On one of those late summer evenings, Don and I came to the conclusion that yes, we did have room for one more.....to this day I have no idea just why or how we did, but it just felt right....but.....when it came to contacting the agency, well that was a whole different ball game......
It's like when we are making plans to fly away on some holiday and I'm always thrilled to be flying anywhere,but... the morning of our flight, when the nerves take over my digestion system, I always berate myself and tell myself just what a stupid idea it was.....in other words....great ideas sound and feel great at the time, but when I get down to the nitty gritty I usually chicken out....yes, I'm a huge chicken...so to speak...obviously not covered in feathers, but you get the idea.
Even though we made the decision sometime in August , every time I tried to call Children's Aid, I chickened out. Finally, after several failed attempts, I actually put the call through on September 22. It was a Monday, and I finally made the call. I spoke with 'the baby worker' , a woman by the name of Barb Davis. She informed me that it would be fine to open our home to a second foster child, BUT she'd have to come out, check our home....again.....make sure we had enough room. Which, really, in retrospect is kind of humorous.....we live in a small bungalow and before we put on our addition a few years ago, it was less than 1000 sq feet......ya, small. Now a days , people wouldn't dream of putting two children, together, in the small bedrooms we had...but that's how Don and I grew up with our siblings and we actually didn't think that was a problem!
Barb said that her week was full and she wouldn't be able to come til the following week....that was okay to me, I was just pleased that I finally got the courage to call, on the 22nd of September, which turned out to be a very significant date!
I got off the phone, I remember, to this day, thinking...I did it! I really did it....oh no, what have I done! The week progressed and then Friday came.....the phone rang ...it was Barb, the baby worker.....there was this baby, a little girl, a new born......she was in need of a home.....could she bring her out on Monday.....MONDAY!!! WHAT!.....'but...Barb, we haven't been checked out for a second child yet', I say.....'I know, I'll have to do that later' says she.
It was a whirl wind weekend, setting up the crib, getting baby supplies, washing up sleepers and blankets.....by Monday, we were all excited and very nervous......
When Barb arrived, she carried this wee little babe, wrapped up tightly in a blanket, ( like they do it in the hospital nursery) tucked in her left arm....I hardly took in all the information, and before I knew it, Barb was gone and we had this new born babe in our house. She was sleeping, as I gently laid her in her crib. In the next few hours, I kept checking, and she kept sleeping....I had an eye doctor appointment and my good friend Sue had agreed to take Corey and the babe while I went to it....the time came to go and the babe was still sleeping so I bundled her up and took them to Sue's.....believe it or not, I hadn't even unwrapped her as I didn't want to disturb her sleep....Sue was delighted to be looking after this new babe....and I went off to my appointment. When I returned, the babe was awake, she had been fed and changed and Sue handed me her identification bracelet that had been around her tiny ankle and had exclaimed to me that they (the person that had dressed her at the hospital) had put a sleeper on her that was way too big....I found out that I didn't have sleepers that small either. This little babe was soooooo tiny, she was just over five pounds! We took her home and started getting used to being a family of six and of having a newborn in the house again!
Oh, and the most important part of this story.....the wee babe was born on September 22...... The very day that I finally got my courage up to call....imagine that!
~ Marie
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