Daryl and I started the process in June by talking to friends and family who have adopted. We had our concerns-Could we love an adopted child like we would a biological child? What if the birthparents came back and took the baby? What would our family and friends think? How would we pay for the expenses of adoption? But, all of those concerns were put to rest. We met with an attorney in Buffalo who we really liked. He is not an adoption attorney primarily, but does quite a few. He loves adoptions and we felt that his views on adoption matched ours. So, the paperwork began. We had to write a "Dear Birthmother" letter. Talking about yourself is hard! We did our best to create a picture of who we were as individuals and as a couple. With the help of some friends and family who helped make edits, we are happy with the letter. Now let's just hope a birthmom likes it too! After that, we started meeting with a social worker to do our homestudy. This was a tedious process...lots of paperwork, making sure things around your house met their guidelines and of course a very detailed, in depth autobiography. We worked with a nice social worker who made the process smooth. Pheww...so glad that part is over! Then came networking. Because we are doing a private, domestic adoption, the networking is up to us. Sure, our attorney can get referrals also, but we really need to get the word out. So, we put together a website, made up business cards to leave in random places and emailed everyone we ever knew letting them know we were adopting. Now, we're praying that someone, sometime, somewhere will choose us!
We are so excited, but trying not to let it consume us (this is especially hard for me!). We are starting to gather some of the essential baby items in case we are matched with a baby quickly. Tracy and Brian only had a couple days notice before Matthew was born! Baby things are overwhelming. I received a coupon in the mail for a baby store so I was so excited to use it! I thought "bottles!" A newborn baby will definitely need a bottle right away. Well, I was blown away in the store by the number of bottles. Who knew?! Big, little, BPA free, this shape, that nipple, prevents colic, good for digestion....too many choices. I couldn't make a decision. So then I tried to buy a pacifier...SAME DEAL! So, I've stuck to onesies and bibs. I can handle that.
Thanks to mom who started buying baby stuff when I was in college, we'll be having a Noah's Ark themed nursery. I'm so thankful to have baby items from mom. I often wonder if somehow she knew she wouldn't be here when we had a baby. I'm comforted knowing, she'll have the best view though.
Sometimes I feel like I have pregnancy hormones minus the pregnancy. I am excited to be a mom one minute, discouraged that it will never happen the next, in panic the next day because I don't know how to deal with newborn belly buttons. I joke with Daryl that I'm going to wake him up in the middle of the night craving a weird food like pregnant people do.
So that's where we are at. We hope to have an update soon!
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