We are adopting!!
Adoption is something that we have always thought could be a possibility for us. Prior to the last few years, we viewed it as something we might do after (Lord-willing) having 2 biological children. With the way the last 3 years have panned out (2 miscarriages and infant loss), it has definitely become a necessity for growing our family.
We are not trying to replace Marley, as we think that would be a disservice to both Marley and our adopted child as well. But we feel that we have so much more love to give, and we would love to get to parent another child in-action and for Rory to get to be a big sister in-action.
We don't think our story entitles us to anything and we would never want to use it in any way, but the simple truth is that…going through everything we have the last few years–the losses, the testing, the appointments, the pre-eclampsia hospitalization after Marley…it all cost a lot of money. And our adoption process is going to come out to a little over $50,000–whoa!
If you feel led to help chip away at that number, be a part of our puzzle fundraiser! If you've already given to us in the past, please don't feel like you have to do anything again. We are so thankful for what people have already done for us, and none of it is forgotten.
This is how it works: 1. We are having a 1500 piece puzzle created. 2. We are “selling” each piece for $25. You can choose to buy 1, 2, 3, or more–there is no limit! 3. You can click the link below to donate any amount (we will divide that amount by 25, and you will get that many puzzle pieces in your honor). https://adopttogether.org/families/the-stynes 4. Once you donate, we will write your name on the back of one of the puzzle pieces and send you a picture once we have the actual puzzle. 5. Once the pieces have been “sold”, we will put the puzzle together and hang it in a double-sided glass frame in our baby's room so that they can look at it and be reminded of who had a “piece” in bringing them home and helping us finish our family puzzle 🙂
Also, feel free to donate less than $25–ANY amount helps!
Also, this site IS tax deductible!! wooooo!
No pressure from us. Honestly, we have no expectations from this. Anything we get from this will bless us. And if you don't feel able or led to bless us in this capacity (we totally get it!)–emotional support and prayers mean so much as well! Truly, they are invaluable. We are so thankful for our people and all they have done already!
Born 7/6/23 at 2:49 pm, weighing 7 lbs 13 oz, 20.5in
We got to meet him 30 min after birth, and he’s been with us ever since! We’ve been home almost 48 hours now and he’s settling in perfectly! Rory is smitten, but really we all are! We love him so much 💙
Birth mom is amazing and recovering great! She is a warrior, and we love her 💜 We got to spend quite a bit of time with her in the hospital after J was born, which is time I’ll treasure forever. We will be keeping up with each other through a private share site. Forever grateful and humbled. Forever family 💜
The hospital experience was very healing and not triggering 🙌🏻 Praise God!
Thank you everyone for the donations and the outpouring of love, support, encouragement, and prayers! We are so humbled. You helped make this happen!! But really. You did. THANK YOU. And thank you God for your provision and this incredible gift 🙌🏻
Ps- he was born on Luka Doncic day of all days!! If you don’t know we’re huge mavs fans, so this was cool and amusing to us :)
Hit 40 weeks a couple of days ago and still no sign of baby! Birth mom is hanging in and doing amazing! She truly is a rockstar. Referring to her as "birth mom" feels so impersonal, because she's so much more than that, but I want to respect her privacy by not publicly using her name. All that to say, she is amazing for continuing to endure and for so much more.
She will be induced next Wednesday night (the 5th) if he hasn't come by then. Just trying to stay busy but also allow space for all the feelings! The anticipation has triggered some stuff of when we were anticipating Marley's arrival, so using all my newly acquired coping skills to get through that. God has been sweet to equip and prepare us, and we believe He will get us through. Stay tuned!
Felt like time for an update!
Birth mom is in her 38th week of pregnancy--bahhh! She is so strong and tough. Since my last update, we have zoomed with the birth parents and seen several sonos. The zoom went great--couldn't have gone better! There was no shortage of tears. We are so thankful to be connected to these specific people.
We have a name picked out--Beau and I picked the first name, and the birth parents picked the middle name. Both names have significance to our respective families. We all loved the names the other picked! It was all very beautiful, and we're excited to eventually share it publicly.
We have a birth plan in place. We will head to the hospital when baby boy is coming. We will have a room in the hospital and baby will spend most of his time with us. The current plan is that we will do feedings, diaper changes, skin-to-skin bonding, and that he will be discharged with us. Prayers for healthy birth mom and healthy baby are greatly appreciated! As well as continued comfort for all parties.
In regards to all of the donations, we are just beside ourselves. We are so moved and touched and humbled by all of the support. There aren't enough words to articulate it, and we don't take it lightly or for granted. Most days, we feel like it's too much, regret posting anything, and want to give all the money back. We are immensely, forever grateful...THANK YOU ALL!
After a long week with many twists and turns, we officially matched with a new birth mom! Our continued thoughts and prayers go out to our last match and there are no hard feelings toward them.
We are cautiously excited because we now really know anything could happen at any time. This baby is a boy due at the end of June! We already love him but are trying to remain openhanded. We are on this birth mom's team no matter what, and we know God has us! So so thankful to everyone supporting us!
If you haven't seen (I posted a video on my social media accounts--if we're not connected, please feel free to connect with me (Jacqueline) to see any updates!), our match is in limbo. It's a long story, but the short version is that the birth mom doesn't think she wants to move forward with an adoption anymore. It has nothing to do with us--just if she is going to do adoption at all. To protect and honor all people involved, I won't say more at this time. This was very unexpected, and our adoption agency (which is AMAZING btw!) only has 3% of cases fall through after a match (if I understood that stat correctly)...so it was really unexpected!
Since then, we were presented another birth mom to consider. We said yes to being presented to her along with 2 other families. She ultimately selected another family. Since then, we have been presented ANOTHER birth mom to consider. We will be presented to her Monday along with two other adoptive families. It's also possible that in the meantime we could hear back from our original match. This has been the wildest roller coaster and moving at lightning speed. I don't think our emotions have been able to keep up. We are pretty exhausted, both emotionally and physically (we've barely slept).
From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for your contributions!! Thank you for the kind words and messages, and all the support in all the ways. We are so humbled. We can't say that enough. We believe God has a plan, and our baby is coming. But we'd be lying if we said that the waiting was easy! Just waiting, hoping, and trusting! Stay tuned!
