January and February, I felt a baby was out there and was going to be offered to us. I thought it was Jacob and Kaley's birthmother. I remember telling people I was either right or crazy because I was SURE of it.
March, Sam's social worker said that Sam's birthmother was pregnant. And it all made sense! I was only one uterus off. No one knew how far pregnant she was or when the baby was due or anything. We didn't even know if we would be offered the baby.
March 10, 2003 I had the strangest feeling. I KNEW "our" baby had been born. (There's no way I could have known that since we didn't know when she was due.)
I went a step further and actually called the hospital. Now you have to realize, there are 3 major hospitals right near each other in Tampa and I only called one. I said, "Kathy X in maternity please" to the receptionist and they transferred me! A voice answered and I hung up.
What are the odds I would know which hospital to call and when??
Turns out, the baby had been born the night before ... May 9.
Sure enough, the social worker calls and says the baby has been born and would I be able to take him? Would I be able to go pick him up from the hospital that day.
Within an hour, I was at the nursery of the hospital. There were rows and rows of baby cribs with names on them. I was immediately drawn right to this one baby in the front row. I read the tag and it was a different name so I knew it couldn't be him. I kept searching the faces to see if I could find the one that would be coming home with me. But time and time again, I was drawn to this one.
Sure enough, they'd put a different name on his crib ... but it was him!! A few minutes later and I was driving home with him in the car. (I have a picture but it's not uploading right so you'll have to click HERE to view it.)
He was sooo pitiful! He had so many problems. He was very big but actually preemie. (They estimated he should have been 13 pounds or more if he was full term.) He had a hole in his heart, jaundice, birthing complications, etc.
We were told that the birthmother would not be able to have him but the birthfather was pursuing being able to take him. So basically, we were told he was not staying. We figured we would love him best we could for the 3 or so weeks that he would be with us. Long story short, the birthfather couldn't pass the homestudy and decided to relinquish his rights.
It took over a year, but the birthmother did eventually too. We met her numerous times. She knew we had Sam and she signed him over to us.
Fast forward 8 years and Luke is a sweet, funny kid. He is "all boy". He loves Star Wars (who is shocked considering his name is Luke!). He loves Legos. He loves to mess with people. He is quick to laugh but also quick to cry. He is still a Mama's boy. His beautiful blue eyes can be seen across a room. His cute dimples have gotten him out of trouble some days. Candy is the way to his heart.
Today, he wore a badge that says it's his birthday. He asked me to bring cookies and drinks to school to share with his friends. As I delivered them, he was happy to see us but also a bit embarrassed at the same time.
The past 8 years have been full of lots of ups and downs with him (including an open heart surgery, miscellaneous horrible allergies, asthma, spina bifida, etc.) During the years, I remember having a weird feeling that I had to fight for his very life. I don't know why but I always was feeling there was a spirit of death on and with him (sorry to "weird anyone out"). But it was strong. I never shared that with anyone but would only pray about it. One day about 2 years ago, HE said something about that feeling. We prayed about it and neither of us have felt it since. It's like he had to get old enough to be able to pray about it. I no longer live with that feeling.
And out of all the kids, he is the most open (so far) to the things of God. I remember telling him something and he would be like, "Reeeeeaaaalllly????"
So if you know Luke, you know what a great kid he is. If you don't, now you have a little better idea of who this amazing kid is!
Happy Birthday Sweetie!
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