Week 15 diary - We meet our son

Well, how exciting is this?! Last time I wrote, we were just at matching panel and had been matched with our little boy Jamie. Boy were we excited to meet him, but before that we had the planning meeting to go to.

Just before the planning meeting, Susan thought it would be a good idea if we had telephone contact with the foster carers. I spoke to Jamie's foster mum - she was absolutely lovely. It was so obvious that she loved him so much and that they both had done so much for him. She gave us such an insight into Jamie and his personality - we just couldn't wait to meet him.

I don't think we had much of an idea of what to expect from the planning meeting. We got to meet Jamie's foster carers in person and they were as lovely as they had been on the phone. We saw some more pictures of him before we got down to business and the planning of the introductions.

Two hours later .... yes two hours..... we were just about finished! There were so many things to consider, but we eventually got there! Due to holidays again, our introductions were due to start the following week. That was the longest week of my life I think!!

The day after the planning meeting was my final work-day for 6, or possibly 12 months. I'd decided to take holiday for the introductions, then to start Adoption Leave around the time we'd roughly planned for the placement date.

Nothing could have prepared me for the generosity and thoughtfulness of my work colleagues. I had cards and presents and my dear friend took me out for lunch. It was a truly wonderful day and I was very touched by everyone's best wishes.

I finally managed to get our Human Resources department to sort out the Adoption Leave package for me - it was a struggle, but I eventually complained in the right direction and they got their act together. It actually ended up with me printing information off for them on what I was entitled to in order to get some agreement from them in writing before I started to take Adoption Leave. We're not talking a little organisation here either! Mind you, at least I've paved the way for employees who adopt in the future!

The next few days waiting for our first introduction were nerve-wracking for us both. When the day finally came, we met up with Jamie's social worker who actually said she was nervous too, so that didn't do much for our state of mind I can tell you!!

Our drive to the foster carers home was the longest journey we've ever made and we were a complete bag of nerves and excitement. When we pulled up in front of the house, I lost total control of mind and body - how I managed to put one leg in front of the other and get out of the car is a miracle!

As we got out, I caught a glimpse of a little boy between the fencing on the front garden and heard a giggle - then in a flash he was gone. We made the long walk up the path to the front door and were greeted by the foster carers and then were introduced to our little boy ..... our son!!!

Contrary to countless nightmares suffered in the lead up to this moment, he stood there with the most beautiful grin on his face. He giggled madly then came with us into their living room where he first tentatively showed us some of his toys, and then gradually became more and more confident and we started to chat to him and play with him.

The foster carers and his social worker quietly left the room and there we were - just us and him - the first time our new little family was together!! It was a wonderful and strange moment - suddenly the enormity of it all struck us.

We just got a feeling of such love towards this little bundle of fun mixed up with the realisation of the responsibility we were going to have. All the paperwork, meetings, the home study and everything had led up to this moment - we were here at last playing with our son! The one hour introduction soon extended to two hours and we decided it would be best to call it a day.

He gave us a lovely big sloppy kiss and a cuddle as we reluctantly left. We just couldn't stop talking about him all the way home!! The only thing that worried us was that we just weren't sure whether he knew we were going to be his new mummy and daddy. We were referred to as our own first names, and weren't keen for this to continue, so from the next day onwards we were referred to as mummy and daddy.

On the third day, we had the real first mummy and daddy moment! The introductions were going fantastically well, and we were permitted to take him to a local soft play - on our own! Well, it turned out that Jamie was a complete expert at this soft play (unlike us novices!) - after some coaxing he was off and away, and soon up to the second level of the soft play area which was just over our head-height.

Suddenly, completely out of the blue, he started yelling at the top of his voice "Daddy, daddy, daddy...". Well, I bet any money that all the other parents there thought we were mad, but we both just stood there laughing and waving with tears in our eyes and lumps in our throats.

In fact, that moment will stay with me forever, even though not long afterwards he bumped his head and started running towards me shouting "Mummy!" Just the look on Tim's face at being called Daddy for the first time, was absolutely brilliant!

Of course, this is just the start of the introductions and we have a review meeting next week to see how things are going and hopefully plan the placement date - we're hoping it doesn't drag on too long, but is just long enough for him to feel secure with us. Time will tell, but at the moment things are going so much better than we could ever have expected.