Our first journey with Lifetime was a whirlwind as we were matched with Charlie’s birthmother only a few days after our Lifetime website was completed and he was born only a week after that.  With Elijah, the experience was different and tested us in ways we could never have imagined but, in the end, we have our beautiful baby boy.  When we decided to adopt a second time, we knew what we needed to do.  We got the professional photographs done and were excited to prepare our profiles.  We let our boys, Charlie and Parker, help with choosing pictures and adding sections about themselves.  The boys were so excited to have a new sibling that the beginning of the process was fun for everyone.  We were ready to welcome our new baby and began our “wait” in May of last year.  Given our first experience we figured that a match would come quickly.  According to Charlie, we waited and waited and waited for a “tummy mommy” to call us.  We waited for several months.  We tried to put the adoption out of our minds for a while and go on with everyday life but every now and then Charlie would ask when “his baby” would be here and we would start to wonder if we were doing something wrong and if we would ever get the call…

Lifetime brothers Charlie and Elijah

We did! Amie called to say that there was a birthmother who was interested in talking to us.  We agreed.  Our phone call was comfortable and, by the end, she told us that she wanted us to be the parents to her baby.  Knowing that our lives were about to change, we happily agreed.  One month later, we were on our way to be present for the birth of our son.  As with Charlie, Elijah decided to take his time coming into the world so we were given a week in his birth town to explore and prepare for the new arrival.  We went out to dinner with his birthmother, her daughter, and her brother and even met her parents.  We attended her last prenatal appointment with her and went to the hospital for some unexpected tests.  She was scheduled for a cesarean section and so we knew exactly when to be at the hospital and where to go. The hospital was very adoption-friendly and we were provided all of the same information that our birthmother had.  As soon as Elijah was born, we were given a private room where we could meet our son.  The nurse brought him immediately to us and we were able to hold him about five minutes after he was born.  His birthmother asked that Margey hold him first and, after about a half hour, she asked to see him.  She was with him for about five minutes and then told the nurse to “take him to his mother.”  From that point on, Elijah was with us.  The hospital provided a room to us and we spent the night with him in the hospital.  The hospital staff was amazing to us and to Elijah’s birthmother.  It was as wonderful an experience as I believe an adoption/birth could be.  Elijah was discharged to us the next day.

Our Lifetime boys are beautiful miracles.  Charlie is compassionate, playful, cuddly, smart and athletic (to name a few of his wonderful qualities).   He understands that he has a “tummy mommy” and that Elijah has a different “tummy mommy.”  He knows that his “tummy mommy” and his mommy and daddy love him very much.  He understands that our hearts are all the same color even if our skin is a different color.  He loves his family and he adores his baby brother.  Elijah is our little angel.  He is full of smiles and only cries if he is hungry.  We thank Lifetime everyday for bringing these wonderful little people into our lives.

For those of you considering adoption or maybe waiting for that phone call, keep believing that it will happen.  For us, the adoption process has been challenging – each time in a different way – but the rewards far outweigh the waiting and the hurdles.  When your baby smiles at you or your toddler tells you that he loves you, it makes every part of the journey worth it. 

Thank you for all that you do,

Curt and Margey