Libby’s Adoption Story

Today I wanted to share a little about how we decided to adopt and about my pregnancy and Noah’s birth and about Miss Libby’s adoption story. I hope you enjoy it and if that adoption spark is in your heart I hope this will help ignite it and help lead you to that babe that you are meant to call your own!

I have always known in my heart that I was meant to have children through adoption. I loved everything baby from the time I was a baby and nurturing and loving is my love language. It didn’t matter weather it was a neighbor’s baby who I babysat for, an orphaned lamb who needed me to bottle feed it or when I was a nanny to two precious girls, I loved them all as my own and they were all pieces to the puzzle that brought me to adopting. Before we were even married I told Fil @dad.ventures that someday I wanted to adopt, I wasn’t sure at what point in our life it would be time but I know it was part of our plan as a family and that God would show us when.

About a year and a half after getting married I became pregnant with our oldest son Noah. All I ever wanted to be was a mommy so this was a dream come true and we did nothing short of shouting it from the rooftops. For a few days I was feeling great and on cloud nine and then the morning sickness hit, but for me it wasn’t just morning sickness, I was sick all day everyday for the first 22 weeks of my pregnancy. I couldn’t eat a thing and threw up after every single meal. I had to move in with my parents so that my mother could care for me while Fil was at work all day. I was non functioning for months on end. Finally relief came around week 22 but at that point I started retaining fluids and ended up gaining about 50lbs in 20 weeks. I had high blood pressure later in my pregnancy and ended up having to be induced. My delivery went great and we welcomed our precious Noah at 6lbs 8oz on September 23rd 2008. Shortly after giving birth though things started going wrong, I was bleeding excessively and couldn’t stand up without passing out, I was immediately rushed into emergency surgery, I came out ok but had lost a lot of blood. I was able to go home in the normal two days but continued with some clotting which our dr.s assumed came from the surgery. When Noah was four weeks old I hemorrhaged unexpectedly and had to have an emergency DNC. Fortunately I had an amazing Dr. who was able to help get me through all of these issues safely but the whole experience was a difficult one for me. Through it all our Noah was the happiest and healthiest baby and I could not have been more thankful for that. Our Dr. informed us that I was totally fine to conceive more children and the chances that everything would work out much differently and better for me next time around were very high, but my heart was already being prepared for our path to adoption.

When Noah was about three Fil and I started talking about having another baby. I wanted my children spaced apart a little bit but now that Noah was getting more independent I was ready for baby number two. We discussed trying to conceive again for several months but my heart just kept being pulled to adoption. I could feel God calling to me to take the leap, telling me that now was the time to adopt. Adoption talk was hard for Fil in the beginning, he was not as confident in the fact that everything would work out ok, it was all out of our control and new scary territory. I wanted this to be 100% a decision we made together for our family though so we researched and talked and prayed for several months. After lots of prayer and consideration we both felt ready and on our six year wedding anniversary July 1st 2012 we signed the papers to start our adoption process! We knew that there was so much involved in the beginning stages but I made it my job to get through all the paper work and keep things moving along as quickly as possible. When you want something so bad you just have to work as hard as you can and that’s what we did.

Things seemed to be moving so quickly and yet in slow motion all at the same time as we signed papers, sent in pictures and forms and went through all the legalities of the process but I just kept hanging onto that moment when we would hear those few precious words “you’ve been matched” . These words are some of the most powerful words an adopting parent will hear and we were blessed with them in November of 2012 just weeks after signing with our agency. This was extremely fast and so exciting. Then came the waiting for her to be born, which was incredibly hard, I had no idea the feelings I would have now knowing that my baby was somewhere else thousands of miles away and I could do nothing to keep her safe and healthy until she was born. It was a very hard time for me but also a huge time of growth that changed me for the better in so many ways. My faith grew so much during this time and I learned to completely rely on God that he was watching over and caring for her and that His will would be done whatever that was.

After several months of waiting Miss Libby arrived and I got to be in the hospital room right along side her birth mama. It was such an amazing experience that I will never forget or take for granted. Watching another woman give birth to her baby and then giving her to another woman to care for is one of the hardest and most selfless things anyone could do. I have incredible respect for birth mothers for choosing a better life for their babies, one that they will never know. A second chance for their baby, the love of their life even if it isn’t one where they get to hold and love them.

Those next few days after Libby was born were some of the hardest of my life. There was so much uncertainty and her mother struggled with the decision to give Libby up. My heart was breaking from all sides during that time but I trusted that God’s will would be done and when Libby’s birth mother finally signed I knew for sure that she was meant to be ours forever! Everyone’s adoption process is different but one thing is for sure, the blessing in the end is beyond what you could ever imagine and the things that you go through help change and grow you to be a stronger and better person which I am so thankful for.

It is hard to open up and share these parts to our story, to be raw and vulnerable but I want to share so much so that others can be encouraged to chase their adoption dreams and hold on until their baby is in their arms. Adoption is far from easy but it is truly an amazing blessing that if you are fortunate enough to experience that you feel you need to share with the world so more people can feel such amazing love and joy!