Josiah's Birth Story (a month late)

I'm still here. I can't believe a month has already gone by and I haven't even once updated on how AMAZING being a mommy has been! geesh! Guess I've been too busy snuggling with my little man to get on here. I haven't even had time to stalk follow all of my favorite blogs! I have so so so much to post about .. and tons more pictures to share so I'll have to do this in stages since I'm a slacker a super in love momma that likes to spend her time spoiling her little man. :0)

I guess one of the main reasons why I haven't blogged about Josiah's birth story yet is because I don't even know where to really begin. I've thought over and over how to write this post ... and to be honest there are just no words that could EVER describe how crazy amazing the day I became a mommy was. There are no words to explain how God blessed us beyond our wildest dreams. And every time I think about those few days in the hospital I still cry at how HE orchestrated it all to be one of the most perfect, indescribable days in all my life. I will never, ever, EVER forget those few first tender moments that I held my SON for the first time. Okay, okay I'm getting ahead of myself here. Let me back track and fill you in on how everything got started.

Tuesday (Feb. 15th) was pretty much a normal day at school for me. Although I did manage to get all the next weeks lesson plans completed *just in case* ... first off if you know me, I'm pretty much one of the biggest procrastinators out there .... especially when it comes to lesson plans! So for me to get all of my plans done on Tuesday was a miracle in itself! lol I must have been getting those mommy urges already. :0) I kept checking my phone all day for updates because I knew that Haley had been having contractions on and off for the last two weeks and she had a doctor's appointment that day to find out how things were going. When I got home I saw that I had a text message from Haley saying that she was at the doctor's office but wanted to let me know that she had been having contractions four minutes apart pretty consistently. I totally started freaking out ... you know the excited freaking out where I just didn't know what to do! I was so worried about missing out on his birth and I had no idea as to when we should leave to make the long 5.5 hour trip to Pensacola. I quickly called Alya and told him to get his butt home! drive safely but quickly home because we needed to leave soon to go meet our son! Haley texted me back after her doctor's appointment and told me that her doctor told her to wait until the pressure got more intense and then go to the hospital but that Josiah would be coming at any time. Good thing for me I had already packed not only Josiah's bags but also our bags just the DAY BEFORE so I didn't have to run around like a mad woman this time worrying about forgetting things. I made myself lay down around 11pm although my mind was racing and it was literally impossible for me to sleep. Haley texted me and said that she was on her way to the hospital because the contractions were more intense and that she would let me know if they were going to admit her. Around 12:30am Alya and I were in the car on our way to Pensacola! We drove all through the night after getting no sleep at all. It was a suuuuper long and tiring drive but at the same time it was so exciting! We decided that since Haley still seemed pretty far off from delivering that we would stay at my friends house and catch up on some sleep. All that I remember about that drive is that it was SUPER foggy and we couldn't see A THING driving in. We finally arrive at my friends house around 6:30am and c.r.a.s.h.e.d. once our heads hit the pillow. I honestly didn't think that we would get to sleep very long because I was sure that things would move along quickly with Josiah's birth. ummm how about we slept until 11:30 lol. She was still progressing pretty slowly and her water still hadn't broken so we took our time, got ready, went to lunch and walked around Walmart trying to make the time go by faster. We gave up and went back to my friends house and hung out there for awhile. Around 3:15 I got another text that she was at 8cm and to come on over to the hospital! Alya and I jumped in the car and took off ... but we were still about 30 minutes away. When we were still about 10 minutes away I got another text saying that she was at 10cm and that she was pushing. Holy Moly! I was like cross your legs girl we aren't there yet! lol We made it to the parking lot ... RAN our behinds through the lot and into the doors and then I got the message that he was here.... DANG! seriously we missed his birth by like one stinkin minute! So we run upstairs and I'm asking the nurse for the room number only to be told that they don't have anyone at their hospital by the name I'm giving them. Are you serious!?! I'm at the wrong hospital? was what was going through my mind ... so I'm calling Haley's phone to figure out what is going on. I guess the whole time she was under another name that I didn't know and we were actually at the right hospital ... although it wouldn't surprise me if we hadn't been lol. We run back and they are just cleaning him up ....


Josiah Samuel Cotton born on February 16h at 3:50pm (2:50 Pensacola time) 6lbs 11oz 19 1/2 in long.

A nurse came out of Haley's room and asked who the momma was ... that's me! She asked for my hand and put a hospital bracelet on my wrist that matched Josiah's. Okay .. I have to stop there for a minute. Up to that point I feel like Alya and I were running around a million miles a minute trying to first get to Pensacola on time and then running through the parking lot to get there in time for his birth that I hadn't really had a chance to wrap my mind around the idea that Josiah was actually here ... my son was here ... all the waiting ... all the tears ... all the wondering if I will EVER be a mommy was all OVER. The nurse putting that bracelet on my wrist meant I was finally a mommy ... and that is when I started crying. That's when it became real. And I kept that little bracelet on for a full week after we came home with him. They let me put his first diaper on and we got to spend a few precious moments with him ...











They let Haley hold him first while they did a glucose test on him since he was three weeks early. They found out that he had a really low glucose and temperature levels and they whisked him off to the nursery before Alya or I even got a chance to hold him. That was so, so, so hard ... but with just a kiss we watched the nurses wheel him out of the room. We headed down to the nursery while Haley got cleaned up and switched to a new room.

Here is a picture of Alya and I right after Josiah went to the nursery. We are sooo happy and can't wait to get our arms around our boy.



We stalked the nursery windows for a long time so the nurse finally lifted him up for us to see. I asked them if when we would be able to hold him and she said probably for not a couple more hours. boooo.



I asked her if we could watch and take pictures of his first bath. So she told us that she would come and get us once his temperature was where they wanted it to be. We still weren't allowed to hold him but she did let us take pictures of him ...







We had to wait 5 1/2 hours to hold our son for the first time ... but let me tell you, there was no better feeling in all of the world!








FINALLY a family of THREE!

I have to share this picture with you ... this is of our sweet birth mom and Josiah .. but I love the smiles on both of our faces. We are both proud momma's :0)


They put Josiah in his first little outfit!


I got to feed Josiah for the first time. :0)


He's such a cute little man!


You know it's so funny how each adoption really is SO different. We had kind of had in our minds from watching some of our other friends go through their adoptions that we would have a room all to ourselves to spend our time bonding with Josiah. Our adoption wasn't like that at all. We spent the whole time visiting in Haley's recovery room. Someone on the outside might think that that would have been completely uncomfortable and awkward ... but what I have to say about it is that it was a 100% God thing. Alya and I had prayed at the very beginning of our adoption journey that we would be able to form a relationship with our birth mom. God heard that desire of our hearts and He gave us so much more than we could have ever dreamed of. I feel so blessed to have been able to share those few days with Haley while we all took turns loving on that sweet little boy. I couldn't have asked to experience a better birth story for him. There is so much more to write about ... but let's just stick with Day 1 for now. More soon *tomorrow, if I can get back on the ball with this blogging business, although you do have to give me credit because it's 2:30am right now and I'm up updating this instead of sleeping! :0) *