I'm pretty sure everyone knows our story so I'll try for the short version.
I've wanted to adopt as far back as I can remember. It was just the way I was going to have my family. DH had never, ever even considered it. I was open about my feelings in regard to adoption from day one and he eventually came around to my way of thinking.
We started our adoption journey in August of 2006. Our agency advised us to post a profile online so I sweated over our letter, our pictures, captions, backgrounds, you name it. On 9-12-06, the day after or second anniversary, our profile went live online.
We received several contacts but never really connected with anyone. Then in January of 2007 one of DH's customers strolled into his office and asked if we'd be interested in twins. A boy and girl had been born to her friend the night before and she was firm about their being adopted.
We were in shock. We spent that night and the following morning just staring at each other. Twins! We were on our way to the hospital the next afternoon when DH's customer called to tell us the twins' uncle had decided to adopt them.
We were crushed. February was a blur of depression for me. We'd passed the six month mark and even though now I know how little that means, then it felt like forever. We had no prospects and had been so
close.
On March 25, at about 10:30 a.m. I was in the shower getting ready to take my sister in law shopping as a thank you for her help in spring cleaning our house.
When the bathroom door opened and my husband asked me what I was doing, I thought he was trying to hurry me up so I very sweetly told him I was finger painting.
He then asked if I'd like to go see our daughter. I thought he was joking and said something fairly off-color to him. It certainly was not a funny joke.
It took him about 10 minutes but he finally convinced me that DD's bgrandma had just called to say that she'd been born the night before and they'd found our profile online and chosen us to be her parents.
I don't remember getting out of the shower or dressed. I remember calling my Mom, I remember coming downstairs and seeing that DH was wearing his Guiness t-shirt while I sported my Martini t-shirt and telling him we had to change, we looked like alcoholics.
Then we were dropping SIL off at home on our way to the hospital. (She'd begged to go with us but MIL wouldn't let her take Monday off school, lol).
The next 24 hours was a sleepless, scary, terrifying blur that I remember in snapshots.
DH and I waiting for an hour at the hospital because DD's bgrandma was running late. Standing outside the hospital room door clutching DH's hand, seeing DD's perfect little sleeping face for the first time, crying on the phone to my cousin and best friend as she and Mom emptied out our local Carter's, watching late-night hotel TV while DH snored beside me, looking into the back seat a thousand times on the way home because
my baby was back there.
Seeing my Mom standing barefoot on our lawn waiting as we pulled in with tears streaming down her face.
Those first days were unreal and sometimes I still have to pinch myself when I think that this beautiful little person is my daughter.