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Day 288 Waiting for our miracle babies

Well, today is the last day of November which is National Adoption Month. I haven't been especially good about posting about adoption every day this month, but I have made an effort amidst the craziness that is my life. But I do want to do one more feature this month. So, please let me introduce Ryan, Helen, and Emily.

"We are excited to add to our family again through the miracle of adoption. Ryan is a patent attorney, Helen is a stay-at-home mom, and Emily is our adorable two-year-old daughter whom we adopted at birth. We adore her birth parents and enjoy an open relationship with them. We are ready to do it all again! We hope to adopt through LDS Family Services. You can read our Dear Birth Parent letter by clicking here. Please contact us with any questions you have by emailing us at ryanandhelenldsfs@hotmail.com." You can view Ryan and Helen's profile on the LDSFS website by clicking here.

Since it has been so fun spotlighting hopeful couples this month, I have decided to make it a permanent feature on my blog! So, if you are a hopeful adoptive family, send me your information. Include a photo, a way to contact you, a link to your online profile/blog, and a short paragraph about your family. You can send this information to me at maloneandbrittanyadopt@gmail.com. I will ask my contacts to spread the word for you. The only thing I ask in return is that you be sure to let your waiting friends know about this opportunity so that I can spread the word for them too.

28 and 21

Day 285 Waiting for our miracle babies

Today marks a big milestone in our birthmom, J's, pregnancy. She is now 28 weeks! To all of you, that might sound like just another week. But, to us it's special. Why? Well, when we were in the hospital with Gavin, a Neonatologist told us that 28 weeks is sort of "a magic number." If a baby is delivered any time after (roughly) the 28 week mark, the baby almost always survives and will be able to live a normal life without permanent ramifications to their health. So, when I was in the hospital with Gavin, I dreamed of what it would be like to make it to 28 weeks. It feels good to know that J has made it that far.

As for me, I am now celebrating week 21! Sometimes it feels like I'm just slowly plodding along, but I am so thankful today that I am this far. And, we had a very BIG exciting moment this week! Malone and I were lying in bed getting ready to fall asleep, and Malone had his hand on my belly. All of a sudden, the baby gives the biggest kick yet and Malone could FEEL the baby kicking against his hand! I cried and we thanked Heavenly Father for the millionth time that He is performing these amazing miracles in our life.

Ultrasound visit

Day 282 Waiting for our miracle babies

Best news ever, my cervix is still in PERFECT shape! The Perinatologist who analyzed me said, "It looks like a brick." So, I have managed to escape full-time bed rest for at least 2 more weeks. Can we all give a collective sigh of relief here? Phew! The baby is measuring a little bit small, but development of all organs and everything looks right on track. And can I just say, I am so thankful every time I get to listen to that little heartbeat. If I could listen to it all day long, I would.

Ok, but I know that's not the real news you're all waiting for. But, unfortunately, I won't be telling you all if the baby is a boy or a girl today. Why? Because this silly child is apparently VERY shy! No matter how much the ultrasound tech jiggled my belly, the baby REFUSED to uncross his/her legs. Stubborn kid...

The new date to "wait for" is December 8th when the next ultrasound is scheduled. Sorry to keep you on pins and needles, but you'll have to talk to the baby about that one.

Featured

Day 280 Waiting for our miracle babies

Our second featured couple this month is Josh and Savannah. I could tell you a little about these two as I have met them personally and think they're pretty amazing, but I can't say it as well as Savannah can. The following is her story:

I married my high school sweetheart in 2001. For a few months we tried a few forms of birth control. After about a year, we decided we would let nature take its course. If we had babies, that would be great, but we wouldn't stress if they didn't come. Fast forward 6 years and we are still childless. We started to realize that something could be wrong. Long story short, we discovered that I have PCOS and hubs had a zero sperm count.

One night, Josh was driving home from work and he heard a commercial for Hallmark Cards. It talked about a lady finding a card for a unique situation... her friend had just adopted. At that moment he knew that we were meant to adopt. I think that helped prepare us for his test results that came back a few days later. We should have been devastated that we couldn't get pregnant, most couples are. It was heartbreaking, but we knew it wasn't over for us. We could still be parents.

We started our adoption paperwork through LDS Family Services in May of 2007 and we have now been approved to adopt for 18 months. That's the same as the length of two pregnancies... Why the long wait? I'm really not sure. We went into the idea of adoption knowing that we needed to find our child, not just any child. We know that Heaven has a child picked out for us and that we need to find each other. But this is something we can't do alone. Adoptions in general have a better chance of happening if the adoptive couple actively looks for their birth mom. That means we need your help. Please pass our information along to anyone you know who might be interested in placing a child for adoption.

We think adoption is a wonderful thing and we can't wait for our family to grow through this miracle. You can learn more about our family on our adoption blog HERE.

If you are a couple hoping to adopt and would like to be featured on my blog please email me at maloneandbrittanyadopt@gmail.com.

The big 2-0

Day 278 Waiting for our miracle babies

I am so thankful to be out of the teens! And yet, we don't feel like we can breathe any easier until week 25. I will be exactly 25 weeks on December 25th. Yep, that's right. On Christmas day I will have made it exactly one week longer than I did with Gavin. So, we will really be celebrating that day.

But I can't let myself think about that too much. Right now it's best to just take this one day at a time. And, I have something to look forward to that is coming much sooner! On Tuesday we get to find out the gender of miracle #2. Can't wait! So, be sure to get your votes in if you haven't yet because you only have 4 days left!

Featured

Day 275 Waiting for our miracle babies

As posted earlier this month, I would like to feature some couples who are still in the "finding" stages of their adoption. Along those lines, I would like to introduce to you...

Kevin and Christa

They are a family of four hoping to add one more! Kevin(36) is a Mechanical Engineer, and Christa (34) is a stay at home mom. They live in Pennsylvania. Kevin and Christa would like prospective birth families to know that they are a fun loving Christian family. They are both college educated and strive to give their children every opportunity to succeed in life. They provide loving discipline and structure, along with lots of fun. They believe that no other success in life can compensate for failure in the home. Kevin and Christa are working through LDS Family Services. If you would like more information about them, including a way to contact them, please visit there website HERE.

If you would like to be featured on my blog this month, please email me at maloneandbrittanyadopt@gmail.com. If there is enough interest generated in this, then I am considering making this a permanent feature on my blog.

And... 19

Day 271 Waiting for our miracle babies

So this week was fun. We had our birthmom, J, come up and visit us overnight. It was totally casual. It felt like when I was 13 and had sleepovers with my best friends! So this picture of her isn't at exactly 26 weeks, but it was taken at about 25 and a half weeks, so I figure we can round up.

Also during this week, I finally broke down and bought some maternity jeans. Until this week I had been just making due with my regular pants, but they were getting tigher... and tighter... and tighter... It was so uncomfortable, I just couldn't handle it anymore! So I dragged my best friend Cessi down to the mall and found these MAGIC stretchy pants! They are AWESOME! And seriously, they should sell these babies to women as "period pants!" You know, for your bloated days. While at the store, I made Cessi strap on their pillow belly that they have for women to use while trying on clothes. It was so hilarious, but I think the sales lady might have thought we were insane.

Anyway, here are the pics for your viewing pleasure... J at 26 weeks, me at 19 weeks, and Cessi at... uh... some? weeks?

A Gorgeous Girl

Day 269 Waiting for our miracle babies


So, my friend Beth has one of the most gorgeous daughters of ALL TIME. Seriously, she is so beautiful. She also happens to be adopted. Awesome, right? Anyhow, Beth's baby is in a contest on this website. If she wins the most votes, then she will receive a gift certificate to my friend Meka's Beautiful Baby Boutique. So, head on over to Meka's blog and VOTE VOTE VOTE! Beth's baby is #7. And be sure to hurry because I think there are only 2 or 3 days left to vote! Oh, and while you're there, be sure to take a look at Meka's amazing baby items. They are gorgeous, and priced really affordably. And guess what? Every purchase you make helps Meka raise money for their second adoption! So, you get amazing products, and sometime in the near future, Meka will get a son/daughter. Everybody wins!

Ummm...

Day 267 Waiting for our miracle babies

As you all know, adoption is incredibly expensive. And I'm sure you can all guess that my pregnancies are also incredibly expensive. Combined, it creates somewhat of a financial crunch. We're not complaining, obviously any expense is worth it. But we are really trying hard not to go into debt for any of it. So, we have been saving as much as possible, we have done a fundraiser garage sale, and we have added a paypal button on our blog for donations. It hasn't been successful enough though. So, we are going to make and sell the little rocking chairs that we make. You can see pictures of them in this post. Our dilemma is that we really don't know how much to sell them for. Malone estimates that it costs us somewhere between $20-$25 in materials to make each one. Then I hand paint each one and customize it for the person it's going to. So, how much do you all think we could sell them for?

And... 18

Day 264 Waiting for our miracle babies

Well here I am at 18 weeks. I had a doctor's appointment today and she confirmed that our little baby is still growing and has a great heartbeat. She scheduled me to have an ultrasound with a perinatologist (a high risk pregnancy doctor) on November 24th. He will do all the regular ultrasound stuff. He will also assess the status of my cervix and offer an opinion about how much longer he thinks I'll be able to hold onto the baby. Sounds fun, right? NOT. I'm actually terrified that I'm going to get there and he's going to have bad news. We shall see. Hopefully the worst thing that will happen is he will order me to stay in bed for the duration of my "confinement." Frankly, if that's all that happens, I will be relieved. After all, I never expected that I'd make it this far without getting strapped down, so I'm grateful for every day that I can still do the normal things. You know, walk to the bathroom, bathe myself, work, go to the store, etc... Stuff like that really makes me thankful! (Don't mock)

On a brighter note, I have now posted the poll where you can guess whether I'm having a boy or a girl! It's in the right sidebar.

Just ignore our laundry in the background. Oh, and the fact that I'm not wearing makeup. Just one of those days...

For starters

Day 262 Waiting for our miracle babies

One thing I would like to do this month to help spread the word about adoption is feature waiting couples. What better way to promote adoption than to try to help connect families? So, if you are a waiting family, send me your information. Include a photo, a way to contact you, a link to your online profile, and a short paragraph about your family. You can send this information to me at maloneandbrittanyadopt@gmail.com. I will ask my contacts to spread the word for you too. The only thing I ask in return is that you be sure to let your waiting friends know about this opportunity so that I can spread the word for them too.

Somethings brewing...

Day 261 Waiting for our miracle babies

What many of you don't know is that November is national adoption month. It's a chance for all of us to educate others about the miracle of adoption. With that in mind, I have decided that I want to do something special on my blog throughout the month to do my part. I'm not sure yet exactly what I'm going to do, but stay tuned. I have some ideas brewing in this brain of mine...