Just to give you a reference of where Andrew and I were in our infertility journey when we got the call for our first placement: we got the news that there was no heartbeat on Tuesday and I had a D&C on Thursday. On Friday, we were watching the Sound of Music and eating a (fairly large) bowl of ice cream. It was about 8pm and we get a call from our agency.
The placement Social Worker (SW) tells us there is a 28 day old female who needs a temporary placement and asks if we are interested. We look at each other and both said “yes” at the same time. I know it seems crazy that we would take on caring for an infant so soon after a traumatic event but we both agreed that it felt right.
So, we frantically start cleaning up. We get another call telling us the youth is in the ER getting checked out by a physician (which was routine) and will be brought to our home by someone from Sacramento County Child Protective Services. They told us her name, mother’s name and a brief history.
I realized after the 2nd call that we need to buy formula and a few other things so I head to Target and Andrew stayed home cleaning. I wanted to get back home so bad that I remember just throwing things in my basket.
Andrew and I finished cleaning, sanitizing bottles, and setting up last minute items around 10pm. It was then we got the 3rd call telling us that CPS just left the ER with the youth and they were on their way.
Because we live on a cul-de-sac, we hear every car driving down our road so with every sound, one of us was looking to see if it was them. At 10:30pm, they arrived. We met them at the car (not because we didn’t want them to come inside but more because we were anxious to meet the little one). Before you know it, we were back on the couch finishing our movie but this time, we had a baby in our arms.
The next day, we took a trip to Buy Buy Baby to get some other things we needed. One of my coworkers met us there and gave us some formula and supplies. Another coworker has a mother who works at the store and she was able to pass on some baby gear as well. (Thanks Robin and Kim!) Even though we knew the placement was temporary and we were just the foster parents, walking around the store with this beautiful baby girl gave us our first glimpse at being proud parents.
Monday, Danielle, a SW from our agency, came by to have us sign paperwork. We also got a binder to keep all the information about policies, forms, and information about the baby. She went over the temporariness of the placement and what that means for us. Basically, we could have her for a couple weeks to a couple of months. We took all the information and discussed just trying to enjoy each day with her in our home.
Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights went smoothly. We were told by the CPS worker that the youth had some congestion but, according to the ER doctor, it wasn’t that bad – nothing a little bulb suction couldn’t handle. Unfortunately, Monday night was a different story.
To be continued…
Seeking Baby Burke 