Our Adoption Story

For those who have been around a while I apologize for the repeat. I am linking up with Kelly's Korner and this weeks "Show us your life" is Tell Us Your Adoption Story. So here is mine.

My story starts with my first pregnancy. My baby girl was born back in August 2006. Her name was Madelyn Rose and she was born full-term after a very long labor that resulted in a c-section. Everything went from happy to absolutely devastating the moment she was born. She had very serious birth defects which were the result of a genetic condition called Pfeiffer Syndrome Type II. She was whisked away to the NICU while I was being sewn up. About 3 hours after her birth and a very negative CAT scan of her brain (she had very little brain tissue), Patrick and I made the hardest decision of our lives and removed her from the ventilator. We took her back to our room and held her until she passed away the next morning.

It was a very hard recovery process both mentally and physically and a year later we found out that we were expecting another little one. Around 7 weeks I started spotting and went into my doctor's office "just to be safe". I had an ultrasound and they could see no baby, just a mass of cells. Again the wind was knocked out of me and time just blurred together as we started talking about mutant cells, cancer and a D&C. I had my D&C on Patrick's 29th birthday and waited anxiously for the results. They came back in a couple weeks as a Partial Molar Pregnancy which is where 2 sperm fertilized one egg at exactly the same time. It results in 3 sets of genetic material which is why the cells went crazy. I had to monitor my levels until they went to zero and then we had to wait 6 months from then to try to get pregnant again.

We started trying again for a few months but weren't able to get pregnant and it was starting to take it's toll on me. There wasn't anything wrong with either of us and we were still within the normal time frame for the "average" couple to get pregnant but it was so overwhelming. We started to feel God's call to adopt. We both always knew that we would adopt, we knew before we got married that adoption would be part of our family plan. What we didn't know was the timing of when we would adopt. We thought it would be after we had our biological children, but God had other plans.

So, in September 2009 we submitted our application to adopt a baby from South Korea. We were open to some minor medical conditions so only 6 months later we saw our handsome son's picture for the first time. B was perfectly healthy but had just recently healed from a broken arm so he was considered to have a special need. We just knew he was our son and, after waiting the obligatory 24 hours, we excitedly accepted the referral.

The next few months were filled with a lot of preparation and paperwork and by early July 2009 we knew we were getting close! Early July was also the time where I started to feel a little off. I wasn't sure what was going on so I took a few pregnancy tests and they came back negative. I was a little late but we were trying to NOT get pregnant per the adoption agencies guidelines. The morning of July 9th I awoke early and couldn't get back to sleep. I slipped quietly out of the bedroom and took another pregnancy test. I sort of knew something was going on but was COMPLETELY shocked to see a faint 2nd line. I wish I could say I was overjoyed but my first reaction was fear.

We weren't supposed to get pregnant while in process and our son wasn't home yet, I was worried they wouldn't let us adopt him. I ran downstairs and called my mom in tears. She was overjoyed and I remember telling her that I suspected we would get our long awaited travel call that day. I'm pretty sure I woke P up at that point and told him our news. He was still home at 9:30am when our phone rang and it was our social worker telling us our son, B, would be escorted home to us in 3 days!

Brandon came home on July 10th and our son, Ryan, was born March 8th. They are a little over 18 months apart but arrived into our family only 8 months apart. It has been a wonderfully busy time and I wouldn't trade it for the world. My two little boys are my world and I love them both so much. For those who may be curious, I feel exactly the same about both boys regardless of how they became mine!

What's next for our family? I am not exactly sure. I would love to get pregnant again but would also love to adopt. God hasn't revealed his plan for what's next just yet but I know that, whatever He wants for us, He will provide a way!