Chad and Rachel Althaus

Updates

• Update 20

  

  We are home 🩵

  January 14, 2025
  Here’s the FULL story 🩵 We arrived at the hospital at 8:30am on Friday and waited nearly 3 hours before Rachel was called into recovery to meet birth mommy A and baby N. She was the only one allowed back, but birth mommy A felt it was taking too long and baby N needed to meet Rachel to start the bond ASAP. She is so kind and intentional and truly loves baby N. Her aunt was with her and took Rachel aside to thank her for giving baby N a loving home. It was another moment filled with joy amidst... Read moresorrow. Her words were incredibly touching. Chad and a case worker were finally able to meet him an hour later. We were given our own room and even got 3 free meals a day (each!) The awesome people at our agency also got us and birth mommy A some Chick fi A and Cane’s. Baby N spent most of the time with us. He is just the sweetest, chunkiest little bundle of joy! Our arms ached because they were empty for so long, and they are now aching (literally) because they are SO full! There’s a lot of him to love. We are overjoyed that we get to be his mom and dad. Birth mommy A spent several hours with him alone on day 2 and feels peace and confidence in her decision. However, it’s still very hard. She’s walking through a season of grief. We were grateful to speak with her, meet her brother, and hug her. We witnessed firsthand just how much she loves him. She was so appreciative of the time. She handed him back to us and told us “congratulations” while we all shed tears together. Birth mommy A didn’t give him up- she gave him life, love, and a family she knew could care for him in ways she couldn’t. She holds a special place in all of our hearts. Little fun fact- it’s best to say “made an adoption plan” rather than “gave them up”! Baby N had challenges with a fast respiratory rate but tended to settle when lying on our chest. As of Sunday, he showed some improvement but wasn’t able to be discharged. Rachel had a long and much-needed cry over this. All his other stats were totally normal so he did not need to go to the NICU. Our awesome agency reminded us to try to cherish the extra time with just him as we will never get it back when we go home to Hudson. It was helpful for bonding, too. Grammy and Grandpa Chris came by to meet baby N and bring us more clothes and Torchy’s Tacos. We had a nice visit with them which lifted our spirits. We were so eager to go home but were told first thing on Monday morning that we would not be going home yet again despite his breathing being in the normal range. He received a chest x ray and blood work which all came back normal. His breathing rate continued on a downward trend, and with the reassurance of the tests being normal, we were finally discharged on Tuesday by our favorite pediatrician- Dr Garcia. We prayed so hard for her to come see us, and we literally cried tears of joy and relief when she walked in the room. Our hospital experience was overall amazing, and we are so thankful for the amazing staff and especially the nurses who were all in kahoots doing all they could to help us get home!! We are so thankful to be home as a family. To say we are exhausted is an understatement. We are praying we will be able to feel some reprieve now that we are home. He spent some more time with birth mommy A before she was discharged on Sunday, too. She did terminate her rights, and he’s officially placed with us. However, our agency is considered the conservator until finalization in July. When the agency visited us after going to birth mommy A’s home to sign the papers, they brought us the sweetest wrapped gifts from A’s mom and aunt. They bought gifts for baby N AND Hudson. The agency said it’s very rare to receive gifts from a birth family. We can’t tell you how touched we were by that gesture. Baby N makes the sweetest newborn sounds and is just so precious. We hate to cover up his sweet face, but we will get to share his face, birth stats, and name once we finalize in July! We have many more things to share including baby N meeting Hudson, N meeting one of his biological siblings, his home visits, and more. We will continue to share the remaining adoption happenings through finalization. Please continue to pray for God to provide for all of our needs and to comfort birth mommy A as the first week is often the hardest. We are still blown away at her sacrifice. Choosing to carry him in her womb for 9 months knowing off the bat she’d have a c-section is truly brave. Words will never express our gratitude and admiration of her. We’ve been blown away by God’s provision thus far and are continuing to trust Him to provide for the remaining balance. We’re still waiting to hear back from 5 of the 9 grants we applied for. Thus far, we’ve only received 1. Despite that, this page has paid a huge portion of the adoption already, and we seriously cannot thank each of you enough. Baby N coming to our home was not possible without you. Our hearts are filled with more gratitude than you know.

• Update 19

  

  Not going home today

  January 13, 2025
  Well- we won’t be going home today. We are getting conflicting info based on which pediatrician is here. Despite him clocking in at 48 breaths this morning and having only 1 higher reading (68) at 3:30am in the past 24 hrs, she wants him to have a bunch of tests done and won’t release him today. She hadn’t even checked him when she said it which frustrated me. This is a photo of him getting a chest x-ray done. Doomsday thinking has me (Rachel) feeling like we’ll be here til he’s 8 months old. He’s continually making progress and overall... Read moreseems fine. I’m okay with having tests done, but this is overall discouraging. Pray for the situation and for our hearts to have peace. Also pray for my neck, back, and shoulders. He was almost 10 lbs at birth, and I’m hurting so much from holding him I’m a little shaky. Being so small myself is making it harder. I love him so much and am not letting it stop me from caring for his needs, but it does add a level of hard to this overall frustrating situation. Please also be in prayer for Hudson as he’s really missing us. He sounded sad on the phone today when I told him we couldn’t come home yet again. He said, “okay. I love you” in the sweetest sad voice. Broke my heart. On a lighthearted note, the little baby sticker we put on baby N’s face has given us a good laugh.

• Update 18

  

  Urgent prayer

  January 12, 2025
  Baby N arrived in the morning on Friday but is still having trouble keeping his respiration rate in the normal range. We really hoped to go home today but will not be able to. Everything else is fine, and he is not in need of the NICU, but until he consistently stays in the normal range, he can’t be discharged. Please pray for God to touch his little body and make his respiration settle. We are so thankful to have him with us, but we are so very tired and discouraged. We’ll post a longer update with all the fun... Read moredetails soon.

• Update 17

  

  Today is the day!!!!

  January 10, 2025
  We wanted to thank y’all for praying over our last requests. Not long after posting, Chad finally received the insurance info. Today is the day we get to meet our boy! We are currently waiting for baby N’s arrival alongside Sandi from New Life. As we reflect on all that’s happened to make this possible, we are filled with many emotions. Joy and sorrow are both felt. Adoption is beautiful, and yes, we are gaining a new baby. But our gain is birth mommy’s loss. Baby N also experiences this loss. We shy away from acknowledging that newborns experience emotions... Read morebeyond “feed me” or “change me”, but they do. Our biggest prayer requests are for birth mommy to feel comfort as she transitions away from being so close to baby N. We also ask for prayer for baby N as he wonders why the comforting voice he’s known for 9 months is no longer present. We will update again on Monday as we want to be fully present with baby N through the weekend. 🩵💙🩵

• Update 16

  Prayer requests

  January 8, 2025
  Good morning! We are anxiously counting down the hours until we get to meet baby N!! Chad began a new job on Dec 30 which means our insurance changed. We still do not have any info, and we need it not only for baby N but for Rachel as she has an appt with a specialist on Jan 14. She booked this months ago as the specialist is highly acclaimed and takes a while to get in to see. We don’t quite understand the timing of it, but it’s yet another opportunity to trust. Please say a prayer with us... Read morethat we have access to the insurance info by Friday. We are thankful he’ll be on birth mom’s insurance for the delivery. Please also pray for God to sustain or miraculously heal Rachel as surgery will need to be postponed for a few months due to baby N’s arrival.
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