We are leaving!

We have the okay from our case workers in Georgia to go ahead and leave.  Our plan is to leave this weekend.  The case worker who cares for the birth mother and baby is named Victoria and we had an update from her. She let us know that everything looks really good.  She does not have any 'red flags'.  The agency defines 'red flags' as seeing something that could indicate a greater likelihood of the birth mother backing out of the adoption.  Both our other matches had 'red flags' from the case workers.  We are so thankful that this looks like a probable placement!  During the birth mother's appointment earlier this week the doctor said she could start labor in the next week. This is also great news and confirms our plan to leave soon.  We will stay with Gary's sister and her family in Tennessee. They are only a 3 hour drive from the hospital in Georgia.  The kids are very excited to see their Tennessee cousins and it will be a special time for all of us!  We are so thankful for family willing to host us indefinitely while we wait for the birth of baby girl!  My hope is to update here as soon as we are settled.

Getting Closer!

It looks like the birth mother is having some early contractions and getting closer to progressing.  We are planning to leave at the end of next week, unless things progress more quickly.  Right now we are waiting on the okay from our case worker in Georgia before we make official plans on when we leave.  Our home study update was completed and signed off this week, so everything is falling into place.  I will keep up more in the days ahead as we find out more.  Very exciting!

Preparing to Travel

We had a wonderful talk with the new birth mother and she really wants us to be at the hospital when the baby is born.  She wants us holding and loving on the baby right after birth.  Because it looks probable that the baby will come early we are already planning to try to be there no later than a week and half before the due date.  Her appointment next week should give us an idea of if we should be leaving even earlier.

A little information on this baby girl.  Her mother is from India and her father is African American. Judging by the picture of the mother, this will be a very lovely little baby.  The case worker says the baby looks healthy.

Because of Georgia law the mother will have a 10 day waiting period after signing surrendering paperwork in the hospital and during those days she can take back the baby.  Please pray for our family, it would be really difficult to have the baby taken away and drive home without a new addition.  We know the risks and we are ready to take them for the sake of this sweet baby and the desires of the birth mother.  This looks like a low risk situation, but as our case worker said this morning there are no guarantees as to what the birth mother will feel after the baby is born.  We are praying that the birth mother will follow through on the adoption plan she has made.  We are also praying peace for our family during this entire process. The children are thrilled to have a road trip coming up and we are hoping to do some fun sight seeing during our time away.  We are very excited by this wonderful opportunity!

We are matched with a girl!!!

With so much joy we are able to share that we are matched again!!  Right after a fun day at a Pumpkin Festival we heard the news.  We have seen God give us so much grace in this waiting season even though it has been difficult.  The baby girl is due November 11th.  The birth mother has had some minor health issues and some drug exposure in early pregnancy. She wants us at the hospital and seems very likely to follow through with her adoption plan.  Thank you for your prayers and please continue to pray that this will be the final match and we can hold our baby in a few weeks!