After waiting for three years to adopt again from China we switched to the Special Needs program with our Adoption Agency. Six weeks later at 10pm on a Thursday night we get "the call". A file has been locked for our review, an email with a basic medical and a few photos.
We download the file and look at the photos first, already those feelings of "ours" are there. Looking over the medical it contains fairly limited information, a little girl in Hunan, 16 months old, cleft lip and cleft palate. We've already done our 'homework' we think we know what cleft lip/palate means as much as we can, we've checked out the websites, talked to our pediatrician, a speech pathologist, we are 'prepared'. It's everything we could have asked for, nothing unexpected, and those feelings of "ours" grow. We talk and try not to focus on the photos, try not to completely lose yourself and immediately start packing - trying to be 'rational'. Finally around 1am we call it a night to try to get some sleep.
The next day we talk to our pediatrician, there are no red flags, nothing we didn't predict, and we verbalize that commitment we've already made in our hearts - she's ours. A short email to the adoption agency and our lives change once again, the whirlwind starts, nothing will ever be the same again. Huai Xin Chun, soon to be Lydia Jane, waiting half a world away will be ours and we can't wait!
We download the file and look at the photos first, already those feelings of "ours" are there. Looking over the medical it contains fairly limited information, a little girl in Hunan, 16 months old, cleft lip and cleft palate. We've already done our 'homework' we think we know what cleft lip/palate means as much as we can, we've checked out the websites, talked to our pediatrician, a speech pathologist, we are 'prepared'. It's everything we could have asked for, nothing unexpected, and those feelings of "ours" grow. We talk and try not to focus on the photos, try not to completely lose yourself and immediately start packing - trying to be 'rational'. Finally around 1am we call it a night to try to get some sleep.
The next day we talk to our pediatrician, there are no red flags, nothing we didn't predict, and we verbalize that commitment we've already made in our hearts - she's ours. A short email to the adoption agency and our lives change once again, the whirlwind starts, nothing will ever be the same again. Huai Xin Chun, soon to be Lydia Jane, waiting half a world away will be ours and we can't wait!
