We count ourselves blessed that we can say we're officially adopting.
Our journey started years ago when we were deciding if we wanted a 3rd child. Pregnancy is not Brandi's friend, so going the biological route was not a possibility. After much thought, research, and prayer, Brandi proposed the idea of adopting a child with special needs. With her background and experience, why not take in a child that is often difficult to place? God heavily impressed upon on our hearts the thought of taking in a child with Down syndrome, so we started our process!
We completed our home study and profile book in March 2022 and have been faithfully waiting for that perfect match on the National Down Syndrome Adoption Network registry.
As you may know adoption fees are already pretty high. Add to that the cost of travel to a different state, living there for a few weeks as we wait for paperwork to process and additional medical costs associated with adopting a child with special needs and you can see why we've started this fundraiser.
Please prayerfully consider donating to our growing family. Even something as little as $10 will help us purchase a much needed caffeine pick me up while we navigate caring for a newborn in a hotel.
Thank you for your love, prayers and support as we continue in this journey of ours!
On Friday we got the green light to go home around 10:30 am. Brandi immediately booked herself and Evy on a 6:30 pm flight home and got to packing.
We are all very happy to be back together as a family. The older kids love their little sister and frequently ask to help bathe her, feed her, and cuddle her. They're still learning that infants aren't really a lot of fun to play with, but they're looking forward to when she will be able to play and run around with them.
Right after we returned home we took a family camping trip to Lake Wenatchee. It was very hot, but an enjoyable time overall. The older kids enjoyed coating themselves in dirt, swimming in the lake, and catching frogs while Evy slept in the camper most of the time.
Our adoption process is not over yet as we still have to wait to finalize to make Evy officially ours. Thank you for all who have donated to us along this adventure. We really appreciate all the support, prayers and love you have showered on our family!
It's been a while since I've posted an update. I still spend most days adjusting to our new rhythm, making sure everyone has all the paperwork and appointments we need in order to get Evy home sooner rather than later.
Since my last update, Paul has gone home to WA. Our older kids were having a hard time with both of us gone, so we sent Paul home on Sunday. The kids have been doing a lot better, but it's been tough balancing sleep and need-to-do tasks with an infant. Fortunately Evelyn is a pretty chill baby, so it's been easier than it was with our other two.
We are currently waiting in a hotel room for our interstate paperwork to process. It's the last piece of the puzzle. Once we get "the call" we'll be allowed to fly home to Evelyn's forever home in WA. As long as these past two weeks have felt, they're short in comparison to what other families have gone through. We've been blessed that her NICU stay was only a week long (after we arrived) and that our paperwork looks like it's processing on the quicker side.
Thank you again to everyone who keeps financially supporting us. Hotels, meals, and airfare have been adding up, but having financial support allows us to not worry about paying a little extra to book all these things last minute. So, thank you all, again!
This entire process is surely a whirlwind. One minute we think we're going home as a family this weekend and the next we're making plans to stay an extra week.
Our older kids back home are starting to feel the sadness that comes with Mom and Dad both being out of town. The honeymoon period of novel activities and routines has lost its excitement. Lily is holding up better than Daniel. Daniel has always been our more sensitive one.
Evelyn has been growing steadily. Our next big hurdle is to get her to pass the car seat test. She made an attempt last night but her oxygen levels dipped too low while seated, so they had to stop the test. They'll try again tonight. Because of this, discharge has been pushed out another day.
Our interstate paperwork has finally been sent out. This can take anywhere from 7-10 days to process and Evelyn and I can't cross state lines until it's done. In the meantime we'll get to continue our stay at Ronald McDonald House (which we moved into last night) until her appointments are done. Hopefully we'll leave shortly after so we don't have to move into yet another hotel.
Through this whole process I have to keep reminding myself that, above all, God is good and everything will happen in His perfect timing. While this week has felt like eternity, it's really only a blip in the long life we'll be able to celebrate with Evelyn.
God truly does answer prayers!
I just met with the NICU pediatrician. Evelyn took all her bottles last night and most of them today despite being sleepy. I think she has some night/day confusion, but who wouldn't, being in a dim room without windows for the first week of life? They are also decreasing her oxygen pressure as of a few minutes ago. If she continues to take bottles, gain weight, and have no breathing incidences over the next 72 hours, we're looking at a discharge date as early as Saturday! This is a week ahead of schedule!
Please continue to keep Evelyn and her continued strength in your thoughts and prayers. We want nothing more than our entire family to be reunited as a whole right now.
Evelyn is here!
There was less than two weeks between us finding out we were matched with our sweet baby girl and her early birth, so everything has been a whirlwind.
She was born July 5th at 12:33 pm. She weighed 7 lbs, 11 oz and was 20.5 inches long (very similar in size to Daniel when he was born!)
Evelyn is currently in the NICU. She is just learning how to take a bottle for her feeds and has an NG tube placed for when she's too tired to eat. Doctors are also monitoring her heart as there are a few holes that haven't closed up, but hopefully will within the next few weeks. Lastly, she initially required oxygen, but is now having room air pumped through tubes in her nose. We're hopeful that those tubes may be removed in the next few days.
Please pray for her continued growth and strength. We're hoping to bust out of the NICU early! As of right now it's estimated we'll be in the NICU for two weeks, followed by a week of waiting for interstate paperwork to process before Brandi can fly home with her.
