Harrison week 3

http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151534329005466.559803.623285465&type=1&l=3cf567f530

Harrison's birth story part 2

Immediately after all of the activity our social worker went in to be with our birth mother. I'm going to call her T on here. Our social worker came out with the amazing news that we had a healthy baby boy and T was ready for us to come in the room. I have never been so emotional and ecstatic in my life. Brian and I were just beside ourselves. We went in the room and T was holding our precious tiny miracle. Tears started streaming down my face immediately. I was overwhelmed with so many emotions. T wanted us to hold him so Brian took our sweet angel first and what an amazing moment. I've never seen such a huge smile on his face. The true definition of love at first sight. T was a champion and delivered so quickly after she became more dilated. Holding Harrison was surreal. Every moment of heartache from IVF seemed to disappear. He was perfect and a true miracle. The hospital was super caring and gave us our own private room for the night. We could not get enough of holding him in our arms! Harrison went down to T's room for a little while so they could have some time together. I am so glad that she wanted to see him and grieve properly. adoption is THE most bittersweet because of the joy of the baby mixed with the pain birth mothers experience. T did not leave my mind for a minute. I went down with harrison to tell T goodnight and ended up staying in her room for 4 hours until 4 am. It was almost like we were having a slumber party at the hospital getting to know each other better. We learned so much about each other and our families, lives, etc. She is the most incredible person in the world to me. I love her. I left with the promise of oatmeal and starbucks in the am. Brian was laughing because her order was as complicated as mine throwing in the skinny versions. The day after his birth it was T's sons birthday who was turning 3! She was feeling great but ready to go. So around lunch she left the hospital to go be with her sweet son and husband. we made plans to get sushi (both of our favorites) on Friday night. We were not able to keep our room since she was discharged, but Harrison was being kept another night to make sure he was eating properly. He was "acting his age" and not wanting to cooperate (boy have times changed w this little piggie!) and eat the amount expected. We checked into our hotel and then came back later in the evening for early intervention to show us some tips on feeding. He ended up doing great. Harrison was released on wednesday after saying goodbye to the amazing staff at alta view hospital. We were scared to death! off to our hotel we went :) We had so much fun learning how to be parents on our own, just the 2 of us figuring things out. It was such perfect bonding time for our family. Thursday we headed to the pediatrician to check and make sure all was well. It turned out his biliruben levels were high after he had to have his foot stuck which made me cry every time! The dr ordered the lamp to be sent to our hotel and for him to lay on the lamp for 24-48 hours depending on the levels when we went to get them checked on friday. at this moment we found out we had clearance to come back to Memphis which was incredibly fast! We were hoping we could go home saturday so we could keep our sushi date with our birth parents. Friday our poor angel had another foot stick and his numbers were much better. the doctor did order him to stay on the lamp until we left to go home. He also wrote our sweet 5 day old baby a note clearing him to fly :) We were so disappointed that harrison would not be able to come to dinner friday. Brian decided he would be the one to stay home with him while I went to dinner. More on dinner with our birth parents next post :)

new mom must haves!

Aiden and anais blankets. I LOVE these and can't have enough. these are the only blankets we use to swaddle because the muslin cotton is very giving and stretches great! http://www.adenandanais.com/shop/swaddles.aspx 4 mom's Momma roo- this is the best piece of equipment ever invented. It is supposed to move the way a mom moves. He loves his time in this gem.I want everything 4 moms makes! http://www.4moms.com/mamaroo Dr. Brown's bottle warmer http://www.amazon.com/Dr-Browns-850T-Bottle-Warmer/dp/B0035LLG2W Nap nanny- Yes there is controversy as it has been recalled. But it is common sense. I would never leave him unattended. He is sleeping in the bed w us in his nap nanny and wakes at midnight, 3 am and 6 am. We will go to the crib soon but I am a nervous new mom! these are really hard to find... http://www.napnanny.com/ Peg perego car seat. Very easy to use and supposed to be the safest on the market currently! http://www.amazon.com/Peg-Perego-2011-Primo-Viaggio-Infant/dp/B004DIUA4Q Bloomin bath- soft bath that is so easy to bathe a tiny baby in http://www.amazon.com/Blooming-Bath-Baby-Canary-Yellow/dp/B007S1T4Q0/ref=sr_1_1?s=baby-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1360207728&sr=1-1&keywords=bloomin+babies wipe warmer- definitely makes diaper changing more pleasant http://www.amazon.com/Prince-Lionheart-Ultimate-Wipes-Warmer/dp/B00008ODBG/ref=sr_1_2?s=baby-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1360207757&sr=1-2&keywords=wipe+warmer Noodle and Boo- a splurge but so worth getting the lotion. best baby smell ever! http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss_1?url=search-alias%3Dbaby-products&field-keywords=noodle+and+boo Mustella 2 in one shampoo/body wash- makes a quick bath so much easier http://www.amazon.com/Mustela-2-In-1-Hair-Shampoo-ounces/dp/B00021D2TI/ref=sr_1_1?s=baby-products&ie=UTF8&qid=1360207829&sr=1-1&keywords=mustella+2+in+one

week 2 pictures

What a difference in how much growth happens in one week. He went from 5.12 (birth weight) to 5.6 leaving hospital and is now 6 lbs. So glad he is healthy and growing. Harris is also waaaayyyy more alert, wide eyed and looking all around. He is most awake from 9 am-noon, but is doing great on his 3 hour schedule. we have increased our bottles from 2 oz. to 3 for this little hungry man. I love how tiny and snuggly he is!

Our adoption story part one

I can't believe our baby is 2 weeks old already. It has literally flown by! I keep looking back to getting the phone call and leaving for Utah feeling like I need to pinch myself because I'm dreaming! Sweet Harrison's due date is actually this Friday 2-8-13! It was a normal weekend, of course I had every intention of starting to pack my stuff for Utah IN CASE we got the call early. But of course I slacked and got as far as getting my bag down from the attic but no packing! On Sunday jan. 20 I felt like death. I had been sick with an upper respiratory infection and it was getting worse by the minute. Pretty sure I had bronchitis. I stayed on the couch all day Sunday watchingtv and pretty much doing nothing since I felt like death. Brian was back in the office working Sunday night and I went back to tell him goodnight as he told me he was going to sleep on the cough to stay away from me bc he didn't want to get sick too. So I go to wash my face and brush my teeth and get in bed. I had just turned the lights off and noticed an 801 phone number appear on my screen! Wait...801 is freaking UTAH! It's 11 pm Sunday. This must be it! My heart was pounding and I picked up the phone. I had lost my voice and sounded like a 80 year old smoker! Our social worker, Sarah, said its time...her water broke! I came into the room and put her on speaker to tell Brian the details too. We were in complete shock but lunching off the walls excited! We were going to have a baby! We prayed that we could arrive for the birth! The next few hours were a flurry of lots of activity...trying to find flights, pack, figure out what baby stuff to bring, arrangements for our 3 dogs, tying up loose ends for work. Whew! Of course neither of us slept that night and we were ready to go for our 8:30 am flight to Utah Monday am! I HATE to fly but didn't even have time to feel nervous. It was THE longest flight ever bc we were so anxious for news. We ordered the go go in flight Internet and stalked our email to communicate with our social worker as to how our sweet birth mother was progressing. Things were moving slow, so time was certainly on our side. We arrived in Utah, rented our car and sped to the hospital. We arrived around 12:30 to alta view hospital and were able to go in the room w Our birth mother. She was a true champion and in such great spirits. This was our first time to actually meet face to face and it was one of the best moments of my life. We had such butterflies before we walked into the room! We visited for a couple hours then left the room or them to check to see how dilated she was. She was still moving slow prior to this check. Our social worker and her social worker ran to grab a quick bite while this was going on. Brian went in to her room to give her some chap stick that he went out tongetbfor her and said she looked like she was starting to progress and was definitely feeling the contractions more. She had made a birth plan that she did not want us in the delivery room, but in the room immediately after delivery. I decided to go to the desk on the maternity floor to find out where to order flowers for her from. While I was doing this all of the sudden there was lots of activity going on....a baby was about to be born! We just didnt know where due to HIPAA :)Brian ran to the restroom and in the one minute he was in there came out and said um I hear a baby in our room crying! Then we saw a few nurses come out smiling and I asked them, but they couldn't tell us, again due to HIPAA. Then we heard the sweet lullaby music they play on the loudspeaker every time a baby is born. I started crying and then knew! In the meantime Brian had called our social workers and said you have to come back! He's here or we at least think he is here. They came back and we sat in the waiting room for a few,nthen her social worker went to check on her. She came out to tell us the great news and said it was time for us to meet our baby. This was the moment we had been waiting for....

We are PARENTS!!!!!!!!!!

It's so hard to believe that I am actually writing this! But we are parents. Our sweet baby boy, Harrison leigh Yoakum, arrived Monday 1/21/13 weighing 5 lbs. 12 oz. and 19 " long! He is so healthy and doing great! Brian and I headed out to Utah and somehow miraculously made it in time for the birth after getting the call at 11:30 PM 1/20/13! Our prayers have been answered thanks to an amazing, selfless beautiful girl who trusted us to parent her baby. Here is a video of all the pictures :) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XRTH5MU6ncc

Busy!!!

We have been so incredibly busy! Good busy, preparing for this amazing day! This weekend the nursery will be painted and the furniture that is being housed in our garage will be moved into the nursery! Our guest bedroom will now become a room for our sweet baby boy :) It has been great to be able to buy blue things for our little man. We can't wait to meet him! We went to Atlanta for the SEC championship game this past weekend and picked up our dresser that we had custom made for the nursery. I am in love with it! It will be perfect with the iron crib and pretty armoire. I am definitely having to get creative with the lack of closet space! Can't wait to take pictures of the finished product. This is SO FUN!