Anna Morgan Day 2: Weatherford, OK

Friday, July 30, 2010
The people at Weatherford Regional Hospital couldn't be nicer. Heidi, the day nurse, took charge from the outset and made us feel comfortable. Trish gave Anna her first bath and gave us lots of supplies to help get us through the next few days. Others who were incedibily helpful were Natalie, Margaret, Trisha, Gabby and Jill.

A note about the people of Weatherford is also in order. This is a close knit community where everyone knows (or would like to know) everyone else's business. Example: the manager of the local Subway restaurant was peering at us this morning while we were giving Anna a bath in the nursery. Two hours later she was telling me about her close relationship with Heather and gently pumping me for information, while making me a 6" veggie sub at the Subway restaurant.
Day 2 was action packed from start to finish. The only one who was nonplussed by the events of the day was Anna, who, except for a few violent screams during her bath, slept peacefully throughout the day.

Anna Morgan Day 8: Going home

We just received a call from the lawyer telling us that both OK and NY have approved the adoption paperwork. Yahoo!!!!! We are free to go home. There is one non-stop flight to NY a day, so Jane booked us on the 7:17am flight to Newark. We should be home tomorrow by lunchtime.

Anna Morgan Day 7: Sleeping like a baby

On the 7th day, we all rested. Nothing much to report. The adoption paperwork was filed with the state of Oklahoma. Now there is nothing to do but wait.
Anna woke up twice last night, down from 5-6 times the previous nights. She is proving to be a great sleeper.

Anna Morgan Day 6: The phone call

Jane and I awoke Tuesday morning full of anticipation. Today was the day that the birth mother was to go to court. Will she change her mind, we wondered? She had been through so much, we thought, it was entirely possible. The case was scheduled for 11:00am. By noon, we had not heard anything. By 1:00pm, still nothing. By 2:00pm, we started to get really nervous. Finally at 2:33pm the phone rang. It was out attorney in NY, telling us that all had gone smoothly and that Anna Morgan was now officially a member of our family.

Anna Morgan Day 5: The afternoon

Monday, August 2, 2010

After a quiet morning, Grant drove to back to the hospital to pick up the papers needed to complete the adoption. The next major step in the process is for the birth mother to go to court and sign papers in front of a judge agreeing to let Jane and I legally adopt Anna Morgan. This is scheduled for Tuesday at 11:00am.

Anna Morgan Day 5

Monday, August 2, 2010

Anna Morgan had a good night last night. She was

only up 5 times vs. 6 the night before.

Here is Anna after her restful night.

PS: we finally got to watch Invictus last night after carrying the Netflix DVD around with us for a month. That is, at least one of us did. Jane broke a personal best by going to sleep before 7:00pm.

Anna Morgan Day 4: On the Move

Sunday, August 1, 2010

After one night at the Residence Inn at the intersection of Interstates 240 and 35, we decided to move to a quieter neighborhood. So we packed up the car (no small task) and moved to Bricktown, the hot new urban renewal neighborhood in Oklahoma City. (Who knew?)
Among the highlights of our new digs: we are directly across the street from OKC Redhawks stadium. This gleaming new 13,500 seat stadium is the the home of the Texas Rangers' AAA affiliate. (Fortuitously, the Iowa Cubs are in town this week. With luck I will catch a game or two.)
In another exciting note, the world headquarters of Sonic, the fast food chain, is next door to the hotel. Unbeknown to us, Sonic was started in Oklahoma (in 1953 for those interested in trivia) and now has 3,500 restaurants in the US. Pretty heady stuff. In recognition of this accomplishment, Jane and I had our first ever Sonic burger for dinner last night. Ummmm.

Anna Morgan Day 4: On the Lam

Sunday, August 1, 2010
After 12 hours in the hotel, we concluded we could have been a bit more careful about choosing a place for Anna's first days of life. The clincher came when we opened the shades in our bedroom on Sunday morning.

Jane and I felt like we were 'on the lam', holed up in a hotel off two intersecting interstates in Oklahoma City. It's like hiding out with the Lindbergh baby, said Jane.

The photo at right gives you an idea what the view from our hotel window is like.

So we decided to move to a different hotel.

Anna Morgan Day 4: The Morning

Sunday August 1, 2010
We checked into a hotel in OKC late on Saturday afternoon, and spent a couple hours organizing the 'gear'. By 8:30pm, we were in bed, knowing we would be up a lot during the night. And we were. Anna was up 6x during the night. Jane and I took turns. We were up before 7am, looking forward to the free Residence Inn breakfast buffet. At the coffee bar, I was waiting for a little boy to make a cup of coffee, which I assumed was for his mom. I asked him who he was making the coffee for. He said it was for him. Said he had a rough night and didn't get a lot of sleep. I asked him how come and he said he was worried about a lot of things and that had kept him up. He said he had a big day today. He was going to the mall with some friends he had not seen in a long time and needed to be fresh. How old are you, I finally asked. Nine, he said.
Went out and found a Starbucks. Not an easy task, BTW. Besides a decent cup of coffee, was able to secure a NYT, which has proven hard to find in this state.

Anna Morgan Day 3

Saturday, July 31, 2010
Night one went well. Anna Morgan slept soundly most of the night, as did her parents. We conked out at 8pm and got up at 7am.
Early Saturday morning, the birth mother asked to see Anna. She and the father spent 45 minutes saying goodbye to Anna in the nursery.

After the visit, I went to Walmart and got a car seat. After that we packed up, were discharged from the hospital and drove to OKC to set up camp for the next week or so.

Anna Morgan Day 2: Vital stats

Friday, July 30, 2010
Almost forgot the most important info: Anna was born today at 5:06AM. She weighed 6 lbs, 13 oz. and was 21 inches long.

Anna Morgan Day 2

Friday, July 30, 2010
We arrived at the small regional hospital 90 minutes west of OKC at 8:00am. Within minutes, the head nurse of the maternity ward had assigned us a room and wheeled in a bassinet with a beautiful baby girl. The head nurse informed us that this will be our home for the next 24 hours.
At noon, Jane and I meet the woman who delivered our baby 7 hours earlier. It was quite emotional. Neither of us knew exactly what to say. Finally Jane and I thanked her for the wonderful gift and let her know that our door would always be open.
The rest of the day was spent caring for the baby, deciding on a name and sorting through the myriad legal issues involved in adopting a baby.

Anna Morgan Day 1: The phone call

Thursday, July 29, 2010
At noon Jane got a call while in the back seat of a Lexus during a test drive in Manhattan. It was our birth mother, letting us know she had gone into labor. The Lexus dealer let us drive the Lexus home, so we wouldn't waste the test drive. :)
We made plans to fly to Oklahoma ASAP.
One small complication: today is PJ's b-day party at Yogi Beans. The party was set to start at 3:30pm, so we made plans to leave for the airport directly from the party.
At 6:40pm, we boarded a plane to Dallas with a connection to OKLA City. The connecting flight was delayed though and we finally got to OKC at 1:00am, and checked into an Embassy Suites Hotel.
By 2:00am we were finally in bed.