So Close!

     I was almost a new mom today - as my second friend in two weeks gives birth to a son. . . . So, here's the story. I got a call at work just before lunch and I was standing near my desk doing something else, so I let it go to voicemail. Well, it was Consuelo from CHOR. She said she had a referral for us, even though our paperwork was not yet done. The baby was 18 months old and he was currently in foster care, but they wanted to place him with a "legal risk" family who might want to adopt him. He has some medical issues and is classified as medically fragile. She asked me to call her back, which I did immediately. She said she would need to see how the county felt about us not being completely approved, but that I should talk it over with Flaco and get back to her. I called Flaco immediately, but had to leave him a message. When I finally did get ahold of Flaco he just kept saying, yes, yes, yes. So, I called Consuelo back to let her know this and that I had some more questions about the child's health and how long he had been in the system, plus anything else she could tell me. She said the baby had only been in the system for 2 months, both his parents are Hispanic and he is from Berks County. He is considered medically fragile because he was very underweight for his age and is still underweight, even after 2 months getting proper nutrition. He has 4 older siblings who were in foster care, but are now back with their parents. Apparently, the dad likes to have lots of babies with lots of women and both parents are rather young. The mom might only be about 20 years old - and already has 5 kids!!! Anyway, she said the county didn't really explore everything with the current foster family and apparently they might be open to legal risk and therefore the child would not be moved, unless he is reunited with his family (which is still currently the goal). So, we are supposed to solider on with completing our paperwork and fax Consuelo what we have right now (which is everything but the picture and the animal vaccination records). My friend who is wrapping up her adoption of a little girl through CHOR said not to be surprised if we get a lot of calls this time of year because they seem to have a lot of kids come into the system right before the holidays. I hope this means another placement is right around the corner! I kind of freaked out a bit, thinking of day care and getting a car seat and a crib . . . And, I also already felt myself getting attached. I imagined bringing him home and showing him the animals and his room and playing with him. I imagined taking him to Thanksgiving and maybe even Christmas!!! Yeah, I was kind of like the Tasmanian devil, spinning in circles, babbling, with spittle flying everywhere. . . . . Flaco has since changed his mind and said he doesn't want to have a baby in our home if there is still a great chance he or she will be leaving us - in other words, he has doubt about the legal risk status. I just pray that the "right" situation will present itself to us with the "right" baby and God will make it happen. For whatever reason, the adoption process seems to be going a lot smoother and easier than trying to conceive. . . . Technically, we are still on the list for this baby, but I feel fairly certain Consuelo will call us next week to let us know his foster family wants to keep him. Our baby is still out there on his/her quest to reach us . . . . .