At times it's still hard to believe I'm 20 weeks pregnant! We are thrilled and wanted to share how this miracle came to pass. Most of the responses have been ... "That's what happens when you adopt, you get pregnant afterwards!". Well, it wasn't that easy AND a lot of women simply do not have that option. I know those responses were out of love and I have no hard feelings, but it has inspired me to write another chapter of this journey we've been on.
It's all about the Lord's timing and we know without a doubt that Madelyn was meant to be in our family, but just as importantly her birthmother and family were also meant to be apart of our family. Would this had happened if we already had children of our own? It's unlikely. We both feel passionately about adoption and hope our journey has helped someone feel it's not always a negative process. In fact we have reason to feel that it's usually the adoptive parents that make the process more difficult and harmful than needed.
While living in Connecticut, we had amazing insurance (it would have covered IVF treatments) and we jumped on the band wagon immediately to take advantage. We went through a few doctors and this past summer switched to an OB that was finally able to direct me to the right Specialist. At this point, there had been lots of meds and treatments that were unsuccessful. We would have had an IUI or IVF treatment a long time ago but the meds they kept putting me did not "jumpstart" my ovaries. If you know anything about getting pregnant you know your ovaries have to be functioning properly. The new Specialist decided to put me on a cancer pill they had recently discovered help women ovulate. At first I wasn't too thrilled about being put on another med, but while in his office a warm feeling came over me it was the right step. The first round was not successful but was successful because for the first time I was able to produce a follicle. With the second round of these meds, I had to be in the lab by 6:30 a.m. to get my blood taken to make sure we didn't miss my surge. I did that for 10 days. If I did surge, the plan was to do an IUI (Intrauterine Insemination). This is when they take "washed" sperm (your husbands) and directly inseminate into the uterus. By the grace of God, I was able to be inseminated on 10/11/12 (I LOVE cool dates!)! However, having an exact date to know if the procedure worked emotionally drained me. I barely did anything for a week because I was convinced my cycle was about to start. When the day came to take a pregnancy test, although faint, I knew it was successful! I didn't know what to say or how to say it but I got down on my knees immediately.
To make the day even sweeter it happened to be Cony's birthday. I quickly drew '1+1=2' on a wooden heart for Madelyn to hand him as his gift. I'm grateful I thought to record his reaction!
Words can not do our feelings and excitement justice. We know most of you have been praying on our behalf for years and we have sincerely felt them give us strength through this journey. We know how lucky we are to be able to carry a child of our own and to have beautiful people in our life!
Since moving and working more than I have since baby was born, I feel like I haven't had the time to cherish the little things in our life. Particularly the things our baby is learning and doing. She has changed so much in such a short about of time, I can't keep up. So I've gone back in my memory to write down a few little things I want to remember....
*She loves to unplug cords from the wall. It takes me way longer to vacuum than it should.
*Cony is the only one who can get her to sleep at church. I've tried and keep failing.
*Mimicking is her ner favorite game. Whether it's shaking her head yes or no or raising her hand. While at Nana's she'll lay with the remote on my mom's bed pretending to watch TV. Last week when she had a bad cold and we were wiping her nose 24 times a day- she tried to do the same to us.
*She'll bring me books all day long and I'll read about 2 pages and she's off to get the next book. She's slowly getting better about sitting in my lap and getting through a whole book.
*Our new night routine for hugs is her laying her head on my shoulder and patting my back. I cherish this because up until now she hasn't been much of a cuddlier. Even if it's only for one minute, I'll take it.
*She'll bring me her shoes and jacket and head straight to the door.
*Points to Gracie and any other dog and says something like "Daaaa"... still working on the g.
*Brought me her favorite book the other day and pointed to the cow on front page and said "maa".
Last night while Cony was putting up her chandelier in her bedroom and she was taking a bath, I caught her slowly sneaking her head up to see me. Her personality makes my heart full.
Clearly I'm way behind on keeping up with our own life. Before I forget the last two months of our life, I'm going back in time and documenting some happy moments.
We did something no human should ever do to themselves or their friends... moved the week before Christmas. Our Connecticut family didn't complain once while packing us up or loading our truck. One of the many reasons we call them family. We got to Georgia on Christmas Eve morning and stayed with my brother for a night until staying with my mom and sister for three weeks. Thankfully we found a place in the same neighborhood that fit our needs perfectly and allowed us to sleep in a bed and Maddie in her own crib. We both started work right away and we're very slowly unpacking. The move hasn't been the easiest thing we've ever done but with each passing day we feel more human.
Before we left Connecticut I had the opportunity to experience some Christmas Traditions including, Christmas Tree Lighting at a local green and a Victorian Christmas service at a local church. Have I mentioned how much I miss CT?
