Rileigh Nicole Page

Photo Captured by Valerie Fisher Photography

Rileigh Nicole Page
November 2, 2015

6 pounds 14 ounces 18 ¾ inches long

Dakota and I have been parents for two weeks. I cannot begin to explain the miracle it took to make that sentence true. The story of bringing Rileigh into our lives is so special to us. We know many of you have questions regarding our story and I hope we can answer most of them. Dakota and I want to show you how incredible this adoption story is, but at the same time we want to respect the privacy of Rileigh. This is her story and we want to keep some things private. With all of that said, here goes the best story in the entire world! (I might be biased!)

Now, where to begin…the only date that comes to mind is November 4, 2014. On that day, Dakota and I received the news that would change our hearts forever. Our babies that we tried so hard to know were now with God and we were broken hearted. We wanted to know them first; we wanted to be parents! Fast forward to January 2015. We attended an adoption meeting and knew instantly that God wanted us to adopt through Bethany Christian Services. We just knew! God made His plan so clear, so we started this blog and the process to build our family through adoption. This year has been incredible. We have been blessed by prayers, financial support and encouraging words more than we every thought possible. We were able to save and raise 90% of our adoption goal before we were matched! That is so amazing!

Now we will fast forward one more time. October 25, 2015. On this day I announced to my parents that we would not have a baby by Christmas this year. Shame on me for thinking I knew anything about the plan that God was laying before us! The next day Dakota and I received a text from our adoption specialist asking if we could call her. Dakota was in a meeting so we had to wait. I thought the call was regarding paperwork so I tried to be patient. Finally, Dakota was out of his meeting and we conference called in. When she said that we were matched, I almost dropped the phone. She gave us a minute to talk to each other without her on the line and that was the moment Dakota and I screamed and couldn’t believe it. We didn’t know ANY details at this point. Nothing. Just that we were matched, but we were so overjoyed.  We called back and we were shocked again because this baby was due October 28^th! Two days. Two days! Oh my goodness. Dakota left work and headed home. We talked about the details that we knew until he walked through the door. We were in shock, hugging and just standing in the kitchen. We didn’t know what to do next!

We decided to face-time our parents and surprise them. Dakota and I will never forget the shock and emotion that went into those phone calls. As I write this blog I can’t believe it was less than a month ago!

One of the details we didn’t know at this point was if we would be parents to a boy or a girl. We had previously decided on a name for each.  We were on pins and needles all night thinking that we might get a call that baby was born early. Tuesday went by and we didn’t hear anything. Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday still no baby! Birthmom, who we will refer to as “K”,  was in labor from Wednesday October 28^th until Monday, November 2^nd! Please take a moment to think about that. Wow, we have an incredible birthmother for our baby! Monday, November 2, 2015 we got a call saying that baby was born and they asked us to guess if it was a girl or a boy. We both said we thought it was a girl and when they said we were right we literally ran laps around our house with the ugliest cry faces possible. Dakota and I were so thrilled!!

A short time later we were told that K asked what we wanted to name this precious little girl. (This part of the story gives me chills every time I talk about it). When we came up with names for our girl, we always thought it would be Harper. We had been set on that name for years, but about a week before our little girl was born the name Rileigh popped into our hearts. We told K that we liked the name Rileigh Nicole and she said that God confirmed her adoption plan again when she heard the name we picked. A close friend of hers referred to the baby she was carrying as Rileigh Jr when K was pregnant. She couldn’t believe that of all the names in the world Rileigh was the one we chose. Dakota and I believe that God placed that name on our hearts for a reason and we wanted K to be apart in choosing the spelling of Rileigh’s name. We love the way she chose to spell it and can’t think of a more perfect name for our girl!

The next day, Tuesday November 3, 2015 is when we met K and Rileigh for the first time. Going to the hospital was scary. We didn’t know what to say or how to act, but as soon as we walked into the hospital room God filled it with His presence. There wasn’t a single moment of awkwardness or any uncomfortable conversations. We loved K from the moment we met her and think so highly of her! She is funny, smart and very kind. We talked with K, her sister and her mother for two hours. It was so wonderful and we cherish those first moments with them. Holding Rileigh for the first time was different than I expected. I thought there would be tears flowing and I would be scared. Instead I felt a comfort so strong that I just knew instantly I was changed forever. Rileigh was the most beautiful thing we had ever seen. The instant love you have for such a little person is overwhelming. Watching Dakota hold his daughter for the first time was the BEST thing EVER. I want to relive that moment over and over. He is a natural daddy and is already so protective. My love for him has grown so much by watching him love Rileigh.

Rileigh was scheduled to go home on Thursday November 3^rd, but from the day we found out we were matched I kept bringing up how crazy awesome it would be if we brought our baby home on November 4^th. I didn’t really think it would happen because she was due on October 28^th, but it was just pressed on my heart. At this point I had never told Dakota that I prayed that God would allow us to be parents by that specific day. That had been my silent prayer between me and God for a long time. When we got the call on Wednesday morning that Rileigh was getting discharged, I could not believe it. God granted my hearts desire in such a powerful way. A day that would otherwise be filled with so much sadness was now filled with bringing home our healthy baby girl! How incredible is our God?! Our adoption verse has been Hebrews 11:1 since January and it has never been more true to us. “Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.” We have seen God build our faith so abundantly by granting us our deepest hope!

Our first night as a family at home was perfect. We were surprised with decorations and cute outfits for Rileigh and the next day we had family over to meet her! The past two weeks have been wonderful!