Simply amazing!!!

I realized this morning that I should probably write down all that happened one week ago. Please don't feel as though you have to read this; I just wanted to make sure that I don't forget any of the wonderful details.

Monday, January 10th
3:00pm - Got a call from Brooke that she was dilated 4cm. Her doctor told her that it could be any day, but that they would induce on Thursday (1/14) if the baby hadn't arrived sooner.
8:45pm - Got another call from Brooke asking us to head down to the hospital.
8:47pm - on the road - just kidding, but we were on the road within 10 minutes
10:45pm - arrived at Tucson Medical Center

Tuesday, January 11th
12:30am - Doctor stopped by and was pleased by Brooke's progress. He said that if her labor slowed down at all, they would give her pitocin to speed it along. He ordered her epidural, which helped her out a lot.
4:00am - Contractions slowed down quite a bit, so they gave her pitocin to get it moving. It immediately started the contractions again.
5:00am - She was ready to start pushing, but had to wait a few minutes until the doctor could arrive.
5:24am - Our little angel arrived, after only two pushes from Brooke. He was ready!!

7lbs, 4oz
19.5 in

The only way that I can describe the birth was amazing! To witness a new life join this world was incredible. I thought I would stay back a bit, but I was right up at the front throughout. I even cut his umbilical cord.

After all of the various tests and assessments, it was determined that Caleb was in perfect health...praise God!

We spent all day Tuesday in the nursery and visiting with Brooke. In the early afternoon, we had the entrustment ceremony (which was awesome). Brooke's cousin, Justin, wrote a special prayer for the occasion. As he finished the prayer, Brooke handed Caleb over to us, entrusting him in our care. It was very emotional, but simple and beautiful. During this time, we were also able to meet Brooke's aunt and uncle. We spent as much time with Caleb as possible that day, to really start developing the bond. The nursery staff were nice enough to get us an extra wristband for Matt (required for entry into the nursery). At about 9:30pm, after 40 hours at the hospital, we went over to our hotel across the street to get a little sleep. We had hoped to stay at the hospital, but they had a lot of women come in to deliver and did not have any extra space for us. We slept for 9 hours, and probably could have gone a couple more if we weren't so excited to get back to see him.

Wednesday, we again spent most of the day with Caleb. We got to visit with Brooke for a few minutes, but she was released a few hours before Caleb. They let us use the waiting room in the maternity ward as a room for the day, since not a lot of people were in there. Matt's dad drove down during lunch and got to spend a few hours with his grandson. Very special!! In the mid-afternoon, Caleb's nurse informed us that he was ready to be discharged once our counselor could come and sign the documents. The baby was signed over to Christian Family Care's custody, and they turned him over to our care. We are technically foster parents until we are able to get our court date to finalize the adoption. At around 5:30pm, the nurse escorted us out to our car, and we were on our way home. It was very surreal to drive to Phoenix with a newborn baby riding with us!