We're Expecting! ... in 6 Weeks!

It's a boy!
(Not just Taylor, the baby!)

Just last week we pretty much wrapped up the paperwork required for adoption. We were just about to be posted on itsaboutlove.org (the LDS-Family Services website). Now it seems that for this adoption, we won't even use that as the pathway to our child!

We had been advised to be proactive and to network, network. But we weren't even in that mode yet. Then three weeks ago, I sat down at a concert for Liz Brimhall and chatted with a friend of hers who is a pediatrician in San Jose. He saw the birth parent letter on my lap (I was editing it) and informed me that he had an 18 y.o. patient who was going to deliver at the end of August. (Later, we were told August 8th, but today we heard August 29th -- the day after school begins & we move to a new, 6-month house-sit!)

A week ago we met with the birth parents, and talked for 2 hours; we really enjoyed them a lot. They are nice, fun people and we even have some of the same quirks (she gets obsessive-compulsive about sewing and layout decisions - like me, and he likes to zoom around seeing the world on GoogleEarth - like Taylor). On Thursday last week they told us that they would, indeed, like us to be the adoptive parents. Wow!

The past week was an emotional roller-coaster for me. I was very excited about this miracle, but also scared of how sudden everything was! I was also hurting over the high FSH/impending menopause and what we've lost by being unable to create children together. But Taylor said something as we drove to the Oakland Temple Saturday that helped. He said he realized he had a choice to continue to grieve over what cannot be, or move forward with what we can have. That is hard, but the right thing to do. At the temple we felt calm and peaceful about the decision to adopt this baby. Now the Lord wants us to act with faith, even though it's scary to be expecting for less than 2 months! So we'll step forward and hope He keeps giving us guidance.

We still have a lot to figure out. I hope to continue to work part-time this fall. Taylor is trying to figure out if he could work mornings from home. Then, if I am able to get all my teaching done before lunch, we would switch off about 12:30 pm. It's a little trickier with our upcoming house-sit in Redwood Shores being 20 minutes away from Gunn/seminary and 35 minutes from Taylor's work. We'd love for Taylor to be able to continue to teach Seminary, but we'll have to figure the logistics. It's likely that I'll work even less time come Spring Semester. Taylor would prefer for us to not need a sitter at all during the day; I'm more comfortable with the idea of having a sitter for an hour or two a day. We'll figure this out in the next week or so as we both hear back from our work about what they are willing to accommodate. My work does NOT offer good maternity leave, unfortunately.

Plans for August are suddenly tentative! I leave tomorrow to join Taylor in Utah, where he's been teaching two courses (and coming back for the weekends). Taylor has lined up lots of hike and visits with friends and family, and I'm now planning to spend lots of time with baby books (as well as my teaching materials for the fall). On August 12th, I have a ticket to fly from SLC to Oregon for my Grandma Rampton's 99th. The plan is for Taylor to finish his teaching, hop in the car, and meet us in Portland on the 15th. We will hike up Mt. St. Helens on the 16th with Dad, Sara, Rob & Jasper. Finally, we'll drive back to Palo Alto on August 17th. But...now we're not sure where we'll be when! We will be "on call", waiting to know when the birth mother goes into labor and when we should head back to California.

Keep us, the baby, and its birth parents in your prayers. The birth mother was able to be seen by doctors on Friday (she wasn't aware of being pregnant till the 31st week), and today I went in with her and the birth father to see the baby by ultrasound. The technician said everything she saw looked healthy and...we're having a boy! I've never seen an ultrasound where the baby looks like much more than a tadpole; in this, I could see a beautiful, fully formed baby face! It was amazing. He will be 1/2 Vietnamese, 1/4 Caucasian, and 1/4 Hispanic. He will get his olive skin from me -- ha!! I'm SO pasty pale! -- and since Taylor knows Spanish, the Hispanic he will inherit from him! jk ;)

I have realized that if I had to choose between giving a child Taylor's blue eyes and handsome face (genetic), or his sense of humor and giving heart (much more due to nurture), I would opt for those nurtured characteristics. So we'll work hard to nurture this baby boy and pass on our traits in that way. We will love him so much and are excited to have our family expand so soon!