Blisstree » adoptees

A Domestic Birth Story, Overwhelmed with Joy

Marcie — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 13:36:24 +0000

Because this month is National Adoption Month I have asked some of my favorite bloggers to Guest Post here and tell their adoption stories. You all know my story; an international one. I thought you might want to hear from Foster Mothers, First Moms, Adoptees, and Moms who have adopted domestically. So, all month I will be bringing their stories to you.

Today we have our first Guest Post from Overwhelmed with Joy, a mother who adopted domestically. On her blog she calls him Snuggle Bug. You can also read about their foster daughter, Boo, whom they would like to adopt. This Guest Post is about her son’s birth.

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My husband and I were one of the lucky adoptive couples that were allowed to be present the day our son was born, in December of 2004. His birth parents called us as they were heading to the hospital and told us, “Get over here, quick!” We raced to the car, our stomachs swirling with excitement and anxiety, and stamped down the urge to speed as we drove to the hospital. We arrived before our son’s birth mother was taken to her birthing room.

We spent several hours chatting in the birthing room, trying to pass the time as we all waited. Then, when the delivery began, we paced outside the door, listening for our son’s arrival. We heard silence, and then suddenly the sound of tiny cries reached our ears. Tears of joy began to fall down my cheeks!

Our son was placed in my arms at exactly 2 minutes old. I was in a daze as the nurse hustled me to the private room they had set aside for us. The warmth of the blanket that our son was wrapped in felt comforting. I was so worried that I’d drop this precious, squirming bundle. I looked down and saw a shock of dark brown hair sticking up every which way. My first impressions of our son were, “So much hair” and “he’s so light!”

Our son was taken from my arms and, as the nurse attended to him and cleaned him up, my husband and I watched in stunned silence. I counted his perfect fingers and toes to be assured that he had just the right number. I soaked in every detail of him, from his dark hair, little button nose, healthy colored skin, and bright red lips. He was breathtakingly beautiful, even in his fury at being poked and prodded by the nurse.

Our son’s first day with us was a whirlwind of activity, with frequent visits from his birth family and the nursing staff. The hours flew by quickly and my husband and I were afraid to miss a single minute of time with him. We treasured his tiny presence as we snuggled him close, rocked him, and fed him a bottle. We fumbled a bit as we changed his diaper and dressed him in his tiny little clothes. Even watching him sleep was a treat.

At some point during the day, my husband suggested we go to the hospital cafeteria and get a bit to eat. I reluctantly wheeled our son in his bassinet from our private room to the nursery and turned him over to the nurses. “Don’t worry, we’ll take good care of him,” one of the nurses promised us. My husband and I ate quickly in the cafeteria because we both wanted to get back to our son.

Upon entering the nursery to pick up our son, I was met with the confusion of several crying babies. My heart raced with amazement as I was able to pick our son’s cry out of all the other babies. I followed the sound to his bassinet, which had been moved during our absence. A nurse had our son striped naked and was changing his diaper. He was expressing his displeasure. I leaned over his bassinet and murmured, “It’s okay, baby. Mama’s here.”

At the sound of my voice, he instantly stopped crying and turned to look intently at me. I was astounded that he recognized my voice and, without even a touch, was comforted by it! It was then that I was reminded of his birth mother’s request, during her pregnancy, that we give her a CD recording of us reading children’s stories so she could play it to him while he was in her womb. She wanted him to get to know our voices. Apparently this effort made all the difference in the world!

I gently lifted my son to cradle him close, breathed in my fill of his sweet baby smell, and softly stroked his cheek and face. As we gazed at each other, a powerfully miraculous mother-son bond began to develop between the two of us. Three and a half years later, this bond has only gotten stronger with each passing day!

Post from: Blisstree

A Domestic Birth Story, Overwhelmed with Joy

The Best of the Best: Top 50 Adoption Blogs

Marcie — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 02:17:14 +0000

From domestic to international adoptions, from first moms to adoptees, from same sex parents to transracial families…the best of the best adoption blogs out there on the internet.

General

Anti-Racist Parent

A Birth Project

Adoptive Parents

Domestic

Production, not reproduction

Plain Jane Mom Letters to a Birthmother

Peter’s Cross Station

International

My Two Boys

Salsa in China

Jesus was Not a Republican

Two Different Loves

It Only Takes One Step

Pundit Mom

A New Flower Blooms

Artificially Sweetened

Alison and Jim’s Adoption Journey

First Parents

Chronicles of Munchkinland

I should really be working

Paragraphein

Adoptees

Harlow’s Monkey

Ethnically Incorrect Daughter

3 Generations of Adoption

Adoption and its Triad

Land of the Nos-So-Calm

Ungrateful Little Bastard

Heart, Mind, and Seoul

Bastard in a Handbasket

Infertility

And I Wasted All that Birth Control

Post from: Blisstree

The Best of the Best: Top 50 Adoption Blogs

US Politicians (and Presidents) and the Adoption Connection

Marcie — Mon, 18 Feb 2008 15:29:05 +0000

Despite what views our society has traditionally had on orphans and adoption I am hoping that times will change and our children won’t be referred to as orphans (because statistically I believe that most are not actually orphans and because the connotation stinks).

However, if one looks at this fabulous list of adoptees, adoptive parents, and, yes, orphans, one will see that no matter where they came from or whom they were raised by, they are extraordinary people.

Is that nature vs. nurture?

Adoptees

Michae l Reagan (Ronald Reagan’s Son)

Nancy Reagan (First Lady- step-parent adoption)

Gerald Ford (step-parent adoption)

Eleanor Roosevelt (raised by grandmother)

William Clinton (step-parent adoption)

Herbert Hoover (raised by uncles)

Andrew Jackson (lost parents at 14, no adoption)

Adoptive Parents

Ronald Reagan

Famous Politicians

Jesse Jackson