The journey may not always be smooth, the path may not always be clear, but in every moment there is a memory waiting to be made. What we make of these moments is up to us.

Saturday, October 2, 2010

Day 2: My Child

"Not flesh of my flesh or bone of my bone
Still you are miraculously my own.
Never forget for a single minute,
You didn't grown under my heart, but in it." - Anon.

There are no words to describe the amount of love I have for Ian. He is our first "born" and hopefully the first of many children that the Lord will bless us with. The journey to Ian was incredible. It strengthened us as a couple, it strengthened our Faith, and it taught me a bit more patience. Again, I should start at the beginning.
I was diagnosed with Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome in highschool. I knew then (and was upfront with Drew when we met) that I may not be able to have children biologically. However it wasn't a fact I gave too much thought to until we started trying. Then, it was all I thought about. After trying for 2 years, we were unable to concieve. After much prayer and discussion, we decided to apply to adopt in December 2008. We were approved in April 2009. In May 2009, a friend of ours called us to say that she had met a young woman through her job as a social worker. This young woman was 5 months pregnent and had decided to put her baby up for adoption. She was having trouble finding a family. She asked if I would send our "Dear Birthmother" letter so that she could use it as an example. I did, without thinking much of it. 3 days later, I got a phone call from "K"- the young lady. She said she had read out letter and wanted to meet us. We talked for hours that night and most days for the next two weeks. We got to know eachother. I told her all about us. Finally, the day before Mother's Day 2009, we went to meet face to face. And that is when we "saw" Ian for the first time.

We met at Applebees in Conchord Mills. After talking for an hour about details and such, K told us that she had decided we were the family to adopt her son. Then, she slid an envelope across the table and said, "Meet you son." Instantly, Drew and I both had tears in our eyes. We opened the envelope and saw ultrasound photos. There, in a black and white blur, was our son. There was a profile shot of him sucking his thumb and I knew I was in love.

The next 4 months were spent talking, driving to Charlotte for visits, dealing with lawyers, and waiting. I had programmed K's ringtone in my phone as Dave Matthew's "American Baby". Starting in late August, anytime I heard the ring my heart skipped a few beats. September 15 started off like normal. Drew left for work around 545 am and I stayed in bed. I had just fallen asleep when "American Baby" echoed through our room. K was on the other end telling me to get up to Charlotte b/c she was going to the hospital. I jumped out of bed, called Drew, grabbed our bag (prepacked of course), called work, called Mom and Dad, called his mom and dad, called our housesitter. By the time Drew got home from work, I had our bags in my car, I was showered, dressed, and waiting in the driveway. He jumped in and we were off. We rushed up, met our friend AJ (who introduced us to K) who led us to the hospital. We saw K, who was only up for visitors for a bit. We sat down in the waiting room at 9am to begin our wait.

And boy did we wait. I paced a hole in that waiting room.. Around 845 pm, the docs and nurses were buzzing in and out of K's room. And we waited.....waited......waited...At 10pm a nurse came out to tell us that at 901pm Ian was born. Happy and healthy and huge! 9lbs 7 oz and 21.75 inches. She asked for me and placed a bracelet on my wrist. She said that K and I were the only two who could call for him from the nursery. Then she took us to a little room to wait to meet him before he was taken to the nursery. We waited, with our parents, in silence. And suddenly there he was. My beautiful baby boy. I knew then and there that I would love him forever. God had tied our hearts together and there was no doubt he was our son.





Since the moment he was placed in our arms, it has been a blur of love, smiles, tears (happy mostly), and adventure. Now our little man is one, walking, trying to talk, and exploring the world. He is the center of ours. Our little family is amazing. We wouldn't changed a thing...well, except maybe to expand to a family of 4. Maybe in 2011??



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