Baby Hall's Story: Adoption Information Session

So, yesterday I shared our exciting news with the blog world. I am officially through my first trimester.

This is why I just kind of disappeared from the blogging world. I think this is because of the extreme exhaustion that comes with the first trimester, but I became very apathetic at the beginning of my pregnancy. I didn't care about blogging. I didn't care about reading. I didn't care about cleaning. I didn't care about doing anything creative. I just wanted to sit on the couch and watch TV. Now that I'm through the first trimester, I'm not as tired and I feel a little more like myself. 

In order to share Baby Hall's story, I have to back up and tell you where we were at almost a year ago. Lee and I had decided to pursue adoption. Our family and close friends knew and I had planned to share with the blogging world in March. So throughout the process, I wrote some blog drafts so that I would remember the process and be able to share it. Even though our adoption process is on pause (for now), I would still like to share our experience. 

This was written around October of last year:

We decided to officially begin pursuing adoption at the end of the summer. I began to do some research and had planned to do more while I was tracked out in September, but some unforeseen circumstances prevented me from doing too much.

I have read a lot of adoption blogs, done a lot of research on adoption, and I feel like I know a good bit about adoption. However, I didn't know where to START. I actually got a little overwhelmed just trying to figure out where to begin. So, I did what you have to do in situations like this-I asked for help. There happened to be a teacher's assistant at the school where I work who was in the adoption process until she got pregnant. She lead me to Mercy for America's Children which was actually an organization I had already heard of and was already following on Facebook. I'm so glad she reminded me of this organization. It is amazing!

I stalked their website and Facebook page for a while and then decided to use their contact page to let them know we were interested in starting an adoption. Pam Taylor, founder of MAC, messaged me back shortly after I sent my message. She let me know that there were a couple of information sessions coming up. One of them happened to be a day that Lee was off, so I told her to sign us up for that one.

I was excited because we were actually starting the process. The day finally came and we headed off to the meeting. Pam and her husband walked us through some hard statistics about the state of foster children in America. They also gave us information about the different types of adoption: international, private domestic, domestic through foster care. She shared how her organization has support groups for both parents and children. I think this was my favorite part. It's scary to think of adopting because that's not the "normal" way peoples start a family. I love the idea that that support is there to let you know you're not alone. We really liked what we learned at the information session and I felt my heart stirring towards foster care adoption which is not previously what I'd planned on pursuing.

On our way home, Lee and I discussed our thoughts. We shared our desires and our fears. We also decided together that we were ready to pursue this. We were going to begin an adoption with the Children's Home Society of North Carolina using Mercy for America's Children as a support system.

I got busy within a few days filling out the application. It was just basic information you'd see on any other application. We also had to fill out a brief medical survey and a form that allows them to check with social services to make sure we've never been accused of abusing a child. Within a week, our first set of paperwork was in the mail.

Then, it was the start of the hard part...the waiting. In the back of my mind, I was nervous that we would be rejected. I knew we had no reason to be rejected, but I was worried anyway. I tried to just push those thoughts out of my mind and go on with our lives as normal.

To be continued...