Our Adoption Journey: August 2016

Jenny here...I realized today that when I gave a friend the info for our blog that it probably was due for an update after a long absence over the summer.

The past few months have been busy with lots of pool time, park trips, and fun with friends and family. It was relatively quiet on the adoption front until the last week of July when the agency in Texas we had our first match with told us about a birthmom due in a few days. We were on this agency's "priority list" since we had a failed match with them, which meant that they would call us with any last-minute placements or "stork drops". We packed up our suitcases and basically waited for "the" call.

A few days later, we got it. We hurriedly booked flights and a rental car, made sure that Bailey would be taken care of (thank you, Mike and Pat!), and rushed off to the airport. We were getting updates that our birthmom was in active labor and were hoping to make it there shortly after the birth. We knew we had a couple of hours with the flight and drive to the hospital to figure out the details - potential names (we didn't know the gender), when Travis could fly home to bring Bailey to meet her new brother/sister, and how we would tell all of our family and friends. We kept this match pretty much on the down-low, mainly because it was so last-minute and we were scrambling to even think straight.

Right before we left for our flight

LOTS of stuff for a 2-3 week stay!

We landed in sunny Shreveport, Louisiana, ready to make the one hour drive to the hospital in Texas, but as soon as we were allowed to turn our phones on, they started making all kinds of sounds. Both our phones had texts and voicemails from our agency in TX, as well as our adoption consultant. The birthmom had changed her mind and the agencies didn't have any other information. Another crushing blow.

At the time, it seemed almost cruel that we didn't even get off the airplane before finding out, but looking back, I'm glad we didn't make it even another step further into our journey to the hospital. We dejectedly got off the plane, went to baggage claim for our luggage, cancelled the hotel room and rental car, and went to try and find a flight home. After many delays, we ended up getting home around 2:00 the next morning.

But God...so many times we 've been able to say those words about our story. The Friday before we had flown out, we had agreed to have our profile shown to another birthmom in TX with the Christian agency that we matched with in March. We loved this agency because our case workers were amazing and we had hoped to work with them again. When we flew out on Tuesday, our profile book was taken out of the stack of families to be presented since we had already been matched with another expectant mom. When our adoption consultant heard that match #3 had fallen through, they called the agency and jumped through hoops to make sure that our book would be among those that this birthmom could look through. Two days later, we found out she chose us.

To say that that week was stressful would be an understatement. The sheer adrenaline of getting on an airplane when two hours before, I had been making plans to take Bailey to the pool, is crazy. Getting on an airplane that the Shreveport airport staff told us had been unflyable only minutes before, only to have everyone get off when the pilot didn't feel comfortable flying it ("Did anyone in the back feel that shaking? That's not supposed to happen.") - not really the confidence builder we needed coming home. But re-matching so quickly after a failed match, gave us a much-needed morale boost.

I feel like we didn't re-match quickly after March because we needed time to heal our hearts. When you physically hold a baby minutes after it's born and snuggle it through it's first hours of life in the NICU, only to find out that this is not the child God has for you, that changes you. We know now that it has changed us for the better. The pain we felt (and still feel) is not wasted but it is different than the pain we felt a couple weeks ago sitting in that airplane, both of us on the phone at the same time and then just staring at each other in disbelief. In the hours and days that followed, I felt such an overwhelming sense that God was protecting us from something. This is the same protection that I felt after we grieved our infertility. God knows what I do not and I get to feel at peace with that because I have felt His protection before.

So now what? We are still matched with an amazing birthmom in Texas (due very soon with a girl!) that we had a FaceTime call with a couple weeks ago. We pray every day for her and her baby and if it is God's will, that this is the child that will be our daughter and Bailey's sister, but if not, that God will be glorified in how we interact with this courageous woman and her baby. Like our other 3 matches, Bailey doesn't know anything about this one. We're hoping this is the one that makes her a big sister!

Please pray....

for our birthmom - for continued health for her and her baby, and for strength and courage during her last few weeks of pregnancy
for our adoption agency and adoption consultant's case workers - for continued energy to support families and birthmoms
for Bailey - for her heart while we're gone and for all of the change coming into her life soon
for us - to love big and pray bigger

We so appreciate your prayers and are so grateful to those that have walked alongside us these past 17 months. Here are some pics from the summer. Hope we have some big news to share soon!