When I contacted Yvonne (we keep in contact on FB now that Jacob and I don't live in New Mexico anymore), I asked her if I could share her journey with all my blog readers. She immediately said yes. Thank you Yvonne!
Here is their story, in Yvonne's words.
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"We tried to have children for several years and when they didn't come we experienced a lot of heartache, tears, and disappointment. So at the end of Nov 2006, we prayed really hard to know if we maybe we were supposed to adopt and Trey and I both got a very strong answer from Heavenly Father that it was what we needed to do. And we also felt that we needed to start our paperwork right away.
In Jan of 2007, we started our paperwork through LDS family services and after a lot of work and stress, we finished in March and then got approved by the adoption board in April. By June we had our online profile up. From that point on, we knew that we could be waiting for a long time to get a baby, but we prayed and exercised faith that at the right time, we would get the right baby. A few months passed and in August, I had just got a job working at a local Elementary school. I was excited to finally have a full time job working there but after the first few days of school, I felt that I was supposed to be home and not working for some reason. Well about 2 weeks later, I came home from work very sick with a cold and flu. I was laying in bed and the phone rang. It was Chad the new director at LDS Family Services in Albuquerque and he let me know that a birth mother had chosen us to be the parents for her baby who was soon to be born. My eyes filled with tears as I felt an overload of emotions. Chad said that "K", Tallin's birth mom and "J", his birth father, wanted a family who didn't already have children and they also wanted a family from NM. Miraculously, we were the only ones from our agency at the time! "K" had just recently decided to place Tallin after months of struggling to know what to do. It helped so much that she had full support from "J", her mom and also his parents. When she decided that adoption was the best option, they called all the adoption agencies in Albuqueruque and LDSFS is the only one who called them back. We have always felt there was some definite divine intervention with that.
We only had 3 weeks from the time we got the call until he was born. We knew when he was going to be born because "K" was going to have a scheduled Csection since Tallin was breech. During that 3 week wait, we met with "K" and "J" and their mothers. It was a very special visit. We were able to get to know each other as we shared our "path to adoption" story with them and we talked about what name we liked. They liked the name Caleb and we liked Tallin so we decided on Tallin Caleb. They were very pleased. It was also very emotional for "K" and me but by the end of our meeting there was a special bond between all of us.
On Wednesday, Sept 12, we were traveling to Albuquerque and at 11:38 am, we got a call letting us know our son had been born. He was 6 lbs 7 oz and 19 1/2 inches long. We didn't get to see him until that evening but when we walked into "K's" room and saw that little bundle of joy and we knew without a shadow of doubt that he was our son. We both felt it very strongly. We both got to hold him but also spent time talking to "K" and letting her know that we cared about her.
The next day Sept 13, I was filled with turmoil because "K" didn't want to see us. Her case worker had warned us the night before that she might feel that way and said that it was totally normal for birth mothers to feel like that. That whole day I couldn't rest as I worried about what the outcome could be, but Trey kept reassuring me that it was going to work out. Thank goodness for a good husband who was keeping me together during that time!
On Friday Sept 14, we went to the temple and we both prayed really hard that the adoption would work out. Trey and I both felt strongly that our deceased grandparents were very aware of our situation and were going to help it go through. We also felt the prayers of our family and friends who were praying very hard for us as well. When we got out of the temple, we got a call from "K's" case worker and she let us know that "K" was going to be discharged from the hospital that afternoon (which was a miracle in itself because since she had a Csection, they could have kept her there until that evening or the next day which would have prevented them to go to court that afternoon and she could have taken the baby home that weekend) and that her and "J" were going to the court to relinquish their rights.
Later that afternoon, we got to go to the nursery to see Tallin. His nurse was so kind to us and gave us instructions on how to care for and feed Tallin. His nurse asked us where his change of clothes were and we had completely forgotten them in the car. I guess we were too excited to think about him having to wear something home besides a diaper lol!
"J" came into the nursery while we were there to say goodby to Tallin. It was very emotional for him. "K" knew it would be too difficult to see us so we went to a different part of the hospital as she said her goodbyes. We got to see "K's" mother and she hugged us and told us that she and "K" loved us. She said that "K" was having a very hard time but it was going to be okay because she knew that we were going to be great parents and that this was the right thing for Tallin.
As we drove away, with our precious baby boy we kept saying to each other, "it is a miracle!" Our joy was pure and ever so perfect at that moment.
Tallin has been such a blessing and joy in our lives. We cannot imagine where we would be without him. We know he was always supposed to come to our family and it doesn't hurt either that he looks so much like us. We are learning so much of what it means to be patient and loving. Tallin is a very strong willed little boy but at the same time, he has a tender heart and we can tell he wants to do what is right. We love him so much!!"
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Thank you again Yvonne and Trey for letting me share your journey. I have loved your story since the day you first shared it with us. Thank you for being such an example and for being such great friends. We love you guys and we miss you so much!
1 comment:
Thanks for all those nice things you said about us and we feel the same about you and Jacob. You guys are awesome and I hope that it won't be long before you get your little bundle of joy. I totally forgot about the broken bowl lol! Good times! Thanks for sharing our story! Love ya!
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