National FSA Conference

Just a reminder, the National FSA Conference is this weekend in Layton, UT. You can still register, there is a link on the right side of the blog. The conference is really a great place to learn more about adoption and is a great opportunity to meet other adoptive couples, or couples hoping to adopt. Hope you can come!

Adoption Story - Mike, Kira and G

We are going to start sharing Centerville family's adoption stories on the blog every couple of weeks. If you would like to share your story, please email Kira at mikeandkira@yahoo.com or at centervillefsa@gmail.com and we would be happy to share your story with the rest of the Centerville FSA couples. As this is just starting up, I thought I would start things off with my family's adoption story:

Mike, Kira and baby G, written by Kira:

Mike and I were married in the summer of 2006 in SLC, UT. We always planned on trying to have a family a couple years into our marriage. But after a year, I had a doctor appointment that put up some red flags about how it may be for us to get pregnant in the future. We decided to start our family at that time instead of waiting another year. Almost a year passed without any success and I had another doctor appointment that was devastating for us at the time. It was found that our chances of getting pregnant were very slim, and that if we did get pregnant, the chances the baby would survive were slim as well. Mike was more open to looking into adoption at that time than I was. I fought it hard, but in December of 2008, we both all of a sudden felt VERY right about adoption. We started our paperwork with LDS Family Services in January of 2009 and were approved February 27, 2009.
On April 29, 2009 our case worker asked us to come in to sign more paperwork. In my head I thought, "Seriously? MORE paperwork? Ugh!" Thank goodness I didn't say that to her! We went in to the agency that day and in the middle of talking to our case worker, the secretary came in with the cutest basket of baby things that our birth mom "K" made for us in order to make the big announcement:

When the basket was brought in, we were both completely shocked! It just felt too good to be true. I started crying and Mike couldn't stop smiling. We were told that K had chosen us, was due in November, and didn't know what she was having yet. The blanket she made us was blue because K just knew it was a boy. So did I!

We met K on May 16 along with her mom. We were so nervous to meet her! The meeting went well. We asked why she and "K" (G's birth father) had chosen us. She said it was because she asked her case worker to show her profiles of couples who were willing to have a very open adoption. Then when she had the profiles to look at, they thought that we looked similar to them. She liked that we did not have any other children and that we liked to travel, and G's birth father liked that we had pictures of us in the outdoors and camping. They both liked that in the pictures we looked like we were really in love with each other and had a good marriage. To clarify, G's birth parent's names both start with K. They were together when they chose us, but broke up shortly after that. We didn't meet G's birth father until August. That meeting went great as well.

We started to work on getting to know K better and she invited us to her ultrasound appointments. The day we found out G was a boy, we were so excited! We would've been excited for the baby to be a boy or a girl, but it was fun just to know the gender. During the 6 months that we were waiting for G to be born, we had a lot of fun getting to know K. We went shopping for maternity clothes, went to movies, dinner, got pedicures (just us girls of course, not Mike!) and we took her to get a maternity massage which she loved. While this was a wonderful time, it was also a bit of a roller coaster on our emotions. K never changed her mind throughout the 6 months, and never said anything to make us think she would. But it was still hard to be in such a vulnerable situation. We decided to put our trust in our Heavenly Father as well as K and got the nursery all ready. I even had a few showers before G was born!

On November 1, K text me saying that she was in the hospital with contractions, but they were sending her home until morning. We didn't get much sleep that night, we were too excited for our baby to arrive during the upcoming week! On November 2, 2009 Mike and I went to work as usual. At 9:00 am, I received the following text from K:

"They broke my water. You guys better get up here"

So we ran around like chickens with our heads cut off getting everything ready to go. We had a plan in place and everything packed prior to this text, but once we got it, we felt so unprepared and frantic! We drove the hour and a half to K's hospital and when we arrived we were able to spend time with her in her room while she was in labor. Poor K, she had a rough beginning to her labor and would not dilate. We played card games on the floor of her hospital room with her best friend B. After she was given the epidural, she was able to relax and G was born 45 minutes later. Mike and I were on the other side of a curtain when G was born. When we heard him cry, we both were overcome with emotion and just hugged each other and cried. K held G first, then we were able to go with him to give him his first bath and watch him get all of his tests done:

So cute!

We are so thankful to K that she allowed us to spend the first two hours with baby G. Mike and I felt so much love right away for our son. He was born at 4:13 pm and weighed 7 lbs 11 ounces and 20 inches long. He was absolutely beautiful and perfect! What a wonderful day!

That night, G stayed in our hospital room. We only got 2 hours of sleep because all we wanted to do was hold him and stare at him. We couldn't believe that it was all real, that we were parents! On November 3, at 4:15 pm, K signed the papers to make him our baby. We were in the room when she signed, and she was well composed and at peace. She said it was the hardest thing she has ever done, but she has never regretted her decision. We love her so much! G's birth father K came to visit at the hospital and loved how much G looked like him! He had signed a few months prior and was so supportive with the adoption. We really appreciate him for that and love him as well. We have many pictures of G's birth parents, but I don't feel comfortable sharing them on a public blog.

Taking G home was such a great experience. We were so happy that everything went through so well, and that he was finally home with us. We had prayed for him to come into our home, and our prayers were answered. We LOVE being parents to the cutest baby in the world! G is a happy little boy with such a sweet spirit and he brings so much joy into our home. We never imagined we could love anyone so much, but we do!

We were able to finalize G's adoption in May, and take him to the temple for his sealing in June:

It was a wonderful day!

To end this, I wanted to share a couple more thoughts:

- We realize that we were chosen to adopt G quickly. We are sometimes embarrassed to tell couples who have been waiting for this blessing for quite some time that we were chosen so quickly. But, I just wanted to say that the reason we were chosen quickly had nothing to do with our profile, or us. We know that G is our baby, and was meant to come into our home. Everything fell into place so perfectly, it was not a coincidence. If he would've been born 2 years later, we would've waited 2 years. It was just the right timing, but we do feel lucky that we did not have to wait too long. For those who are still waiting: Hang in there. Your child is worth the wait, even though it must be so difficult to be patient. I respect families who are waiting for this blessing, it will come!

- Open adoption is a blessing. We were hesitant to have an open adoption before we were approved. Once we attended the classes to get approved, we changed our minds. We put on our profile that we were willing to have a very open adoption. This has been a blessing for the following reasons: K has been able to move on so much more quickly and feel more at peace, we enjoy seeing K and sending her pictures, we know G's medical history, and G will always know why he was placed for adoption and that it was all because of the love his birth parents have for him. Another blessing is that K's best friend B has chosen us to adopt her baby girl that is due in September. K's friend B was very against adoption a year ago. She found out she was pregnant in January and said she felt comfortable placing with us because she knew us, and because she saw how good we are to K. If we did not have an open adoption, she would not be placing her baby for adoption. We were sad to learn that B was in this situation especially after seeing K go through everything she did with her pregnancy and placement. But we feel blessed to hopefully be welcoming another child into our family in a couple of months. We love having an open adoption. If you ever want to talk to me about questions you may have about open adoption, you are welcome to email me and mikeandkira@yahoo.com.

Adoption is a miracle. G is a miracle. We love him so much!

July Board Meeting and July Chat Night

This Thursday, July 8, we will have our second board meeting held at 11:00 am at the Centerville agency. All are welcome to attend. We are looking for volunteers to be chairs over our education committee as well as our activities committee. If you are interested, please come, or email us at centervillefsa@gmail.com. If these are not areas that interest you, this is not a problem. Please just come and bring ideas you may have that could strengthen our chapter of FSA. We would love to have you there!

Thursday, July 22 at 7:00 pm will be our next chat night at the Reed's home. The address will be sent to you in an email. This month's topic is open adoption and how to discuss and educate your children about adoption. Chat night is a fun way to meet other adoptive couples and learn more about adoption. We would love for you to come participate!

Thank you!