The Elliott Gang : Reflecting Back on Meeting Our Birth Mother and Our Baby Girl

When we arrived at the hospital, our little sweetie was 17 hours old. We were aching to see her. Once the head nurse introduced herself to us, she let us know that before we could see our little beauty we needed to go see the birth mother. She wanted to meet us first.
Fear...nerves...anxiety took over my heart and mind. Had she changed her mind? Would she like us? Would I be to short (yes, that really was a fear of mind) Would I be able to communicate my feelings to her properly?
I can honestly tell you that the moment we walked into the room all fear was gone. Love...respect...gratitude...took fears place. Bryan and I embraced her. She quietly whispered into my ear, "I knew that you would keep her safe." Tears flowed freely down all our cheeks. I remember one of my tears falling on her shoulder as her own tear fell and mixed into mine. It was a very symbolic moment to know that just as these two tears mixed into one so were our lives mixed together by the love that we both had for one dear child.
This first meeting was not a long one. Once we gathered ourselves together, she told me that she wanted to be the one to give me the band. This band was the band that hospitals place on all the mothers' wist so they can have the baby taken to their room or so they can get the baby from the nursery. This band was a true gift. It was symbolic of the trust that she had in me. It was a symbol of the fact that she needed me to be the mother of her child. I now was becoming the primary caretaker of this little one. I would be the only one who could get her in or out of the nursery.
I was so overwhelmed I couldn't do anything, but weep. Once the nurse placed the band on my wrist, our birth mother told us she needed a little time to herself.

After a tearful goodbye, we walked into the nursery as the father and mother of this little treasure. These pictures capture the first moments we shared with our sweetie.