september long 2009

This was the weekend.

The weekend that ended the summer from hell.

It was one year ago that we took the first steps on a journey that would result in parenthood. This is how the adventure began.

Thursday, September 3rd, 2009:
We come home late in the evening to a message on our answering machine from our American agency case worker. An expectant mom wanted to interview us. At the time our profile was being considered by 2-3 other women (that specific fact has become fuzzy!). We set up an interview time for the next morning. Our agency was now using webcam technology to facilitate interviews. We had interviewed via the phone previously but were quite excited to try the webcam. I talked extensively with our caseworker about J and how she was doing. Our caseworker also informed us that the baby was confirmed to be a boy as initially "girl" was checked off on the information we had received about J. A boy. Yay! D and I didn't sleep well that night.

Friday, September 4th, 2009:
D and I both made our way to work in the morning. Our webcam interview was scheduled for 11:00 am. Close to 10:00am D and I left our prospective work places for a "meeting" to head home. We nervously prepared for our interview. We set our computer up in the very unused baby room and snuggled close together in the large lounge chair. After some initial hiccups with technology we were able to connect with the agency. J was lovely. In total we chatted together for just over an hour. Considering our experience only 2 months prior, D and I were still quite guarded about the process. Would we hurt again? So when J picked us to parent her child after only ~45 minutes into the interview we were stunned. Speechless was more like it. We ended our conversation talking about J's due date which no one seemed to have a clear idea about. In the end no one was able to contact J's obstetrician for confirmation about the date. We decided we would wait to hear more after J's doctor appointment on Tuesday (Monday being a holiday) before making travel plans.

We did know that J's due date was very soon. So D and I needed to prepare. We both headed back to work early that afternoon to tie up loose ends just in case J would go into labor during the weekend. At the time I was working two part-time jobs so I ran back and forth between them to make sure everything was ready for me to leave at a moment's notice. It was a whirlwind of activity. I'm still not sure how we managed to get things together in 4 short hours.

That evening D and I went out for a nice dinner, wondering if this would be our last experience dining out as a childless couple. It was a surreal experience. We were both still very cautious about everything. And of course were fully aware that in no way was this yet unborn child ours. And there were no guarantee's that he would ever be ours. J had absolutely every right to decide to parent her child and we would have completely respected her decision.

Saturday, July 5th, 2009:
We packed the baby's suitcase.

Sunday, September 6th, 2009:
I have absolutely no idea what we did this day. Likely continued to walk around in shock and try to get our lives in order to leave at a moment's notice.

Monday, September 7th, 2009:
The day that changed our lives forever. I will post about this day in exactly two days.