Still Waiting...

                                             


So since our last post we have been on a bit of a roller coaster.  First, we started on the nursery.   It's really weird to start putting together a room for a person you have not yet met much less know when you will meet them or even know if they are going to a girl or a boy!  Needless to say we painted the room yellow.  We started a registry at Buy Buy Baby and got all of the major things like furniture, stroller, car seat and we started stocking up on diapers and wipes.  Then our friends threw us a WONDERFUL fundraiser this summer that was so much fun and a lot of help with the financial burden of adoption.   Thank you so much to everyone that came and everyone that donated!  We feel so loved!  And a special thank you to Jeff and Michele Burleson and John Mullikin for hosting the event! 
After the fundraiser we were super hopeful to hear something soon but time went by and the phone did not ring, we did not hear from the agency at all.  We started losing hope that it was going to happen so soon and so we also stopped doing as much in means of preparation.
Then I received an email about attending a waiting mother's coffee.  It was on a Thursday night at the agency.  There was ironically no coffee there (which I was okay with since I don't like it) but it was really awesome to meet with the women and learn about them and their waits and hopes and also learn what to expect at the hospital.  For example, if we get a call that there is a baby I have 2 hours from that time to get to the hospital so that I can get my bracelet.  The only two people with a bracelet will be the birth mother and myself.  The bracelet makes it so that I am allowed to be alone with the baby.  Steve will be allowed to leave and go home if he needs to but I will be staying at the hospital for 48 hours.  They also prepared us for a mother that has a change of heart.  They said that if the baby spends 8 hours with the birth mother then we will all just leave the hospital because that's the red flag that she has changed her mind and the adoption will not be happening.  It helped to know what to expect but it was even more helpful to know that we weren't the only ones in this weird limbo. 
Shortly after the "coffee" I decided to text Sheryl and just ask her if our book had been given to any potential birth mothers.  I was just curious as to where we stood and wanted to get a feel for how long this wait may be.  She texted me back telling me that actually she had given our book out.  She said that a girl that was in school in Illinois was in town visiting some family when she went into labor.  She gave birth and met with Sheryl because she wanted to place the baby for adoption.  Sheryl gave her some books to look at and she picked us!  However, when Sheryl went back to the hospital to do her medical and background assessment the birth mother had taken the baby and went back to Illinois.  She had changed her mind. :(  Although it's hard to hear she changed her mind it was crazy to hear exactly how quickly it could happen!  That was motivation enough for us and we started more nursery preparation like hanging pictures and buying other décor and books.
Then we got a call that there was birth mom that had seen our book and wanted to meet us!  She had just moved into town and just felt that she wasn't ready to be a mom and didn't feel a connection with the baby boy she was carrying.  We met with her and we all hit it off.  Steve and I liked her and felt she liked us too.  After the meeting Sheryl called us and asked what we thought and we told her that we would love to move forward with her as a birth mom and that we really liked her.  Sheryl said that the feeling must be mutual because the birth mom wanted to have a second meeting with us.  We scheduled the meeting but as the date got closer Sheryl called and said we needed to change the date and time because the birth mom had to work.  We picked a different date but Sheryl said that the birth mom had just moved and had yet to update Sheryl as to what her new address was so we couldn't pick a location until she heard back from her.  The new date was rapidly approaching and we still hadn't heard anything.  The day before the meeting was supposed to happen Sheryl called me.  She said that she has not been able to get a hold her and that every time she called she would just get a busy signal.  I asked if it was possible that she was just out of minutes but Sheryl told me that the agency provided that phone so no, it wasn't possible.  Because they were just getting a busy signal sounds like she blocked them.  We will never know for sure what happened with her or why but we do hope that she is okay and that she just had a change of heart.  If it wasn't meant to be, it wasn't meant to be.
So, we are still waiting, but we are now more prepared than ever emotionally and physically.  For Christmas our families bought us a lot of stuff for the baby and the nursery is now almost complete!  And emotionally we have been on a roller coaster of highs and lows but it all will lead us to what God knows is right for us.  It will happen when the time is right, with the right birth mom and the perfect baby for our family.  In the words of our pediatrician, "Third time's a charm!"
Thank you to everyone that asks about how the process is going!  We are so blessed to have so many people in our lives that care about us.  Thank you all for your continued thoughts and prayers! 

Bri and Steve