Christmas is over...although we enjoyed our time with our families, it felt like it came and went so fast. With our sights set on the end of January, which felt so far away until yesterday, Christmas kind of snuck up on us and then left too quickly. But we did get a bunch of baby stuff and feel a little bit better prepared for Little Man.
We heard from the adoption agency yesterday, they wanted to set up our next meeting with the birth mother for next week and let us know that she is having some contractions. They assured us that this is normal and can last for several weeks before she goes into labor, but I have to admit, it sent a little bit of panic through me (which is why the end of January feels closer than it did before). The agency wanted to make us aware in case she did go into labor early. They also wanted to make us aware that our birth mother has expressed her desire to have me present in the room for delivery. They said we would talk about that in more detail next week at our meeting, but wanted to get our initial thoughts in case she did go into labor before our meeting next week. She is so awesome! I want so badly to be present for the birth of my child and now it looks like I will get that opportunity!
I called the lawyer today and we are setting up a meeting for next week to start the ball rolling on our end. He will be more helpful in answering some of the technical questions we have, so we are both looking forward to that meeting.
We sent out our fundraising letter last week. Since then, we have jumped to just over 50% funded! We still have a ways to go, but we are trying not to freak out over the numbers. God provided us with extra income, he has provided us with generous donors, and he will continue to provide.
Day care is proving to be harder than I thought it was going to be to secure. The person I had in mind is no longer doing day care. I received another contact from a friend and left a message yesterday, so hopefully I will hear something soon. We still have time, but I want to make sure I'm leaving him with someone I can trust. Any Mom's in the area can shoot me suggestions if they have them!
Tonight will be my first time doing baby laundry! Can't wait to pull the tiny socks out of the dryer!
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Friday, December 16, 2011
Match Meeting
We met our birth mother today and everything about today was awesome! She is smart, friendly, outgoing, mature and athletic. She seems to be at peace with her plan and said several times that she knows this baby is meant for someone other than her. God has definitely been busy orchestrating the events leading up to this on both ends!
Not only did she give us all of the original ultrasound pictures that she had, but she let both of us feel her baby bump and I got to feel our son move! She said she wants this baby to feel as much like our own as possible so she was going to give us naming rights. However, if we were going to let her name him, she was going to name him after a relative of hers that recently passed. Gus and I discussed it on the way home, and we are thinking about doing a combination of the two names. We want her to know that she will always be a part of his life, and this is one way we can honor her and give him some roots to his biological family.
We discussed the level of openness we would have and started discussing the plan for his birth. We are going to meet with her one more time, probably in early January, and will discuss the hospital plan in more detail. We did ask her what made her decide on us, and she said it was more of a feeling than anything else. She read our profile first and sent a text message to the pregnancy counselor right away saying she really liked us. The pregnancy counselor told her to read the rest and let her know if she still felt that way. So she said she read the rest of them and kept comparing all the others to us. When she got done, she still had a feeling about us that she didn't have with any of the other families.
We are so lucky to have been matched with a birth mother who is so mature and mature in her faith. Her family isn't supportive of her adoption plan, but she wants to be obedient to God and she feels this is the plan He has for her and her son. She has an 18 month old daughter, which she is parenting, and although she was excited to learn that the baby was a boy, she just hasn't felt connected to him during this pregnancy like she felt with her daughter.
Again, we are asking for prayers that everything continues to go as planned. We both feel really comfortable with her and are excited about starting a friendship with her. Oh yeah, we also found out that the actual due date is 1/29 instead of 1/22. So without further delay, here's our son's first picture...
Not only did she give us all of the original ultrasound pictures that she had, but she let both of us feel her baby bump and I got to feel our son move! She said she wants this baby to feel as much like our own as possible so she was going to give us naming rights. However, if we were going to let her name him, she was going to name him after a relative of hers that recently passed. Gus and I discussed it on the way home, and we are thinking about doing a combination of the two names. We want her to know that she will always be a part of his life, and this is one way we can honor her and give him some roots to his biological family.
We discussed the level of openness we would have and started discussing the plan for his birth. We are going to meet with her one more time, probably in early January, and will discuss the hospital plan in more detail. We did ask her what made her decide on us, and she said it was more of a feeling than anything else. She read our profile first and sent a text message to the pregnancy counselor right away saying she really liked us. The pregnancy counselor told her to read the rest and let her know if she still felt that way. So she said she read the rest of them and kept comparing all the others to us. When she got done, she still had a feeling about us that she didn't have with any of the other families.
We are so lucky to have been matched with a birth mother who is so mature and mature in her faith. Her family isn't supportive of her adoption plan, but she wants to be obedient to God and she feels this is the plan He has for her and her son. She has an 18 month old daughter, which she is parenting, and although she was excited to learn that the baby was a boy, she just hasn't felt connected to him during this pregnancy like she felt with her daughter.
Again, we are asking for prayers that everything continues to go as planned. We both feel really comfortable with her and are excited about starting a friendship with her. Oh yeah, we also found out that the actual due date is 1/29 instead of 1/22. So without further delay, here's our son's first picture...
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Everything Happens For A Reason
And it is much easier to see one year later, than in the midst of hell on earth. Today is the anniversary of our house fire. One year ago today, we were facing a lot of uncertainty while trying to stay calm and stress free as we were in the middle of IVF cycle #2. God has been so good to us in so many ways. Although our plan hasn't exactly matched up to His, I wouldn't change a thing to be overflowing with so much joy and happiness today. Emotions that haven't come so easy for YEARS!
For those of you who haven't heard, December 8th we received the phone call we've been waiting for. We have been chosen by a birth mother, who is due with our baby boy on January 22nd! I was actually traveling for work that day, and was at my destination by the time I got off the phone with our social worker. Having clients to entertain and host, I wasn't able to call Gus with the news for about an hour. And I literally paced the floor for the entire hour until I was able to sneak away and call him. And we have both been gushing with joy and excitement since. :)
We are going to meet the birth mother on Friday. I am excited and extremely nervous all at the same time. But I know we already have one thing in common with her, we all love that baby boy to death! Yes, baby boy M. couldn't be loved or spoiled more by his parents to be. We have done some shopping (had to use the discount card while I still could), I know others have done the same, and he is lucky enough that his cousin was born in February, which will give us the right season hand me downs. My sister has already donated some big baby items to us as well. I think Gus and I are going to go register this weekend, as I have already heard talk of some baby showers.
Did you catch my comment earlier? I'm done with job #2!!!! There was way too much stuff to get done at home that wasn't going to get done if I was never around. Plus, the difference in pay wasn't going to get us to where we needed to be. And, I wanted to be able to spend some time with my husband, just the two of us, before #3 arrived. I'm pretty sure God knew I was at the end of my rope with the crazy schedule I had created. So he threw me a giant raft and said, "let go." So I did. Before getting the call, my next blog post was going to be about how I was sick and tired of being tired all of the time.
We are working on fundraising efforts as money seems to be the only thing between us and little man. On top of fundraising efforts, we will be applying for grants and loans. But I'm willing to sell a kidney to get him home with us if need be.
Oh, and our training of hotel living has paid off! Little man is from out of state, so we will have to live in a hotel for a few weeks before bringing him home. This is where having 145,000 hotel reward points pays off.
January 22nd seems so far away, but there is so much to do before then. We are asking for prayers that everything continues to go smoothly and that all of the pieces fall into place.
Every Christmas for the past 6 years, I have wondered if next Christmas might be the first Christmas we get to spend with our little one. It looks like I won't be wondering any more...
So "Happy" House Fire Anniversary everyone! It was indeed a part of God's plan for us. And just to be on the safe side, I will not be taking any calls from Gus today. :)
For those of you who haven't heard, December 8th we received the phone call we've been waiting for. We have been chosen by a birth mother, who is due with our baby boy on January 22nd! I was actually traveling for work that day, and was at my destination by the time I got off the phone with our social worker. Having clients to entertain and host, I wasn't able to call Gus with the news for about an hour. And I literally paced the floor for the entire hour until I was able to sneak away and call him. And we have both been gushing with joy and excitement since. :)
We are going to meet the birth mother on Friday. I am excited and extremely nervous all at the same time. But I know we already have one thing in common with her, we all love that baby boy to death! Yes, baby boy M. couldn't be loved or spoiled more by his parents to be. We have done some shopping (had to use the discount card while I still could), I know others have done the same, and he is lucky enough that his cousin was born in February, which will give us the right season hand me downs. My sister has already donated some big baby items to us as well. I think Gus and I are going to go register this weekend, as I have already heard talk of some baby showers.
Did you catch my comment earlier? I'm done with job #2!!!! There was way too much stuff to get done at home that wasn't going to get done if I was never around. Plus, the difference in pay wasn't going to get us to where we needed to be. And, I wanted to be able to spend some time with my husband, just the two of us, before #3 arrived. I'm pretty sure God knew I was at the end of my rope with the crazy schedule I had created. So he threw me a giant raft and said, "let go." So I did. Before getting the call, my next blog post was going to be about how I was sick and tired of being tired all of the time.
We are working on fundraising efforts as money seems to be the only thing between us and little man. On top of fundraising efforts, we will be applying for grants and loans. But I'm willing to sell a kidney to get him home with us if need be.
Oh, and our training of hotel living has paid off! Little man is from out of state, so we will have to live in a hotel for a few weeks before bringing him home. This is where having 145,000 hotel reward points pays off.
January 22nd seems so far away, but there is so much to do before then. We are asking for prayers that everything continues to go smoothly and that all of the pieces fall into place.
Every Christmas for the past 6 years, I have wondered if next Christmas might be the first Christmas we get to spend with our little one. It looks like I won't be wondering any more...
So "Happy" House Fire Anniversary everyone! It was indeed a part of God's plan for us. And just to be on the safe side, I will not be taking any calls from Gus today. :)
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