The Referral...at last!!

September 9th, 2005-- a day which will live in infamy...

After the longest 9 months in the history of humankind, we finally get the best news we've ever heard. We had been chosen by a birth mother to adopt a precious baby boy! This is it! The much-awaited "referral"! During the whole second "trimester", we daydreamed about how and when this news would come. Every ring of the phone, knock of the door, or peek into the mail box makes your heart pound. The agency told us we would get a phone call, but we still found ourselves holding our breath each time we would check the mail, email, or voicemail just in case. We imagined what our reaction would be and played the moment in our heads as if directing a movie. Would we burst into tears? Would we scream and jump around? Would we be speechless? But no matter how much you think you are prepared to get that call, you're not.

It was a typical ol' Friday. I was at work and Brian was at home preparing to go to work. Around 10:00, he called me to say that our agency had left a message while he was in the shower but they hadn't elaborated on what it was about so maybe I should call them. Expecting a request for a form or info about their upcoming Adoption Week activities, I non-chalantly dialed our case manager. After some small talk, she asked if we had any plans for the weekend. I told her some mundane thing or another, not really giving it much thought. "Well," she said. "I think I have some information for you that will make you have the best weekend ever. We have a referral for you!"

silence...
more silence...

"What?!! Are you serious? Really?" I managed to eek out breathlessly.

"Yep! He's a baby boy, born on July 19th. I have his records. Can I fax them to you?"

Some how I managed to give her my fax number, thank her profusely, and hang up. And then the waterworks began. I laid my head down on my desk and sobbed. I could barely grasp what had just happened. It was so surreal. All of my friends at work gathered around to see why I was crying and once they knew, they all hugged me and said congratulations. There were even a few tears in the crowd. They all knew how much this meant to Brian and me. And then it occured to me-- Brian still didn't know!! I immediately called him and blubbered out the information about our baby boy. He was just as stunned as I was but managed to maintain his composure.

A few mintues later the fax came. We talked about all of it over the phone and just couldn't believe that this little boy they were describing was going to be our son! It was one of the happiest days of our lives and such a huge relief. This thing was really going to happen! We were really on our way to becoming parents, at long last. A few weeks later we got about 8 pictures (viewable at www.quentintsui.shutterfly.com)

Quentin's Birth Info:

Birth Name: Ke-Hao

Birthday: July 19th, 2005

Birth weight: 3.65 kg (8.05 lbs)

Birth Length: 50 cm (19.69 inches)