How'd you get here from there?-Part I

A few people have asked about our pre-adoption journey. This is my attempt to gather all the details together and share just how our family has grown this way. **It may take me a couple of days to sit, think and write it all down. Please be patient with me!**

Our adoption journey began many years ago.

Quite possibly, the seeds were being planted before my husband and I even met. As a framework, my husband is the oldest of 11 children, 9 of whom were adopted. I am the oldest of 3 kids, but since I was young enjoyed working with children (I may still be *technically* on maternity leave from my second grade classroom when I left to give birth to our third child!) and when my husband and I met, we decided that we would love to parent a big family, if, in fact, God was willing to provide us with one.

Fast forward to our fifth wedding anniversary. I was pregnant with our second child and due in late summer. She was delivered, via an "emergent" repeat c-section, and I went home a couple of days later. About three weeks after her birth, I had a frightening late postpartum hemorrhage. After being re-admitted to the hospital, and spending another few days there, I went home certain that I wouldn't want to have another birth again. Thus began our first, tentative steps looking into adoption.

Fortunately, God is good, and time healed my fear about the births. We have since had two more beautiful children whom not a day goes by where I don't thank God for softening our hearts when I look at them. Unfortunately, the postpartum hemorrhage would happen after my next two births as well, but with the advance planning, was better managed by my OB.

As luck would have it, we were relocated to the area where my husband grew up. We asked our in-laws (remember they adopted multiple times over the last 25 years) for help in getting connected to Catholic Charities who was their adoption agency. We met with the case worker, who was very nice and eager to help; but according to their policy, we didn't qualify for their infant adoption program because we already had four children.

She suggested we look at some international adoption programs, as the requirements varied widely from country to country. So began our international adoption tour...