Into our Second Trimester!!!!!!

When adopting internationally there are three main steps we need to accomplish in order to get our child home. I have lovingly named these steps "trimesters". The first is the approval from the Ministry of Ontario, granting us the privilege of being able to adopt. Second, once our file is in Zambia, we will receive what is called a "referral" which is the picture and profile of our baby girl. Then, we must wait three months to travel to go and meet our daughter and to bring her home. It is with great joy that I announce that Darryl and I have been officially approved by the Ministry of Ontario to adopt our baby girl. . WE ARE OFFICIALLY APPROVED by the Ministry of Ontario. The exact words are - …."Darryl Ellwood XXX and Andrea Rae XXX are eligible and suitable people to adopt a female child up to 6 months of age from Zambia." Ellwood jokes commence now…..

Now, we knew on some level that we would be however, there is always that little shadow in the back of your mind doing the taunting interpretive dance - what if they see something we didn't, what if they need more information and thus holding up the whole process. Needless to say, we are beyond ecstatic. There are no words to describe the feeling we have because we know now, without a doubt, that we are going to be parents. No one can take that from us. With this child, the stress is insurmountable, and that stress is NOT going to cause the loss of this child. With this baby, I need more coffee to stay up all hours of the night so that I can complete the endless amounts of paper work. The coffee drinking will not cause this child to be taken from us. With this child I can eat whatever cheese I want, fish I want, exercise any amount I want to (LOL), and we still know that no matter how many "naughty" things that I do, this child will soon be in our arms, to love and cherish and to nurture and care for, to set strict boundaries for, to parent. We are so happy that no stupid questions, or ignorant comments can bring us down. We are past the first trimester and this is the most exciting thing I have ever had happen to me.

So, some have asked me how we received the notice, where we were, in what form did it come? Well, I was at work. I was going through my email, and there it was. An email from our adoption agency titled "LETTER OF APPROVAL!!!!!!!". My heart sank. My stomach turned. My tears began to flow. There it was, one tiny moment where my life would change forever. I quickly printed the email, ran to the printer, held the tangible piece of paper in my hands, began to walk in circles, tears streaming down my face, staring at this little piece of news in my hands. I did this for about 20 minutes telling anyone at work that would listen and collecting the endless amount of support and hugs from my friends at work. Then, one very smart and wonderful lady said "What did Darryl say" and it hit me in that instant - I FORGOT TO CALL DARRYL. Everyone laughed as I ran to my desk to call my husband and when he answered, without thinking, I said "We're having a baby!" into the phone. Darryl instantly thought I was pregnant and began to have a panic attach because if I get pregnant while in the middle of this adoption, we have to stop the process. Once I clarified that we were approved, he began to cry and we both sat on the phone for many minutes crying and saying how much we love each other. Sound like a made for TV. movie? Nope, this is my life, my wonderful, crazy, scary life.

The next steps, you ask? Well, now we have to fill out a bunch more paper work, get the world notarized, write a million letters, etc. and once we submit that which should be by the end of this week, our file is off to Ottawa to be authenticated and then we wait. But this time for about 2 or 3 weeks and then our file goes to Zambia and we wait for about 4 months for a picture and profile of our baby girl. OH - lets not dwell on the waiting we will have to do in the future. Let's just enjoy this moment and get the work done.

Thank you friends, family and bloggers for all of your support. We wouldn't be here without you.