Sunday, August 15, 2010

Emily & Nate's Adoption Journey


Nate and I were married seven years ago and after those first few years we decided to start building our family. We were able to get pregnant very quickly and were blessed to welcome a little baby boy, Carter, a little over three years ago. After his birth I had some complications with an autoimmune disease I suffer from. I was put on some new medications and was told that while I was on these drugs I would not be able to get pregnant again due to certain risks. After a year and a half of good health but no end in sight in taking the medication we decided to pursue adoption.

We got all our paperwork in order and got our profile up and running in January of 2009. I was in no big hurry to have another baby so we just patiently waited for the next nine months with absolutely nothing happening. After attending one of the FSA conferences we decided that we needed to get things moving and so we got set up on Parent Profiles in October.

We averaged about two contacts a month while on the site and had several interesting email correspondences with birthparents. But after seven months we started to wonder how long we should continue to stay on the site. While visiting my family in California in April I got the first email contact from our birthmother. She was having a little baby girl in a month and wondered if we would like to be her family.

I spoke to her a few times on the phone in the next several days and tried to get everything together. She was living in Pennsylvania and so the Maryland LDSFS office sent a caseworker out to visit with her that very first week. After that things began to fall into place.

As soon as I got back from California we headed up to meet her and her daughter for the first time. We had such a wonderful first meeting and her daughter and Carter really hit it off.

The next few weeks were a roller coaster as we waited for her to go into labor. She was often difficult to get a hold of and we were anxious all the time that things weren’t going to work out. She made it to her due date and so we headed up there for her induction. I was able to be in the labor and delivery room with her all the way and wow what an amazing experience that was. She had a difficult labor and ended up needing a C-Section. As I saw our baby girl for the first time at a whopping 10 lbs. 9 oz., I was completely overwhelmed with love for her and her birth mom who was giving us the most precious gift.



The hospital stay was a very special time where we bonded with Kennedy’s birth family. Her birth mom was so strong and we were filled with an amazing love for her and her family. Adoption really is all about love.

I stayed in Pennsylvania for a week while we waited for interstate paperwork and then was able to take her home. We had such an incredible experience and feel so blessed to have her in our family. We still keep in touch with her birth mom and hope to continue that relationship long into the future.

4 comments:

Esther said...

Your family is beautiful! Thanks for sharing your story, I felt the Spirit while reading it.

Cindy said...

Congratulations! Thanks for sharing your beautiful story.

Sheri said...

Emily,
She's beautiful! I was SOOO happy to read about this. : )
LOVE,
Sheri

Sara said...

I love the pictures and your story. Your children are adorable! Thank you for sharing this with all of us.