Shes Here! Mya Jade!

          What a journey! The last couple weeks have been a whirlwind, but our little daughter is finally home! Our birthmom was scheduled to be induced on February 7th so we flew to Utah at 4AM so that we could have dinner with her that night. It was so nice to be able to sit down and get to know each other a little more. We barely slept that night, so anxious about everything! We got to the hospital early the next morning and we both waited in the delivery room with the birthmom. It wasn't much more than a couple hours and she was ready to push. They sent me to the waiting room and Jocelyn stayed with the mom. Literally less than ten minutes later our agent came out to the waiting room and asked me if I wanted to come meet my daughter 😭 my eyes welled up with tears as I followed our agent back to the delivery room. I went in and there in the bassinet was our daughter. Jocelyn and I stood there and watched through tears as the nurse did the footprints and wristband and everything else they do. And we both counted the fingers and toes lol (because I was born with an extra thumb on one hand). And then the nurse swaddled her up and put her in our arms. She was perfect. Everything we had been praying for over the last three years was here in this 6 lbs 7 oz bundle. What an amazing gift from a great God.
          They gave us our own room during the day, but hospital policy didn't allow us to stay overnight. It was so frustrating leaving our new daughter there alone. But we were there the next morning as soon as they would let us in. The birthmom had smoked an extreme amount of cigarettes during the pregnancy which caused Mya to have some withdrawal symptoms like tremors and jitters, and jaundice. But she was surprisingly easily comforted, she just loved to be snuggled and we were more than willing to give her as many hugs and hold her as much as she wanted.
          The day after she was born we signed the papers and our birthmom signed her rights over to us. She was ours! The birth father still has the opportunity to come forward and contest the decision within the next 30 days, but it is unlikely that he will.
          On the 3rd day at the hospital we were expecting to be discharged but they instead decided to admit her to the NICU because her symptoms had not improved much. We felt it was unnecessary but we thought the doctors would know better than us what she needed. We were in the NICU a total of 4 days. The doctor came and looked at her a total of 1 time during her stay there. One time! And it's supposed to be the "intensive care unit". We were so upset with the care we received there. All they did what she was there was hook her up to a monitor to watch her vitals. Such a waste of time. The day before we were discharged they wanted to start her on morphine. We demanded to see the doctor (the one time he came and looked at her) and he said she looked fine and we could wait and see if she got worse before they started any kind of medication. We got all of our family and friends to pray for her and the situation and from that point on her symptoms went down and she was finally discharged the next morning! All glory to God!
          We were blessed by one of our friends connecting us with a pastor that they knew in the area and they gave us their basement to stay in while we waited for our paperwork to clear with the state. One of the most generous families we have ever met! So kind and welcoming, they prayed with us while Mya was in the NICU, and we were just blown away by how they opened their home to us. And we fell in love with their two little daughters, who absolutely loved holding and feeding Mya.
          We were told our paperwork would take 5 to 10 business days to clear so that we could go home. Which was a big deal because I didn't have much vacation time and we wanted to save some of it for visiting Maine later this year. Well, our paperwork only took 2 days!! HUGE answer to our prayers!
          I remember specifically at one point during this adoption journey, I was praying on my way to work and I remember resolving in my heart that I wanted this adoption to have these huge bumps in the journey so that when it was all over we would look back and say, God did it. That there was no way it could have been done if God wasn't the one who did it. And now here I am, sitting in bed with Mya sleeping on my chest. And all I can do is look back at what has happened in the last year and it's so clear: GOD DID IT. All of the glory and praise in this chapter of our life goes to our Heavenly Father.

The funds that we didn't have when we started: God moved on people's hearts to support us.

The waiting for a long 10 months while we got the money and paperwork together: God gave us the patience and the hope to keep pursuing.

The 26 cases we prayed over and said yes to 8 of them: God had the perfect one picked out for us all along.

The case that we said yes to even though it cost significantly more than our planned budget: God was growing our faith.

The $5000 that we needed for our unexpected travel to Utah: God provided in less than two weeks.

The family that we were introduced to in Utah, who gave us a place to stay: God set it up.

Our paperwork estimated to take 5-10 business days: God did it in 2.

And now we finally having a daughter to call ours. I just cannot say it enough, GOD DID IT!

Thank you guys, from the bottom of our hearts, thank you for praying for us and with us through this past year. And all of your financial support, I promise you we do not take it for granted.

We love you all,

Ricky, Jocelyn & Mya