Decision to be Three

Jeremy and I decided to adopt from Korea back in early 2010.  We had looked at other countries but at the time we really liked the Korean adoption program and the fact that in Korea the children live with a foster family before our child is in our arms. I get asked A LOT why we didn't choose domestic. At the time we weren't a fan of an open adoption and the United States no longer does closed adoptions. Also, the fact you have to put together a picture book selling yourself REALLY did not appeal!  So...Korea it was and we went full steam ahead!

It took us about 6 months to get matched with Cy.  They had estimated based on previous years it would be about 10 months.  However, it is starting to look like about a year and a half. When we got the call about Cy I was at work and literally couldn't have be happier. I was so full of joy and tears. One of my co-workers told me later they found my joy a disruption, but who cares right!! This would be one of the biggest and greatest moments of our life and I didn't care that a co-worker had an issue.  I frantically tried calling Jeremy at work and of course he was impossible to get a hold of, so I went through many back doors to find him.

Cy wasn't perfect. He was born with a heart murmur.  After an echo-cardiogram he had been diagnosed with Atrial Septal Defect, 2 small holes in his heart.  We spoke with our pediatrician and two pediatric cardiologist at Children's Hospital and learned this is the #2 birth defect and actually quite common, easy to fix and actually worst case scenario would be open heart surgery with only 4 days in the hospital.  Which I know sounds crazy to think, "Oh just open heart surgery" but it literally was that way! The cardiologist were so experienced and confident it eased our minds. So after a frantic 24 hours we made the decision to accept our referral and Cy was ours!!!  Good news was around his 8 month check up they had ruled his holes had closed, however it doesn't mean it is perfect. When he comes home we will have monthly visits to Children's to monitor for about 6 months.  I never thought holes in our child's heart wouldn't be a big deal, but we didn't even think twice.

There are a lot of good things about adopting from Korea and I am such a fan! One is that we get a lot of updates on our son. So when he is older he will always have baby pictures and information on his early childhood.  That is such an amazing and wonderful part of the process.  Since accepting our referral though the process of getting him home has slowed down dramatically with various changes in adoptions policies. However, knowing he is loved every day by his foster family makes it so easy on the heart. Everything happens for a reason. People who know me know that I am not patient and with children you need to be patient, so this is my life lesson.

An old friend who is adopted herself told me, "No matter when he comes home as he grows older he will only remember the love that Jeremy and I give him."

I hope to fill you in more with updates, pictures and information!