Caption: Rainbow Bright and the Blueberry Twins
(one of the ways we passed the day of being snowed in -
they loved changing their hair color with the hair spray!)
Today, I was reminded to update this blog when a newly discovered family member told me they were going to check it out! ;)
There are so many things to share and my heart is full of joy, thanksgiving and even belonging.
Let me begin this story by starting back in October of 2010.
On a Wednesday afternooon, I waited outside for the school bus to bring our precious children home - it's one of my favorite times of the day to be waiting there and have our kids jump off the bus, give them big hugs and hear all about their day. That day however was very different.
Our kids got off the bus, but one of them collapsed onto the grass and started sobbing that his leg was hurting. Even as a baby he rarely cried, so I knew this was 'big' and immediately took him to the pediatrician - I thought he might be having a muscle cramp or growing spasm, but to my shock the doctor said it seemed to him that Jacob had an infection in his leg.
I have never heard of anyone having an infection in their leg just out of the blue with no illness or injury preceeding it but we took him to the ER and there we were told after scans and bloodwork that it didn't look good for Jacob. He had a terrible infection in his bloodsystem and his muscular system.
We were in shock.
Jacob was in the hospital 2 weeks battling this vile infection, doctor's were dumbfounded saying they have never seen a worse case and there were debates about how he got this terrible infection. One thought was that he had this since he was born - it's very common in tropical areas and his birthparents come from and lived on a tropical island during the pregnancy, the second was that he got it through a scratch on his knee, but the only problem with this was that the scratch was healed and wasn't infected.
Just when we thought we would never go home, the doctor's decided to release Jacob but we had to give him his antibiotics every 6 hours through his port in his arm at home. We were told to go home and enjoy our time with him and pray for a miracle.
We did just that, we gave him his antibiotic by IV through his port every 6 hours, we hired a home nurse and she weekly took his bloodwork to see how this vile infection was progressing.
Two weeks before Christmas, Jacob's port in his arm collasped and would no longer accept the IV nor could our nurse get blood from it, his little veins were collapsing. We were horrified, scared and had no idea what to expect. Back to the hospital we went.
Jacob wasn't admitted but, we were told to take him home until the doctor's who administered his care could decide what to do - once again we were told to pray.
We did as well as hundreds of people who we referred to as 'Team Jacob Prayer Warriors' did...
The week before Christmas, our pediatrician called and said the newest bloodwork had just come back - it was a miracle, it was all clear!!! Not a sign to be found that Jacob was ever sick! Praise the Lord!
During that time we had been in the hospital and at home, we watched alot of tv and there were ancestry.com commercials on all over the place - well, I bought into that great advertising and started researching family on there. Little did I know when I started out how this journey I started taking would lead me to 'meet' wonderful, new family members!
As an adoptive parent, one always thinks of the future with questions - When will my kids know I'm their adoptive mom? - When will my kids want to meet their biological parents and will they love them more than me? --- Let's be honest here, no one wants to think those thoughts, but we do...
Today, I realized something - a feeling, a thought of 'belonging'. Today, I found and connected with family that I never met - seeing their pictures, I saw myself and my extended family members with matching features and many of the same likes, etc.
It was something I didn't think I 'missed' or didn't have, after-all I come from a very loving, close and wonderful family! But, upon connecting with these new and precious family members I realized a completeness to myself and realized on a different and very personal level, how important our children's biological families are to them and will be more so as they grow.
I'm sure that sounds funny, that I just realized that - of course I always knew their biological families are important to them and us, but until today I didn't realize how by seeing pictures of oneself in fellow family members, could really make someone feel like they 'belong'.
Not sure if that makes sense, I've always had the gift of gab but not the gift of finding the right words to say... :)
Well, that's it for now and I'll try to post more often! This past week has been crazy - a snow storm hit our area and schools were closed all week! So, it's been fun being with the children, but I know they're ready to get back to school and their friends!
May you have a blessed and happy 2011!
Anna
