Thursday, April 07, 2011

The Call : Part One

On Monday evening I got a call from Martha, my adoption agency coordinator, who told me "The Call" (in which I learned info about the baby chosen to be my daughter) would be coming the next day. I was nervous and excited but somehow managed to fall asleep that night. Before I did I wrote a letter to Mia. This was the last day of my life before becoming a mother. I felt like I needed to talk to her about that. She'll read it when she's older.

I woke up with my stomach in knots. The peaceful zen of the night before... was now gone. I had a couple of meltdowns while trying to get ready for work. I'd decided since I'd taken so much time off recently and would be taking more time off soon that I needed to try to get some work done. Go ahead and laugh now. I'll wait.

I was actually an hour late for work because I just couldn't quite pull it together. I had to stop and just sit still a few times. Deep breaths and attempts to clear my head and calm my nerves. There were some tears. I had a million different emotions all bouncing around at once. Scared, nervous, happy, excited, terrified, happy, sad, anxious, happy. The anticipation of 5 years worth of hopes and dreams in this moment.  Uhm yeah... I was a bit of a wreck.

I got to work and prepped my video camera. My partner was kind enough to be my stand in while I positioned the shot to make sure I'd be in the frame. That would've sucked if I chopped off my head or something. I hit the record button as a test run and he acted it out perfectly. Screaming like a girl, fake crying, throwing his arms in the air, repeating "Oh my God!" over and over. It was pretty dang funny. I threatened to actually show it... but since he was such a good sport, I won't.

And then I waited. And waited. And waited. But nothing....

Norman, my facilitator, is in California so I kept myself busy thinking with the time difference he just wouldn't be in the office until after 11am my time. And THEN I'd get the call. Except.... I didn't.

I'd posted on Face-book that The Call was coming. So I wasn't the only one waiting for it. All my "friends" were on pins and needles, too. My squad mates kept checking in to see if I'd heard anything. The day dragged on and on. And yes.... very little actual police work was done.

Martha had told me the night before she'd call and check in with me at 3pm our time. She's in Florida so we're in the same time zone. When I finally heard from Martha ( a little after 3pm) I was now home from work. She said she'd check with Norman and see what was up. I got a quick email from her saying she'd call me at 4pm! She also said I was going to get photos of my baby girl!! There had been some doubt initially. Normally the facilitator sends the photos overnight with the translated documents. I know! Torture, right? Like 5 years isn't long enough to wait!

My mom came over to keep me company as I paced the floor. I kept updating my Faceb00k page so everyone was in the loop. According to the comments there, I wasn't the only who didn't get any work done that day. LOL!

Finally 4pm came and the phone rang! I jumped up, hit the record button and prepared for the news I'd waited over 5 years for....only to be told that Norman was at lunch and would be emailing the stuff to Martha when he got back. Lunch! Lunch? Who takes a lunch in the middle of labor? Really? It was a bit of a let down but I prepared myself for The Call to now come an hour later as she had said.

Updated Faceb00k again. Cracked up over all the comments about the "lunch break". Y'all had me in stitches! I tell you... I was so glad to have those of you who were there following it on FB. It helped keep me sane. It helped me to pass the time. Because the clock had never moved slower than it did on April 5, 2011! And it made my heart feel so full to know how many people were as excited about the arrival of this baby as I was. Love!

Then an hour and a half later.... the phone rings again. It's Martha! Same thing happens...heart rate accelerates, jump up, hit record and before my finger is even off the red button, Martha is telling me to calm down because it's gonna be about 40 more minutes!! I updated my status again to let those of you waiting with me know.

But what I didn't mention at the time was that Martha decided to give me a little teaser. She knew how freaked out I was. She knew the anticipation was killing me. She knew I was about to lose it from the ups of the phone ringing and the downs of the stalling for more time. So she wanted to give me just one tiny little bit of information. One very important piece of information. My daughter's birth date!!

And I share that with you now. Forgive my moment of slight irritation with my mother who wanted a camera lesson in the middle of the whole thing. Since I had only just shown her several times how to operate it and then asked about 10 more times if she was SURE she knew how to operate it. But no... she couldn't figure it out. Insert massive eye roll here. LOL! Sorry mom. :)

My brain also froze momentarily when she said "I'm gonna tell you her birthday" and I forgot to put the phone on speaker. So you'll just hear my end of things. 
My trip to Florida is very significant. That's why you hear me mention it. That story will come in another post. Part Two of The Call will come later also ..... when I see her face for the first time.

Thanks so much for all the support and messages of congratulations! My feet still haven't touched the ground.

22 comments:

GGHadden said...

MY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Of course you know how much I am crying watching your video @ 6:45 am here in Beijing, oh girl you have felt every emotion possible :)
Yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy! It's time !

AandAsMama said...

Crying here too! I'm just so happy for you. You must do nothing at all but stare a Mia's sweet face. I don't even know you and I have been going to your blog constantly just to gaze as her beautiful cuteness!

So, so happy. Thank you so much for sharing!

-Jen-

Twice Blessed China Mom said...

Congratulations! Watching you receive the info about your daughter made me relive when I received the info about my daughter! Your daughter is lovely! Keep us posted, and I'll follow your trip!
Jeana in Illinois

Michele said...

Thank you so much for sharing this! It was so much fun to watch and I couldn't help but cry along with you!

Abby's Mom said...

Love it~ Now hurry up and post the rest :)

Diana said...

OMGosh did I CRY right along with you...you will NEVER forget this day and you will always tear up when you sharing it with others even if 17 years have passed (I did this week talking about my oldest sons referral:)
I can not wait till your beautiful daughter is in your arms!!

Suzie said...

Oh my gosh - like everyone else, the tears are falling. Big fat freakin happy tears!!!! I can't wait to see the next video. So, so happy for you!!

And by the way...You look AMAZING!!!!

C said...

K, we may have never met in person but I feel we have in spirit. I was crying like a baby with you. How wonderful. I am so happy for you and your enlarging family. Did you tell Griffey his new sister is coming home VERY soon? Hugs!

Gail said...

Love this post. Didn't even have to hear the other end of the conversation. Your end was enough to make me laugh and cry with you!
Looking forward to Part Two!!
So very happy for you.
Blessings

Kelli said...

Of course I cried too! I will be a mess when you post part II! Congratulations again! So so happy for you!

4D said...

SO amazing! I loved seeing your reaction. So true. It is such an amazing moment.

Keep smilin!

Lindsay said...

Beautiful video. So amazing. Congratulations again momma.

Catherine said...

What a precious gift this video is to you now (and the rest of us crying watching it) and it will be to Mia in the future!! So very, very happy for you!!!

aust2china said...

:) Beautiful!!! SO SO EXCITED FOR YOU!!! Ahhh... brings back memories of our day! Tears of joy for you!

Debbie said...

So HAPPY for you, brings back precious memories!!!!

kitchu said...

your last sentence brought me to tears. the good kind.

then damn with this video. crying like a baby. you are such an amazing mom ALREADY krista.

you are SO ready for this. you are SO ready for this.

congrats my friend. love you.

Fliss and Mike Adventures said...

Can I stop crying now? Cannot wait for the next part :)

cmay said...

I'm puddling up with happiness for you. Hurray!

Carla

Briana's Mom said...

Girl, you are making me cry! That was awesome!

Tonya said...

Awww....so sweet. My mom's b-day is Oct. 9 too. What a special day. Such a sweet little baby--and so loved already. Love those young babies....love all the babies, but so special to get them young--you get to expereience so many "firsts". Janie was 7 months the day she was placed in my arms and Lexie was right at 10 months!!! Can't wait to hear more!!!

Middle-Aged Moi said...

WHY, oh WHY did I read this right before bed. Now I"ll be a crying mess....but a good cry. :-)

Shannon said...

You are too cute to watch! I may have missed it- Does her name mean cherry blossom? The wait has taken on new meaning now, yes?! Big hugs.