Today we are hopping to bring awareness to the need
for a cure for all kinds of cancer.
and you should have arrived at my blog
to Lisa's blog so you can see what everyone
is sharing today... Some creations and
some personal stories...
For my post I have both.
I made this digital layout to document
my own journey and how it has changed
my family and my dreams.
After a short time of fertility treatments we found out I had
3 large growths in my uterus. I was told at that time
once I finished the cancer treatment my doctors would
allow me one year to try to conceive a child. If I was
not able to within that time I was told I would have to
give up the dream of ever giving birth to my own baby.
So after 1 1/2 years of miserable treatment and
horrible medications along with nearly 100 pounds
of weight gain, we were ready to try. My doctor
referred us to Boston IVF, a 3 hour drive from home.
For each cycle of IVF we had to drive down 2 or 3
times and would be overnight there each trip.
Our first embryo implantation was on Friday,
July 13th 2007. I knew when we left that it worked.
I was finally pregnant. A week later I lost the
pregnancy. After each cycle of treatment your body
needs a break so we did not try again until October.
I knew when we left the clinic to head back to Maine
that it did not work. I still waited and took all the blood
tests knowing the outcome. At that point we knew we had
no choice but to take the winter off. So we decided
not to decide how to proceed until spring. In December
my sister sent her daughter to live with us for a while.
So we went from just two of us to 3. We knew she
was not ours. We were caring for her temporarily.
She went back to my sister in April 2008. By
then hubby and I had decided not to try again.
I have plenty of health issues we did not want to
pass on to a child and the risk of an unhealthy
fetus worried my doctor. The other deciding factor
was want all the medications did to me. I cried a lot
and was very sick and moody. So the decision
had been made. I went to the doctor and scheduled
my hysterectomy for July 2nd 2008. We decided
prior to my surgery that we would do foster care
and maybe eventually adopt. We went to our first
meeting with the Department of Health and Human
Services on July 16th. In August we began taking
courses to become approved as a foster/adoptive
home. In November, national Adoption month we
attended an informational event and adoption
celebration. We had no idea what it would be like.
We were handed a folder with photos and short
biographies on several children. I knew right away
when I saw them. My girls were in that folder. From
that day on I carried their picture and bios with me
everywhere. I had always told my husband I wanted
a boy and a girl. He had always wanted 2 girls.
When I told him these were our daughters he said
maybe we should look for a boy and a girl. In the
end he agreed and we began the process of adopting
them. On Dec 23rd we had a meeting set up with
their case worker and we also had just received
approval to adopt. He missed that meeting due to
some health issues. In January we met with his
supervisor. We were on the way to being parents.
We finally met our daughters on February 17th.
We were shocked at how much they looked like us.
They started staying over on weekends starting the
following Saturday. We had them every weekend
for 2 months. Finally on April 17th they came
home. We celebrated by going to the circus that
weekend. When November rolled around again
we were in court, finalizing our adoption. Ours
was the last case heard the day before Thanksgiving.
I cannot say it has been easy, but it has been worth
every bit of energy and emotion we put into it
and still do. On November 25th we will be celebrating
3 years since we legally became a family. We were a
family from day one, but there is a waiting period to
try to minimize disrupted adoptions. I cannot
imagine my life any other way now. At times I
still mourn the loss of what could have been, but
I have no regrets for what is. Here is a picture of
us with the judge and adoption worker on adoption day.
Left to right: Judge, hubby, me, adoption worker
in front: youngest daughter, oldest daughter.
Our girls were 9 and 10 when we brought them
home, many days I think of them as 3 and 4 now...
They have my heart and I know I have a place in theirs.
Thanks for stopping by, the next stop is
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