An update...

I have tried so many times to write this post. My first version was outdated when Brooke delivered the baby two weeks earlier than expected. Then, I attempted to update things and just couldn't keep up with the constant changes with the situation. Finally, I just wasn't in the mood to write anything. Now that I'm back to "normal" life, I want to give you an idea of what has been going on in our lives.

In mid-January, we met with Brooke. We were visiting Matt's family, and thought we'd visit her too. It was great catching up, especially hearing about how her pregnancy was going. During our conversation, she shared that she was expecting some hard times ahead, and wondered if we would consider taking temporary custody of the baby until she could get some things in order. We were floored, but wanted to support her as much as possible. We were so grateful that she considered us to help her, but also terrified at the same time.

Baby Alex was due March 14th, so we had a lot of time to get things in order. We consulted with an adoption agency and an attorney to find out how to handle a temporary custody. We prepared things at home as well. CJ was moved into a big boy bed. It was time anyway, and this seemed like a great reason to move him out of the crib. After a few nights of falling out or refusing to stay in bed, I think we've gotten him used to it.

On February 25th, Brooke called me to check in about our plans for the baby's arrival. She felt that the baby was going to come early, and wanted to make sure that we'd be prepared to head down. I told her we'd be ready. I did not realize that we'd hear from her as soon as we did. Two hours later, she called to let me know she was headed to the hospital. I packed (aka - ran around my house frantically trying to find everything I needed for a few days). I was on the road an hour later.

This little guy was ready to come out; she delivered two hours later. I guess I didn't need to rush down anymore. I got into Tucson around midnight and spent that night in Brooke's room. Over the next few days, I spent a lot time hanging out with Brooke and Alex, and waiting to hear how things were going to work with discharge.

I don't know if I was just too tired, or experiencing too many emotions about trying to things in order, but I finally had a breakdown on Thursday. I was overwhelmed and alone, not a great combination. I called Matt in tears, just trying to get my thoughts in order. That afternoon, he booked a flight for him and CJ, and they joined me in Tucson about 10 hours later. While it wasn't planned, we tried to make it fun for CJ. The people at the Ronald McDonald House were so great about keeping him occupied (see my last post about how wonderful they are).

Well, things did not go exactly how we had planned. Without getting into too much detail, it was determined that the baby would need to be placed in foster care until we were able to get some paperwork in order. We were disappointed, but understood. We got home one week later, and will begin the home study process here in Nevada. We'll continue to update the blog to let you know where things are, and when we are finally able to bring Alex to our house.

I'll continue to share how the process is working for us.