Playing Catch Up...

In an effort to play a little catch up, I've decided to do some retrospective posts over the course of several days in order to tell the story of our life over the last month (keep in mind, since I had never blogged before, this is a completely new medium of journaling for me and it took a little getting used to). I thought that it was important to document the events of the last month because it has been an incredibly exciting and stressful time in our lives.

26 September 2008

What an amazing day! I was contacted this morning at 10:03 by Debbie Duggan. (Flora Gemini’s daughter - - Flora is a delightful lady that I work with at CPS. Debbie and her husband have twin daughters that they adopted from China and Debbie is the Treasurer of the Chinese America Culture Club that Michael and I belong to.) Anyway...Debbie contacted me via e-mail stating:

Hi Kristine,

We have a friend that runs a charity for Chinese orphanages by the name of Amy Eldridge. She was recently told that there are two sets of twin boys with insignificant special needs. They are looking for people who already have their paperwork done. I know you have been waiting for a long time and you probably have your mind set on a girl but if you are interested let me know a/s/a/p. There, of course, is no guarantee that you would get them but we were asked by Amy if we knew anyone and I thought of you. I will be home until about 10:45 then at my office. My home # is 773 xxx-xxxx or work 708 xxx-xxxx.

Thanks,
Debbie Duggan

I immediately phoned her and I think the first words out of my mouth were, "Debbie? Holy crap! What do I need to do?!” My heart was beating about a mile a minute and I was so excited at the prospect! She advised me to contact her husband, Paul, at his office. She told be that he had more information. I told her how very interested we were and that we had been hoping for twins since we started the process, but thought that our chances were poor since some of the regulations had changed. She said she couldn’t guarantee anything. She said that their friend was interested in finding a good family who was paper ready - - I immediately informed her that we just made it into the "Matching Room" that week! Debbie thought that was great news! She said it was amazing that the Chinese had such different ideas of what “special needs” were compared to what the American definitions were. She couldn’t give me a lot more information, so I took down Paul’s number and thanked her profusely!

I called Paul right away, but couldn’t get through - - instead, I got his secretary. Of course, she told me he was in a meeting. I told her that I just got off the phone with his wife and that I work with his Mother-in-Law, so she said that she would “text” him with that info. I was only on hold for a few seconds before he picked up. I quickly introduced myself and he said that he couldn't talk then because he was in a meeting with his banker (Gee…like THAT was important?! LOL!!! What? Was the stock market going crazy or something?? Oh yeah…it WAS! LOL!) Of course, I completely understood, but it was difficult to contain my enthusiasm over wanting to learn more about these babies!! He asked me a few questions about our situation like what our LID was, if we had any kids, who our adoption agency was, etc. He told me that he would call me later in the afternoon with more info. No problem.

So I waited…and waited…and waited. (Ugh! You’d think I’d be used to waiting, wouldn’t you?!) This was excruciating! Debbie e-mailed early in the afternoon to let me know that Paul was tied up in meetings all day and that he would contact Amy Eldridge with our information.

Paul called me at about 3:30pm. It was great to talk to him. He told me that Love Without Boundaries was working with two sets of twin boys that were about a year old and that their only special need was that they were PREEMIES!!! Are you kidding me?! He said that the LWB staff had seen the boys and they were “darling,” “healthy” and “adorable!” He said that he would adopt them if he could, but he couldn’t because of his age. He was so helpful and he said he would recommend us highly to Amy Eldridge. I told him about our ties to the Chinese America Culture Club, Flora, etc.

When I called Michael throughout the day to tell him all about the developments, he was so psyched!! He said, “Let’s do it!” That just made my day! I always envisioned a family of four (ideally twins). We originally pictured girls because, let’s face it…China is known for abandoning their girls - - but GOSH - - twin BOYS! Wow! Sons?! I could be the Mother of twin sons! I just LOVE that idea! Two little rascals running around! I think Michael is already dreaming of teaching them about baseball and playing catch!

I called Juli at the end of the day and told her of the events of the day in confidence. She sounded very excited. I swore her to secrecy. I told her how excited I was about this and she asked if we were sure about boys rather than girls (NO PROBLEM!). She couldn’t believe that their special need was that they were born prematurely! I told her to say a prayer!