Our Honey Dew

Today we begin week 35!  Today is the 26th of April and her date for delivery is set for the 26th of May.  One month!  Wow!

Baby Center tells us that she is about the weight of a honey dew melon.  So this week we can call her our "honey dew".  That sounds better than calling her our "cantaloupe".

This weekend included:

1.) Peter putting the finishing touches on the nursery.

2.)We took THE trip to Babies R Us.

3.)Continuing to get organized and getting more and more excited!

4.)Continuing to Pray for C and Baby O.

Cantaloupe update week 34

This is week 34 for Baby O, and Sunday begins week 35. Baby Center says that she is about the weight of a cantaloupe.  Looking ahead, C should be delivering a watermelon by C-Section if she can hold out until week 39.  :-)

We received an email update today from the birthmom, C.  The doctors have scheduled a C-Section for Tuesday May 26.  That will be 39 weeks and 2 days.  We will see if O waits that long or decides she wants to meet us in person sooner!  Baby O has turned, again, and is once again in the breach position. C has weekly OBGYN appointments and is being monitored with a weekly stress test. (We have to ask C if this is a stress or a non-stress test.) The doctors feel that the baby is not moving enough.  But it is not clear if C agrees. 

We continue preparing ourselves and our home. Daddy O (PJM) says that Mama O (LSM) is reading too much and should just chill out! So last evening I picked up a non-baby, non-Down Syndrome, non-Montessori book.  What was I reading?  The Diary of Sister Faustina (Polish Power! And appropriate after we just celebrated the Feast of Divine Mercy last Sunday)

Please keep praying for C and for Baby O, and, oh yes, for us, too!

Busy Weekend

Friday afternoon we celebrated PJM's birthday by going to Fernwood Botanical Gardens and Arboretum. It was gorgeous with spring flowers! 

 Saturday morning we moved furniture to set up Baby O's room. (here is a little preview)

Saturday, afternoon we went to the Lake to visit with Dad, Uncle Dick and Y before heading to Mass at our Parish.

Sunday was rainy, but a good day to set up the baby swing, baby seat, wash the covers, and to unpack strollers and car seat.   We finished cleaning out Baby O's closet.  Today, LSM started doing laundry and moving Sweet Baby O's things into her closet and dresser.

As we move closer to the due date we have a very specific prayer intention that we ask you to include in your prayers: 

 "For Baby O to be born healthy enough to be released from the hospital in a few days."

We will not be granted custody of her until she is released from the hospital, so we will not be able to start taking on our parenting responsibilities until she is released.  This is all a legal thing and not specific to this case.  I don't know if it varies from state to state, but it is the law in our state.

All is going well.  It is hard to be a birthmom though.  The papers said that it is much like the death of a child for a birthmom and that there is a period of grieving for her after she has placed the baby for adoption. C need and deserves our prayers.  It will all be fine. But it is hard for her and any birthmom.

Spoke with Social Worker

This afternoon we had a conversation with our social worker to bring us up to speed on how things are progressing.  Easter, we received a short email from the birthmom, C, who reported that she and the baby were doing well.  Baby O has moved out of breach position into a head down position, and C is more comfortable than she had been.  C continues to tell us that she is lucky to have found us and feels very good about placing Baby O with us for adoption.  Our social worker echoed these comments.  C's social worker sees C as still on track for placing her baby for adoption with us.  Yes, consistent with the end of her pregnancy, C is showing signs that it is going to be more difficult for her than she had thought to part with her baby, but that she is showing none of the typical signs which would lead them to believe that she will keep the baby in the end. C would like us to meet her mother and a friend prior to delivery as they will be there at the hospital also.  Our social worker tells us that she has been telling her family wonderful things about us.  That is nice and reassuring to hear!  It would be good to see C again prior to the delivery, so this will be good.

We should be receiving in the mail shortly, very very rough information from the birthmom and birthdad about themselves and their families.  This is private information for our eyes only to help us know more about the baby and her birth family history.  The social workers don't feel that there is any earth shattering news in this information. That is what we had expected.  We will also be receiving a very very rough draft of the hospital plan. What is contained in there is subject to change. C may decide that she wants more private time with the baby than she had previously thought. That is perfectly understandable and acceptable.   I cannot even begin to imagine how hard it would be to place ones baby for adoption, but I have heard that it is difficult beyond your wildest imaginings.  We have the utmost respect for what C is going through.  We would hate to be in her shoes. Even with all the uncertainties that we have and all the chance for this adoption also to fall through, we still realize that what we would go through in losing Olivia is by far less difficult than what C is going through in terminating her rights to her own flesh and blood.  Our prayers are constantly with her.  We cannot make her pain go away, but we can do all we can do to make this as easy as it can be given the circumstances.

Congratulations "Agent M"!

After 3 long grueling months of studying evenings and weekends, PJM took and passed the Patent Bar Examination on his first try! What a huge relief! Praise God! He had worked so hard and poured every last ounce of his energy into studying, so it is even more wonderful to see him pass on his first attempt. One of PJM's goals was to pass the test before Olivia's arrival. We had been praying together for this intention every evening. Passing this test allows PJM to become a registered patent agent and to be able to directly practice law in the US Patent and Trademark Office. (No, he is not a lawyer, as he cannot practice law in a traditional court of law.)   This test is really a difficult one.  Many very intelligent people have not passed on their first try, therefore PJM was extra nervous even though he felt prepared. In the US, only around 80,000 people have become registered to practice in the USPTO in the history of registering patent agents. This is truly a wonderful accomplishment!  And a hard fought one at that!  I am so proud of him and so very happy!

We are so happy and so relieved! A huge weight that has been hanging on our shoulders for the past three months has been lifted!  Thanks to everyone who prayed for us during this time! Prayers always help! Your love and support of us no matter what befalls us means so much!

Baby O's dress

This is a little dress that I made for Baby O.  Yes, it is impractical!  Two years ago, I made some very practical items. The other day though, I got the idea to make something very impractical. This is the result. The only practical thing about it is that it opens up completely in the back and closes with velcro.  I imagine that she will wear this dress once in her early days for a photo and then it will become a baby doll dress for her Itty Bitty Baby.  I am not the best seamstress in the world,  but it turned out OK.  I am excited to show my godmother this dress. KY always encourages me in my sewing pursuits. She was quite the seamstress in her day, and owned a little sewing shop called The Sewing Basket.

Good Friday Update

One month from today Baby O will be at 37 weeks gestation.  At that age, she would no longer be considered premature.  Thus, we are praying she will stay put until at least 37 weeks.  (optimally, waiting until 39 weeks) 

 C is tired of being pregnant and tired of filling out forms with her adoption social worker. She is ready to be done with everything.  She is going to her OB/GYN appointments solo these days. We don't know how the last appointment went, as our social worker is on Spring Break. C has our phone number in case of emergency. Therefore, no news is good news!  

We are now optimistic that this adoption will take place!  We are excitedly preparing our home for Baby O.  Our hearts have been prepared for her since we first heard her heart beat and first SAW her heart beating!  Seeing her sweet face sealed the deal!

Thanks to everyone who has been supportive with their optimism, and happy dancing! We believe that every baby deserves to come into this world having been joyfully prepared for by someone.  Regardless of whether or not Baby O becomes our daughter, we know that joyfully preparing for her arrival is what she deserves.  But, we are optimistic!  Happy Dancing!