These days I am most often seen with a baby on my hip and a huge smile on my face. So many of my family and friends have followed our journey from wanting another baby, to secondary infertility, to starting the adoption process, and finally, the months of waiting for our baby to come home. I am thrilled to finally be able to say that on October 15th, 2003, Gabriel Carlos-Estuardo became a citizen of the United States, but most importantly, he arrived home with his new mom and dad.

I began telling my story in the September spotlight, and at the time, my husband, Geoff, and two daughters, Emily and Alicia, were waiting with me for news of our impending adoption. We received the referral of a 4 1/2 month old baby boy in March and were waiting (not-so) patiently to hear that our adoption had finally made its way through the Guatemalan courts. There were many twists and turns along the way, including a huge roadblock that essentially stopped the finalization of adoptions in Guatemala for a period of 6 months. We kept praying and hoping that some way, some how, our baby boy's case would make it through the maze and we would get notice he was ours. We got a phone call the end of September, but it was certainly not the good news for which we had been praying. However, completely unbeknownst to us, there was a light flickering at the end of the tunnel, which was soon going to shine brightly on us all.

The last week in September our adoption coordinator called to let us know Gabriel was in the hospital, sick with pneumonia. It took me about 10 seconds to realize I needed to be down there with him. I could find someone to do everything I needed to do at home; I could not find anyone to replace me in Guatemala. My husband, Geoff, and I got everything in order and flew to Guatemala City, Guatemala 2 days later. We arrived on a Sunday morning and were surprised to find a much sicker baby than we expected. His pneumonia had worsened to the point that they needed to go into his left lung with a thorascope and clean out the nasty infection. When we saw him, he was still working pretty hard at breathing, was under an oxygen hood and had a chest tube to drain his left lung.

With the help of the antibiotics, and the bad infection out of his lungs, Gabe began to heal pretty quickly. He was able to move to a regular nursing floor and I was able to room with him and care for him. He was discharged from the hospital on Thursday, after an eight-day stay. Geoff and I took him back with us to the hotel to care for and smother him with extra love. We made plans for Geoff to return home on our originally scheduled departure, and for me to stay on and care for Gabriel another week. I just could not return him to the orphanage so soon after he got out of the hospital. I wanted to keep him away from the other kids and their germs for a little bit longer. We thought that would be best and both of us hoped that very soon we would be returning to bring him home for good.

The next day the three of us were having lunch at the hotel when Feliciano, our adoption facilitator, showed up. We were really surprised to see him as we had seen him a couple hours earlier. He had a file in his hands and announced to us, “I have great news! I have HUGE news!!” In absolute record time, our case had been finalized. He then showed us in black and white where it said that Gabriel was officially OUR SON! I screamed and ran around the table to hug and kiss Feliciano. I then looked at my baby boy with tears in my eyes and said, “You’re ours! We don’t ever have to give you back.” It was a moment in time that I do not think I will ever forget.

Geoff went home as planned to work and care for our two daughters, and I stayed on to care for the baby. There were still details to work out with his passport and with the U.S. Embassy that required a few days to complete. Gabe and I enjoyed the alone time together to get to know one another and begin our forever bond as mom and son; we played together, we giggled, we watched Spanish television and we made some wonderful friends of other adopting parents and their new children.

A week later, Geoff returned to Guatemala for our final appointment at the U.S. Embassy. We were able to spend a couple days sightseeing and enjoying some of Gabriel’s homeland. Our final appointment to apply for and then receive Gabriel’s visa to the United States went off without a hitch and on Wednesday, October 15th, we boarded a plane to bring our baby boy home. When we at long last arrived home, our two daughters, along with a wonderful group of family came to welcome us. They had signs, balloons, presents and hundreds of hugs and kisses for us all.

When I reflect on the past four years, I am absolutely amazed at the miracle of it all. I know without a shadow of doubt this baby boy was handpicked by God to be a member of our family. I also know the timing of Gabe’s illness, our being in Guatemala and our case finishing in record time was absolutely God’s hand working miracles in our lives. But, most of all, when I look into the smiling eyes of my son, I am reminded that although his journey to us has ended, the rest of our lives with him as our son has just begun.

~Lynette is a SAHM and pediatric RN living in the Pacific NW. She currently resides with her husband, two daughters and is thrilled to have her newly adopted son home where he belongs.