If there were ever a time to use multiple exclamation points in a title, this is it!!!
We've kept the news to ourselves for a little while, but I'm ready to share my miracle.
Baby Girl Lucas is due on October 13, 2010. And we found out just a couple of weeks ago that she gets to be ours.
We're not even done with our adoption paperwork yet (it's being fasttracked, of course!). We don't even have our "please choose us!" adoption profile completed. And the agency we're using (LDS Social Services) is very highly subsidized by the LDS church, which makes it highly affordable compared to other agencies, which means there are 900(!!!) prospective LDS couples on the waiting list and not nearly that many babies, which means couples wait for 2 years on average to be matched with a birthmom. Our situation is going to skew those statistics just a bit, I think.
Here's the story.
I'd been sitting on that infertility post I wrote for honestly 2 months. I'd been thinking about writing about infertility for even longer than that, but I couldn't muster up the courage. But literally within 24 hours of that post going live, I got a phone call out of the blue from a beautiful, young mother-to-be who wanted to meet us. (And she hadn't seen the post; she didn't even know about my blog at that time.)
I had about three hours notice to get my house ready for the visit, and I'm eternally grateful for that, because had it been any longer, I may have been a basket case by the time she arrived. Who knows what I would have attempted to remodel in time for the visit?
You see, the birthmom is a relative of a relative. She's not biologically related to me, but she is biologically related to three of my nieces and nephews. She's my brother-in-law's niece. And I loved her the moment she showed up on my doorstep. Not just because of the unimaginable gift she has chosen to give us, but because of the courage and character she has shown through an incredibly difficult time in her life.
And to make it even more perfect than it already is, I have no less than SEVEN friends or cousins who are either giving birth or adopting babies within three months of my baby's due date. And even better, six of the seven babies are girls! (Did you hear that? "My baby"??? I've been waiting for six years to say that about someone other than a 105-lb. French Mastiff or a 45-lb. Olde English Bulldogge.)
As the events of the last several months have unfolded, it has become more and more obvious to me that there is a larger plan at work here. Whether you believe in fate (which I don't) or in divine intervention and guidance (which I do), it's abundantly clear that even heart-wrenching, difficult, grief-filled situations can be made good and right. I can't even begin to express all the tender feelings that are in my heart right now. We've been walking on air for weeks. And as every day passes, it becomes more and more real.
Isn't she adorable? (I know the pictures aren't doing the frame justice. It's hard to photograph behind glass.)
About the Frame
There is so much more to this story than I'd ever have room for on this blog, but I have to share a few more highlights. The birthmom, Anneliese, created the beautiful frame you see pictured above. She's a scrapbooker. (See? I told you it was perfect!) And my sister is an ultrasound tech, so she was able to get a beautiful profile picture of the baby for Anneliese to give to us. And this, of course, meant that my sister got the privilege of hearing our news about a week before we did.
Anneliese and the birthdad both arrived at our house for their third visit with us, this time to meet and get to know Jeremy. We had planned a game night (Anneliese's idea!), since games can be a great way to get to know people's personalities and temperaments in a short time. We played Catch Phrase first, girls against boys. (And the boys won 2 out of 3 games.) Then they had brought the game Balderdash.
While Travis prepped the game, I stood up to open a window to let more air into the stuffy room. "Oh!" Travis says, "Maybe I should go get our version of this game. This one's wrapped up all cute." Then I hear Travis pause, "Uh, Angie, maybe you should open it."
Inside the box was the gorgeous frame and three darling little outfits. I was stunned into silence. (Sometimes, for people who talk a lot usually, as I do, they showcase their strongest emotions by clamming right up.) My eyes welled up, Travis hugged me, and I think I was able to stammer out, "Are you sure?"
She said they were sure after the first visit, but they wanted to find the right way and the right time to tell us. (And did you catch that the box says, "Balderdash: the hilarious bluffing game." How perfectly poetic is that? See, you love Anneliese already, too, don't you?)
So, in about 5 weeks, I'm going to be a mother. Or perhaps less than that, if Baby Girl Lucas decides to make her appearance a bit early. And although the nursery's not quite ready and we still need to find homes for all the stuff we're moving out of our spare room, I'd be fine with that. After all, Baby Girl Lucas sure has taken her own sweet time to get here!
