[hopeful_mommy_2_B]

Hi everyone....I am super nervous....our first homestudy visit is on Tuesday(9-2-08)...a few days away...I am getting butterflies .....the agency only works with e-moms in and around the Houston area..where we reside...so I know things can go quickly but it can also go slow....I am not sure what to expect.what to buy...my mom wants to have a baby shower but I think we should wait until we have the baby..or at least once we get closer,(whenever that is)...any advice..how do I stay sane?...I asked for extra hours at work..been reading novels....Ahhhhh...this is so real now and the unknown is killing me already...how do you last??!!

[FatherOfOne]

I know how you feel. It is very stressful, but once its overwith you will wonder why you ever even worried about it all!!
As far as the baby shower goes, DONT DO IT!! It could be a horrible let down if something unfortunatly were to go wrong. We dealt with renouncing pregnancy announcements after miscarriages, and almost dealt with announcking a failed adoption, luckily it worked out.

We are now dealing with waiting for post placement visits, I hope it goes well, but know it will.

Best of luck!!

[blessedbybug]

Originally Posted by hopeful_mommy_2_B

Hi everyone....I am super nervous....our first homestudy visit is on Tuesday(9-2-08)...a few days away...I am getting butterflies .....the agency only works with e-moms in and around the Houston area..where we reside...so I know things can go quickly but it can also go slow....I am not sure what to expect.what to buy...my mom wants to have a baby shower but I think we should wait until we have the baby..or at least once we get closer,(whenever that is)...any advice..how do I stay sane?...I asked for extra hours at work..been reading novels....Ahhhhh...this is so real now and the unknown is killing me already...how do you last??!!

As hard as it is to do, I learned that you just have to keep living your life and know that each day is one day closer. There are so many unknowns in an adoption journey. One thing we did was buy something small for certain milestones, to mark them for what they are... best of everything on your journey!

[minibus]

For me, I didn't want a baby shower until after the kids were placed with us. We went through a miscarriage and a failed match and it was devastating it and of itself, and would have been triply more so if we had had to return gifts, etc. While we were in the process, I did a lot of research on what things I wanted to get (I love shopping!) - what kind of crib, what kind of car seat, etc. I did a lot of Craig's List-ing and Ebaying for gently used items that were less expensive and age-size-gender neutral. Many people don't want to furnish a nursery, but we did most of the basics furnishings because we KNEW that at the end of our adoption journey (as opposed to our IF journey) that we WOULD have a child. (Surprise, we ended up with two.... but that's a different story!)

Best of luck. I know that the wait is extremely difficult!

[hopeful_mommy_2_B]

thanks guys.....!!

[hopeful_mommy_2_B]

ok so I have had my first upset!!We had our background checks submitted and the agency got DH ss# wrong...they had to resubmitt it and now our homest udy was cancelled since we had to have both of our background checks done!!! How did they get the ss# wrong? On the application we sent it was written correct!!! I make copies of everything before sending it to the agency...now we have to wait and DH travels with his job so his schedule is crazy!!! I don't know when the results will be back and when we will be able to get this done...and then we have to still wait to get his fingerprints done since we had to do all his checks again!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Arrrrggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!! I knew there would be some upsets but I was like finally "ready" for this darn visit......

[sam&maria]

Just checking to see how things are going for you. We are also in the Houston area and we are just beginning our journey. Did you get your home study done?

[hopeful_mommy_2_B]

Originally Posted by sam&maria

Just checking to see how things are going for you. We are also in the Houston area and we are just beginning our journey. Did you get your home study done?

Hi...hope your journey goes well.....we are actually matched with a baby boy already...home study was done and approved in less than 2 weeks...this is a "legal risk" match since baby is still in NICU, he's a preemie, TPR won't be done until he is released......from the time we contacted our agency until match was 4 months.....How far are you in the process?....PM anytime