Mickey and Randy continued...
During this time we were driving back-and forth to the hospital and they had set us up in a room on the maternity ward. Back at our house, my mom and sister had come in from out-of-state to paint and put together the baby's room. They also filled our fridge, cleaned my house and organized the boxes. I know it was very hard for them not to be at the hospital with us but I could not have asked for more love and support.

May 9th. Mother's Day. The doctor came in and told us that she was signing the release form and, as soon as the agency rep got there, we could go home. Again, the hours felt like days. Finally, we were on our way home.

Fast forward to June 2006. I decided that I wanted to do it all over again. I called Randy at work, asked him if he wanted a second child, and he said "Yes." I told him that I was going to make the call to get the ball rolling. My next call was to ASC. They had changed things slightly, so we needed to go to an information seminar and there just happened to be one on July 1st. We attended and knew right away that we were signing up again. So, at the end of the seminar, we signed up to attend the Friday meeting on July 14th.

Wednesday, July 12th. I was at the zoo with my girlfriend and her son when my cell phone rang. It was ASC. They had a potential match they wanted to talk-over. So, walking through the zoo, I got all of the details and decided that I needed to do some research on the potential eye condition, nystagmus. Now, I should have known what this was, but, at the time, I couldn't place it. I have a nephew with the condition and, when I finally realized it, I knew I had to call the agency and get them to send our bio. I was so excited and, even though it was after-hours, I called to let them know our decision. On Friday, the girls rushed to put our bio and another couple's together so they could get them sent to the birth family. Ugh! The delivery service lost the package. Our birth parents were very understanding and waited patiently for the copies to be sent. Finally, they received them and chose us on the 20th. They wanted to meet but could only do so on the 22nd. We had been scheduled to fly out to Tahoe that day, so I rushed around and got flights, car and hotels all rescheduled. Saturday, we drove three hours to meet our birth family. I'm not sure who was more nervous, them or us. In the end, it was a wonderful meeting and I only hope they realize how much they have changed our lives.

We left the next day for Tahoe and had a fantastic vacation, thinking the entire time that the baby wasn't due until August 8th. We arrived home on the 30th and our home study was scheduled for the 1st. Our social worker was sitting in our living room when she got the call that our birth mom was being admitted to the hospital. OK, time to pack and head to the hotel close to the hospital to wait for the call that we could go see the baby. Our baby girl was born August 2nd. I can't even begin to describe the feeling. On the 3rd, we finally got to see her and spent the entire day at the hospital with her birth family and just tried to learn everything we could about them.

August 4th. What a day. There were so many emotions. I was sad for the first family. I was happy for our family. But one thing is for sure; I have never experienced or felt so much love for anyone as I did at the moment that Rae's birth mom placed her in my arms.

We are forever grateful for both our children's first families and hope they know how much we love them and what unbelievable gifts they have given us.

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