Well, the baby just couldn't wait. We got the call at about 1 o'clock on July 4th. The baby came early. Scrap the Utah plan and get down to New Orleans as soon as possible.
24 crazy hours later we were headed to the airport. At the gate, ready to board our plane, we got a call from the adoption agency inUtah saying that we've got a problem. The state of WI may not accept the legalities of this adoption, since it was being conducted in LA by a UT agency, using UT law. A few minutes before boarding, we were talking on a 3 way call to both adoption agencies (Utah and Wisconsin). Turned out that in addition to the legal concerns, there were fears that the birth parents were shaky on relinquishing their parental rights. Both agencies advised that we wait a day before flying down, to see what would happen.
We got on the plane anyway. It sounded like everything was about to unravel, but we weren't going to sit around an extra day in MN to find out. As our plane left the ground, I got the giggles. It was all too much.
When we got into New Orleans, we went to the hospital to meet Kim, the adoption social worker from Utah. She tried to get us in to meet the baby and birth mom that evening, but it was past visiting hours, so we headed to our hotel. The next day we spent the morning with Jane, the baby, her 2 grown daughters and grandson. The situation there seemed promising - they were friendly and welcoming - but the birth father was still uncertain. And there was one more complication, in addition to the aforementioned troubles, that we needed to address, so we excused ourselves for the rest of the day to work on it from our new-found internet headquarters - McDonalds.
Our last FBI background check expired June 1. We sent in new sets of fingerprints to renew our clearance at the end of May. Before we left home, I called the FBI to see how our background checks were coming along and could they hurry it up please? The answer was, no expedited checks. We'd just have to wait - maybe up to 5 more weeks. Utah and WI do not require FBI clearance for adoption, but LA does. Without those background checks, we cannot leave the state of Louisiana with an adopted child. From beneath the golden arches, we surfed the internet and made phone calls, trying to find a way to get an FBI check with a 72 hour turn-around, as we were told some adoptive families have been able to do in the past. Our search was fruitless, and we resigned ourselves to the possibility - if the adoption went ahead - that I may be here for an extra month with the baby while waiting for our FBI checks to come through.
Here's how it all shook out on Thursday.
Parental rights: In the morning, the birth father came to the hospital to sign away his parental rights. He was very unhappy about it, but Jane prevailed, reminding him that this had been her plan all along. We're told that with his signature (Jane signed the day before, after meeting us), the legal risks to our parental rights were pretty much over.
WI's acceptance of the adoption: Both adoption agencies talked things over with the state of WI and got the nod to go ahead with this 3-state adoption plan.
Fingerprints: Because Utah law is being used, LA requirements for FBI clearance will not apply to us when the ICPC (Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children) paperwork gets processed. Our ICPC paperwork must go from LA to UT, back to LA for approval, then finally to WI before we can leave LA with the baby. If the state lets us go without the fingerprints, and our ICPC paperwork is processed by next Friday and we can come home on time, it will be simply miraculous.
Kim and the hospital staff were all super nice and very helpful. The nurse in charge of our baby told us she had been praying for us since the baby was born. After we signed a pile of documents and officially became parents we got our baby care orientation before being discharged from the hospital Thursday afternoon. I was afraid they would just bundle us out the door and say "see ya later," so I was grateful for the baby care lessons.
Being a bit of a premie, she's just a little thing. About the size of a loaf of bread when she's all swaddled up. Here are her specs from her birthday, a week ago now:
Born at 9:37 pm July 3
Weight: 4 lbs 7 oz.
Head: 11 in. circumference
Length: 17 1/2 in.
Term: 37 and 2/7 weeks
Frankly, we're amazed that this is working out. When we got to the hotel with her, it felt like we were just borrowing someone's baby for awhile. We're slowly getting used to the idea of really being her parents. It's been a bittersweet experience. We're so grateful that God has placed this child in our care. And yet we're aware of the pain of those who have lost her. We are glad to keep the adoption open, sending letters and pictures to Jane and her daughters via the agency in Utah. We're exhausted, but happy. She's a super easy-going baby. Even so, we're finding that caring for a newborn makes catching up on lost sleep a challenge. It's probably good to be stuck in a hotel for awhile with no appointments to keep.
Her name? Well, we're still trying to come to an agreement on that. When our adoption is finalized in 6 months, her birth certificate will be changed. That gives us a lot of time to procrastinate. For now, she's got a handful of nicknames, and she doesn't seem to mind.
Thanks for your many many prayers. We are so grateful for everyone's support and love. We're thankful to have this sweet baby in our care instead of returning home with empty arms. We will probably be finding out on Thursday or Friday (the 14th or 15th) whether we can all get on the plane home on Friday evening. We'll try to keep ya'll posted.
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