SO here is a little about me and my girls to get things started. I am 36 year old, single mother (although, you probably read that in my profile). I own a mobile veterinary practice and live in the Atlanta area-- so I am always in traffic and running late!! I have always wanted to be a mother, but not necessarily wife or partner, so I began the process of starting a family in 2001. My immediate family thought I was crazy, of course--they still do. But, as anyone who knows me knows, once I set a my mind on something, I do it. I attempted IUI, using several different donors, for a little over a year without success. Finally, in April 2002, I found the right donor! Ironically, I went to an afternoon Braves game on the successful insemination day-- walked about 3 miles to the ballpark from a friend's house and baked in the Atlanta sun for several hours. Guess the sperm donor was a baseball fan. My friends later told me if I had a boy, I must name him "Chipper". Fortunately, I had a girl!! Maybe I should have called her Chipper though, because she is a "chip off the ol' block" Amelia is definitely a mini me--except for the fact that she is extremely "girly" and I am not. She is extremely dramatic, very talkative, and, of course, highly intelligent (okay, so maybe she didn't get that from me).
My little one came about 2 years, 8 months later. No good insemination day story in her case, though. Her exciting story began when she came out screaming and didn't seem to stop for the first 6 months. You know it's bad when your nurse tells you in the first 24 hours that in all her years of being a nurse, she's never had a baby that cried that much the first day. It was funny, really, the poor nurse came in every 15 minutes to ask if I wanted her to take her to the nursery. I guess she felt sorry for me. I, of course, kept my screaming bundle of joy in my arms that first long night trying to calm her---obviously she did not appreciate being cut from my uterus --that's what I get for having a scheduled C-section. Maybe Adelaide was also mad that two pediatricians at the hospital never noticed that she had a heart murmur--she was later diagnosed with Ebstein's Anomaly and ASD (thankfully, her heart is doing fine these days). When she was about a month old I noticed, while her mouth was wide open--screaming at me as usual, that she had a "forked" uvula. I brought this up to the pediatrician. I also told him about the little pits that she has in her lower lip. I then mentioned that I had googled lip pits and a rare genetic inheritable condition called Van der Woude Syndrome had come up. So, he referred us to a geneticist who said that Adelaide did, in fact, have this rare syndrome. So, my little girl has two extremely rare anomalies! No wonder she was so mad those first months. The good news is, she is mildly affected by both and is doing great today. I have to say that Adelaide is one of the most interesting characters that I have ever met! I am so very blessed to have her-- even if I still can't quite figure her out. She's like a little cyclone that never stops, and sometimes you have to remind her to acknowledge your very presence, but somehow she gets every ones attention. People just seem to love her. Guess that's called playing hard to get. It seems to work for her!
I am also in the process of adopting a little boy from Sakhalin, Russia. I am hoping to finally get some travel dates for my first trip soon. My agency (WACAP) has not yet received accreditation, but the region has finally agreed to allow independent adoption. Hopefully, my paper work is somewhere in Russia right now, and they will allow me to travel soon. I have, unfortunately learned not to get my hopes up. It has been over a year since I started this process-- the majority of it has been waiting. Patience has never been my strong point, but I have tried not to let the whole process stress me out too much. Amelia is very excited about having a younger brother, even though he is only 4 months younger! I'm not sure how Adelaide feels about having a big brother--I guess she will enjoy having another older sibling to pinch and hit. We are all looking forward to adding "D" to our family. Because he is an older child and he has some special needs (mild cerebral palsy), there will be a lot of adjustments and challenges ahead for all of us. But that's all part of life's adventure...
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