Waiting on baby Frederick!

It's Thursday morning,  May 9th. 
 Last night was restless, so say the least.  At 12:40 p.m. yesterday, Wednesday, I received this message from Nathanael:   "We're packing to go to the hospital.  We may have a baby tonight!"  We are trying to carry on a normal life without sharing out wonderful secret!  Because the baby's mother will have 72 hours to make her final decision regarding adoption, we wait and pray.  For Funnel and Jen, for the baby's mother, and of course for our hoped for grand-baby.

 Years of anticipating, months of planning, weeks of disappointment and joy, and days and nights filled with wondering.  In God's perfect way, in His perfect time, He has brought a son to our son and his wife!

Nathanael and Jen welcomed Owen Daniel Frederick into their hearts and hands this morning at 5:14 a.m., weighing in at a healthy 8 lbs. and 12 oz.  I am told he has fuzzy blond hair and is the sweetest little guy on the earth!  Owen will always have two mothers:  His  brave mother that carried him for 9 months and gave him life, and  Jen (and Funnel) who will love and raise him in his forever, adopted family.  Nathanael celebrated his 31st birthday just 3 days ago, and Jen will be celebrating Mother's Day this Sunday in the most profound way!  I cannot think of a better gift for the two of them!  Just a few days earlier, without any idea this was going to happen, I had purchased Jen (and Amy) a basket of flowers for Mother's Day.  I placed Jen's on her porch on Tuesday evening, having no idea that such big news was coming in less than 24 hours. 

There are no words.  There is only a lump in my throat and a swelling in my heart with joy and thankfulness to God!  I am grateful to Owen's mother, who had the courage, strength and fortitude to carry this precious life, so we could welcome him into the Frederick family. I am thankful that God Himself placed within Nathanael and Jen's heart the desire to adopt, and that He also gave them the strength and fortitude to pursue it, even though there were many difficult days and restless nights.

 Looking back, Jen made the announcement that they had made the official decision to adopt on Sept. 12th, 2012.  She wrote:  

"Funnel and I are going to be adopting!
We are so excited about this next chapter of our lives and can’t wait to meet our first little Frederick!
I will fill you in later on all the details…. what has led us to this point, what kind of adoption we are doing, timeframe, etc.  But for now I wanted to just share our happy news!"

How amazing to think that baby Owen, whom God has known since before time, was a tiny baby in his mother's womb, just a few weeks old, developing...and his heart had begun to beat.  God had already placed within Jen and Funnel a heartbeat toward adoption, and unknown to anyone but God, their hearts were beating together. Who knew that they would meet each other for the first time in the wee hours of the morning of May 9th?  I am still in awe of a God that would bring this about in His own way, in His own time.  (Add an "e" and we have our Owen!)

We have waited so long...Dan and I cannot wait to meet Owen, welcome him into his grandparents arms and love him forever.  We echo the words of King David in Psalm 139, as we marvel at this precious gift of life!

"For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.  I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.  My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place.  When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body.  All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be."  Ps. 139:13-16

Friday morning, May 10th
We are still having a hard time believing this is all happening!
My heart is so divided today, as I think about Owen's birth mom, and his soon-to-be adopted Mom, Jen.  I know that his birth-mom must be  going thru many post partum things now, so throw in all the emotional elements and I can only imagine what she is going thru.  She and Jen and front and center in my prayers, many times each hour.  Last I heard from Funnel, Owen's birth-mom will be saying "good-bye" to them today.   The adoption will not be official until the 72 hour mark, when the birth mother and the adoptive parents sign the papers.  Our prayers are for God's perfect will to be done, whatever that is.  I remain forever grateful to her for choosing life, and remain so proud of Jen and Funnel for having the courage to grow their family thru this wonderful thing called adoption.

Grandpa Craig and Grandma Sue Immel are driving up to meet Owen today!  I'm so excited for them...and so excited for our meeting him tomorrow morning.  If Dan is still feeling o.k. (Grandpa has been a bit under the weather...) we hope to go see the three of them.  Owen is a starting out as a "Buckeye", being born at O.S.U. hospital, which is a bit bittersweet because that is the hospital where Amy delivered Eliana.  We have some tough memories there, as we cried with Caleb and Amy and said "hello" and "good-bye" on that dreary, rainy night on November 21st, 2011.   Life and death...an unending circle in which we rely on our unchanging and faithful Lord.

Still not much sleep going on around here...haha.  Funnel said they hope to get a good nights sleep at home tonight, and I reminded him to enjoy it, as it may be there last!

Saturday evening, May 11th
We held our very first grandson!  Owen Daniel Frederick is certifiably cute in every way!

We drove into O.S.U. Hospital  anticipating some happy memories to replace our sad ones.  (Actually - we do have one happy memory there now...Bernice and Charles had their twins there!)   Funnel met Dan, the girls and I in the lobby and took us upstairs.  Because they don't have a room for Owen, they have given them a space in the corner of a waiting room.  As we came around the corner and I caught my first glimpse of Jen holding him, I could tell that her cheeks were red and her eyes teary.  In an instance, I looked just like her, and held her close before I held Owen.  It was such a sweet moment that I will remember always!  She placed our first grandson in my arms and it felt SO wonderful.   (And even now, it tears me up.  I think it is because in that moment I missed Eliana so very badly, and yet felt such joy for the gift of Owen.  I was feeling extreme emotions for both couples, who we love so much.)   It was so much fun to give them the boy outfits we had picked out for Owen, and then watch him be loved on so much by his parents, Dan (Grandpa) and his adoring Aunt Baila and Danielle'.  Owen is in good hands. ; )

This is still sinking in slowly.  Nathanael and Jen may be bringing home their very first son tomorrow morning!  We still await on the "official" passing of the 72 hour mark. I cannot get Owen't birth mom out of my mind, and continue to pray for her often.  Nathanael and Jen said they immediately connected with her, and even a labor and delivery nurse was surprised to find out that they had just met that day.  They have told me a little about her and I was able to see the picture of the four of them after Owen was born.  This is all such an amazing thing to go thru, and I am seeing so many parallels to this and to salvation, God's adoption of us.

What grace.  What an amazing gift.