We've Been Chosen!

It's been insanely tough to avoid posting this for a few days, but Andy and I have been chosen!  Last Friday, we got a call from Courtney, one of the OA&FS counselors to tell us that one of the birthmothers she had been working with chose us!  It's been a whirlwind week and while we've updated close family on current events, we opted not to post any blog updates until we were a little further along.

In a way, I think we didn't want to jinx ourselves by posting too early.  Luckily for all of you, we have been writing down posts in the meantime and are posting them today now that we've had a meeting with the birthmother that chose us:

It's a Boy! - A rundown on the events of last Friday when we got 'the call'
Babies Need Stuff - Thoughts following a trip to Babies 'R Us on Sunday
Adoption Planning I - Our first meeting with the birthmother who chose us!

Beyond these posts, it might help to have a refresher on the overall adoption process:

• Information Meeting
• Pre-Adoption Seminar
• Homestudy
• Waiting Pool
• Chosen by Birthfamily 
• Adoption Planning I
• Adoption Planning II
• Placement

>>Andy insists upon a Debbie-Downer disclaimer here: nothing's set in stone until a placement would actually occur in November, and an adoption may fall through for any number of reasons. We're very excited and we're confident enough about the placement that we want to share it publicly, but there's always still a small chance that it won't happen.

Assuming everything continues to move forward, we will spend the next few weeks getting to know the birthfamily.  Adoption Planning II will be our last major meeting with the counselor (Courtney) and the birthfamily where we go through lots of details like how things will go in the hospital, level of contact in the open adoption, etc, and this will take place about a week or two before the baby is born.

Overall, this is really exciting for us!  Andy and I are really thrilled to be on the path to an open adoption with an amazing fun and kind birthfamily.  While we have a lot of posts going up today, there will be plenty more in the coming weeks between now and mid-November!