Skip to main content

A Match!

On Saturday, August 27, I was 8 hours from home in an Old Navy in Indianapolis buying jeans and a shirt to wear to the Colts' game that night. I was there for work to record a TV spot the next day with a Colts' player  . . . I stay on the back side of the camera, ha. I had driven the last half of our trip that day, so I hadn't checked my phone in about 4 hours. I decided I should check my email while there in line. Since it was a Saturday I wasn't expecting much, but I had an email from our agency about an opportunity to be shown. This wasn't this first time to see one of these emails; some we said yes to but the birth family chose someone else, others we said no to because we weren't 100% certain with the situation presented. So I glanced through the email, forwarded to M, and sent him a text to check his email. Nothing out of the norm. Since it was time to pay, I decided I would look at it in a bit once my coworker and I got to dinner and a little more settled.

Easier said than done.

Throughout the mall I kept opening the email looking over the little bit of information I had. At some point in all of this I was texting M to see if there was anything about the opportunity that didn't sit well with him and I also noticed the birth mom's mom's name . . . it was also my mom's name. When I saw that, my heart skipped a bit. My mom's name isn't very common and I hadn't really seen it since she passed last year. I felt an immediate connection to this birth mom, not to mention her first name is also my middle name.

Still wanting to read through everything thoroughly, I waited until we got to dinner to discuss it with my co-worker. There were no red flags in this opportunity that we had seen in the others, the only concern being the revocation time period after BM signs. As we sat at that restaurant, my song for our adopted baby came on . . . "A Thousand Years" by Christina Perri. And at that point I realized we were sitting on Georgia Street; Georgia the name we have had picked out for 4 years. It all seemed like it was meant to be. But, I didn't want to jump to a decision in just a short amount of time, even though we only had 36 hours to let them know if we wanted to be shown.

After dinner we walked back to our hotel and then to the Colts game. While at the game I couldn't help but think about this opportunity in front of us. So, I asked M once more what his thoughts were, why was I letting the revocation period be the only thing to hold me back? And with that I emailed our agency back to tell them we would like to be shown. At this point I decided I wouldn't tell anyone that we had agreed to be shown except for the co-worker I was with. Instead, I did some praying.

Fast forward six days, I hadn't heard anything from our agency in terms of when profiles were being shown and when the birth parents planned to make a decision since the baby wasn't due for 3 more months. So I decided to send them an email. Since it was Labor Day weekend I didn't plan to get a response that day, and I didn't. Four days letter we got an email that said they really liked our profile, but our worker wasn't sure when they would make a decision but she would ask for  me.

Two hours later on September 6. we got THE call! This birth family picked us! I know my heart stopped when I saw the agency name on my phone. This was the first time they had called me in the almost two years since we have been waiting. But, here it was. We were matched. We had 48 hours to turn around our paperwork and our money if we were still in. Were we still in?? YES!! So I called M to tell him and he said multiple times, "Is this real?" We were both in shock!

Two days later on Thursday we got an email from the birth parent coordinator that said the birth mom wanted to have a call with us. What?! So soon, but yes let's talk. So on Friday we had about a 30 minute call with the birth mom that went so, so well. It was slow, easy conversation. She said she wants us in the room when she has the baby and is so thankful for us.

Are you kidding? We are so thankful for you. You are changing our lives in a way no one else can. How could we ever repay you? I don't think we can ever express our gratitude enough.

And so, here we are, Cautiously and excitedly expecting to bring home our long awaited baby in December of 2016!

Comments

  1. No way. No freaking way. I'm in tears for you!!! This is incredible and wonderful and exciting and gah! I can't believe you are matched. I'm am looking forward to hearing more!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I've been following you for a while now with hope in my heart for you both. Please keep the updates coming as things like this are part of the beauty in the world!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Baby Sully

Fifteen days after my last blog post, you know the one 10 months ago, we were supposed to have a call with our adoption agency to hit pause and take a break. After 3 failed matches we needed time to heal before jumping back in. That day, November 14,  I was at work when our social worker's number popped up on my phone. I was in the middle of a work project so thought I would just call her back later. I was putting off having the call to go inactive as long as possible. Because as much as we needed to heal, my heart also broke at the thought of missing out on the baby that was meant to be ours. Less than 10 minutes later the agency number popped up, so I decided to answer and let them know we could chat later in the day. I was not expecting the words on the other end of the phone. "Ashley, we have a healthy baby boy who was born two days ago. He is ready to be discharged from the hospital, and his birth mom has chosen you to be his parents. If you want to proceed you need t

Finalization Day

Finalization day was so special for us, so we invited along one of my dearest friends who is also a photographer to capture the day. This friend has been there for us every step of the way, not only as a friend but also capturing our special moments. When the judge announced that he granted the adoption and name change to be officially Benton, I about lost it. That is until Benton let out the cutest squeal of excitement. I think he was excited it was official as well!  These pictures were too cute not to share. So, here are a few from finalization day!

Gone

Well guys, 8 weeks we were matched this time. But now we are back to being a waiting family. I honestly don't know where to start with this one. The last few days have been a whirlwind. On Tuesday (5 days ago) the birth mom texted that she was having contractions and going to the hospital. Being 28 weeks pregnant, I assumed it was Braxton Hicks. Not long after that text, less than hour, our agency called. I assumed they were just telling me the same news. Instead they were telling me they were going to send over the records from the birth mom's last two appointments, but also that there was a note on the records about there being a pregnancy complication related to the baby being at high risk for a lifelong disability/disabilities. The agency said to hold tight until she could get back to the doctor and go under more testing. Less than hour after that called, the birth mom's mom called me and said they couldn't stop contractions and she was dilated 7cm. Baby was com