I haven't had much to update lately, but today was a big day. First of all, the Lord has consistently shown Chris and I that our decision to adopt is in His plan for us. We are truly blessed. This morning in our Adult 1 Sunday School class, Aaron did a lesson on Creation. A godly woman with a sweet heart, who is new to our class, shared that lately, since becoming pregnant, she has had a hard time understanding that if we were all created in His image, why are so many children allowed to be concieved in sin. And many parents don't even want them, or see them as a burden that can easily be discarded. Not knowing our situation, she tearfully shared that she has even found herself wondering why Godly deserving couples who can't have children are not blessed with such a gift from God's most precious creation. (something I have struggled with) Aaron and his wife Laura had an answer for her burden, as did Chris and I. Because God doesn't waste anything... those are the children we want to take into our homes and raise as our own. I feel every day that our journey is meant to be our witness. That our children, our heirs, though not our blood, will be our legacy of faithfulness to the Christ who makes no mistakes, who provided that child for us to love, and care, and nurture into Godly servants of Him.
It gets better :) After Sunday School, Chris and I decided not to go on to church (we always do). Chris was very tired from working all night and he had to go back to work this afternoon. As we were driving home, I got a call from the Adoption Home Study caseworker (I would have missed that call had we gone on to church). She would be in Altus in less than an hour and would like to come by and meet us for our 1st of 3 home visits. So we blazed through the house making it spotless, not knowing if this was the home study where they open cabinets and lift cushions on the couch. Of course those of you who know me well know how much of a neat freak I am, so it wasn't too bad.
I had butterflies in my stomach because I am so excited about this process. A van pulls into our drive and a lady comes to the door with a clipboard. I open the door and say "hello, you found us!" ...It was a census lady! She started giving her bit about how many people live in our house and what's our last name. She barely spoke english and it was hard to understand her. I was so taken aback at the fact that it wasn't the home study lady (who was now 30 minutes late) that I quickly told the census lady that we've given our count to all 15 people who have come by and knocked on our door. She would not let up. She kept asking for our last name, and I wouldn't give it to her. I ended up having to shut the door in her face because she wouldn't stop pushing for personal info.
Anywhoo, our caseworker showed up and was so sweet and personable. She needed a long list of documentation from marriage certificate to pay stubs to car forms, but because our local DHS caseworker is awesome, we had all that stuff ready. The lady stayed for about 10 minutes. She said she noticed in our packet that we were Christians, and so she told us that she was too. She asked if she could share a prayer request with us and we said yes. Her father-in-law died last night and that was why she needed to travel to Altus today. She had just received our packet yesterday so she thought she could get the first visit in if we were home. Again, God makes no mistakes.
She said she loved our house, and that she would be back the first week in August. At that time she needs: a complete family history on all our parents and siblings from marraige dates to arrest logs :). She also wants a scrapbook of Chris and I and our close family, that our future child will be around, to show to prospective birthmothers/fathers, etc. So, Mama is coming tomorrow and we are having scrapbook day!
All in all, huge day. Our caseworker said she would have our home study (2 more visits) completed by September. Our background check and fingerprinting from the FBI should be back mid-September. We take 32 hours of parenting classes on 4 Saturday's in October. SO- our profile, she said, should be ready to put on the placement list by November 1! Our child(ren) could come any time after that.
We are so excited! Thank you to all of our friends and family who are joining us prayerfully on this journey! Love, Audra
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Thursday, July 8, 2010
How We Got Started
Chris and I grew up together. We went to the same high school. We attended the same church. We never dated until after college. When we began dating, I was teaching in Oklahoma and Chris was in the U.S. Marine Corps stationed at Camp Pendleton, CA. We knew very early in our relationship that we were meant for each other.
We married in June 2003 and lived in CA for two years. While in CA, we decided to start our family. I got pregnant quickly and easily, but we were devastated to find that pregnancy was ectopic (tubal) and I had to have immediate surgery. It was very hard going through that thousands of miles away from home, but we leaned on each other and we got through it.
In the summer of 2005, a teaching job opened in our hometown of Altus, OK. Chris was completing his term as a US Marine, and he wanted to move home to pursue his life-long dream of becoming a OK State Trooper. He couldn't move back to OK until October because of his commitment to the USMC, so I moved home early and began teaching at Altus High School. When I moved home in July, I was pregnant. I miscarried that baby on the first day of school in August 2005.
Chris received his honorable discharge from the USMC and moved home in October 2005. We still wanted to get pregnant and by December, we did. I miscarried that baby in early January. After this third loss, we really started wondering what was going on, so I went through many tests. I was low on progesterone (a hormone needed to sustain a pregnancy). So my doctor put me on progesterone and we were pregnant once again late February 2006. We were elated. We knew this was it. I got to 8 weeks in that pregnancy before finding that it, too, was an ectopic. I'll never forget when the doctor told us that my tube could not be saved. We were devastated. There would be no possible way for us to get pregnant naturally.
After several years of saving, we tried IVF (in-vetro fertilization) in the summer of 2009. It was the hardest, most emotional thing thusfar. We thought that IVF would be our answer. I was healthy and our embryos looked fantastic to the specialist. We had two embryos implanted and we found out in August 2009 that neither embryo survived the implantation process. We were again, devastated. We had three frozen embryos left from the IVF process. In March of 2010, we had those three babies implanted. We lost them on March 15, 2010.
The bottom line is, after losing so many babies, Chris and I never lost hope. We had a rough time emotionally. We never faltered in our faith that God has a child for us. As of March 2010, we were both insistent on trying IVF over, and over, and over again whether or not it completely broke us emotionally and financially. I have to say, that only by the grace of God, are we at this point we are at now. We want to adopt...
I have a dear friend going through the same thing. In fact, I am certain the Lord put her in my life for this purpose-to help me through this journey. I told her that I could not pray and ask God to take the desire to have my own child away as she did for herself. I just couldn't do it. So, she prayed that for me. On Wednesday, April 7th, I went to school like I do every day. But this day, I had this overwhelming peace come over me about never carrying my own baby. I came home that day and through tear-filled eyes, I talked to Chris about it. God had told him-that day- that we were not supposed to do IVF anymore. The only option left for us was adoption.
We let it sink in a few days and God continued to bless our decision to adopt. We have started the adoption process as of early June. We are now waiting on three home studies, and in October, we have to take parenting classes every Saturday for eight hours. After all of the paperwork, home studies, and classes are completed, our names should go on "the list" by mid-November. We are so excited. We know that this is what God wants us to do. I will be good to add to this. I've never written a blog before, but as I'm learning, there's a first time for everything. Love, Audra
We married in June 2003 and lived in CA for two years. While in CA, we decided to start our family. I got pregnant quickly and easily, but we were devastated to find that pregnancy was ectopic (tubal) and I had to have immediate surgery. It was very hard going through that thousands of miles away from home, but we leaned on each other and we got through it.
In the summer of 2005, a teaching job opened in our hometown of Altus, OK. Chris was completing his term as a US Marine, and he wanted to move home to pursue his life-long dream of becoming a OK State Trooper. He couldn't move back to OK until October because of his commitment to the USMC, so I moved home early and began teaching at Altus High School. When I moved home in July, I was pregnant. I miscarried that baby on the first day of school in August 2005.
Chris received his honorable discharge from the USMC and moved home in October 2005. We still wanted to get pregnant and by December, we did. I miscarried that baby in early January. After this third loss, we really started wondering what was going on, so I went through many tests. I was low on progesterone (a hormone needed to sustain a pregnancy). So my doctor put me on progesterone and we were pregnant once again late February 2006. We were elated. We knew this was it. I got to 8 weeks in that pregnancy before finding that it, too, was an ectopic. I'll never forget when the doctor told us that my tube could not be saved. We were devastated. There would be no possible way for us to get pregnant naturally.
After several years of saving, we tried IVF (in-vetro fertilization) in the summer of 2009. It was the hardest, most emotional thing thusfar. We thought that IVF would be our answer. I was healthy and our embryos looked fantastic to the specialist. We had two embryos implanted and we found out in August 2009 that neither embryo survived the implantation process. We were again, devastated. We had three frozen embryos left from the IVF process. In March of 2010, we had those three babies implanted. We lost them on March 15, 2010.
The bottom line is, after losing so many babies, Chris and I never lost hope. We had a rough time emotionally. We never faltered in our faith that God has a child for us. As of March 2010, we were both insistent on trying IVF over, and over, and over again whether or not it completely broke us emotionally and financially. I have to say, that only by the grace of God, are we at this point we are at now. We want to adopt...
I have a dear friend going through the same thing. In fact, I am certain the Lord put her in my life for this purpose-to help me through this journey. I told her that I could not pray and ask God to take the desire to have my own child away as she did for herself. I just couldn't do it. So, she prayed that for me. On Wednesday, April 7th, I went to school like I do every day. But this day, I had this overwhelming peace come over me about never carrying my own baby. I came home that day and through tear-filled eyes, I talked to Chris about it. God had told him-that day- that we were not supposed to do IVF anymore. The only option left for us was adoption.
We let it sink in a few days and God continued to bless our decision to adopt. We have started the adoption process as of early June. We are now waiting on three home studies, and in October, we have to take parenting classes every Saturday for eight hours. After all of the paperwork, home studies, and classes are completed, our names should go on "the list" by mid-November. We are so excited. We know that this is what God wants us to do. I will be good to add to this. I've never written a blog before, but as I'm learning, there's a first time for everything. Love, Audra
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