Logan's Birth Story!

Our son Logan Gabriel Youel

Born: December 30th, 2011

On Thursday, December 29^th our lives changed forever.  We received a phone call from Katelyn letting us know that her water broke.  She then asked us to head to the hospital for Logan’s birth! I called Kevin at work and we were on the road within an hour.  When we walked through the doors to Katelyn’s birthing room she was sitting straight up and doing great.  We joined her mom, dad, and sister and all spent the afternoon/evening hanging out and talking while she slowly waited to progress.  Towards the end of the night her contractions started to get stronger, but she still had quite a ways to go.  After dinner, that night, Kevin and I headed back to our hotel.  The hotel Kevin and I ended up staying at was less than 5 minutes from the hospital.  That was so nice! We kept our cell phones connected to us at ALL times just in case Logan was ready to make his appearance. 

The next morning we headed back to the hospital.   We finally had the privilege of meeting Andy, Logan’s birth father.  He arrived at the hospital sometime after we had headed back to our hotel the night before.  Kevin and Andy were able to get away and spend some alone time together.  They were able to get to know each other and talk about how Andy was feeling about the entire adoption and Logan’s future life with us.  Things also got more intense overnight and Katelyn’s contractions were getting even stronger, but she was not progressing at the pace that she needed to be.   It was a very hard and long day.  There were times things got so difficult that Kevin and I had to leave the room.  Her mom, dad, or Andy were always by her side.  Christy, Katelyn’s mom, has to be the best birthing coach that I have ever seen!  The amount of encouragement that flowed from her mouth was endless.  She was constantly rubbing Katelyn’s back or getting her through each contraction at a time. After trying all the options that were offered to Katelyn there was no other option but to deliver Logan by C-section.   The nurses were able to get it approved to allow both Katelyn’s mom and Andy to go back with Katelyn to be present for Logan’s birth.  This was one of the biggest blessings for Christy.  It was an emotional moment when we all found out she was able to be with her daughter.

Katelyn’s dad (Mark),  Katelyn's sister (Meaghan), Kevin and I all waited out in the lobby anticipating the big news that Logan had arrived and that everyone was safe and healthy.  It seemed FOREVER!  The time finally came when we were told that Logan was born and that they were back up in the room.  We gathered all of our stuff and headed to meet Logan and see how Katelyn was doing.  We were bummed that Meaghan had to head to work before Logan was born.  On a positive note she found someone to cover her shift and she was back at the hospital in no time.  Before Christy headed back with Katelyn I handed her my camera to get all the pictures she could of the birth.  Here are just a few out of the 100 she took! 

When we got back to the room Katelyn was still pretty much asleep.  Logan was all wrapped up in the hospital blanket with his little hat covering his head.  He was being passed around for everyone to meet and hold him.  Here is Kevin and I meeting Logan for the 1^st time.  He was absolutely perfect!  There really are no words to describe the feelings that were going through Kevin and my heart at that moment.  It was pretty much a moment that we had been waiting to happen for over 10+ years.  A moment that we would never have experienced if Katelyn would not have asked us to adopt Logan and selflessly allow us to be a part of this whole process.  Already during this entire adoption process Katelyn has put Kevin and I above her own wants/needs.  She has always wanted us to get to experience everything.  With Logan now born she still chose to put Logan and us first.   She chose to share her time with us and wanted us to be around for this part of Logan’s life.  Katelyn also realized that Logan would have an easier transition leaving the hospital and coming home with us by allowing us to be at the hospital the entire time.  I truly believe Katelyn set the foundation for our life long relationship with her and her family.  She has given Kevin and I the desire to want to meet her needs throughout the years to come.  We are forever grateful for Katelyn setting the example that we now want to follow. 

Meaghan with Logan

Katelyn, Andy, Logan, Kevin and I. What a special moment and photo.
Logan you are loved beyond measure!

Mark and Christy with Logan!

The same evening Logan was born Kevin, Mark, Christy and I decided to go out for dinner.  This would allow Katelyn, Andy, and Logan to have some much needed alone time together.  We had a nice conversation over dinner.  It was good for all of us to get away and talk about the past day and the future that was a head of us all.  The relationship we have formed with them is pretty much like a parent – child relationship.  They have been one of our biggest supporters along this entire process. We all want what is best for Logan and we have been able to be completely honest with each other while making life long decisions.  We cannot put a price on the relationship we have with them!

The following night was our night to hang out with Andy.  We spent the evening by going out to dinner and then to Babies R Us.  Andy wanted to buy a couple of things for Logan. We had a heart to heart talk over dinner.  It was really good to get to hear everything he had going on in his life and what his desires are for Logan.  We take what he said very seriously and plan to do our best at fulfilling his wishes.  It will be fun to get to share with Logan many details about his birth father.  We truly are happy that he made the choice to fly to Minnesota to support Katelyn and be here for Logan’s birth.  Logan was able to have both of his birth parents loving on him at the hospital!

Kevin and I were able to be a part of all the little details of Logan's hospital stay.  Below is a snapshot of our days spent with Logan in the hospital:

Meaghan made this small poster to hand outside of Logan's room.

Logan's first bath.

Footprint time! 

Christy and Meaghan at Katelyn's side.

Christy bought the book On the Night You Were Born by Nany Tillman.
She read it to all of us the night Logan was born.  She gave me
 a stuffed Polar Bear to take with me to the hotel every night
while Logan stayed at the hospital.  I then gave it to Katelyn when
all left the hospital for her to take home.

Logan had many visitors (from Katelyn's family) that came to see him in
the hospital. Here is Molly holding Logan. Kevin's
parents and one of Kevin's sisters (Tami)  even made it to visit. 
They enjoyed meeting Katelyn and
her family. Their visit was before Logan was born. It 
was hard not having my mom and Tom around on this
special day, but they will get to meet Logan soon. Why
does Texas have to be so far away! 

Logan's little hat, our wrist bands,

and the card that was on Logan's bed. 

There is nothing you can ever do to prepare yourself for the moment when you all go home.  We knew it would be one of the hardest parts of this whole experience, but we did not expect to hurt as deeply as we did for Katelyn and her parents.  We will hold on to the words that were spoken at the departure and will share them with Logan when the right time comes.  Even though it was an emotional goodbye we all knew it was not the end…it was just the beginning of our life long journey together!

Meeting More of the Family!

We had an instant connection with our birth family from the very first time we met them.   Each time we get together our relationship continues to grow.  Back in October when our social worker called to let us know that Katelyn and her parents wanted to throw us a shower for Logan we were thrilled!  Not only were we going to get to experience more bonding time, we were going to get to meet more of their family.  You would think there would be some form of awkwardness, but nope none at all.  Why would we expect any different?!?  Everyone was so open to getting to know us and congratulated us over and over again.  The generosity of everyone warmed our hearts and we honestly felt as though we have been a part of this family for years.   It was really special to get to watch everyone take the time to sit down and read our profile book.  (The book that Katelyn got to know us from and chose us to be Logan’s adopted parents!)  We enjoyed making our rounds talking with all of the family, eating pizza, opening gifts and eating cake and ice cream.  Kevin was even able to sneak away and get some video gaming in with Katelyn.  We truly enjoyed ourselves and left feeling overwhelmed at how blessed we are to have this family in our lives.  We are so thankful that we had the privilege to get to see first-hand the closeness and the amount of love they have amongst each other.  I SO wish my mom and Kevin’s mom could have been a little fly on the wall.  They would have been smiling ear to ear while witnessing the time we shared with our new extended family!

Katelyn opening the box we gave her to store all of Logan's letters that
she writes to him through the years!

High on Love

A full day dedicated to celebrating “ME”!  What girl would not want a day like that in her life?  A day like that has never even flashed through my mind. Until... Two of my loving and all around crazy girlfriends planned a day for me that I will never forget.   Since they were unable to make it to Logan’s shower they planned their own special shower to celebrate Logan’s life! We started out the day over at Kessa's house and enjoyed one of the most amazing salads I have ever had. (It has become a favorite in our house) A bed of spinach topped with strawberries, cantaloupe, apples, cut grapes, pineapple, nuts, dried fruit, feta cheese, and poppy seed dressing. YUM!!

As we were finishing up lunch they shared with me that we needed to leave the house to make it to our manicure appointment.  So, we moved all the dishes to the kitchen and rushed out the do or.  We left a mess for Kessa to clean once she got home for the night. Very hard for me to do!

When Kevin was looking at our pictures he laughed and said,
"Look at that crazy lady in the background." I told him
that was Kessa and he just laughed!

It has been way too long since I have licked someone!

Our next stop was Color Me Mine.  Kessa and I have been talking about going there together for over 2 year.  Finally! I honestly can’t believe we didn’t get kicked out due to Katie and Kessa being…well their selves!  We had so much fun.  We each had our part in making Logan’s frame.  It turned out perfect and was made with love.  It is sitting picture-less at the moment.  I still need to get a picture of Kessa and Katie together holding Logan!

After the hard work of trying to be creative we decided we needed a cup of hot chocolate!

To end this wonderful day we met up with our husbands at Chester’s.  You are always guaranteed a wonderful  meal  at Chester’s.  Can you tell that it is my favorite place to eat? We ate until it hurt to walk to our cars.  Literally! 

This all took place on December 13, 2011

Thank you Katie and Kessa for putting the amount of effort and time you do in my friendship.  I am blessed to call you my friends and SO enjoy living life with you both!