Becoming Three

I promised to write more about how we came to be a family of three, so here goes nothing.

As I mentioned in a previous post, Larry and I signed up with an agency located out west the beginning of May. We continued with our initial agency, however felt that things were simply not moving forward. We would later come to find out that in fact, that was at a standstill. But that is an entirely different story.

So, we signed up with this agency and sent out our profiles. We were open to any race and either gender, and were hopeful that things would move quickly.

Throughout May, we heard from the agency frequently and had a few glimmers of hope that our child was just around the corner. At the same time, we tried not to get our hopes up. We started to focus on things that we needed to get done at home and contemplated taking a vacation, which we hadn't done in a couple of years.

On Monday, June 16th, Larry called me at work and told me that he knew where we should go on vacation. The conversation went a little like this:

Larry: So, I've been thinking and I know where I want to go on vacation.
Megan: Oh, yeah, that's nice...where?
Larry: Somewhere out west (He actually said where, but I'm trying to preserve somethings for Teegen)
Megan: Okay, well what would we do Somewhere Out West?
Larry: How about pick up our daughter?
Megan: SHUT UP!

The conversation continued with me repeatedly saying Shut Up! in utter disbelief. In fact, one of my coworkers stepped in to make sure everything was okay. We told no one until we had heard more from the agency. And once we heard more, we told everyone who would listen.

That week went by so quickly, yet so dreadfully slow at the same time. There were moments riddled with anxiety and tears of joy and sadness. But finally the day came for us to board an airplane and head Somewhere Out West.

After over 12 hours of traveling, we finally met Teegen. Due to a traumatic birth, she spent several days in the NICU, with an incredible group of nurses. She was thriving by the time we got to meet her and continues to thrive at home.

There were moments throughout the days we were in a hotel room Somewhere Out West, when the enormity of the situation and the intensity of the emotions we were feeling became overwhelming. I said to Larry at least twice that I didn't know if I could go through that again, but then I would look at Teegen and realize I could.

A year ago, we were mired down in the great fingerprint debacle of 2007, anticipating a son from Vietnam. Today, I sit here with my three week old daughter, trying to wrap my head around the fact that I'm fortunate enough to get to be her mom.

Here's the first picture of us as a family: