Happy Baby Boy

Jayvan smiles in his sleep.  I still have not been able to capture the complete smile, but this is a partial smile.

You have to wonder what he is dreaming about.  These three weeks of his life have been filled with so many people wanting to meet him and show him how much they love him.  He is surrounded by love.  Even when he wants to stay up from 2:00-4:00am, I still whisper in his ear, "I love you little man."  I love sleep too, but I love that little face a thousand times more.

Mommy's Rock Star

 

Life is Good

Today there are many things I know for certain.  Here's the list:

1. God is so good and we are so incredibly blessed.
2. I break out in random tears when I think about all that has happened in our lives in the last month.
3. Jayvan sleeps through our dogs' barks and I am thankful.
4. Lexi makes some of the best pretend coffee and pizza that I've ever had.
5. Green Mountain Coconut coffee is delicious.
6. Jayvan slept for five hours straight last night and it felt like a lot longer.  I am refreshed.
7. Suitcases don't unpack themselves.
1. Laundry doesn't fold itself either.
2. I don't really care about it right now. . . 
8. My family is amazing and we are so blessed with the outpouring of love we have received.  
9. My love of babywearing was reaffirmed by my inability to make coffee one-handed.
10. I'm a crier.  
11. As of 12:00 am this morning, Jayvan's adoption is no longer a "legal risk."  I stayed up until that time because I couldn't sleep until I saw the clock hit 12:01.  Our revocation period is over and honestly that is probably why I slept better last night.  Praise God from whom all blessing flow!

Heading Home

Today we are heading home on a 12:28 (Eastern) flight.  We pray for safe travels and a wonderful first flight for Mr. Jayvan.  (I can already hear the groans of the other passengers when I walk on board with an infant and a four-year-old. Ha!)

ICPC & Goodbyes

We got the call on Friday that Kansas had cleared us and we were legal to go home.  That was such a weight off of our shoulders.  Hotel (even extended stay) living with a newborn is less than ideal.  Yet, I hadn't thought about the impact this news would have on B.  When we told her, she left the room and didn't come back for quite a while.  This was the strike of reality that she had been hoping would never come.  She told me that she secretly wished that we would never be approved to leave Virginia.  Yet, she knew that was unrealistic.

I started wondering if our open relationship was making this harder for her, and in some ways I think it is.  If this were a closed or semi-open relationship, we would not have seen her several times over the last week.  While this obviously prolonged the goodbye, I know it has to help too.   She has seen Jayvan several times and she knows that we are taking wonderful care of this little boy.

So, today we are taking lunch over to their house and having our last goodbyes.  I imagine there will be a lot of tears (probably mostly from me), but the pain is worth it.

First BBQ

No, he didn't eat anything, but Jayvan attended his first poolside BBQ at our hotel last night. 

The weather here was gorgeous, and Big Sister didn't want to get out of the pool.  Jayvan and I admired her skills from the shade.

Kissable!

We absolutely cannot resist kissing those cheeks!

The Virginia Aquarium

On Tuesday we went to the aquarium.  Lexi needed some touristy fun.  We all enjoyed it.

 We all survived this shark attack.

 We went on a nature walk to the second building.

 After the aquarium, we went to an amazing seafood buffet.

 Since we were so close to the beach, we had to go take a walk on the beach for Lexi and Jayvan's first time on the beach.  Lexi absolutely loved it . . . until her shorts got wet. 

Our family of four on Virginia Beach.  Love!

I apologize for the delay!

Blogger was not cooperating with me and it is amazing that I got the one picture posted.  Perhaps God knew that I needed to spend my time with my snoozing baby boy and his first family instead of updating my blog.  I'm going to try to just get the timeline down a little bit here, and I'll maybe come add some details when time allows.

We got the call on Tuesday night (July 5) that the birth mom (B) was in labor and heading to the hospital.  The first flight that we could get was at 5:30 the next morning so we booked it and packed.  Neither Matt or I could sleep all night and my mom came up to stay with Lexi.  We talked to B several more times and she was definitely in active labor and in pain.  Her mother-in-law (RG) called us with updates when she could.

We made it to our layover in Atlanta (there were no direct flights unfortunately) and talked to B.  She was dilated to a 7 and she had an epidural to help with her pain.  She sounded much better than she did when we talked to her earlier.   About 15 minutes after that call, RG called to tell me that the baby was born at 9:22 am (eastern).  I cried in the middle of the airport as RG reported he had a head full of black hair and everyone was healthy.

Our flight landed in Norfolk at 12:00pm and we were at the hospital by 1:00.  When we got there, B was in the room alone, so we sat and chatted for a while.  Then she offered to call the nursery for the baby.  They wheeled the baby down the hall and I held my breath and the nurse wheeled him into the room.

We met our son for the very first time and we immediately fell in love.  He is gorgeous and I'm not just saying that because I'm his mom.  We spent the whole afternoon and evening taking care of the baby who was not yet named.  He was immediately loved by all of our friends and family who saw his gorgeous pictures through the wonder of facebook and skype.

We spent time that evening with B and played Phase 10 in her hospital room that night. It was a quiet evening that allowed us to really get to know her a bit more.

The next morning, the birthdad (R) came back to the hospital.  He had been at the birth and cut the cord, but I think his emotions got the best of him and he needed to go home.  We met more of the birth family and spent some time getting to know each other.  Before he got there, B asked us if we would consider giving the baby two middle names and we agreed that it was a great idea.  When R got to the hospital, we all agreed upon the perfect name:

Jayvan Edward Grant Dunn

Javan was the name that Matt and I had chosen and we agreed that the "y" would help people pronounce the name correctly and B happens to love "y's" in names.  Edward was Matt's grandpa's name, and everyone in our family has a family middle name.  Grant is the family name of R and we thought it only fitting that Jayvan have a family name from each of his families.

At 12:30, the social worker from The Datz Foundation came with a notary for us to sign all of the papers.  I knew this would be an emotional time, and R's family showed up just in time to distract us from the emotions.  The papers were signed and we spent the rest of Thursday getting to know R and B a little more while we shared in the care of Jayvan.

On Friday morning, we were told we would be able to leave the hospital and I was so ready to be out of there (I am not a hospital person).  We were finally able to leave in the early afternoon.  We all walked out together with the baby (hospital policy required B to carry the baby, but R actually carried him).  We gave B & R a ride to run a quick errand and then we took them home.  We spent a little time with their family and then we made it across town to our extended stay hotel.

Shortly after settling into the hotel and eating dinner, it was time to pick up Nana and Lexi at the airport.  I will count the moment that I held both of my children in my arms as one of the happiest moments in my life.

She was so enamored with her little brother.  She tells us everything that he does and what she thinks he needs.  They are adorable together.  She held him for the first time at the Norfolk airport.

Nana had her first chance to hold him when we got back to the hotel.

We spent Saturday morning getting the hang of a morning routine and then we went out the the birthfamily's home.  We went to a local park that overlooks Chesapeake Bay and let the kids run around the playground.

Today was spent doing laundry and hanging out in our hotel.

Baby Jay has a pediatrician's appointment tomorrow and we plan to have pizza with R & B tomorrow.  We never really could plan what this open adoption would look like, but we are learning as we go.

Introducing Baby Jayvan

Baby is on his way!

Emom called around 10:30 and told me that her contractions were getting stronger and only five minutes apart.  We wondered if the contractions would stop after she got to the hospital again, but this time baby boy is serious about making his entrance.  As I type this Matt is driving us to the airport.  I'm praying for a healthy delivery and selfishly hoping that we make it there in time.

False alarm

We'll call that a practice run.

You know what they say about the best laid plans. . .

Well, we are scheduled to fly out to Virginia on Friday afternoon (five days before baby's due date).  E-mom just called to say her contractions are 8 minutes apart and she may be leaking fluid.  She asked what I wanted her to do and I told her to head to the hospital.  I am excited and a little sad because we were planning to be in the room to support e-mom and be the first to hold the baby (e-mom's wishes and ours).  The earliest we can possibly get there is 11:45 tomorrow morning and I just cannot wish a long labor on e-mom.

I'll update here when I find out more.  Now I'm off to frantically pack.

Look who we got to snuggle with yesterday.

Well, you can see most of his adorable little face anyway.


Thank you Katie for letting us soak up the baby goodness.

If you want to see more of Oscar and his family, you can do so here.  I'm so happy we were able to meet in person before their big move.