Tuesday, May 20, 2008

I just love watching those pregnancy tickers. Congratulations on making it to six weeks! For me that was always a turning point. My six week motto is, "Let the puking begin!" Here's to a puke free pregnancy for you!


I know I haven't posted much lately. Things have been so very, very crazy here. Jerry mailed in his grad school application Monday. We are so excited that he is getting to do this! They are talking with him as if the application is more of a formality at this point, but I guess he could still get rejected. That would really stink.

While he's been putting all of that together, I've been filling out the application for our adoption and getting tons of information to see if it is feasible or not. Have you ever tried to get a hold of a live person at the immigration customer service line? If you never have, you should try just for kicks! I have a feeling that there are actually no live people working at immigration. It's just a theory, but I have talked to a few others who have the same theory, too... Over the weekend, Jerry and I decided that if we are really going to adopt a little girl from China, we'd rather do it sooner than later. We really have no interest in putting off starting what is a three year process any longer. But because of the qualification that your youngest child has to be at least 12 months old at the time the dossier is logged in China, we either have to get the dossier done before this baby is born, or wait until this baby is 7 months old to begin the whole process. I prayed over the weekend that God would pave the way for me to find out whether all the things we have to get done that are out of our control are actually possible in our time frame or not. I made a list of all the agencies I would have to call to ask timeline questions to, and got on the phone Monday morning. I called our insurance company, the home study agency, immigration, my doctor (I have to have a letter from him to send in with my application), and the vet. Okay, so the vet isn't for the adoption, but it had to be done. The really cool thing was that I got a live person, without even waiting on hold, at each place I called. I got all of my answers and in every case, it was the best possible answer I could have hoped for. I actually got an appointment with my doctor that afternoon - and not an "I'm so sick I'm going to have to go to the ER if I cannot come in and see you today!" appointment. Just a non-sick, I need a letter typed up appointment! After all my phone calls, I called our agency to talk it over with the lady I have been working with there. I let her know everything I had found out and the time lines I had been given. She felt that if we began right away and were diligent, we could get it done before our due date - and with time to spare. I wish there wasn't actually a qualification that the youngest child in the household be at least 12 months old to qualify to adopt in China, but there is. I think it is possible. The agency we are working with, CCAI, also thinks that it is possible based on the answers I got through all those phone calls. So, before we chicken out, we signed the application tonight and wrote the check for the application fee and it is off to the post office tomorrow! Now the praying begins... We really feel like God has opened up every door. Everyone we have talked to has been super supportive and had only good things to say to us about the idea. We both have peace, although we are understandably nervous. Our children want us to go right now and get her! We need prayer that things go smoothly and quickly. We need prayers that my baby stays inside me until the dossier has made it to China. We need prayers that God continues to provide for us financially so that we can pay for the adoption. We need prayers that I won't be a nervous wreck wondering if all the paperwork will come in on time. And we need prayers that God will work out all the details so that the little girl who is supposed to be our daughter (who isn't even born yet, or probably even thought of by her mother yet) will be ready for us when our dossier comes to the top of the stack in China. I'll update this as each step happens. The next step is actually getting accepted by CCAI. And then the fun begins...

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

A couple where I go to church is in the process of adopting from China. They have now been waiting for 3 years and have to wait at least another year for some reason. They were soooo discouraged by this.

I think that is wonderful!!! I would LOVE to adopt a bunch of babies. Any babies. But it doesn't seem feasible to me at this point. Who knows, maybe in the future I will get to!

I hope you have good luck getting everything ready and into the works, so that you don't have to wait even longer!!!!!

Tina said...

I will pray for you Johanna. I think it is wonderful to adopt.
I hope everything goes smoothly and quickly for you!

Joanna said...

I actually thought to myself, "Why do they need a letter from the vet?" before I read the next line. LOL.

I am so excited! I can hardly believe it. WOOHOO! Good job signing the paperwork and writing the check! I think that's the hardest part. OK, so I've never adopted before but all the praying and wringing of hands that goes into actually making the dive into the process I can imagine is so difficult.

My cousin, Mia, was adopted from China. Although she seems more like a niece because she's like 9 years old.

Unknown said...

That's great that things are working out so smoothly this early on. Thanks for posting all the detail! It'll be interesting to see what the process is like.

M said...

hey you might want to visit our friends blog at http://www.thekramerkids.blogspot.com/ They adopted first from China and then from Korea. Apparentlly the wait is a lot shorter in Korea... though they always opt for special needs kids to help the process along.

Johanna said...

Thanks for the link, Megan. I'm not actually too worried about the wait because I am going to have a baby in November, and then by the time we get to go to China for this one in three years, the two will be 1 1/2-2 years apart. That is the distance we really wanted between numbers 3 & 4 anyway. I think that if not for the fact that I am pregnant now, the wait would bother me. And for some reason, the only country either of us has ever wanted to adopt from is China. We didn't even consider other countries.

Anonymous said...

Hey, did you see where many people in China are wanting to adopt the orphans from the quake, and it may cause delays in adoptions to the US?

I was reading it this morning somewhere, and thought of you.

Johanna said...

Yeah, I read that article too. Joanna sent me a link. We are not concerned about it though. It is so obvious to us that pursuing this right now is a matter of obedience. God opened up many, many doors for us and we really feel that to not walk through them would be disobedience. And we don't mind waiting a little bit longer because we will have another baby to occupy our time in the wait. Also, right now, wait times are getting shorter because the Chinese government is matching more babies each month than they are getting applications for. So we think that it is more likely that the wait times will stay the same with the increased interest from the Chinese people. I also wonder how long their enthusiasm will last. Historically, it is shameful for their culture to raise a baby that is not their own. I wonder if it will be more like the initial patriotism that happened after 9/11 but wane after a year or so just as it did here. I could be wrong, but I hardly see the entire stigma about adoption in their culture changing permenantly because of one earthquake. Nor do I see their government suddenly allowing couples to adopt a second child to get around the one-child laws.

Maybe I'm overly optimistic, but basically I don't think it matters. God wants us to do this. He has a specific baby already in mind, even though she hasn't been born yet. He'll get us at the top of the stack right when she is ready to come home. Why worry, you know?

Anonymous said...

I never knew that about the Chinese culture! I mean, I knew they could only have one child, but not that it was shameful to raise one that wasn't their own.

When my cousin went there a few years ago to help build an orphanage, he said that dead babies would just be seen floating down the river. Dead baby girls. :( I could not believe that.

I really hope the best for you, and I am glad you'll have another baby to keep ya busy, so the wait won't seem as long :)