Lunch

Well, we survived! Our lunch with the birthmother went well. It was of course awkward at times, and we were all nervous, but overall I'm very happy with how the meeting went. She is very sweet, and it seems like she has been putting a lot of thought into this process.

We are going to meet her at the hospital on Wednesday morning at 6 am. The social worker is going to call the hospital ahead of time to let them know about the adoption situation. Hopefully the hospital will be open to us being there, and they may even have a room that we can use to spend time with the baby. Evidently some hospitals are more adoption-friendly than others, so it all depends.

Today Pete is going to do a little work, and I'll probably shop or hang around the pool. We will probably go see a move tonight (since that is the #1 thing people tell us to do when they hear we are soon to be parents)!

Tomorrow we are planning on going to a Disney park, either Animal Kingdom or Hollywood Studios. Then we will move to a city closer to the hospital. It's starting to feel more real now!

Orlando

Today we moved on to the second leg of our Florida tour, Orlando. This morning we exercised, checked out of the hotel, and went on a search for an elusive doughnut shop. Unfortunately our GPS couldn't get it right, or the place no longer exists. Either way, Pete was a sad little boy. I tried to cheer him up with a quaint family-owned greasy spoon, but I don't think he really ever recovered from the disappointment!

On our way out of Clearwater we stopped at the mall. Our social worker suggested that we bring a little gift to the birthmother, so we decided on a Bath & Body Works gift and some magazines to read while she's in the hospital. While we were there, we also got a couple cute little things for the baby from Gymboree's clearance rack. They have the most adorable clothes, but they sure aren't cheap! I also bought a new shirt and scarf for our meeting tomorrow. Even with all my over-analyzation and over-packing, I felt like I still didn't quite have the right outfit. But now I'm sure to project friendly-motherly-casual-yet-sophisticated confidence! Or something like that...

Next we drove to Orlando. I don't know if it was the change in the weather (storms this evening) or central FL, but it was very humid. It thunder stormed like crazy tonight, so hopefully it won't be quite so oppressive tomorrow.

We relaxed at the hotel for a while this afternoon, then went to Target/Walmart and out to dinner. Fortunately we timed it well- the worst of the storm happened while we ate dinner.

Tonight I'm going to do my best to sleep. Lunch with the birthmother is at 11:30 tomorrow, so please send positive thoughts our way. I'm very, VERY nervous. Thank you for your calls and texts tonight, I appreciate it. I'll update the blog when we get back tomorrow afternoon. Assuming I survive, that is. :)

Clearwater Day 2

Today was a lot like the day before, not that I'm complaining! We slept in, got some breakfast, and hit the beach. Unfortunately the winds were very strong this morning, and it only took a few mouth- and ear-fulls of sand before we headed back to the pool. That was followed by more eating, a walk on the beach, and you guessed it- more eating. We had a fantastic dinner at Cristino's Coal Oven Pizza- I highly recommend it if you are ever down this way!

Here are some shots from today's fun in the sun.

Clearwater

Today we had a nice and relaxing day in Clearwater. We caught up on some sleep, and then headed out to brunch on the bay.


After brunch, we lathered up with sunscreen and went out to the beach. Clearwater has a very wide beach with some of the softest powdery sand I have ever felt.

As we neared dinner time, we walked down the road a couple of blocks to Frenchy's Rockaway Grill. It was a cute little place on the beach that is famous for their grouper sandwiches.

We just had to include this picture, taken in a disabled parking space. We checked, he did have a tag hanging from his window!

Florida or Bust

We left for Florida yesterday morning, and finally made it here around 1:30 am. It was an uneventful drive south, and took us about 17 hours to get to Clearwater. Lots of quality time for discussing names and infant care basics. The CR-V is great for traveling, so we were happy with the timing of our recent purchase!

On the way here we received a call from the agency. The birthmother had her doctor's appointment yesterday afternoon, and her doctor has decided to keep the c-section scheduled for Wednesday morning. We are going to move our lunch with her up to Monday though, just in case. We also found out that she does want us to be at the hospital for the delivery, and I know we are incredibly lucky to have this opportunity. Evidently there is even a window through which we can watch the c-section. Will I pass out at the first sight of blood? Place your bets now, folks!

A Baby Shower!

Suzy and Kim-marie threw me a baby shower last Friday, 4/16. They did an amazing job, especially considering the short notice they were working with! Evan hosted it at her beautiful home, and it was the perfect setting for an evening with friends. I thought it was going to be only the gang from work, but they surprised me by inviting my other friends too. Denise came all the way from WV, Bethany, Sam and Jessica made the trek from MD, and Katie came from Alexandria! It was a blast, I'm so glad I was able to celebrate with everyone.

Games/favors

Carmel and Cathy

Yummy food

Kim-marie introducing Sam to everyone

So cute!

Bruce, always a good sport about being surrounded by women

Aww, more cute

Denise was fabulous as my gift secretary

an assist from Sam

being forced to play games

Edna and Lolita

Betty and Katy

Theresa and Brenda

Katie, Jessica, me, Bethany, & Sam (I guess Bruce wasn't the only male attendee!)

Carmel, Evan, Theresa, Suzy (finally out from behind the camera)

Suzy, Gayle, Evan, Kim-marie

Group photo!

Suzy and me

Charlie's Angels (...OK, so nobody calls us that except us!)

Tomorrow morning we leave for Florida. We're not totally packed yet, but we are getting closer. Mark is here to watch the animals, so that is a HUGE help.

We're going to stay in Clearwater for the first few nights and see what happens. I am going to try to update the blog daily, as long as we have internet access. As of right now the birthmother's c-section is scheduled for April 28. However, she has been having some lower back pain that may mean she will go sooner. She has a doctor's appointment tomorrow afternoon, so maybe we'll have some more info then.

It's a boy!

We got the call! We got the call! It went something like this...

Social worker: The birthmother chose you.
Gayle: The birthmother chose what?
Social worker: The birthmother chose you!
Gayle: (long pause) OH!

Here is what we know so far. It's a boy, and the birthmother is due on April 28. We will be traveling to Florida to meet him, and we will probably have to stay from 7-10 days.

I've cycled through several emotions since receiving the call on Wednesday afternoon.

1. Shock. What? Really? Is this really happening?
2. Relief. Oh my. It's really happening.
3. Elation. I'm going to be a MOM! Finally!
4. Panic. Only three weeks to prepare. And Pete will be out of town for 2 of them!
5. Terror. Will this really happen? A lot can change in three weeks.

Needless to say, it's been an exciting couple of days. I was at work when I got the call, so my coworkers were among the first to know (my hysterical crying was hard to hide). Even though I hate being the center of attention, I really enjoyed spreading the good news to my work family!

That evening Suzy, Chris, Kim-marie, Jamie, and Noel surprised us with flowers and cute little bibs. The next morning Evan baked me sugar cookies with blue icing, plus she gave us an adorable outfit and blankie. And then we got some congratulatory flowers from Beth, Mike, and Sam! Everyone's calls and emails have meant so much to me. We have amazing friends who have been so supportive throughout this process. I truly could not have made it this far without being able to lean on them every day.