Introducing Levi Benjamin

Another life-changing opportunity has come our way.  This one is in the form of a tiny little boy born November 18th.

Steve and I are adopting another baby.  His name is Levi Benjamin Alston.

Levi wasn't supposed to arrive until February 4th, but the doctors said he might come early.  His birthmother flew down to Anchorage to be close to the hospital just in case.

On November 12th it looked like Levi was on his way, so I impulsively bought the next ticket out of Brevig Mission.  Longtime readers may remember that I missed Kaitlyn's birth by five hours.  That was not going to happen again.

After six days of waiting Levi was born.

Because he was eleven weeks early, he was whisked directly into the NICU.  I got to see him long enough to verify that he was, in fact, male before he disappeared through a window.

It was three hours before I got to see him again.  Three hours of frantic prayer.  Three hours of being told that he wasn't yet stable enough for us to see him.  Three hours of wondering what that meant and if it was normal.
Levi Benjamin Alston

Finally, the charge nurse brought us into the NICU.  He was tiny.  He was fragile.  He was beautiful.

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By the next day, he was off of the respirator and on a bubble C-PAP.  Basically, that means he was breathing better.
It also means I got to hold him.
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He only cried a little bit.  🙂
Tiny Baby
Most of the time he was calm.
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We even got to see him with his eyes open!
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I am in love again.
More about Levi coming soon.