Our Miracle is doing good!

So Blessed

To All,
Thank you for the outpouring of love, support, encouragement, prayers and congratulations. We really are just marveling at this miracle...and still trying to believe it really is...we really are...pregnant! I received such a lovely note from a friend that helped me reflect, for the first time, on the fact that God has chosen to bless us. It is as if He has finally said "See, I have not forgotten you." After all the novenas we prayed, and our many, many attempts at surrendering the matter. And now, we are just in awe.

We LOVE reading the updates of our baby. It is amazing that it is growing so fast and developing so well. Occasionally, Paul or Uncle Keith will start talking in the room and I will realize they are talking to the baby. :) Keith made a special request that I start eating polish food. The baby might have to wait for that one, as I can only "stomach" so much now.

We decided to give the baby the nickname, "maluski." It is pronounced (ma-lu-shki) and means "little one." There is a Christmas carol, sung to the infant Jesus "O Maluski" which I have heard was one of John Paul II's favorites.

And, on another note...why this blog was started in the first place: We were recently notified by our adoption agency that there are two more potential "situations" on the horizon. We have much prayer to undergo to find God's will with regards to adoption. Certainly, we hoped we would have one or two kids by now. This would also us to grow our family pretty quickly...but it is such a different perspective from here. We will try to keep this in God's hands as much as possible. Right now, we are just trying to see what happens at the ultrasound (scheduled for Tuesday) before making any decisions. We will keep you posted on all fronts! ;-)

another update :)

It has been awhile, and I appologize for the delay in this update. We had several conversations before we decided to put this update online.

Paul and I recieved very good news. Before we say just what that is....here is the prelude. Our cousin's came over recently and delivered this very special toast. "And they went to visit their cousin, Elisabeth, who was found to be in her 6th week. She who was thought barren. For they know, all things are possible with God."

Reflecting on the scriptural meaning of my name, Elisabeth. Reflecting on the meditations of barren women in the bible - we were so blessed to recieve this toast. And we truly TRULY are blessed.

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So, certainly, this is the biggest surprsie of our married life. We are THRILLED. We don't know yet what it means for the adoption - and will continue to keep you posted via this blog. For now, I am under the care of Dr. Hilgers through the PPVI Institute for hormonal support. Thank you for all of you that have prayed us to this point!!! Please continue to pray for the Blessed Mother and St. Gerard's intercession for this new life inside of me! With all our love!

an update

At the adoptive parent panel, we were told by the couples to listen for our social worker to say she had a "situation." That was how she tended to introduce a possibility. A few weeks ago we got a call from our social worker. She had a "situation." So, the situation was that there was a 21 year old girl considering adoption. She was half hispanic and the race of the father was unknown. She also used crack in the first few months of pregnancy - but had stopped and was in rehab. I talked to Paul, we called a friend that is a pediatrician, and decided that we wanted our profile to be shown. We decided not to tell anyone, so as to avoid the infamous "have you heard anything yet?" question at each instance of communication.

It was a little bit of a rush, at first. But as we didn't hear anything for several weeks, we assumed we were not chosen. We just heard from the social worker today that the girl changed her mind. Please pray for this girl. We never got the overwhelming sense of "this is it." I guess the expectation is that we might get a few such phone calls before "the one." We are so glad we have this board to keep everyone updated. Thank you for your prayers for us as well. xoxoxo

Welcome 2007

What changes will this year bring? We are optimistic about 2007.
With regards to fertility - it is has been a long journey; here is the rundown:
10/2002 - married
10/2003 - began infertility testing
3/2004 - first surgery
6/2005 - second surgery
9/2005 - third & major surgery
12/2005 - began adoption research
3/2006 - choose an agency; started our wait
10/2006 - officially approved

As 2006 has been mostly "adoption focused" for us - we have been able to toss out the charts (temporarily) and forget about "trying to conceive." This has been a blessing. But, moving on from the dream of conceiving to the dream of adopting was interesting, to say the least. There are so many different emotions wrapped up with the adoption process. Having our parenting ability questioned, going through interviews, doctor's visits, background checks - all this to welcome a child into our house. One of the great lessons we have learned from others is that when we receive this great gift (and finalize the adoption), unquestionably, that will be our child. A child we have long awaited.

We are optimistic about 2007. That is not to say we will be blessed with a child by the close of the year, though hopefully that is the case. We are optimistic because, for the first time, we have no additional testing/poking/prodding/interrogating/interviewing to endure. We are as far as we can come on our journey to parenthood. The rest is completely out of our hands. Although I long to look into the future and see our family with a bustling house full of children, again, out of our hands. For the first time we look forward to our future, the one God has planned for us. We look forward not in expectation of the house full - but we look forward, one child at a time. Thank you all for your continued prayers and love. Happy New Year!