On The Night You Were Born.








To be continued……


The trip

Today, our sweet baby boy is 1 month old.  I can’t believe that it has already been a month since he was born. Oh, how our lives have changed in such a short amount of time! I apologize for the lack of updates here but Ryan and I are running on fumes.   We are both blissfully sleep deprived!  This afternoon we were able to take a family nap together which was GLORIOUS!  Dax is now sleeping again and while I should be doing the dishes or catching up on laundry I wanted to write.  I don’t want to forget the details of this journey.

Let’s back up to the middle of September, shall we?  Ryan and I had gone back and forth for nearly 2 weeks about when we should leave.  We had been in regular communication with Dax’s birth mother as well as our adoption agency and we knew he would be coming soon, but we just didn’t know when.  All I knew is that I didn’t want to miss it.  Dax’s birth mom, “S” had told me that I could be in the room when he was born and it was a privilege I didn’t want to miss.  We knew the drive would take about 13 hours and it was likely that if we wanted for her to go into labor we’d miss it.

After consulting with friends and family ( who all had a different opinion! LOL!)  we bit the bullet and decided to leave the morning of Sunday September 25th.  His due date was in the coming week and there was an OB appointment the next day.  We felt like it was a safe bet.  We decided to only tell a hand full of people that we were leaving.  We knew not everyone agreed with our decision to leave when we did,  and we wanted to enjoy a little bit of peace together before the excitement of becoming parents hit us like a full speed train!

That first day we drove to Memphis.  The trip was pretty surreal.  Our car was packed full of clothes and baby supplies.   In the back seat was his car seat, which was the very real reminder that our son would be here soon.  We talked and laughed and dreamed and feared for what was to come.   Then, the coughing came. Ryan was sick. Fear set in and we wondered what would happen if Ryan was still sick when Dax was born.  Would he be able to see him? Hold him?  We started filling him full of vitamins, weird natural concoctions and Mucinex.  I started taking immune support and washing my hands like a mad woman.  I refused to get sick!


The second day we woke up and decided to drive around Memphis a bit before making the final leg of our journey.   Ryan wanted to drive by the famous sun studios and was not disappointed!  We considered the tour, but decided a drive-by would suffice.  It was important to us to be extremely wise with our money since we didn’t know how long we would be gone and we wanted every cent to go towards Dax.  We got into town that afternoon, found a hotel close to the hospital and checked in.  Then, we waited.

My mom and step-dad left Monday morning. They (MOM) couldn’t wait either. They got into town Monday evening.  We decided to share a hotel room to save on money and so our “roomie” adventure began!  Tuesday came and went and then Wednesday. That evening I started to feel a little silly for leaving so early.   I started to worry that we’d wasted precious time and money by just waiting.  Thursday morning came and we slept in.  I had talked with “S” (Dax’s birth mom)  a few times through the week.  There had been a few changes, but nothing truly significant. By early Thursday afternoon mom and I had decided getting ready.  We weren’t sure what we were getting ready for, but we knew we couldn’t spend another beautiful day sitting inside of a hotel room.  Around 2pm the phone rang.  “S” had been admitted to the hospital and was in labor.


FREAK OUT!!!!!!!

Kandi,  the wonderful woman who has worked with us through Abba Adoption let us know that she was about 3 hours away.  We could go ahead and go to the hospital if we wanted, or we could wait for her.  I knew I couldn’t wait three hours.  We finished getting ready,  grabbed and early dinner and headed to the hospital.


The drive to the hospital was surreal. Did I mention that I had caught Ryan’s cold earlier that week?  I had mostly recovered except for a GIGANTIC fever blister covering 2/3 of my top lip.  I had been (unsuccessfully) treating it,  so we made a run to a pharmacy near the hospital.  We parked.  Carried in our bags and made our way up to the maternity floor.



I grabbed Ryan’s hand.

We walked into the room….