That's what my grandpa said, jokingly of course, when he found out we had picked up a new little guy. W was 3 months old, but very premature so he was more like a new born in both size and behavior.
I was glad both Nathan and I went to the hospital to pick him up. We ended up being there for a few hours while the caseworker did paperwork and the doctors finished up their stuff. We got a lot of information from the caseworker. When we got the other boys, they had been in foster care for about 3 days already, so we weren't there for their initial removal, but this time we were. W's mom was there at the hospital. The caseworker had us wait in a different room, but we could see her across the hall. If she saw us, I don't think she knew that we were the family there to pick up her son. Finally, the caseworker had enough evidence and paperwork to tell the mom that her baby was being removed. She told her and then the mom was escorted out by a couple of police officers. She left without a fuss and then the caseworker came over and got us.
I held W first. He was beautiful. He had the most beautiful deep brown complexion I have ever seem. His hair was soft as could be. He was very alert and just looked up at me. I was worried he would be sore because of his broken ribs, but he didn't seem to be uncomfortable at all. We were there for probably another hour while things were finished up. I wanted so bad to take a picture of this beautiful baby and send it to everyone we knew, but it just didn't seem like the appropriate thing to do. At least not while the caseworker was standing there! It's such a time of mixed emotions. We were excited to have a new little one, one that based on the situation seemed like it could easily turn into a long term situation, and then on the other side, a mom just had her baby taken away. And, this sweet baby had just been through an awful ordeal which resulted in him being taken to the ER by police officers. So, we more or less kept our feelings to ourselves until we left the hospital.
We had a little more information about W then we had gotten about the other boys. We were told the dad was likely the abuser, mom was intoxicated at the time of the incident that prompted removal, and the mom had a history with DCS. The caseworker told us she would let us know what happened at court the next day and to go ahead and head home.
So, we left the emergency room with a new baby. This sweet little guy came to us with literally only the diaper he was wearing. Thank goodness it was warm out, and I had brought a blanket. We headed to the store and picked up the special formula he was on due to his prematurity, some clothes, and some tiny diapers.
By the time we got home it was almost 6 am. Mom got right up and admired the new guy. And Nathan and I waited anxiously for the girls to get up. They had no idea we had been gone half the night and certainly no idea they would wake up with a new baby brother.
Addison was the first one to get up. She came into the living room and did a double take. It only took about 2 seconds for her to say "I want to hold him!". Then Hannah came in. Her first question was "does he still have a family?". We explained that he did and he was in foster care just like G and Z. She said OK and took her turn loving on him.
It was quite a day. But, we like excitement around here, so no complaints from me!
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