A bit of our background

Adam and I tried for about 4 years to become pregnant. I have a condition called Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome. One of the main complications with this condition is infertility. We tried the fertility drugs etc. We found this very stressful and not very "normal" but hoped that it would work for us. For those of you who have done the fertility route, you know what I mean by me saying it's not "normal"!! Medical advancements are great, but having a tube of "stuff" in between your chest to keep "it" warm, while trying to get to the medical clinic before 20 mins, and then laying on a table praying that the procedure will work, just isn't normal!! Then having the stress of hoping it will work. The emotional strain of hoping, hoping, hoping, and then the disappointment the pregnancy, that you were certain was going to work this time, didn't happen. It is an emotional rollercoaster of ups and downs.

We decided that we were going to take a break from the fertility route, and do some natural steps, such as reflexology and vitamins etc. Our reflexologist was great and he told me things that were wrong with me, and I didn't tell him ANY history about me, that I had been told by the medical Dr's. He said, let's just do this for at least 6 months, and then go from there.

Well, we went on a trip to the Dominican Republic to relax and just veg. Lo and behold the stress less vacation was the best medicine and we got pregnant!!!!

My pregnancy was not stress less at all. I was on bed rest for the last 5 months. I had a small placenta tear that would keep tearing, little by little. But our miracle baby was born November 1st, 2003. She has been a real joy and blessing to us.

That has been almost 5 years. Infertility is still present in our life. This time around I have been a lot less stressed and a lot less emotional about it.

My hubby and I have always talked about doing an international adoption. In the beginning of our discussions we thought we would adopt after having our biological children. Last year we were talking about our family and we asked ourselves "why did we have to wait until after having our biological children." It could be years until we become pregnant again...or it may never happen. J was already almost 4 then. She was so ready to have a sibling, and we were ready to be parents again. That's when we decided to start to adoption process.

I will do more posts about our decision of why Ethiopia, why international vs domestic adoption, and more. Post any of your questions about anything you are wondering. It gives me topics to write about!! I love hearing from you guys.

Cheers

How many more sleeps Mommy?

"How many more sleeps until we get baby sister" my 4, almost 5 year old says.
"Is it about 114 mom? Is that about how long...huh. Mom. Is it about 114? "
Sigh. "Yeah about 114 is about right honey."
"I'm getting really excited to be a big sister mom. I can't wait"

This is the conversation that I had with my daughter today. I wish it was only 114 sleeps. I wish I knew exactly how long it would be. More so I wish I knew who our daughter, who we already love, is. Is she born yet? Is she okay? When can I hold her? These are some of the question that I wish I knew, but I don't.

Most of the time, I am actually quite content about not knowing, because our agency gives us a pretty "accurate timeline". So I know that we are in the waiting stage. Our dossier is over in Ethiopia, and as of right now, we can't do anything. Except pray that this waiting stage goes speedy, and that we will find out soon who our daughter is. And I find much comfort in praying when I am anxious.

But sometimes I want to know too....

"How many more sleeps until we get baby sister"

Cheers

Collecting items for Ethiopia

I am so excited tonight. I was in the city today and came across some Canadian items for clear out prices!! Shirts for 2 dollars. Yeah for bargin stores and dollarama's. Mind you some of them are white. Probably not the best color for them, but that's okay! If anyone finds some good deals on Canada apparel(under 5$) let me know where, or buy them for me and I will pay you back. We want as much Canadian stuff as possible. A friend of mine found Frisbee's with the maple leaf. Great item. Small and flat for us to pack when we travel.

I am also so excited about the donations of the "croc" shoes. People have donated about 2 Rubbermaid tubs full. How great our family, church and friends have been in donating to our cause. I was thinking of different items to collect for when we go to Ethiopia to get our daughter. Throughout our journey I have been doing research on the stats of the poverty etc.. One thing that has such out in my mind is how far people have to walk for water. And not water that we would consider water.. Any how, I really felt that this was the main thing I wanted to focus on. Many, if not most children are walking barefoot over rough terrain. They can get infection leading to a condition called elephant foot. This is a serious condition and the infection can move up their legs and be very painful. So this I why I have committed to taking as many shoes as we can pack along with us.

What sizes, brands, colors etc...you ask! Well dollar stores are great for low prices on these "croc" shoes. I am trying to collect these type of lightweight, plastic shoes. They will be great for the children for any type of weather. Plus they will not put us over the weight limit for flying!! I can stuff small shoes in big ones, so I really can pack lots. I definitely won't turn down other shoes, we appreciate any type of donations. If you are new to my blog and want some info on donating some shoes just contact me. I also have a contact who owns a dollar store and she will give me shoes for cost if you would like to just send a toonie or two!

Well my hubby is actually home early from combining and I should go visit with him as he is watching the Rider game! Farming is a great lifestyle, but man, busy times are really, really busy!

Cheers

Me....Blogging?!

So here I am. About to start blogging! Too warn you all, I am not a great writer. My spelling is awful. Some times spell check doesn't even know the word I was trying to type. I am all over the place with my thoughts. But I still am going to give it a whirl!!

I have read other blogs that made me think that this is a great way to journal our way thru our adoption journey. Even though it may seem to us that we will never forget all we are going thru right now, years down the road it will be good for us, and more so, good for our daughter to be able to read about this journey. She will be able to read the process, what we have all had to do, and it will be good for her to see how much we love her, even though we don't even know who she is yet.

Yes....it's a girl!!! We have put in a referral for a baby girl, age 0-18 months. As I just typed that it's a girl, I feel so excited. I want everyone to know about our upcoming daughter. In a different post I will go into more details about why we decided to adopt, how we came to our decision of what gender etc, but this is just an introduction, so I will keep it short!

We actually are pretty sure already of her name that we will call her, but we will keep it a surprise!! I've got to keep you all wanting to come back to read my blog!! We will wait to tell you her name until we know exactly who she is. Plus we will see what her Ethiopian name is, and see if we will use that as her first name, and the name we picked for her 2nd name, or vica versa.

Now when I say we, I am a 31 year old mom and wife. I have been married 10 years to my high school sweetheart. We were married at the age of 20 and 21. I am a massage therapist and farm wife. My name is Krista. My hubby's name is Adam. We had our daughter Jayden Skye in 2003. Actually today is her 1st day of Kindergarden! That's why I have decided to blog now. I have a little extra "me" time, so like I need more to add to my plate of working, cleaning, you know typical mom stuff, I've added blogging. So I dropped J off today. No tears(from me I mean!!) but can't believe our first daughter is in school. She is a true miracle, I will talk more about that in another post, and I am excited for her.

Anyhow that's our little family as it is right now. I will give you more insight into our lives as I keep telling you all about our journey.

Phewf. That wasn't so hard. Actually, it was quite fun and therapeutic. Here's to more blogging.

Cheers.