Two months have passed and now is the time to continue Camden's adoption story. My first post detailed our journey down to Florida and today's post will cover our time in the hospital. For Camden's privacy, I am going to keep certain details private but will try to cover all of the main parts.
I would like to start by saying that there is not a single thing I would change about our adoption story. It was imperfectly perfect as I like to say. I dreamed of the day I would meet our son. In my dreams, it was the perfect day filled with happy tears, joy, and all kinds of love. I even dreamed of being in the delivery room the moment he was born. It was a picture perfect moment in my dreams. Unfortunately, adoption comes from a state of brokenness and the day we met our son was not the picture perfect day like I imagined.
It started with the fact we had drove all night long and got maybe 1.5 hours of sleep in our car. We were extremely exhausted but HIGH on adrenaline and caffeine. We were so excited to meet our son. The plan was to meet the social worker at 9 am in the lobby of the hospital. By 9:20, we were wondering if we were at the wrong hospital. Imagine knowing your son is a few floors above you and you are moments away from meeting him for the first time...
"ain't noboby got time for slow pokes."
Our social worker finally arrived around 9:25 and we anxiously made our way up to the labor and delivery floor. Once we got there, we were taken in to a waiting room where a nurse came out and said that the doctor would be coming to speak with us but our son was being moved to a children's hospital for further testing. That's all she could tell us. At this point, I started to panic on the inside but made sure I didn't startle Craw. I'm not going to lie, I was scared. We were in a strange place, with no family, no friends, we hadn't even met our son yet. For the next TWO hours (yes, TWO) we waited to speak with a doctor. We were literally 100 feet away from the private nursery where Camden was sleeping and we couldn't see him. It was agony.
Finally the doctor came in and explained that Camden was born with a low resting heart rate and she wanted to have him fully evaluated since we had no medical history on him. Their hospital was unable to perform the tests he needed so he was being transferred. I felt better knowing this was just a precautionary measure. She then asked if we were ready to meet or son.
These were our first moments with our sweet Camden Ivey. I let Craw hold him first and it was so special to watch him.
We were both so happy. He was hooked up to all kinds of wires and machines so it was a little intimidating to hold him. There were also tons of nurses and doctors in there watching us because they knew that we were there to adopt him. I really can't blame them because I would have wanted to watch too but it definitely made us a little uncomfortable.
After about 3 hours, the transport team from the children's hospital showed up. It broke my heart seeing him on the stretcher but they said that I could ride with him in the ambulance. That was a surreal experience.
This is where we started to melt down. My phone died and due to toll roads, Craw got separated from the ambulance. I had no idea where he was and that was a little scary. Once we got to the children's hospital, we were taken up to a room. I was told we would have a private room and when we got up there, we were in a double room with another baby. I was really bummed about this because I had yet to bond with my baby in private.
Craw finally made it to the hospital and we quickly realized that we needed sleep and we were not going to get it in a NICU sharing the room with another baby/family. We contacted the Ronald McDonald house and were originally told they did not have any room for us but got a call back about an hour later stating they had cleaned a room just for us. WHAT A BLESSING! By this point, I was tired, my spirits were really down, and I had yet to bond with my baby because he was hooked to so many wires. Not that picture perfect moment that I imagined in my dreams. Our phones were blowing up and we had no idea what our next steps were. Even if we were discharged, where would we go? We knew Craw had to fly back home in 3 days and it was just all too much to process. I actually called my mom in tears and asked that she send out a mass text to update everyone for me. I was so overwhelmed and just needed sleep.
Craw and I decided that it was best for both of us if we left at 6 and went to a nice dinner and then to the Ronald McDonald house for a hot shower and some sleep. I cannot say enough how impressed I was with the Ronald McDonald house. It blessed my family so much when we needed it the most. The hotel across the street was going to be $150 for ONE NIGHT. I'm pretty sure our room at the Ronald McDonald house was nicer than the hotel room we would have been in and it was free. That was such a God moment for us.
We slept 10 hours straight and it was glorious. We couldn't wait to see Camden and I found myself actually excited that day. We woke up feeling refreshed and ready to tackle the day, whatever may lie ahead. This was the day that I bonded with my baby boy for the first time. He was able to get rid of some wires and Craw and I got to spend the whole day with him, just the three of us. It was heavenly and filled with so many sweet moments. It got even sweeter when the doctor came by and said that Camden passed all of his tests with flying colors and we could go home if we were ready. That was another blessing because we never expected that to come so soon.
Camden was in the hospital for a total of 2 days which is the normal amount for a healthy newborn. Seeing as we were transferred to a children's hospital, it's amazing he didn't have to stay longer. This was just the beginning of all of the ways that God blessed us on our adoption journey.
A few photos from day two in the hospital...AKA discharge day!
While our first day with him may not have been like my dreams, it is our story and I will always cherish it being part of our story. Every single detail was orchestrated by God and led us to our son so I'm okay that it may not have been the picture perfect day. I will absolutely never forget that life changing day because it's the day that he made me a mama. Stay tuned for the next adoption post as I can't wait to tell the next part of our journey. It still blows my mind to this day.
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