Meeting Our Son

I had dreamed about what this moment would be like. Would D love us from the first moment or would he be scared of these crazy white people who wanted to hug and hold him? Would he cry when we left the baby home? Would his little heart be scared? We had prayed God would prepare us and him for this moment and I can confidently say He did answer our prayers.

We traveled about seven hours from the main city of Kampala to the baby home where D was staying. The drive was full of beautiful hills and many people on the sides of the road. It happened to be Palm Sunday so many of the people were walking back from church all dressed up with palm branches in tow, it was beautiful and made for great reflection on the significance of the day. The last hour was an amazingly beautiful drive and was even enjoyable despite the anxiousness we felt.

As we pulled into the baby home with the Chris Tomlin cd playing for the 100th time, we felt such excitement. This was the moment. Still there were a million questions running through my head. Would his caregivers like us? Would he run up to the car? Would he cry?

We were greeted by two of the head  nuns who told us D was napping and we would need to wait in their sitting room. We had driven so long and waited over a year, what was a few more minutes? They took us to the sitting room where several ladies held several sweet, precious, tiny babies. We ended up sitting there for about an hour and a half. Oh my goodness, by this time the anxiety was VERY high :) After he woke up they gave him a bath and while they were doing that we went to see some of the children who were playing outside.

As soon as we stepped outside one of the nuns walked through the door and said "Hey, I think you know this one!" - we turned around and there stood our little, precious boy. He was dressed in an orange stripped shirt and capris with flowers on them, and oh was he even ten times cuter than the pictures did him justice. The nuns told him we were his mommy and daddy and he immediately ran into my arms. OH MY GOODNESS. I will NEVER forget that moment or be able to adequately express the way it felt; in that moment I felt so much love. From that moment he was my son and I loved him completely. He then hugged L and we all three were sitting there, in Uganda, united as a family for the first time. He did get a little scared as the nuns started to walk away, but luckily a dum dum sucker we had brought calmed his fears.

For the next hour or so we held and doted over him, the same way I think people probably do over their newborns right when they are born. I looked for five fingers and five toes. I was soaking in every moment and everything about him. Our friends who had visited him for us said he did not speak when they were there which concerned us. I had prepared myself for this hurdle, but much to our surprise he was speaking a ton, he even said mommy and daddy! We played with his friends his age in the home for awhile and then began preparing to leave. We changed his clothes and the nuns sang for him while he danced...it was precious and we watch that video almost daily. He was excited to leave with us and even got in the car on his own. As we left his favorite nun picked a white daisy and gave it to him, such a wonderful moment. We gave him a sippy cup immediately and he refused to put it down for days.

We made the hour or so drive back to our guesthouse where we would stay the next few days in preparation for our first court date. We ate an interesting Ugandan dinner and then went up to our room. D was so calm and very quiet. Almost immediately we noticed he had a high fever. The night was pretty sleepless for me and L as we had a squirmy boy between us, but I am not sure I would have slept anyway. The joy and excitement that day held was too much for sleep. We thanked God over and over for the precious gift of D.

We had thought we could Skype with our families when we were back at the hotel but our internet and phones would not work. It was so frustrating and sad to not be able to communicate these exciting moments with them, but we were finally able to the next day which was an awesome moment.

Our first full day together we took D to the doctor where we were seen immediately and given a prescription, all for $18!!! We were stunned and grateful. He was feeling better in no time.

Meeting D was everything good we had imagined and so much more! God truly blessed us with this day and how wonderful it was. We count ourselves extremely blessed to call him our son.

Popular questions we get about D:

• Where did the name D come from?
• The baby home gave him this name and although we had anticipated changing it, once we were around him we knew he was meant to have that name. We added a middle name.
• Does he eat well?
• YES. We were worried about him adjusting to new foods but he will try just about anything we offer him.
• How is he adjusting?
• So, so, so well! Glory to God as He indeed answered our prayers.
• What is his personality like?
• For a two year old, he is calm and obedient, although like any of us, he has his hard times. He likes to play with others and on his own. He is SO happy. He is very inquisitive and asks "what is it?" in his language often. He is very smart and super affectionate. He is perfect :) (maybe I am a little biased!)
• Does he know English?
• The only words he knew the day we met him in English were mommy and daddy, since then he has picked up the English language so well. He can sing his ABCs, count to ten, and say about 20 words or more without being prompted. He is like a parrot and repeats everything!

Meeting D In Pictures:

Waiting at the baby home

Meeting one of the nuns 

When he ran up and hugged us after being told we were his mommy and daddy

Together At Last

Playing with his friends

Leaving...with his daisy and sippy cup!