So very blessed

I haven't had a moment to update here, but our wait has finally ended, and our parenthood journey has begun.

The little guy who's sound asleep in his crib right now was our seventh call. There were sevens all around us while we went through the process of becoming his parents; if seven isn't his lucky number, I don't know what is!

We had a feeling about this one right from the first call from the Cradle, our adoption agency. Not sure why, but we did.

He was placed with us June 16, and we arrived home June 27, met by his adoring grandparents. The first grandchild on my side, and the first grandson on Daddy's side - the prince has arrived!

He is a happy, sociable little (well, not so little - BIG for his age) fella, and we feel beyond blessed to have been chosen by his birthparents to be his mummy and daddy.

No news isn't always good news

After no bites on our profile in nearly a year, we had a call in February about sending out our long profile to a potential birth family. We agreed, and were as hopeful as always; sadly, we weren't chosen.

In some ways, this roller coaster is even more difficult than the infertility roller coaster, though physically it is certainly much easier. However, now there's someone else doing the choosing, rather than my body just not working right. To be "not chosen" can be very difficult.

Hmph.

It did spur us to update our adoption website and short profile; here's the new link. I like the way it reads and looks.

http://www.cradle.org/waitingfamilies/MarthaAndChuck/

How crazy is this?

The day after I last posted, Elaine called me to tell me that they'd gotten a call. Their little boy should be coming home in March. When she called to tell me, I dissolved into tears; I couldn't believe the weird timing of that post. I am beyond excited for Elaine and her hubby.

Someone asked me how I was feeling about it, implying by their tone that I might be feeling upset about it. Honestly? Nothing but joy and excitement.

Gotta get back to my knitting, so I have a blankie ready for my new "nephew." I can't wait to meet him.

Still playing the waiting game

Those two calls back in February/March are still the only ones we've had so far. The waiting becomes a little harder with every month that passes...keep us in your thoughts and prayers.

My friend Elaine is the one I turn to in my times of despair. I'm so grateful to have her in my life. She and I met the first day of freshman year, not roommates, but neighbors a few doors apart, and were inseparable from the get-go. Though she moved away for a few years after college, she moved back to her hometown, only about 40 minutes away, and we've picked up where we left off. We still finish each others' sentences. She, too, is playing the adoption waiting game, and has been waiting longer than we have. Not sure what I'd do without her.

Nothing new

Just checking in; no news on the adoption front. We've been on the waiting list for about seven months now. Keep thinking good thoughts for us. I know our little one is out there somewhere!

I'm out of school for the summer, and am not working this summer, so I'm hoping to get some work done in the nursery, in between visits from out-of-town guests.

Latest

I am a little sad, reading over my last post.

Since then, my cousin Wendy - at 18 weeks - lost her little boy.  She is doing as well as can be expected.  She had a lot of time on bedrest before it happened, and did a lot of thinking about the potential "what-ifs" that have, sadly, come to pass.

When I first learned that Wendy was in the hospital (where she was for a few weeks), I was completely overcome with grief, both with the idea of losing my cousin (she'd lost a lot of blood), and with the knowledge of what she must be going through.

I said to my husband, as I tried to pull myself together, "Well, that's it then.  That's why we went through some losses.  It's so I can be there for Wendy."  Someone I said that to thought it wasn't a very nice way to look at what I went through, but frankly, it comforted me.  It gave reason to what had seemed like a most unreasonable situation.

In other news - our own news - we've had a couple of calls from our adoption agency.  Two families have requested to look at our long profile, but ultimately did not choose us.  It's frustrating, and a bit of a roller coaster, but it's also nice to know that people are checking us out.

Threes

I have a bunch of cousins, but I'm very close to two of them.

Wendy and I have been very good friends since forever.  My mum and her dad are twins, so it's kind of cool that she and I are only 2.5 months apart.  She is the sister I never had.  We were quite different as kids - I was the girly-girl, she was the tomboy - but somehow, it always worked for us.  Funnily enough, despite wildly different tracks in college, we both turned out to be educators. We also share a love of cooking and baking.

Jessie is nine years our junior, so we weren't really close as kids.  She was generally off doing her own thing with one of our other younger cousins (I won't mention anything here about Jell-O fights in my grandmother's living room).  However, as she grew older and the gaping chasm of nine years shrunk to a small pothole, we all became closer.  Jess, too, is a teacher, and loves to cook and bake.

Jessie's four-year-old son is our godson.  We found out earlier this week that, come October, he's going to be a big brother!

Due to some medical stuff, Wendy's never really even considered pregnancy; the doctors told her years ago that it was unlikely.  She called me today to announce the stunning and wonderful news that she is due in September.  If you heard a lot of screaming and hysterical, happy crying coming from the direction of my house this afternoon, that would be the cause of it. When she discovered very recently that the exhaustion and weight gain was actually due to the fact that she's pregnant, and not due to her medical stuff, she was shocked to say the least. Talk about an easy first trimester - she never even knew!

So: Wendy's in September, Jessie's in October.  I know that so many of you are praying and sending out good thoughts for us, and we appreciate that more than you know. Please hope and pray with us that things DO come in threes.  We are wishing for our call, and that there will be another very happy little generation of cousins who are also friends.