“Our journey to parenthood was a long, painful one. Years of infertility left us with little hope and little finances to continue trying for another chance of our own biological child. After a loss of pregnancy due to a failed IVF cycle, we just took a break from it all, yet we knew we were called to be parents. So, months later while vacationing, we discussed and agreed that we felt certain that adoption is how God was going to grow our family.
It was all very exciting and we immediately began to interview agencies to find the right fit for us. A home study, endless amounts of paperwork, and four months later we were on our chosen agency’s waitlist. We began to prepare our hearts and our home for the day we found out we were active clients, because once you’re active, you can get the call anytime.
We became active on a Friday, after four months of being on the waitlist, and then learned about the baby that would be our son the following Monday.
That baby boy was born just four days after we learned about him. Yep, that fast. It was all so fast! Only our baby didn’t come from our agency, he came from an adoption attorney I used to work for years ago.
While working for her, I introduced that attorney to a friend who had just passed the bar, and wouldn’t you know that many years down the road, that same friend I introduced was the one to connect the adoption attorney to our birth mom, and in turn, our baby boy. Amazing! Everything I prayed for came true.
Birth mom chose to have a C-section and gave us permission to be in the room for his birth. It was all surreal. One minute we’re in the waiting room praying for a safe delivery and thanking God for our soon to be son…
And then the next minute we’re in the operating room anxiously waiting to see him for the first time. It felt like eternity, but it was only just a few minutes.
He was out, the nurses announced his birth time, and I burst into tears. My heart was so full. It’s going to sound cliche, and it’s hard to explain, but I loved him immediately. Truly, I did.
It was all a blur from then on. Temperature good. Skin color good. Oxygen good. Lots of blonde hair. 10 fingers, 10 toes. 19.5 inches. 6 pounds, 10 ounces. Then, they were rolling him in his bassinet into our room and I knew the moment I’d waited so long for was about to happen.
I got to hold our son, skin to skin, something I’d dreamed of for years. It was incredible. Being treated like his ‘real’ parents at the hospital was truly incredible, an experience like no other and one that I will never forget.
I immediately knew why we had to go through all those years of hurt, pain, and loss: without all of that, we would never have had this moment. We would never have had this baby. We would never have had our son.
He’s 6 weeks old now and he has stolen our hearts completely.
To those of you reading this that have experienced loss, pain, heartache, infertility, etc, I am so sorry. I feel your pain right along with you. But know that you are not alone. Know that people have been placed in your life for a reason. Know that things rarely go as planned but there is hope in the Master’s plan. Know that someday you will see purpose in this hard and painful season. Know that you are heard, and you are loved!”
This story was submitted to Love What Matters by an East Tennessee couple who wishes to remain anonymous. Submit your story here, and subscribe to our best love stories here.
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