BABY, What a Big Surprise!

After what seems like forever on a crazy journey, we have decided it is time to share some wonderful news! Andrew and I are growing our family through adoption. After evaluating a lot of options,  we decided to adopt domestically - a.k.a. within the U.S.A. We began the search for an infant boy or girl a thousand years ago (or officially August 8) knowing that he or she could arrive in a matter of months, or years, but when the time was right, we would be matched with the right birthparent(s) and excitedly wait to bring home our baby!

To our amazement, on August 16, we received information about Birthmother (BM-E) that is expecting a boy November 13. BM-E and baby were both seemingly healthy, and although it was much sooner than expected, we prayed about it and decided to notify her agency that we would like to be considered by her. Then we heard nothing, for an entire week. 7 days. 168 hours. 10,080 minutes. It may not seem like much on a normal basis, but when you're waiting for the phone call or e-mail stating that someone has (or has not) chosen you to raise the child they are carrying, you become aware of each and every ticking minute. 

Then at around 3:30 in the afternoon on Thursday, August 24, I got a phone call. It was not about BM-E. The same agency had shown our profile (more on that later) to BM-K, and she wanted to speak to us and one other couple and make a decision before the weekend. With my heart racing, I called Andrew, and we agreed that if her situation looked like a match we should jump in. Within 30 minutes, we had gotten her information from the agency, and it honestly looked too good to be true, tailor made to exactly what we'd hoped to find. The only thing was that she did not know if she was having a boy or girl. Although we were open to either, Andrew was really hoping for a boy - as I'm sure most men do. Two hours after the first call that day, we were anxiously waiting a call from BM-K to see what would happen.

The call with her went really well. She is very sweet and smart, and she seemed very mature for her age. She has a realistic approach to her situation. She is young without financial support to take care of herself, much less a baby. As she says, this child is a miracle, but it's not her miracle. It's meant for someone else. As we were saying goodbye, she said she would make a decision by Monday and thanked us for our time. As soon as the call disconnected, Andrew and I smiled at each other. And then it hit us, MONDAY! That means an entire weekend of not knowing... here I go again counting the minutes. Friday afternoon when I left work, I posted to fb a prayer request for patience and the discipline to trust in God's timing. Before I got home, we got the call that BM-K had chosen us!!! And the icing on the cake, she had been to the dr. that day and found out she is having a BOY! 

One week and one day later we were on the road to meet this amazing person and get to know each other a little bit. We spent an afternoon with BM-K and her mom (BMM-R). It was surreal to say the least. There were times when we were each delicately testing the waters to see how much information we could get and/or give. And then there were moments we were just lost in discussion, almost forgetting our odd situation. She gave us pictures from her sonogram. This was something I wanted desperately but was too afraid to ask her to give me. At the end, we gave BM-K a bag of little things to let her know we appreciate her and are thinking of her. And we also gave BMM-R a Jesus Calling devotional to help her through this as she is BM-K's only source of support. We all hugged and said goodbye.

As soon as we drove away, my eyes welled with tears and Andrew held my hand. He knew exactly what I was thinking. He said, "Everything is going to happen exactly the way it's supposed to." 

I said, "What if..."

He interrupted me and said, "We cannot control what anyone is going to do. We just have to do the right thing, and in the end we will have the right baby. Even if it's not this one, and I want it to be, we're going to be okay."

I love that man. Thank you God for giving me a better partner than I deserve and a better husband than I could have dreamed I could have. 

Almost a month to the date of that first call, we are on track to bring home a baby boy in late November. We speak with BM-K a few times a week to get updates on her and the baby. Both are doing well, except for a really tight belly and some swollen feet on her part. 

We are slowly believing this is  actually happening. We did a baby registry today - fun but confusing! We both agreed we should have brought a mom along for guidance! We are contemplating names and figuring out a theme for the nursery. And mostly trying to figure out how we are going to cram 9 months of pregnancy planning time into the next 2 months! God-willing, we will figure it out. 

It should be noted that nothing is finalized in adoption until the baby is in our arms. Several months after that, actually. We thought all along that we would keep this all to ourselves until we had him back home with us. But what we have learned over the last few years on this long journey (I'll get to that later) is that prayer is what has gotten us this far. And if the prayers of a small group have gotten us here, we've gotta get more prayers to get him home! So thank you in advance for your support and prayers. We feel truly blessed to have been chosen for this path, and we are excited to see what lies ahead.

Baby, What a Big Surprise by Chicago