Chad and Rachel Althaus

Updates

• Update 23

  

  Home visit complete

  February 11, 2025

  As part of the adoption process, we are required to have one home visit and 5 other supervised visits with our case worker before finalization.

  We enjoyed our home visit with our case worker this Saturday very much. It gave us an excuse to tidy and clean our home and allowed us to have some social interaction. We didn’t want her to leave HA! She asked questions about how things are going, and we were able to spend time reflecting on all that’s happened in baby N’s first month of life.

  Looking back, we are thankful for the extra time we had to bond with him in the hospital as Hudson demands much of our attention. It’s not as easy to bond with another kiddo at home- especially one who LOVES to talk!

  The next step in the process is to try to locate the biological father via the paternity registry. In most cases, if the father hasn’t registered around day 40 of life, his rights are terminated. We are nearing the 40 day mark. While it is highly unlikely that anything will happen, we do still feel a little nervous about it.

  Our next update will be a fun one as baby N will get to meet one of his biological siblings this coming weekend! We are all so excited!

• Update 22

  

  Hudson’s reaction

  January 26, 2025

  Hudson’s asked about and prayed for a sibling for a long time. He really wanted a sister so he could be like Daniel Tiger. When we got the call that we were chosen by a boy mom, Hudson said, “NO! It’s supposed to be a girl!” and was a bit upset about it.

  We discussed how some of his friends have little brothers, and he decided it was going to be okay. When we were at the hospital, Grammy and Grandpa said Hudson prayed for baby N every time he could.

  He wasn’t able to meet baby N in the hospital, but we did get to FaceTime a few times. Sometimes he was busy playing and had trouble focusing. Other times, he was fully invested in us and baby N.

  The Tuesday we got home from the hospital, Chad picked up Hudson from school while Rachel stayed at the house with baby N. When Hudson saw him for the first time, he was beside himself. He gasped and said, “Ohhh!!! It’s N!” He jumped around and was very excited. He was eager to bring diapers when a change was needed, and he really wanted to help hold and feed him.

  At one point when N was crying, Hudson said, “umm Mom? The crying is disturbing me. We need to throw him in the trash can.” Hudson’s always been very bothered by loud sounds (especially crying) so we were unsurprised by this classic line. We bought noise cancelling headphones for him to help him feel some level of control, but he’s barely used them. He will cover his ears sometimes, but he tends to either want to help him stop crying or tell us what to do to make him stop.

  Another cute moment was when Hudson looked horrified while we were changing N and said, “umm Mom? I think I know why his stomach hurts!” We knew immediately he was looking at his umbilical cord. Once we explained, he thought it was pretty cool. He proceeded to tell Grammy all about it. When it eventually came off and the bellybutton was revealed, he was very excited.

  Overall, he’s responded exceedingly well to this huge life change. He can sometimes struggle with changes in routine so we were intentional about slowly preparing him in advance for all of this. We were given some great advice years ago that helped. Example: if he asks us for something while we are feeding or changing the baby, we simply tell him “we aren’t available right now” rather than “blaming the baby” by saying “I can’t because I’m feeding N” etc.

  Rachel began using this line months prior as a way to help him get used to it. She found other little strategies to make the transition easier, and they’ve all proven successful. It also helped him learn to respect boundaries and become even more independent. He’s none the wiser now and basically has no frustrations or jealousy with N. It’s been pretty incredible honestly. Having the accountability of doing schoolwork with Hudson also requires us to have intentional time with him. We are thankful.

  Hudson still really wants a baby sister and keeps asking about “next time”. Adoption has blessed us so much that we plan to do it again. But we keep reminding him that it’s not up to any of us whether it’s a boy or girl whether biological or adopted! 🩵

• Update 21

  

  27 hours in the ER

  January 19, 2025

  Thursday night, Rachel noticed some slight chest retractions while baby N breathed. We took him to the pediatrician the next morning who suggested we go to Texas Children’s to get further evaluated for heart problems. Because we’re under supervision by our agency, we had to call DFPS to file a report on the situation. Adoption has all kinds of different elements to it that are vastly different from having a biological child, but every bit of it is worth it.

  We spent 27 hours in the emergency room monitoring him and getting a plethora of additional tests done. It’s still crazy to say that we were stuck in there for 27 hours!!!

  EKG normal and echocardiogram normal. Negative for Covid, RSV, and both types of flu. He was on a heart rate/oxygen monitor the whole time and all numbers were continually solid whether crying, feeding, sleeping, or awake.

  We concluded that he either has a random virus and is going to be well soon or his baseline breathing looks different than typical but is fine for him. He’s been sneezing a bit and coughs on occasion but nothing significant. He is a big time belly breather and has a uniquely shaped chest which also makes his breathing look worse than it actually is.

  We are so tired but truly thankful to know that he is okay. We hope to never have to enter a pediatric emergency center ever again but are so glad to live near Texas Children’s.

  Please pray that if it’s a virus it doesn’t progress. At this point since he was monitored for so long, the likelihood of it getting worse is low. We’ve had some amazing opportunities to practice loving on and bonding with this little one which is good for our souls. We pray that he will grow up knowing just how much he is loved by us. We’d do anything for him.

  In contrast, we’d been a bit hard on Hudson since coming home the first time due to exhaustion and being cooped up for so long. Going back to the hospital was a good time for us to reflect and reset our approach. In a way, we are thankful for the grace filled opportunity to try again. We are all better for it.

  Ironically, Hudson fell off his slide and hurt himself. He’s going to be okay, but we were concerned for a bit. He’s not one to milk situations so when he said it really hurt, we knew he was telling the truth. Grateful to be avoiding the ER with this one. What a week we’ve had!!

  Hopefully our next update will be all positive things. We haven’t had a chance to write down Hudson’s reaction to meeting baby N. It was so precious.

  Please continue to pray for us. This hospital bill will set us back a bit. We know God’s got His hands all over us. It’s all worth it. 🩵

• 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 sorrow. 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 seems 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.

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