Pregnant....without a due date.

The title of my post comes from one of the adoption books we were required to read to become approved into the program called, "The Adoption Decision" by Laura Christianson.  The book discussed the "15 things you want to know before adopting."

My favorite part of the book is when the author describes how adoptive parents experience a "subdued pregnancy."  Most people don't even realize we are expecting because we don't show the physical signs of pregnancy.  I'm not nauseous, gaining weight around the stomach area, or crabby. (well maybe a little of the last one.... :))  Adoption parents labor pains are psychological, rather than physical. We have stretch marks on our hearts instead of our stomachs.  And as hard as it is to admit...I am pregnant without a due date.  And having experienced pregnancy first hand, pregnant without a due date sure sucks.

The weight seems long. I feel like we have been waiting forever and even though September is still 4 months away that month scares me because in September we will have been waiting a year already.  A lot can happen in 4 months, I keep telling myself that, but also the reality of not having our profile book shown even once yet in the 8 months we have been waiting is real and stares me in the face daily.

We're praying extra hard  that our "due date" approaches sooner than later.   

Prayers for "Baby E"

Asking for prayers for a special baby that we have never met but needs a good home. We were asked yesterday if we wanted to show our profile book to a birth family in California. They have an almost 5 month old baby girl up for adoption. She was born with severe Optic Nerve Hypoplasia (ONH). Patients with this disorder can have an endocrine abnormality and midline brain defects. She is also blind, which is a symptom of this disorder. There is no real definitive test that can assess for the severity of the midline brain defects and a true prognosis can only be made at around ages two or three. She was placed with a family for adoption when she was born and now that family is no longer able to complete the adoption process.

My heart breaks for this little girl and I feel horrible to not have our book shown. Who are we to turn this child down and be so picky? One of our children could have easily have been born with a disability and we would not have the choice to say "no." However, I have to remain faithful that this isn't our time and that there is a wonderful family out there waiting for this baby to join their family.

Please pray that Baby "E" finds a wonderful family soon and that family is able to successfully complete all her needs.

March updates

We're back! Our family trip to California has came to a close. It was wonderful and we can't wait to go back! I was hoping to come back to some adoption news but everything is still pretty quiet around here. We did get an update from our social worker highlighting what happened with the agency in March:

EXPECTANT PARENT COUNSELING PROGRAM:
They worked with a total of 4 expectant parents this month, of those:

*1 Expectant parent that is making an adoption. They have been counseling this birthmother for the past two months and she is matched with a BCS family that she knew personally. Due early May 2012*1 expectant parent that is still trying to decide if she wants to parent or make an adoption plan. She is due May 2012. She has been counseled through BCS for the past two months. *2 Expectant parents that are moving towards parenting. One counseled since January 2012 and the other began counseling this month
Births/Placement's this Month:*1 Birthmother decided to parent at the birth of the child*2 babies placed with BCS families (currently in legal risk placement) in the Month of March.
1-BCS-Plymouth family based on a profile book showing in January.
1-BCS-Plymouth family based on a profile book showing in February in South
Dakota.

Profile Showings:
*2 in Naples, Florida.
-Expectant family requested a family that had personal experience with trans racial adoption, specifically African American.
-Expectant parents were of African American and African Caribbean descent. BCS-Plymouth family was matched with the expectant parents.

So as you can see....stuff is happening....just not a lot!

There are now 26 families waiting at our agency in MN. Of those, 4 of them are pending placements. I was overjoyed to see one of the families pending placement was a family that was in one of our classes! It warms my heart to see people you have met and talked to get placed. Prayers for these families are they enter the final adoption proceedings. And as always, prayers for our family as we wait patiently to complete ours.