I know I kind of kept silent about our adoption on the blog and when I finally made the announcement, I didn't leave much time for people to digest it before we received our precious baby. So, in case you're wondering how the process works, here's how it went down:
In October we began with our first orientation meeting with the agency. Over the next couple of months, we filled out applications, created a profile book about ourselves, and interviewed separately and together with the agency. By early December, we had finished our homestudy, marking the end of the administrative part of the process. And so we began our wait to be chosen by birthparents as the adoptive family for their child.
Two months passed without a call from the agency and I finally got the nerve up to call the agency and get an update. I didn't want to be that crazy woman who was hounding the agency for her baby, but I thought two months of no contact warranted my call.
On Thursday, February 7th, I called Jan, the agency director, and asked how things were going. She responded with "Well, I would never call and tell you this, but.....". Basically, she told me we had been selected by a birthfamily, but she did not think that the birthfamily would go through with the adoption. She said she had been working with the couple for months and it really looked like they might decide to keep the baby in the end. Normally she would not call an adoptive family and share that, but because I had called her wanting to know how things were going, she decided to tell me. She just told me to keep praying for our birthparents, hoping that God would guide them to make the best decision for the baby. In the mean time, we were considered "off the market" for other birthparents choosing adoptive parents for their babies. The good news was that our birthmother was due February 22, so we only had to be in limbo for a couple of weeks.
At this point, Slik and I really had mixed emotions and we got down on our knees and prayed hard for our baby (if this was even really our baby). The next day, Friday, I called Jan back and told her we'd be willing to meet the birthparents even if they had not made up their minds up in an effort to do our best to convince them that we would be great parents for their baby. In the pre-dawn hours Saturday morning, I came down with a case of food poisoning. As I was lying in bed, Jan called and said the birthparents had a change of heart and wanted to meet
that evening. Not wanting to put them off, I agreed thinking that I'd be over the food poisoning by then. It was an anxiety-ridden day as I felt pretty sick up until an hour before the meeting time. However, with the help of prayers from friends and some Immodium, I was well enough to make the meeting.
Our first meeting with the birthparents went pretty well. I mean, there's no doubt that both sides were a bit nervous at first, but Jan was there to faciliate and once we got warmed up everyone felt more at ease. We talked for a few hours that night and Slik and I walked away with a positive feeling. However, when I talked to Jan the next day, she warned me that she was not fully convinced that the birthparents would follow through with the adoption. She said meeting us was a huge step for the birthparents, but when it came time to relinquish their parental rights, parting with their child would be very hard for them. It was really hard for us to guard our hearts and emotions while anxiously hoping that this was our child. Regardless, we continued to meet during the next week, and our hopes that the birthparents would stick with the adoption grew. Due to the uncertain nature of our situation, we chose only to share this news with family and close friends.
We continued meeting over the next couple of weeks and the birthparents kept us updated on doctor's visits. With each meeting that passed, we felt more and more certain that our birthparents were set on their decision. Jan also agreed and told us they were definitely working an adoption plan. On Thursday, February 21st, a day before our birthmother's due date, our birthfather called after their appointment and said that they were going to induce our birthmother that night! Apparently her blood pressure was high and since she was pretty much at her due date, it was time to have the baby. Thursday night passed with no news of the baby. Friday morning came and I decided to run a few errands before the baby's arrival. I'll never forget how I was in line at FedEx when I got a text that our birthmother's water had broken. I went home and continued to wait, trying to get some crazy last minute sewing done (no surprise there!). Finally around 4 pm, we got the call telling us to come to the hospital and meet our baby!
Here we are, getting ready to start on the biggest adventure of our lives - parenthood!
We walked into the birthmother's room where we first laid eyes on our little girl. She was quietly lying under the heat lamp, basking in the warm glow of the light. I felt with all of my heart that this sweet little girl, lying sleepily under the lamp would be our very own soon. In all the excitement of seeing our baby for the first time, I did not remember to whip out my camera and take a picture, but later on, I snapped a photo of her when the nurse put her under the lamp to check her out:
The nurse bundled our baby up and handed her to me. It was an amazing experience to finally hold her in my arms. We got a few moments to soak in our baby before the birthparents introduced us to their family. It was quite a whirlwind as we met sisters, brothers, parents, and family friends.
I'd like to think that this was my first time holding her,
but with all the craziness, it was probably more like the 2nd or 3rd.
I'm pretty sure this was Slik's first time holding our daughter
The birthparents allowed us to spend most of the evening with our baby and the nurses at the hospital were nice enough to find us a small vacant room so that we could spend some time alone with our baby. We stayed until around 10 pm and then gave our baby a kiss goodnight.
Slik giving her a kiss goodnight.
We spent most of Saturday hanging out with our birthparents and our baby. It was a nice and quiet time, and we treasured the time we got to spend with our precious baby and the people who were giving us this amazing gift. Of course, during all of this, there was still a small sense of uncertainty since nothing was final until 48 hours after her birth when the birthparents signed legal documents and relinquished their rights. We left the hospital Saturday night, very excited and unable to take advantage of our last night of quality sleep.
Cora holding Daddy's hand
Sunday morning, we watched church online and counted down the hours. We were texting our friends and family, keeping them posted on what was going on. Our Sunday school class was praying for our adoption and I'm sure there were many people praying when 2:43 pm rolled around and the signing began.
The birthparents asked us to show up at the hospital at 2 pm and we got to spend some time with our baby. We left the room to give the birthparents privacy while they signed their papers and the nurse gave us discharge instructions.
Slik, almost a daddy!
Afterwards, we went back to the birthmother's room and prayed together, packed up, and left the hospital together. Everything went extremely smoothly, thanks to all the prayers lifted up!
Cora, in her carseat
Ready to go home!
I can't really describe all the emotions of that day. The anticipation, the nervousness, the joy, the excitement, and later at home, the feeling of being blessed beyond belief. We woke up on Sunday, just the two of us, and by the end of the day we had brought home a baby, changing our lives forever! Our adoption was a bit of a roller coaster, but in the end, now that we have Cora home with us, I can definitely say it was worth it!
