Why We Chose Adoption to Grow Our Family

     I guess some people are wondering why we chose adoption to grow our family.  I don't think I commented on that earlier this month when I told our adoption story.  I have a genetic heart condition called Hypertrophic Cardio Myopathy(HCM) with Obstruction(HOCM).  It is a thickening of the heart muscle and with the thickening comes many side effects.  Undo stress on the heart is not good.  I started medication for the condition when I was 13 years old and as I got older my dosage and prescriptions changed.  We were not sure that I would ever be able to have children because of the stress that pregnancy and delivery can have on the heart.  Once Daniel and I were serious about our relationship this of course became a topic of conversation and with that conversation came the conversation about adoption.  So, early in our relationship we had discussed adoption.  After we got married we discussed with my cardiologist our options for getting pregnant.  He informed us that he felt I was young and healthy enough to handle pregnancy and delivery under close watch and high risk status.  In August 2001 we welcomed Edith Grace into our family, the pregnancy and the delivery were great.  No complications, no issues, everyone was healthy and safe. 
    The months and years following Edi's birth found my heart condition worsening.  They increased my medicine, but in the late Summer of 2003 surgery options were discussed.  My doctor had me wear a heart monitor for a few days and when the results came back they found that my heart was also going to the Vtach rhythms which is not good. My doctor called me and said we need to get a pacemaker/defibrillator in you as soon as possible.  He also recommended going ahead with the surgery which we had discussed only a week before doing in January 2004.  This conversation with the doctor took place on Oct. 2, my grandfather passed away on Oct. 4, and my brother was getting married on Oct. 18.  I had to wait at least 2-3 weeks before I could do anything. 
     We scheduled the surgery for Wed., Oct. 23.  I went into the hospital on Oct. 22 and on Oct. 23 had open heart surgery to cut away the thickened heart muscle; the procedure was called a septal myectomy.  On Mon., Oct. 28 I had the pacemaker/defibrillator implanted.  I went home on Thurs. or Fri. of that week.  I was in a lot of pain, I could not lie flat on my back and had to sleep in the recliner for 2 weeks after I got home.  I could not lift anything for a long time. Edi had just turned 2 in August and did not understand why Mommy could not pick her up.  She had to crawl in my lap very carefully or someone had to put her in my lap.  Along with all this heart stuff we had started remodeling our house and on the day I went in for surgery the construction started.  My being stuck at home and confined to a recliner was just peachy, even better when you added in the hammers!
     By the second week in January 2004 I was back to work part-time and then full-time. I felt great!  Life went on as normal and Edi continued to grow and be the joy of my life.  We knew that we had to wait at least one year after the surgery to get pregnant, we waited almost 2 years.  In May 2006 we welcomed Amelia Danielle into our family, but not without complications.  The pregnancy was good, but not as good as it had been with Edi.  The delivery however was a different story.  It was hard and I had a lot of issues with my blood pressure bottoming out after the delivery.  It bottomed out 3 times within 12 hours.  I also lost a lot of blood and had to have a blood transfusion.  The first or second day after the delivery one of the OB doctors came in and asked us about the possibility of future pregnancies and we told him that we were done given the past days events.  Through the pregnancy we had said that we wanted one more after Amelia, but the delivery changed our minds for us.  The doctor was happy to hear this because he said he was going to have to have a serious talk with us if we thought about getting pregnant again.  In August 2006, Daniel took care of the situation, if you know what I mean. 
     Then in February 2007 when Amelia was just 9 months old my feelings of wanting another baby began, and thus began our adoption journey.  See posts from Nov. 11, 12, and 13, 2009 for our complete adoption story.