My husband and I had been married almost two years when we decided to start our family. We knew that it may not have been possible to have children naturally, as I have had diabetes for 27 years. We went to the doctor and not really to our surprise, she suggested we look into adoption. That is pretty much the answer we expected to hear from her, so we were ok with it. Actually, we were very excited about it.

The next week we got online and looked at American Adoptions’ website. We contacted them and immediately felt like we were in the right place. Laurie Walker was our initial contact and she guided us through every step. Sometimes we felt silly asking the questions that we did, but she assured us that those questions were normal. We really had a good experience getting ready to become activated.  We had our paperwork, home study and profile finished and were activated on October 20, 2007. Then came the hard part. The waiting for the call.

It was a Tuesday morning when we got the call. It was November 13, 2007, just three weeks after we activated. I was sitting in the front lobby in my office building. I answered the phone and she said "Shayla, this is Kelly from American Adoptions." My heart stopped beating, I think.  She said that a birth mother, Ashley, from New York has chosen us to be her baby's family. I really don't remember what I was thinking at the time, but I know the tears were streaming down my cheeks. She told me to get a paper and pen and take a few notes. I think I scribbled about three pages of notes! Kelly and I got off the phone and I went to my husband's business to tell him our news. He was in a meeting, but I didn't even notice. I walked right into his office, he gave me a strange look and I said "We are going to be parents!"

Ashley was due December 11, just 4 weeks from the day Kelly called, so we had a lot to do. We bought baby furniture and started to get a few things ready. We spoke with our travel agent to get an idea of travel plans. Then, on November 27th, two weeks before Ashley's due date, Kelly called again and said "Ashley's in labor-you need to get here!" I called the travel agent but we couldn't get a flight out until the next morning. We packed, said a prayer and tried to sleep. The next morning we left our house at 3:30 am and at a layover in Chicago, we spoke with Kelly and found out Ashley had delivered a baby boy at 10:30 the night before. Now, the plane couldn't fly fast enough to get us to New York!! 

Finally, we landed about an hour from the hospital, jumped in a rental car, stopped at the florist to buy Ashley roses, her mother flowers and her 2 year old daughter a teddy bear. We FINALLY reached the hospital and we knew Ashley and her family were going to meet us in the lobby. As soon as we walked in I knew who she was. She was the most incredible, beautiful person I had ever met. We hugged and talked for a minute and she said "Let's go see your son." Those were the sweetest words I had ever heard. We went to the maternity floor and the nurse brought him in and put him in my arms. He was the most beautiful baby I had ever seen. It was incredible! Ashley and her family stayed for a couple hours. We talked and held the baby and took tons of pictures. Then Ashley said it was time for her to go. She kissed our baby and walked out. It was very hard to watch her leave-I had already grown close to her.

The next couple days in the hospital, my husband and I and our baby became a family. We were released from the hospital and had to stay in New York for 10 days. It was a great 10 days. We just stayed in our hotel room and got to know our son.

When we got home our family was all waiting at our house to greet us and meet the newest member of our family.

William (Will) is now 7 1/2 months old and we can't imagine a day in our lives without him. He is a wonderful addition to our family! 

I will never be able to thank Laurie, Kelly, Molly and all who helped us through our adoption journey. American Adoptions was fantastic.

 

Ashley will forever be in our hearts. She will never know just how complete she made our family.