After months of waiting, failed potential placements, and a couple hoax contacts we were chosen to adopt another baby in February of last year! It was like a dream placement. Amanda the birthmother was amazing and willing to let us be a part of her pregnancy and the baby was half hawaiian, which was so special! We got to know Amanda and her family over the next few months, were able to go with her to the ultrasound and visit with her and her daughter. Then in July we received news that the birthfather was pursuing custody. It was so hard for us, but it was his right. We didn't give up hope. We had felt so strongly that this was the right thing. Fasts were held, prayers prayed, tears cried. For two months we held on to hope, did everything we could, but went on with our lives.
The rest of the story I wrote out over time and is in detail because of all the little miracles I want to remember:
Out of the blue, a week before the baby's due date, I was on my way driving up to Oregon with Kale and I got a garbled voicemail from the birthfather. I couldn't really hear much except adoption. I didn't hear back so I had to continue my trip and traveled to Oregon to my Dad's house. While there the baby's due date passed with no word, so I stressfully decided to continue up to Washington on Friday the 16th. We got through Portland & Vancouver then just north of Vancouver I got a text from the birthfather. I pulled off the freeway to a gas station and sat texting with him. We talked about open adoption and he said "that all sounds good to me". It wasn't a firm decision, but it was enough to make me turn around. I also was texting Amanda and said she almost went to the hospital that morning, but the contractions stopped, also that if she didn't have the baby over the weekend then she would be induced on Monday morning in Indio.
After talking to Zack, my Dad, our caseworker Hannah, we decide the best thing would be for me to get down there as quickly as I could. Zack was still in Georgia on a work training detail. At this point I think I'm not going to make it to the birth, but could possibly make it for discharge from hospital.
Miracle: My Dad some how finds he has 1 extra week of vacation and can come with me
Miracle: Ali and she asked where we would be staying, I said I didn't know, and she said she could get a deal through trendwest for a hotel. The hotel ended up being only 4 miles from the hospital and it was an awesome deal 390 for 7 nights! What?!? I was a little hesitant but decided to just book it. Huge thanks to Ali for that, so glad we talked that day.
Miracle: My friend Heidi, took the baby carseat for me when we were moving all our stuff into storage and she had told me she would drive it to me wherever I needed it if it came to that - and it did! Amazing that we actually kept the carseat out of storage, and that Heidi kept the carseat, because no one would've been able to get it, cause Zack and I both have the keys to the storage.
So after just having completed the 1200 mile car trip from Yuma to Portland, my Dad, Kale and I departed on Saturday morning for Indio CA. We decided to stay with Uncle Boysie and Auntie Joan Saturday night. We figured we should do it that way so that we could make there and still be alive. At this point I still didn't really think we would be able to make it for the birth. I figured we would hear about it on the way down. Saturday I drove a lot, we were in contact with Hannah and Amanda and Zack. Around 5 o'clock I got a call from Hannah, but I couldn't hear her because we were driving up Highway 20 to my Aunt and Uncle's house in the mountains and there was no service. Texts were still getting through sporadically so I texted Zack to tell him to call her, then later I got a text saying "don't freak out, but we need to have a house and and a new homestudy" don't freak out??? Later when we finally arrived I called Zack from their land line and he told me that the law said we had to have a current address, no one else living there, and a current homestudy... so that meant before we could pick up/take custody of "the baby" if that were to actually happen for real, I had to go to Yuma, find a house/apartment, get it semi-furnished, and meet with Hannah so she could see it. I was so disappointed. I figured there was NO WAY I could get all that done and be there in time for the birth and I was seriously worried about being able to do it within enough time to be there even before Amanda was discharged from the hospital. I had Zack call Heidi Jones to see if she could call Ruth Zinn the Relief Society President to see if she knew of anyone with a place we could rent for a short period of time. I was worried that if I had to rent a place we'd have to go through the process of application, credit check etc and it would most likely be TUESDAY at the earliest before we'd be able to head up to pick up the baby. Not good. He could be being born right now, so where would that put us? Heidi set off the ward "batman signal" haha... called Bishop, Relief Society President and Bishopric Member Kayle Haws and:
Miracle: around 9 o'clock that night I got a call from Kayle Haws saying they had found me a place. I was shaking literally, within two hours they had solved my problem. A friend of ours who moved away about a year ago still had a triplex they owned and rented out in Yuma and their had left with notice just a little while ago, so one of the apartments was empty. I called Lindsay and she told me we could use it and that it was small and we probably wouldn't want to stay very long. She said they just replaced the carpet, tile and fixtures. It sounded really nice. ***remember this for later*** I was so overwhelmed it was crazy how amazing my ward was to come up with that so quickly. They even told me they would have people ready the next night to move my stuff in. (on a sunday no less) Because Hannah said it had to look "livable". So we made plans to meet in Yuma at 6:30 at the storage unit to move my stuff into the place.
We had a nice time seeing my Aunt and Uncle, they were so kind to feed us and put us up for the night. The next day we started driving so early it was still dark and about 4 hours in we stopped for a gas stop and the car wouldn't start. It was ironic because we were just talking about how much I love my car and how it's never given me any problems. I think we were in Los Banos. Luckily my Dad is the greatest and while I was freaking out, he rustled up someone to give us a jump, bought jumper cables and got us on the road again. We knew it must be the battery but we were in the middle of nowhere and not sure where to stop. My Dad decided to pull into another podunk little exit and
Miracle: We pulled into a gas station and lo and behold it had a car repair place attached to the gas station. To appreciate this, you have to realize we were in the middle of nowhere, and there was nothing around. It was $200 to replace battery, so we opted out of that, but had the guy clean the battery connectors and started right up. So amazing.
Around 3 get text from Kayle Haws saying that there's a change of plans, Gabe Mourik said it would be too hard to our stuff out of storage, so would we mind just using extra stuff from around the ward. They said they would even have it done before we got there!!! WHAT?!? So amazing. The plan was for us to stay there until the house closed, (which we still didn't have final word on).
Miracle: Kale was amazing for pretty much the whole entire trip. For a boy with infinite energy stuck in a car for a week, this may just be the biggest miracle of the whole story. :)
Another 1200 miles later we finally make it to Yuma around 7:30pm. Pull onto the street of the place and there 4 cops cars with lights blazing and all these people out sitting on their cars, it looked scary. The whole area was really really old and run-down, very scary to me. We pulled up and there are a few of our friends who had helped still there including Heidi, Bro. Haws, Bro. Osborne and Heidi's family. We go in and looked around and I didn't know how to react. I was so thankful for everyone's help... it was truly amazing what they did for us. It was also nothing like I've ever lived in and all I could keep thinking about was how I didn't want to bring a baby into that place. But we needed it for the homestudy. I was sort of at the end of my rope though after everyone left, I just could not imagine living there, let alone staying the night. We decided to head over to Target to get a few things, shower curtain toilet paper etc. I was literally on the verge of tears right then and a breakdown and I felt sorry for my poor Dad who didn't know what to say.
Miracle: When pulled into the parking lot I got a call from my friend Jessica Kinsey, she asked how things were going and then said her husband said we couldn't stay there and had to come stay at their house that night. She was an angel and called at the most perfect time, offering the help we really needed.
When Hannah called, I told her about what was happening, she said it was fine that this would serve it's purpose. I felt so relieved. Hannah arrived around 10 and did the homestudy. She tells me that she finally got ahold of Sara the caseworker from California and that things were in the works, but that their lawyers would have to speak to the birthfather's lawyers because of the legal issues already happening. She also told me Amanda wanted me to be there for labor, just not while pushing, and that I could have the first skin to skin contact. It was at this point that I finally realize I might make it for the birth.
That night we stayed at Jessica's house which was really nice, but I couldn't sleep. Got up at 2 in the morning and took a shower, I guess I was in so much stress I just couldn't stop my brain. I was just in shock and at this point we still didn't know if things would really work out, the birthfather still hadn't given total consent to sign papers and we were just going on what he had texted to me.
Monday morning (mind you the birthfather texted me on friday morning) we were ready to leave for Indio. Amanda was scheduled to be induced and said she would call Hannah when she had checked in to the hospital. Jessica offered to watch Kale for a few days, so my Dad and I went to leave and the car didn't start again. Can you imagine my feeling!?! Ahhh! So Jessica gave us a jump and we drove to Sam's club to get a battery, luckily I have business account so we could get in early. While we were waiting for them to change out the battery, I went in to get formula, who do I run into?
Miracle: Ruth Zinn our Relief Society President. She said she had a bag of stuff for me, and she'd run over to the church and grab it. Awesome! Cause at this point I'm realizing I have NOTHING. Literally just the formula I was on my way to grab! Crazy. So we got the battery and the car started great, got some coffee for my Dad and then met up again with Ruth. Got a little teary eyed from the big bag of stuff she gave me. Got a text from Amanda saying she was at the hospital. Oh no! I said I hope I make it, and she laughed saying it would be an all day thing.
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| This is what I did for 2400+ miles over the course of a week |
So we drove to Indio, I felt so weird, sick and stressed because we STILL didn't know if this was really going to happen, but I knew I wanted to be there no matter what. Once we got to Indio we went into the hospital and when I walked into the room and immediately felt better when I saw Amanda and her mom. It was a long crazy journey to get there, but I made it!!! I couldn't believe it to some extent. We sat around waiting for the meds to kick in trying to figure out what to do.
Miracle: We ended up deciding to have me text the birthfather, and within minutes of my text he called me. After talking through everything that was going on he said he would sign the papers! Not sure words can express the joy I felt at that moment in time. I told Amanda and then called Zack... we were all over the moon.
I was able to stay with Amanda for most of the day, and then left as planned when they were prepping her to push. Amanda was amazing. So strong and positive. I thought it was interesting because I felt like the father, so helpless to be able to take away the pain. I went and met my Dad in the waiting room and after a while got a call from Amanda's mom saying if I wanted I could come back in it was going to happen soon. I was so blessed to be able to be there for Makoa's birth! It was an amazing experience and I was so thankful to Amanda for letting me be there. Makoa Taylor Smith was born on September 19th at 6:19pm at 8lbs 2 oz and 20.5 inches long.
Makoa wasn't breathing very well so they made the decision to send him to the NICU. I was really nervous and anxious about what was going on... especially because no one was updating us. Finally after an hour and a half a nurse was able to take me to the NICU so I could check on him. They told me he was fine, and they would discharge him in a couple hours after they had completed the paperwork and bathed him. I asked if they would let me hold him and it was so special. A moment I will remember the rest of my life. I was also able to give him his first bottle and he sucked it down.
The nurses worked it out so that I could stay the night in Amanda's room so we had a weird/funny slumber party with Amanda, her Mom Christine, me and Makoa. I was pretty nervous and still in shock, but it ended up being fine. I was really missing Zack and wishing he could be there. We spent the next day mostly at the hospital hanging out in the room. Sara the LDSFS caseworker came and gave us all the info about the documents that needed to be signed where and when. Here's a pic of us looking exhausted. It was really great to spend that time with her and know she was so happy everything was working out. We are so thankful for her.
That afternoon everyone was discharged and we made plans to meet that weekend when Zack was coming. On the way back to the hotel was a surreal feeling. Ummm, I have a baby!?!?! We had to stop at Target to get some essentials. I was sooooo extremely thankful for my Dad for being there for all of this.Here's Makoa at Target on our way home from the hospital.
Miracle: The hotel was amazing. It was a one bedroom suite with kitchen and living area. So perfectly suited our needs so we didn't have to eat out. There just "happened" to be a pool and kiddie pool, splash pad and playground right outside our sliding glass door. (and did I mention it was an amazing deal too???)
Zack was able to make it to meet Makoa the following weekend. It was so sweet! Then we headed over to Blythe to see Amanda and let her family and friends meet Makoa. We were so glad to be able to do that.
We were blessed with so much help. My Dad was amazing and was there every step of the way. My good friend Kim came and was amazing as well, helping with Makoa and entertaining Kale. And Zack's parents came and helped so much by getting us back down to Yuma safe and sound, and got us settled in our temporary townhouse.
Miracle: Each helper that came to visit overlapped by a day, and that wasn't totally planned it just happened that way. I was always with help. Zack's parents were able to stay until Zack got back from his detail in Georgia... it all worked out too perfectly to have been by chance.
Miracle: I was stressing out big time about where we would live when we left Indio in a week. I couldn't find anything that didn't require a lease and huge deposit, and that was furnished. There was nothing out there. I prayed about it tearfully, felt impressed to call someone after the prayer and it was solved within a half an hour. It was an amazingly fast answer to prayer.
Here's some more pics from those first few weeks in Indio.
Over that short period of time when all of this was happening I felt like the little sparrow talked about in the scriptures. God was watching over me and guiding the miracles that happened. I have a firm testimony now that it is through the trials of life that we are able to see the hand of God. We are so thankful to have Makoa in our family. He is an amazingly sweet and wonderful baby. We are so thankful to our dear birthmother Amanda and to Makoa's birthfather who gave us a priceless gift we could never repay. We feel blessed to know for a fact that we are all meant to be in this family.
