeting and asked if it was an emergency. I said yes, and I asked if he could step out. "Are you sitting down?", I breathlessly asked. Then I told him about the phone call. He was floored, just like me. He said he would come home so we could pray about it. Ben got home and we went to our knees as fast as we could, praying that we would know the right answer. I think I knew right away, but I was terrified about having two babies, three months apart. No one plans on that. I am a planner. I like to know what I am doing on the weekend way before the weekend so I can plan it all out and look forward to it. I don't really like surprises, unless the surprises are food--I am looking at you surprise pizza and ice-cream deliveries. The thought of having hours at the least and days at the most for preparing for a second child petrified me. Ben felt the calm immediately, and I knew all of the promptings I had been feeling a few weeks before about another baby entering our family weren't strange at all but from God. He had been preparing me in His own way. We knew we should proceed.
That evening, only five hours after getting the phone call, we met the birth mother and father. We were so nervous to meet them but excited at the same time--we hoped they liked us! They were both so sweet and laid back. We could feel of their goodness and their sweet desires for this baby. As we drove to meet them, our minds were racing with a thousand questions about what our lives might soon be like and logistical plans. To distract our racing minds, I thought it would be fun to talk about baby names. By the time we arrived, we had five names or so that we considering.
As we talked to the birth mom and birth dad, they asked us if we had thought about names. We started telling them the names that we had discussed in the car, and they immediately seemed excited when we said 'Caleb.' They said, "We love that name too! We had actually been thinking of that name for him." The minute they said that, we knew he was supposed to have that name. It just felt right. (A name miracles side note: Caleb's name means dog and Connor's name means hound lover--so these brothers were totally meant to be. Also Connor's middle name is Joshua. After hearing the name selection, my mom said, "Remember! Caleb and Joshua are friends and a team in the Bible. They lead out the people of Israel into the promised land." Heavenly Father sometimes plans names more than we could ever imagine.)
When we came home from meeting the birth parents. I was in more shock than I have ever been in my entire life. I was having a hard time mentally keeping up with what was going on. It all was happening so fast!
The next day, Thursday, my brain was going a million miles a minute thinking of all the logistics and all that we would need with having a second baby any day. By Friday morning, I was feeling that same intense panic when I made a few calls to family members who assured me it would all work out if it was meant to be. Logistics are just logistics. It was that Friday morning that for the first time since being with the birth parents that I felt totally at peace. No more worries about--schedules, how I would do it during the day with Ben gone, double strollers, another crib, etc. I let go of my fears and replaced them with faith. I realized the miracles of this Baby Caleb entering our family and embraced the miraculousness of God's plan.
A few days later, the birth mom invited me to her final ultrasound, which was so sweet of her! It was my first time going to an ultrasound seeing an actual baby inside! It was so neat to go and hear the baby's heartbeat. The moment I heard it I felt giddy inside. I couldn't wait to meet this baby boy! At the appointment, the birth mom's induction was scheduled for Friday since the baby was already measuring fairly big at 8lbs.
Then it was the waiting game! As we rushed to get a crib, a double stroller, etc., we knew Baby Caleb could come before the scheduled induction, so we always had our phones close by, awaiting news. Finally, Friday came! The anticipation was killer! We heard updates from Caleb's birth mom about her progress. At 4pm, she said she was at a six and told us to come. As we approached the hospital, I was so nervous and excited! When we entered the hospital room to meet Caleb's birth mom, I felt such a sweet spirit and knew that our son was going to be born in that room that day! We were so grateful the birth parents allowed us to be in the room for such a sweet experience. We were touched when the birth father asked Ben if he would cut the cord.
It was the most surreal experience in the world, sitting in that hospital room watching Caleb's brave birth mother in labor, interacting with the birth family's friends and family, and feeling the anticipation that she was getting farther and father along. Everyone was so kind and welcoming to us. It was neat to be a part of Caleb's earthly debut (when we went to get Connor, he was already born so we had an entirely different experience of meeting him in his bassinet when he was already ten hours old.)
Finally at around 10pm, she was getting closer and closer. At that point, she was in pain, and it was hard to watch her in so much agony--I wished I could take it away from her. We helplessly cheered her on until 11:43pm and then we saw our handsome Caleb be born. He came out crying and perfect, with loads of dark hair, weighing 8lb 2oz and 20.5 inches long. Ben cut the cord, and he was immediately cleaned off and then handed off to his birth mother to be held. He was then held by the birth dad and then by the birth grandma. When he was passed to me, I was overcome with how handsome and perfect he was and the miracles that had brought him into our family. We were immediately smitten. We were so proud of his brave birth mom and the love we felt from her. We spent some loving time with the birth family for about an hour and a half until the nurse came in to have us bring Caleb to our room.
We were surprised when the nurse said that we'd be going to the NICU instead because Caleb was born with a fever, which meant he might have an infection. So we were whisked off to the NICU at around 2am. We were told he would have to have antibiotics for at least 48 hours and was going to be monitored for a risk of infection. His numbers came back slightly elevated so it appeared he did have some sort of infection at birth, but it wasn't super concerning. However, he had to stay in the NICU for IV antibiotics. From the wee hours of Saturday morning until Monday afternoon, we spent precious time in the NICU. Ben's parents and my mom and Mike and Allison from Texas came to see him. The family support touched my heart! Many of Caleb's sweet birth family came and visited him as well.
Our time in the NICU seemed so long in some ways and so short in others. My heart goes out to other mamas who have their babies in the NICU for more serious medical attention. There were many tender experiences with Caleb's birth family--most too special to share, but they were all so supportive and loving of us. They will always have a special place in our hearts.
On Monday morning we received the good news that Caleb's labs were great and we could go home. From there, we went to pick up Connor who had been staying at Grandma and Grandpa Browning's (thanks again for watching our almost three month old for three days!!) and then headed home as a family of four. I was still somewhat in disbelief of how our lives had changed in the last ten days, but we knew Caleb was supposed to be in our family.
Caleb has been passionate, alert, strong, sweet and has just begun smiling! His six week old smiles are melting my heart, and we love him to pieces. We are so grateful you are part of our family, Caleb Hyrum Browning!
Entering the hospital before Caleb was born!
Caleb's first picture!
Taking Caleb home!!
Caleb's smile at five weeks!
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