Background and such...

Welcome to our new family blog! Tim and I are in the process of adopting our second child, and we felt the need to get rid of our old blog since it had quite a bit of identifying information on it (last names, locations, etc). So here we are! Let’s start at the beginning, so you know how we ended up here today!

Before Tim and I got married, we talked about how many children we wanted.... to which we decided 2-3. We also talked about adoption. We decided we wanted to have 2 biological children, then possibly adopt our third. This was before we had any idea how badly my body handled pregnancy.

During my first pregnancy I was diagnosed with Hyperemesis Gravidarum, which is basically severe nausea and vomiting. By 10 weeks I had lost 10 lbs and had a home health care company come out and teach me how to use a Zofran pump. I wore the pump 24/7 and had to reposition the IV location every two days to prevent irritation. By 20 weeks I had lost 20 lbs and had no subcutaneous fat left to inject the Zofran. At 22 weeks my doctor decided to have a PICC line inserted in my arm for daily IV nutrition, for the sake of my life and the baby's. At that point I hit my emotional wall.... Tim and I somewhat abandoned our house and moved in with my parents. Tim was busy with work so my mom took a leave of absence to stay home and take care of me. I can't begin to describe the physical and mental anguish I was going through. After 7 weeks of the PICC line being in one arm, the line "clogged" at the end going into my heart requiring a trip to the ER and a 2am PICC line replacement procedure to move it to my other arm. FINALLY, at 36 weeks I was feeling well enough to come off the PICC line.... so that was 14 weeks of not being able to bathe myself, not being able to leave the house after 5pm without carrying my 2 liter bag of "food" and the infusion pump with me, and being miserable! Then came the big day, time for my baby girl to be born!! After 27 hours of labor, Bug (as she will be referred to in this blog) went into fetal distress. Emergency C-Section, here we come! Praise the Lord, Bug was born as healthy as can be!! I tell you this, not for sympathy, but rather as a background for why Tim and I felt adoption was the best option for us going forward. Was Bug worth every minute of sickness.... yes!! Do I want to be pregnant ever again.... no!! Unfortunately, there is no cure for Hyperemesis, and doctors can't guarantee that it won’t happen again.

So God had other plans for us! We will have 1 biological child and, Lord willing, at least 1 adopted child! This blog is to document this amazing journey of grafting a little one into our family tree, and to give glory to the Lord for His grace, and for grafting us into His family!