Tuesday, January 26, 2010 started out as a very normal and routine “Mommy & Drew Day”. We all got up, dressed, and ate breakfast. Damon was heading out the door for the office when the phone rang. It was the doctor’s office calling to say that he did indeed have strep throat (despite being told otherwise Monday) and needed to pick up a prescription. So, Damon went and got his antibiotic and came home to work out of the home office. Drew helped me sort laundry and we headed to the noisy laundry room. While we were in there, the phone rang and Damon yelled down from upstairs “It’s Children’s Home Society!” ~ but, of course we could not hear him. Luckily though, as we went into the kitchen I heard someone talking on the answering machine and I thought, “is that Hannah?!” and I ran to pick up the phone...and got there just before she hung up.
We had just recently reviewed our Home Study, so I thought for sure she was just calling with some follow-up questions. Never in a million years would I ever have expected to hear what she said next. She said she had a potential referral for us. I said, “What?! Are you serious? It’s only been a month…” Hannah agreed chuckling and said this situation is highly unusual and that she’d like to go over the details with both Damon and I at the same time. Thank goodness Damon had strep throat and was just upstairs on a conference call!!! Hannah agreed to call back 45 minutes later.
Those were a long 45 minutes! We were so excited and happy…and in total shock and awe that we were getting a referral call just over a month after our Home Study. We wondered what on earth could move us to the top of the list. We pulled out our medical checklist, reviewed all our “yes” and “maybe” answers and prepared for the worst (that’s just what we do) and reminded ourselves that we don’t have to accept this referral. I got Drew all settled in with a video and we waited for the call back.
A little boy. Yet another August birthday. Weighing nearly the same as Drew at birth. Placed for adoption on Damon’s birthday. Birthfather as tall as Damon. Birthmother a tad taller than me. And, the birthmother requested this boy be raised Catholic ~ the sole reason we were presented this referral, since Damon and I are both Catholic.
We listened to all the other information and agreed to see the complete referral. We read through the entire report, looked at the attached pictures after resisting as long as we could (what a cute boy!!!), and quickly agreed that we wanted to continue to pursue this referral by sending the information to the International Adoption Clinic at the University of Minnesota for review (a standard next step). We requested a quick review so we could have longer time to consider the information that came back before needing to get back to Hannah with an acceptance or denial. While we waited for the IAC to get back to us, we spent the evening sharing the news with our parents. And, as fate should have it, I had my monthly phone date with my dear friend in Michigan that night too and shared the exciting news with her as well. The love and support that they all gave was positive and refreshing…and exactly what we needed to hear.
By the time it was time for bed, we checked the email one last time for a reply from the IAC. And, in less than 12 hours, we had a response. We had follow-up questions for both the doctor and the agency and took care of those throughout the day on Wednesday. Wednesday night, Thursday, and Thursday night we did our due diligence trying to educate ourselves and be oh so logical about this whole referral acceptance decision (again, ‘cause that’s who we are and what we do). But in the end, we knew from the moment we both talked to Hannah that this baby boy was meant for us. Logic only gets you so far....then you have to follow your heart. This boy was already growing bigger and bigger in our hearts and there were so many coincidences/signs just screaming to us THIS IS YOUR BABY. It was truly was meant to be…this baby boy…at this time. We have no doubts.
So with much joy and excitement we verbally accepted the referral on Friday, January 29th (Damon’s dad’s birthday).
Our adoption agency has a hotline for weekly updates in the program. It lists the number of referrals that come in; the number of acceptances and how long the family waited to get the referral; and number of travel calls received. I have been having some anxiety and guilt about being “that one family” that got a referral after waiting just over a month…especially knowing that there are families that have been (and will be) going crazy waiting months and months and month for their referral. I have struggled with the “why us” and “what makes us so special” to have gotten a baby so quickly. And then I talked to my friend Cas…she said it was simple…we have faith and God’s faith…and the right Faith for this cute little boy who so obviously belongs with us, in our family forevermore. So right she is!
Until next time…have patience as we search for our name for this little dude (or maybe just send me some patience, I am so anxious to find our perfect name for K2!)
