Her Adoption Story {Part 3}

Part 1
Part 2

I can’t believe it’s taken me over three months to write part three of Kharis’ adoption story.  Life has been busy and blogging (the thoughtful kind) has been hard!  Of course I lost my phone that had all of the text messages sent back and forth on the day she was born, but I’ll do my best to share!

When I left you, we had just received the call that M was being admitted and we were ready to head to the hospital.  After a whirlwind couple of months of prayer and fundraising, we were almost ready to meet our second daughter.  I so wish I could explain the emotions that go into every aspect of adoption, but I can’t…you’ll just have to experience it for yourself!

We headed to the hospital, which was only about 10 minutes from the new-found friends we were staying with (so God!).  When we got there I texted M’s mom and told her we were there and she asked us to look for her parents, whom we had never met!  So we decided to go to the main entrance.  We sat in the main waiting area and looked around for a couple that looked like they were waiting for a baby to be born?!  Thankfully it wasn’t busy and it was a small hospital!  We finally decided to ask the receptionist where the labor and delivery area was and she pointed us down the hall.

We nervously walked, knowing that we were about to meet our little girl’s extended birth family; her great-grandparents.  We had already met our birth parent’s and our birth mom’s parent’s, but we hadn’t met anyone else.  As we walked we saw our birth father and M’s father in the cafeteria.  We walked in,  gave hugs, and met M’s paternal grandmother…what a special time it was!  

We all walked together to the labor and delivery area.  During this time I had one of the most touching conversations with Kharis’ great-grandmother.  I’ll leave the details of that conversation for Kharis’ personal story, but I am so, so blessed to have been able to meet and spend intimate time with her.  I know, without a doubt that she loves Kharis’ more than I’ll ever be able to describe.

When we got to the labor and delivery waiting area M was getting her epidural so we weren’t able to go right back and see her, but we did meet her maternal grandparents while we waited.  I am still amazed at the way the Lord orchestrated our meeting of Kharis’ birth family and we are beyond blessed to have been able to spend that time with them.

We were finally able to go back and see M.  At this point we became very aware of the emotions that were going on throughout the family and we did everything we could to let them know that we cared, that we sympathized, that we were thankful, and that we wanted them to be a part of her story.

The details of what exactly happened next are a little vague for me, but Q and I decided to go across the street and grab a bite to eat because M would begin pushing soon and we wanted to be in the waiting room during that time.  The excitement of that time is something I wish each of you could experience.  The thought of knowing that someone else is about to give you one of the greatest blessings you’ve ever been given is beyond words.

We came back to the hospital and it was time for M to start pushing.  Our little girl was almost here!