We were so excited when we got "the call"! Veronica called us about a baby boy who'd just been born and his birthmother wanted to place him.  She'd placed before and was 100% sure she needed to again.  She wanted the same family she placed a daughter with, but they were unavailable.  She wanted Lifetime to choose a family for her, so Lifetime went with the couple that was closest, waiting the longest and home study ready...it was us! 

Once we arrived at the hospital to get Joey, his birthmother was holding him. She immediately let Leslie hold him.  We give her our (new and pretty) profile and just started talking.  The nursing staff (who knew of the adoption situation) allowed us to stay. By the time we needed to leave, Joey's birthmother looked at us and told us she felt comfortable and knew we were the right choice. 

We then went to get a hotel room.  Then, we put the car seat (still in its box) in our car. We didn’t sleep at all that night; a million thoughts were going through our heads…so many "what if's." We didn’t want to bother Joey's birthmother too early in the morning, so we waited until 9:30.  She was doing well and wanted us to come to the hospital in an hour.  She was ready to go home, we just had to wait for the social worker to come to the room to talk to us. When the social worker arrived, we discussed what to do. 

The social worker got us cleared to be in the hospital nursery with Joey for the afternoon and Leslie's parents arrived in time to hold him before we were confined to the nursery.  We spent the entire afternoon in the hospital nursery just caring for and loving our baby boy.  It was surreal and amazing!  As we left, a storm was passing through and we saw the most amazing, vibrant rainbow…just like the one painted in our nursery and we knew it was another sign.  Leslie's parents had spent the afternoon shopping for us, so we had a virtual baby shower in our hotel room.  Another restless night passed. 

Thankfully, in our mad dash out of the house Leslie remembered to bring not one but two cameras, so we were able to document just about every minute of his first few days.  We printed up a bunch of pictures before we left and sent an album to Joey's birthmother; we wanted to assure her of our commitment to an open relationship.  She is an amazing woman and we will forever love her for this most incredible gift.  Joey is such a blessing and we are enjoying every second with him.  Thank you Lifetime for choosing us to be his parents, we are eternally grateful!

-Kevin & Leslie