Match Meeting went well

Our match meeting on Thursday went well.... about 4 hours of paperwork and discussion about how we all feel about this match, what Birthmother wants to happen at the hospital, and how we agree to stay in touch after the birth. Birthmother was comfortable with us being in the delivery room (wow!), naming the child for the original birth certificate, and being primary caregivers at the hospital! So our jobs will be cut out for us from the beginning.

With the match meeting complete, it's all as official as it can be until the birth, so now we just wait...

Her c-section is currently scheduled for Sept 19, so if it goes according to plan we will get up there the day before to take part in the whole experience. But if she goes into labor early (a distinct possibility given her condition and history) then they'll do an emergency c-section and we'll just have to get our butts up there as quickly as possible. But since she's more than 300 miles away, we'd probably miss the birth in that case, which would be a bummer.

This-n-that

More updates:
Here's a pic of the 'nursery', although we aren't going bonkers with a full coordinated crib set or matching wall decor. Just a bright green room for now, with light-colored furniture, most of which (other than the crib) we already owned. Can anyone say IKEA?

The birthmother called yesterday after her weekly doctor appointment. They've scheduled a C-section for September 19 and told her to be careful about walking too much (i.e. going into labor early and requiring an emergency C-section). That date works well for us, so we're just hoping it'll stay to a schedule (even if they move the date) so we can make the 6-hour drive to be there for the delivery!

Birthmother is coming down to the Bay Area today for our formal match meeting tomorrow at the adoption agency. We're looking forward to seeing her again and getting a little more acquainted. At the match meeting we'll discuss a few more formal details and all sign our names to the agreement, which makes it all a little more official (but still not legally binding). Then we can probably rest our minds for a few weeks before the action begins.

Final preparations and Match Meeting

Well, we visited Target and Babies R Us this past week to study the baby merchandise... didn't buy much (don't want to jinx things) but at least we know were to find what we'll need when we need it!

We painted the baby's room over the weekend... after buying quarts of 3 different colors (all different shades of green) and settling on a 4th one, I did a quick 'roller job' on the main walls Saturday morning and we decided we didn't like that one either! So we went back to "Green #3" which is a very rich and deep green. Possibly the greenest a room could be. :)

Our match meeting is this Thursday at 10am and is expected to last a few hours. The adoption counselor meets with the birthmother individually, then with us, then all of us together, then again individually to make sure we're all OK with things. We'll be discussing options and making a plan for how things will take place at the hospital, and how things will take place AFTER the hospital (i.e. contacts and visits during the first year and beyond).

After Thursday, the next step is just to wait for the birth!

A mad frenzy

We're trying not to do TOO much (since nothing is certain 'til we get the baby home) but we're scrambling to get a few things ready for possibly having a baby at home in the next month. We're moving furniture around to get the baby's room ready; and also setting up a new guest room in a room downstairs we previously used for storage and a "gym". We will not be going overboard decorating a nursery, but we are going to paint the walls green before we set up the crib.

Last night we had dinner with our friends Brian and Melinda, who succeeded in getting us to take home their baby swing (a.k.a. "The Neglect-o-matic") and a big bag of baby bottles they either hadn't used or didn't need anymore. We've gotten advice to register on some baby-related websites (so we'll start receiving lots of coupons and free samples in the mail). We're starting to feel like our lives are REALLY going to be changing...

We expect to have a date for our match meeting next week... that's where we'll go over the final details about what will happen at the hospital and afterward.

More later...

Looks like a match

Our heads are still spinning, but it looks like we may have a match!

We got a call from a nice young woman in northern California on August 1. She said she had picked us to parent her child! She had received a huge stack of birthparent letters from our agency, and she narrowed the list and finally chose us. She seemed very nice and seemed very resolute in her decision.

After a few more phone calls with her and with our agency, we decided to drive up to Eureka this weekend to meet her over dinner. The meeting was nice, very comfortable, and we feel good about this!

Assuming all goes well, we could have a baby by the end of September! Next step is a formal 'match meeting' with Rebecca at the agency office where we agree on the details of the birth, hospital experience, and ongoing contact. Then we just wait 'til delivery!

In the meantime, we're starting to scramble to get the house ready. Painting the baby's room, bought a crib, ordered a car seat, and starting a list of the 'must haves' that we should probably buy before the baby is born. We're keeping it simple, not getting anything more than essentials just in case anything goes wrong.

Keep us in your thoughts...

Think good thoughts for us

Our phone rings or we get an email once every week or two (or three)... one was another likely scam, one that perhaps wasn't a scam but still seemed kinda messy (and far away), and most recently one from here in California that seems promising. We share no details 'til we get more info and further down the road... but keep your fingers crossed for us, we might have some news sometime soon.