We are beyond thrilled to announce we will be adopting our first child!
This has been a long journey for us, including a disrupted match, but our wait is over and our prayers have been answered! We have been matched and our son will arrive on 7/14/2023!
We unfortunately found out we could not naturally conceive over 4 years ago, due to Frank's childhood Leukemia, and decided adoption was the right choice for us. As many of you may or may not know, adoption can be very expensive. Initial fees from agency, annual fees to keep records/clearances current, and fees once matched can total anywhere from $35,000-$75,000. Further more, in a case of failed adoption, you may not be able to retrieve any funds.
Our son will be born via a scheduled c-section at 36 weeks due to various risk factors with his birth mother. We are anticipating a NICU stay indefinitely until he is medically stable to come home. We are anticipating more bills to come and have already been drawing from our home equity line of credit to get here. We are asking for your support to help us bring our son home!
Thank you in advance! God Bless!
Frank and Tina Dattilo
Well, we've been home for just about 2 months now! Dante is doing great - he has amazing head control, can now roll over, smiles constantly, and mimicks "hi"! He is working on sitting up (I caught him doing crunches a few times!) and can't wait to start crawling!
It has been an absolute amazing thing to watch him grow and develop these past few weeks. God has truly blessed us with the most perfect baby boy to join our family. Dante has already brought so much love and laughter to our lives, he truly makes our family complete!!
Much love to all of you, and as always, thank you so much for your continued support!! We couldn't do this without you!
Tina & Frank
One more day to go for baby Dante to come home!!
Dante has made amazing progress over the past week with gaining weight and taking his feedings with the bottle! He's doing so well that he is on track for discharge from the NICU tomorrow! We are so excited to finally bring him home, introduce him to all our family and friends, and begin our lives as a family of 4 (can't forget our dog Thor!).
It may sound crazy, but we are looking forward to the sleepless nights, the craziness of juggling work/home life/baby, and the diaper changing. We've waited so long and this has been such a trying journey for us. Our faith was tested many times. But God has been present the entire time, He has blessed us with this beautiful baby boy!
As always, we thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your continued love and support. It takes a village, and you all are certainly a huge part of our lives and part of ours and Dante's story!
Much love always,
Frank & Tina
P.S. We will share pictures as soon as we are able! :)
Thank you all so much for all your love and support!! It truly means the world to us to be able to share all this with you!
Update on our little boy -
It's been quite an interesting past few days. From the minute he arrived in the NICU, our baby's sugar levels stabilized. It was amazing! Then he started to refuse to eat. Our little peanut lost about 15% of his birth weight because he wouldn't eat so a feeding tube had to be put in. The nurses and therapists have been working with him daily to teach him how to take a bottle and he has finally started taking small quantities. He gained a few ounces overnight so we will celebrate any small victory!! Still have a ways to go but our Dante is a trooper!!
Sending all our love and gratitude to all of you!
Tina & Frank
Hi all! Our long-awaited baby boy is finally here! He arrived on 7/14/23 at 10:17am, weighing 5 lbs 14 oz. He is truly our dream come true!
During his first 24 hours, he was transferred to the NICU for closer monitoring, as his blood sugar readings were too low. He is a healthy weight, so we are praying that his sugar levels begin to stabilize. He is very alert and seems to be responding well to our voices :)
We thank you all for your continued support! It's been quite a journey thus far, and we have a long road ahead of us still!!
Love to all!
Tina
