Our Story, part 1.

On Tuesday, February 1st, after a 90 minute commute home - in what should have only been a 15 minute commute, I finally arrived home from work and tucked in to wait out the major blizzard heading our way.  We were slated to receive upwards of 30 inches of snow in the next 24 hours.  I was so happy to be safely warm in my home with my husband.  Further, we didn't have to leave the next day as we already planned on working from home on Wednesday.  Suddenly, there was a large noise and it felt as if the whole house shook.  M and I looked at each other, and each ran out one door.  Our roof had been ripped off of our house and was lying in the front yard.  After much checking, we realized that the interior damage was minimal, there were no leaks, our satellite TV was still working, and we were ok.  But, the drama!  What a blizzard story we would have to tell.

On Wednesday, February 2nd, M and I were hanging out on the couch, watching the news and working.  I was starting to feel sick, and we were still recovering from the drama of our roof being torn off the house.  When... the phone rang.  I answered it and heard, "Hi Amy.  This is Mary.  I wanted to let you know that you've been matched with a birthmother."  O   M   G !!!!  I think my response was, "Oh my God! Let me get my husband."  I put her on speaker phone and we learned the details.  Mom was young.  Had a son that she was raising and had previously placed a daughter for adoption.  She found herself pregnant and the birth father wasn't in the picture.  She was from our same city (amazing, since we were reaching out nationally), and was due on February 27th.  All of the other personal and medical information fit primarily with our dream situation.  However, we decided that we would think about it and call back later.  I called my mom and sister, and told them to sit down...we had been matched with a birthmom due in less than a month.  After about an hour, we called Mary back and accepted the match.  She then arranged for a conference call with the birthmom - E.  On that call E amazed us both, and she continues to do so.  Her first statement to us was that she didn't want us to think less of us because she's making an adoption plan - she wanted us to know that she didn't take this situation lightly and wasn't looking for the easy way out.  After some getting to know you chatting, we were closing the call and E said, "I want you to know what a blessing you are to me and what a gift you have given me.  Thank you so much."  Seriously - we were the gift and the blessing - AMAZING!

The lucky thing about matching with a mom in our same city is that our homestudy agency was also our placing agency.  I was so happy about that.  It was so nice to get to work with the people I felt comfortable with, and I also know how "birthmom" pro they are, so I knew that E would get the help and care that she needed.

We arranged to meet up with E the next week, and met her, the social worker, and her son at a local restaurant.  We sat, ate cake, and chatted.  What we realized is that we like her.  It is so nice to be able to say that.  As we were leaving, we all gave her big hugs and went on our way.  The next few weeks were filled with a few phone calls and text messages and a bit of anxiety as we waited for the due date.

More to come, but I leave you with a picture from adoption court...