A Much Needed Update!

Hey Everyone,

Sorry for the long silence!  I am so excited to tell you that we are back in Georgia and busy getting adjusted to our new home and daughter!  Sadie is doing GREAT and gaining weight steadily.  She now weighs 5lbs 9oz!  She is really filling out!  I thought you'd like this updated photo of our little bundle of joy : ) Click on the picture to zoom in!

Our trip home to Georgia was pretty uneventful, but it sure was good to cross the state line!  I have never been so happy to be back in Georgia in my life.  As we were approaching Atlanta, the one weird thing for me was turning onto 285 to go to Alpharetta instead of continuing on 75 south to our old home.  It suddenly hit me that I was not going to see my old house again. Surprising to me, I became very emotional about it all!  I think I finally realized how much I had missed being away for so long and how much closure I missed out on during the move.  It was really hard for me.  We had a LOT of really great memories in our Atlanta house and it was definitely a labor of love.  I wish that I had been able to be here for the transition.  I never really got to say "goodbye" to the house since I left in such a hurry.  I still get teary-eyed thinking about it!  But, as we started up 400 north to make the trek to Alpharetta, I got excited about my huge master bathroom and closet : )  And when we got to the house, I was surprised to see how much my dear friend, Ainsley, had managed to unpack for me.  It already looked like a home when I got here!  

So, Jeff and I are still busy getting boxes unpacked and furniture moved into the right places.  It has definitely been a crazy time around the Scholen household!  But, the Christmas tree is up and the kitchen is organized.  We are so grateful for the big AND small things! 

I have spoken with Janie several times over the past few weeks and she and Michael are doing well.  They have done some much needed renovations to their home with the money they received from several generous people and have bought some Christmas presents for the kids.  I just shipped Janie a ring with Sadie's birthstone in it for a Christmas present and the book "What's So Amazing About Grace?".  I think she will really like the ring.  I bought the same one for Sadie as a remembrance of her birthmom that I will give to her at the appropriate time.  The rings are actually "stackable", so I will also get Janie's birthstone ring for both Janie and Sadie for a future gift next year.  I was excited to find them at James Avery!  I want some for myself now!

Here are a couple of pictures of time with family.  They all sure love Sadie!  Granny with Sadie and a BIG stretch after a long car-ride!   

My niece gave Sadie an "Ellie" - the same elephant stuffed-animal that she has had since she was little.  They had to find it on Ebay as they don't even make them anymore!  It was a big hit.    

My brother, Randy, and my sister-in-law, Starr, with Sadie.  Starr has been a great support and resource as we have been going through this ordeal.  She was quick to send gifts and food while we were in Kentucky!  

That is it for now!  We are grateful to be home and mostly through this ordeal.  Sadie is the most precious gift we could ever have hoped for.  Truly. I can't wait to get to know her better as she continues to grow!  

The Best Gift Ever!

I KNOW!  I haven't posted in forever!  I promise to post more soon, but until then... here is our best gift under the tree!

I hope you and yours are having a wonderful holiday season!  

Our New Home...A Residence Inn

Well, after thinking that we wouldn't be discharged until Tuesday, we got the boot yesterday afternoon! Sadie was doing so well and the doctor gave her a monitor to go home on "just in case" to monitor her breathing and heart rate. We feel very blessed to finally have her with us! We got into the car with her little tiny body bundled up in a BIG car seat and made the trek to Lexington, KY to a Residence Inn. We stopped along the way at a rest area to feed her in the car and I teared up over the relief of not having to scrub-in at the hospital to feed her anymore. It was truly a treat!

Jeff making our last breakfast at the Hospitality House.

Our first night at the hotel was pretty uneventful. It was our first night of late-night feedings and of listening to all of her grunts and noises as she sleeps : ) The monitor went off a bazillion times it seems like and they were all false alarms. Not sure that we will keep this wonderful contraption. The doctor told us she really didn't need it, but gave it to us as a security blanket for us. I think we will only use it in the car on the way home, when that day finally comes.

Here are a few pictures from the past week or so...

 Sadie in her new open-air crib.  Done with her incubator!
 Jeff and I went to visit with Janie and Michael and their family last Friday night.  Many of our friends contributed money to help buy the boys Christmas presents and a giftcard to Lowes for some of their home needs.  They were so appreciative!  The left picture is me and Janie and the other picture is of their boys, Isaiah and Jayden. 

  Daddy and Sadie.  She sure does love her daddy!

Sadie's Discharge

Well, we thought we were going to be discharged today.  Jeff and I got the whole car packed up, said our goodbyes at the Hospitality House and headed over to the hospital to pick up our baby girl.  We had to meet with an adoption agency worker at 9:30 and then Sadie was ready to go!  In fact, the doctor had been there in the middle of the night and had already officially discharged Sadie.  They were literally just waiting on us to take her whenever we were ready.  So, Jeff was feeding her one last time while we waited on Ashley, the adoption agency worker from Kentucky.  Because Janie is a KY resident, a KY agency also needed to be involved with the case.  Ashley was just stopping in to make sure that Sadie was alive and kicking and that (as she said) we weren't "serial killers"!  After Jeff fed Sadie, I was holding her waiting on Ashley and she had what they call a "brady".  A brady is technically bradycardia where the preemie just forgets to breath sometimes and their heart rate goes down.  It is very normal for preemies and Sadie has always self-corrected when she does it.  However, she had a couple of them somewhat close together, so we decided that we better call the doctor.  In the meantime, Ashley showed up and checked everything out with us.  I think she was literally there for 5 minutes.  We got the doctor on the phone and decided that we should keep her in the NICU for another day to make sure she is ok.  We also decided to get a monitor for her to go home with that keeps up with her heart rate and lets us know if she bradys at home.  I will feel much better about that.  

So, I think that the plan is now to be discharged either Monday or Tuesday.  The doctor said we can stay as long as we want.  It is really better for us to stay here at the Hospitality House because it is free and it keeps our hotel costs down.  Ashley went to meet with Janie and Michael after seeing us and got them to sign everything, so the adoption process will get started this weekend and we should hopefully get officially approved by ICPC soon!  What a huge relief!  Ashley was so sweet.  I only met this woman for 5 minutes this morning, but she told me that after she left Janie's house today, she called her husband and cried on the phone with him.  She said she was so grateful that sweet Sadie was being adopted by us and going to a good home.  She was so happy for us.  She went above and beyond getting to Sadie's birthparents this morning too.  They were all supposed to meet at a library in town at 11:30 and Janie and Michael didn't show up.  She waited an hour and finally called me.  I called Janie, who had just gotten home.  She felt bad that she didn't call Ashley, but she doesn't have long-distance and Ashley's number is long-distance.  Janie and Michael had been in town looking for car insurance and got tied up.  They definitely live in the "here and now" and don't really think much about appointments.  It is a totally different culture.  Anyway, Ashley then had to go and pick Janie up at her house which is not easy to find!  Then they had to go a couple of "hollers" over to get Michael, who was cutting down wood for the wood-burning stove that heats their house.  She then had to take them someplace to sign all of the papers and then drive back to Louisville 3 hours away.  I can't tell you how grateful I was for her perseverance!    The crazy thing is that something similar occurred when the attorney, Wave, drove 2 hours to meet with Michael to sign the relinquishment papers last Tuesday.  Wave was supposed to meet Michael at a gas station in town.  Well, Michael didn't show up.  So, Wave calls the house and Michael's mother tells him that he forgot that he had a drug class to go to for his parole.  His mother tries to tell him where the class is, which was difficult.  Wave then asks her what car he is in so that he could find him and she says, "A red KIA with the back windshield blown out".  So, Wave tries to follow directions to this class when he literally sees the red KIA going the opposite direction on the highway.  He makes a U-turn quickly and catches up with him.  Michael signals for him to follow him, which he did.  They arrive at the class and Michael tells Wave that it should only be 15 minutes.  So, Wave sits tight.  AN HOUR LATER, Michael comes out of the class!  They finally all get to sit down and Michael signs all of the papers.  It is all so crazy, even I don't totally believe it.  They all keep telling me that this is not atypical for birthparents, but it is just such a different world than what we are used to!  

More later.  And I have more pictures!  We also went to Janie's and Michael's house last night to bring some pictures and Christmas gifts.  They were very appreciative and Janie looked GREAT.  I will post pictures from that visit as well.  Love to all!!

Spa Day

My hubby is the most wonderful man in the world.  He is sending me to Lexington today to go shopping at the big mall and to get a spa treatment.  I am getting 20 minutes of hydro-therapy and a massage and facial!  Woo Hoo!  I wish I could take Sadie with me, but getting out of Ashland, KY for a day will do me a world of good!  

On another note, Sadie is doing GREAT!  She gained over 2 oz yesterday and now weighs 3lbs 13.1oz!  We are so very proud of her.  

He signed!!!

Hey Everybody, Thank you for your prayers and support through this whole process. Michael signed the papers and Sadie is now our full responsibility!!! The attorney just called us and the first thing he said (and I heard-Jeff) was "Congratulations". There is even a divine story behind the signing...unbelievable....we'll tell you about that later.....We are parents!!!!!

A few Pictures...

For some reason the blogger wasn't adding my pictures last night, so I am attempting again! This first shot is Grandpapa feeding Sadie her bottle. My dad came up by train to Ashland to meet my mom so that they could ride back to Georgia together. My mom has been a HUGE help. Not only was she there for me when I was crying hysterically after Michael wouldn't sign in jail, but she also brought meals from home for us and made cupcakes for all of Sadie's nurses and workers at the Hospitality House we are staying in. She is amazing.

Here is Sadie after her first tub bath. We thought we could get some pictures during the bath, but that proved more difficult than we thought! We were too busy trying to keep her calm. She sure is cute all wrapped up in this towel though!

After we bathed Sadie and read her her bedtime book that Wendy and Eric Blissett sent us, she went right back to sleep. We left the hospital to go back home and immediately were hit with a snow shower! Across from the hospital is Central Park and it is already decked out with Christmas lights, so we took this shot (below right) in front of the entrance. Sadie's first snow! Too bad she is in her incubator and can't see it! Here is Sadie in her Incubator Home (below left).

If all goes well today with the signing, we will still be up in KY for several weeks as the adoption paperwork can't be completed until Sadie is out of the hospital. Once the paperwork gets completed, it will take 5-10 business days for ICPC to push everything through the system so that we can cross state lines with her. That will be a GLORIOUS day!