So Tuesday, the day after our beautiful Brynlee decided to enter the world, was a rough day. The adrenaline had worn off from Monday, and we woke up without a baby in our hands, in a small hotel room. What a strange feeling.

We knew this was going to be a high stress day, a pregnancy counselor from Bethany was scheduled to fly in to Utah that afternoon, meet with birth Mom, and then meet with us. We had tons of questions and our anxiety was building with every passing moment.

Brooke was able to sleep in some, I however woke up bright and early. I read the bible and had some God time, and then waited. (Thank God for Netflix on my iPad!)

Brooke woke up and we headed over for some good ol’ southern comfort via Cracker Barrel. We sat together and talked and laughed at how odd it was that our child was born yesterday and we’re here sitting in a Cracker Barrel eating like nothing happened. Of course the food was great, but now what?

We waited in the small room for most of the afternoon, escaping for a few moments to walk around the mall, Brooke wasn’t even in the mood to shop so I knew she was not doing great. But, my amazing Husband skills came in handy and I pulled out every weapon in my arsenal to distract her and keep her happy. So we went to Chili’s for dinner!

We finally heard from our social worker in Seattle, who has been absolutely incredible through this entire process, even with having a child and being on vacation when Brynlee was born. That being said, Brynlee decided she really wanted to meet her Daddy and coming out ten days early caused some problems. There was no hospital plan in place and our social worker was on vacation. After a long talk with her we learned that the social worker who was flying in had gotten sick on her layover in Denver, but that she was feeling better and on her way to Salt Lake now. We learned she’d meet with the birth parents the next morning and then us shortly after that. Finally a little clarity, which was much needed for our anxious brains.

That evening we attempted to calm our parents fears and fill them in on all that was going on, without freaking them out even more, or letting them know how stressful the day had been for us. In fact I had to make a late night run to Walgreens for some “TUMS” because we were hurting. Thankfully I drove by a Sonic, one of Brooke’s favs, and got her a giant sized Diet Cherry Limeade, and the world was good again.

By God’s grace we were able to sleep that night, knowing He was in control and that we were sitting in the palm of His hand. I went to bed that night with the familiar scripture, Jeremiah 29:11 “For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.”

The next morning started with a jolt, but you’ll have to read about that later.

To be continued…