Our Adoption Story: Time to call the Families

Up to this point, none of our family members knew we were in Florida. Nor did they know we were holding our son, their grandson, nephew, cousin. They had no idea. A few key people knew, our bosses (we had to tell them we weren't showing up for a while), our pastor (one can never have too much prayer on your side), and one of my best friends (a girl needs sound, unbiased, support at a time like this). Other than that, Rich and I had decided not to tell anyone until papers were signed and we had our baby in our arms.

We made this decision, to keep quiet, after the failed adoption we experienced in November. I couldn't go through the heartache of telling people we were matched just to turn around and tell them it fell through. I wasn't strong enough to go through that. The decision was made. As hard as it was to not tell my mom, it had to be done.

When we finally filled the cart, paid for our loot and left Target, we were ready to begin making the phone calls.  Back at the hotel the first person we called was Rich's parents.  When Rich's mom answered he asked if his dad was around. His mom said yes, and with some prompting put the phone on speaker. Rich told her we were in Florida holding their newest grandson. She made us laugh. Her response was "oh that's just wonderful, you're going to have to say that again your father is in the bathroom". We still get a chuckle out of that one.

Next on the list was my mom. I called her and asked "what are you doing?" (typical first question when I call her, one that is followed with a response and the same question aimed at me). When she asked me what I was doing I told her I was in Florida holding her new grandson. TEARS and screams and excitement poured through the phone. Tears sprung to my eyes too. Her excitement was palpable and I was so happy to be sharing the news with her, finally.  She was at work and walked out of a room of 2-3 year olds (who were all staring in silence at her crying). She said she didn't care what they were doing. HAHA. She asked all kinds of questions about him, weight, coloring, hair/eye color etc. It was a great moment. I asked her not to call or tell anyone. I had not told Mitch and Natalie yet and I wanted to be the one to share this news. I didn't want anything about it on Facebook until we had called and emailed everyone we wanted to call and tell.

The next number I dialed was my brother. When he answered the phone I asked if the kids were around, I wanted to FaceTime with them. He said "Can we call you back? We are getting ready to eat dinner." I didn't know what to say so I said yes...we went on to call Rich's brothers and sisters. We couldn't get ahold of his sister Jen, she was ignoring our calls.  We did eventually get ahold of her that evening :). We did speak to the other siblings and they were all very excited for us and it was so nice to share the news with them, the news that our wait was over.

When my brother finally called back, it was just the kids on the phone. I asked where their parents were and Blythe said "They're upstairs". I told her to go get them, she took the phone with her and proceeded to show me the new floors that had been put in that week. I didn't have the heart to tell her I didn't care. Lol. When the whole Gumpl Gang was situated around the phone, we turned it so they could see me holding the newest member of the family. They were all shocked. Tears sprung to their eyes when I said "meet your newest nephew, Mitchell Anton Rupanovic". Mitch had no idea we were considering naming our son after him. Rich and I had known that was going to be the boy name we would use for a long time. I think the only person we had told was my mom, no one else knew the name so it was a shock when we told them.

More phone calls where made and the news was shared with those who we hold near and dear. We couldn't call everyone so we did send out emails to get the word out. It wasn't until after that, that we announced it on Facebook. It was an amazingly exciting time to share with everyone our news.

Here are some of our first pictures with him back at the hotel: