Wow!  What an amazing surprise!  I'm so glad you're able to take steps to adopt this second son -- congratulations!

Wow! Fasten your seatbelts is right. Full siblings-and close together! Luck-- no blessed you!

How wonderful. I wish you every happiness.

Congratulations and best wishes.  You have been truly blessed!

holy crap!! 

that is kind of what it feels like to be a foster mother, actually!!  i actually had one situation where they phoned me that they had a newborn at the hospital, and 20 minutes later he was in my living room!!

at a time like this, my best advice to you is to ACCEPT ALL OFFERS OF HELP FROM YOUR FRIENDS.  whenever someone says 'if you need a hand, let me know...' say 'well, could you do a few loads of laundry for me??'  or 'can you deliver supper for us tomorrow night?' 

Bless you!  No doubt there are many good reasons that the birth mother has chosen you to love her children.  You are a very special person.

Usually parents have some preparation time before welcoming a new born.  I second Sigh's advice to accept all offers of help so that you may do what you need to do to make this transition as easy as possible on all members of the family. 

Best of luck and lots of love to your family

Wow Oliviet, that's a quick change alright!   I hesitate to be a "damper" but I wonder why birthmom didn't give you a bit of a heads up...it's not like she just found out??

Regardless of her issue...your son will grow up with his brother and you deserve a big smooch for that!!

Hi abpenny, I'm not going to share too much of birth mother's story as it's hers to share not mine - confidentiality etc. - but needless to say, bad decisions galore (picture it, it's probably true). We did have a heads up she'd been referred to children's aid - and as such that she was pregnant - but that was 6-8 weeks ago, we didn't know how far along she was, whether there still was a child (miscarriage or abortion wouldn't have been surprising) ... she was unable to follow through and update the agency because she'd ended up in prison. So yes - a large set of unfortunate circumstances. But the baby was born actually closer to term than son #1 was, is healthy except for jaundice, and all tests for drugs, STDs etc. are coming back either negative, or in levels that it's just Mom's antibodies, not the baby's. So we/he were truly blessed.

Sharing your joy - and prayers for the birth mother who had to make the choice to give up two children to give them a better life.

WEll congratulations new mom.  That will be one to tell him about when he gets older, how he was such a big and happy surprise.

Get  some sleep, line up a babysitter for the afternoons so you can get a nap while he is sleeping and someone can play with son #1.

And have a blast.  A new baby is such a joy and such alot of work.  :)

**soft thoughts to birthmom and her winding trails**

Wow Olivet Sarah - this is such exciting news!  Life does change quickly doesn't it?  I echo sighs advice re accepting ALL offers of help!  Two is lots of fun, and lots of work - especially with such little prep time, not just for parents but also for big brother.  Be well!  (And don't skip your OA committments!)

I echo everyone's prayers for birth mom - this woman is so lovely, yet so misguided, and she knows it. I wish her her own path of heeling. :) And no carolla no intentions of skipping OA - lol as I see it I have twice the reason to go now! ;)

stressful time, co-mingled pain and happiness . . . I can see that the mom is doing thebest she can to think as rationally as possible.  She must be amazing to have done this, can't imagine how hard it is.

Wow!  Congratulations, Sarah, on the expansion of your happy family.  Good luck and be well!

Congratulations Sarah, this is a wonderful story to read. I'll be thinking of you during this time of transition and joy.

Maybe someone will hold a baby shower for you and give you a bumbo.

LOL seeler!!  Connecting the dots as usual ...

rofl ... I like Bumbos. Hubby does not. We'll see which one of us wins that debate.

Update: Baby Jacob is out of the hospital in a lovely foster home, from which we are going to pick him up this weekend!

Yay!  Yay!  Yay!

Do you still have a lot of Liam's used newborn things that the new babe will be able to use?  I was thinking that with such short notice, it might be frantic to shop for onesies, booties, diapers, formula, bottles, a bassinette, etc.  But then I remembered that Liam was still quite young, so maybe you still have those things around the house.

Is he old enough to understand the change that is coming to the house this weekend?  I can't imagine what it would be like without the nine month lead-up that most siblings get as they see their mothers pregnant.  Interesting times.

Best wishes to you all!

It is interesting times! Yes we have a ton of Liam's 'baby things' - clothes, socks, and so on. We did need to buy a new crib and we're still in the market for a double-stroller (hopefully to be corrected this weekend), but we're pretty much set. We even still have Liam's rear-facing car seat! :) 

I don't think Liam understands a blessed thing other than Mom and Dad are saying 'Baby' and 'Jacob' a lot. I think a lot of how the transition goes for him depends on whether he associates the little person in Mommy/Daddy's lap as another child - in which case it's good, he loves kids and knows to be gentle with them - or a pet - with whom he is all about the rough and tumble play. Either way we figure we are far from the first parents to have to teach a rambunctious toddler to be gentle with the newborn ... overall we think it should be pretty smooth.

So exciting to hear the big arrival will be this weekend!  Sleep well for the next few nights my dear!!

 When my daughter was born my son was three.

My parents came down that day and my mother made a chocolate birthday cake for "the baby".  When he visited she and I for the first time in the hospital, I had a little people motorcylce thing as a big brother gift for him.  We also had a stuff cow for the baby.

He got his gift, and also took the cow home to look after it for the baby seeing as she was too small to cuddle it.  He left happily to go home and have her birthday cake for her seeing as she was too small to eat it.

Different for you but I think it important to mark this milestone for the older child with a small gift, a birthday cake........I think it helps them realize they are the big one in the family and that the baby in fact brings some good things rather than just monopolizes moms time.

HUGS!!! .... CONGRATS!!!

Oh my how wonderful!

Rita

When you've got a minute, Sarah, we'd love to know how everyone's doing now that the new baby has arrived!

Thinking of you today.

Congratulations Olivet_Sarah. That is a cool story. I do some adoption work, and got to be part of a similar situation for a couple here. They now have two lovely children who are half siblings, and they have a good relationship with the birth mom. I think they were developing some sort of relationship with the second birth dad.

Enjoy getting to know Jacob and your new family configuration!

Hi all - update. We're back at our home, instead of Gramma's and Grampa's, and getting used to our new routine. We're doing okay as we've both been home. When I start work, we'll see how that adjustment goes. Liam is warming up to his baby brother - he's still a bit sensitive if one of us leaves the house or the once or twice he's been at the sitter's this week, but overall he's happy and adjusted. We are tired, we are busy, but we are insanely happy. :)

mmmm  snuggle that wee one and give him a stable, safe spot where he can know that all is right in his world.  What a blessing he is, and you are too. 

Lovely!  And ditto for Birthstone's wonderful words. 

Awww!!!

Congratulations and good luck!

Hey guys - I can't seem to figure out how to insert photos properly into my posts but I just put a picture of my boys up in my photo albums if you want to see. :) Figured since I speak about them so much I'd let you know that. ;)

Sarah!! How beautiful!!  Wishing you enough sleep and enough support and snuggles with both wee boys. 

Ahhh ... so sweet!  Love the avatar pic of the family together and the one of the brothers is terrific.  So much going on for you now! 

Oh my, how adorable .... still thinking about you during this wonderful and busy time Sarah. I appreciate you finding time to post stories and photos.