Emma is Here!

Well, we made it through the week last week. There's so much to tell, but I won't bore you with it all right now. The important thing is that Emma Jayne is here. She was born March 23rd at 5:58pm, and she is perfect. We love her more than we could have imagined, and we can't dream of life without her! She is a great baby, and we are honored that our birth mom chose us. Our court date for termination is April 26th, which seems so far away. We are confident that everything will go fine, but it's still a scary time. Please say a prayer for our family and for the birth mom's family. Hopefully I can keep up with posts and pictures!

The Big Day!

Well, tomorrow is the big day! I can hardly believe it's here already! I was eating lunch today at school when my stomach started doing flip-flops, and my hands started shaking! I haven't smiled this much in a long time! My face hurt by the end of the day! I will miss my students, but I can hardly wait to see our little girl. Eventually the little voice in the back of my mind will quiet down and not wonder, "What if...." anymore. It's still so scary because it seems almost impossible that someone we don't really know would give us the most precious gift.

By this time tomorrow we might just be parents. Or at least very close to it! Hard to believe!

The Final Days!

We are down to the final days! Our birth mom goes into the hospital Tuesday evening and will be induced Wednesday morning. I am officially done with school Tuesday, and Mike and I will go up to the hospital sometime Wednesday morning. I think the nerves really are setting in for both of us.

I'm trying to get some cleaning done, but there's so much school work to do too! I feel a bit guilty for being gone the rest of the school year, so I"m trying to get all my ducks in a row before I leave. I know I will forget something, and I hate the thought of that! People tell us to enjoy our time together while it lasts, but there's so much to do! I know it will all come together. And after Wednesday certain things just won't seem important anymore.

Mostly, I think I'm nervous. I'm nervous about whether our birth mom will actually be able to go through with it. I'm nervous about the birth father and the stress he's putting on everyone. I'm nervous about being a good mom. I'm nervous about dividing my time between baby, hubby, and work.

I'm also excited though! I can't wait to see her little face, and I can't wait to finally hold onto our daughter. I'm also pretty excited to see Mike's face and watch him fall in love with her. Only a few more days!

Emotional Times

Some days I think I'm going to get sick from all these rollercoaster rides! We heard from our caseworker this week that the birth father refused to sign off his parental rights. He was apparently a very different person than when they first started seeing him. The birth parent counselor was very honest with him, saying that lots of stuff would be brought up in court that would shed a negative light on him. He just didn't want to hear it. He even admitted that he was doing all this mostly for himself, not the baby. How selfish! We are being very proactive, however, and are gathering information for the lawyer that Bethany hired for us. He will represent us at all hearings and will be able to get the judge's ear. We are saying our prayers that all will go fine and that we will be able to keep Baby Emma in our home forever.

On a positive note, again on the rollercoaster ride, I am going to another ultrasound with our birth mom today! I can't wait to see our little girl's face, and I hope she is more cooperative than last time! We will also meet with the doctor and find out how the birth mom is progressing toward her due date. So many exciting and emotional times that are all part of Emma's story!

First Post

So I decided to start a blog, but I really have no idea what I'm doing! I thought it might be nice to have a place to tell our past story and our future story as it unfolds. Our past includes many ups and downs with infertility. Our future now involves a wonderful birth mom who has chosen us to adopt her baby girl who is due April 1st. The world of adoption is new and a bit scary for us, but I look forward to the challenges! I can't wait to be a mom, and I can't wait for Mike to be a dad!

I hope this blog keeps our families updated on news in our ever-changing world, and I hope to use is as a tool to reach out to other families created by adoption. Thanks for reading!