Oh Baby!

We got our Hallelujah! The matcher called me today and 1st thing she said was, "I got a newborn"!

He's still in the hospital and he has the test results and side effects that most newborns in care have, but is otherwise healthy.


Baby is brother to our Respite 4. She is 4yrs old now and has been returned to Dad. When she went home (pretty recently) the family that had her put their home on "self hold"- meaning they were taking a break from fostering. That's why they initially didn't come up in the search for a family for this little guy. As the matcher and I were talking and she mentioned Respite 4, I asked about the family because I have a big flippin' mouth and the matcher thought it would only be fair to offer them the placement first. So apparently I missed my calling as a matcher. She told me she would put us down as back up to them and would call me tomorrow to let me know.

I was really glad that she called me back 10 minutes later to say that the other family was not able to take baby and supported us taking his placement. Whoop! Whoop!

So he is in the NICU where Baby 3 was, and I hopefully get to see him soon. The matcher left a message for the caseworker to call us tomorrow, and she'll be the one to give us the go-ahead to visit at the hospital. He should be about ready to go home- he's 3 weeks old, so I guess technically he's not a newborn.

I asked about everything- birth weight, family history, what happens if Respite 4 comes back into care, if the caseworker from Respite 4's case is taking his case as well, what judge they saw for the removal hearing. The matcher filled in every other detail- race, parents history, her opinion on the length and risk of the placement. However, neither of us mentioned HIS NAME! I don't know his name, and since she called me at the end of the business day, she was gone before I called back to ask.

I'm not quite ready to call him 5, but it seems really likely. In foster care anything can happen though, so I'm monitoring my emotions just in case. I will keep updating as I know more!