Surprises

Someone started a thread about what has surprised us the most by this whole crazy ride of Ethiopian adoption. I responded there but thought I would share here too. I am not going to list how long it has taken because that is a given but here are some other things that have really surprised me.

1) How in love I am with a family I don't know and a country I haven't been to yet.

I wasn't really prepared for the deep emotions I would have and that will probably only intensify about Ethiopia and about our little ones first family. I pray for them everyday.

2)How draining this process can be emotionally and physically.

I never in my wildest dreams thought it would be this hard. I thought TTC would be so much harder than this. I was wrong. Both are hard but with TTC there was a more definite timeline and plan of action and with adoption there is a TON of waiting and a lot of unknowns. That really has taken a toll on me.

3) How many people have entered my life that I don't know yet but consider to be friends and supporters.

I could never have imagined all the wonderful people we have met. It has been beyond fabulous to share stories, frustrations and joys with them. Some of them I will meet someday and others I may not but we will always be connected. Isn't the Internet amazing... With our domestic adoption attempt, we were very alone. We didn't have this amazing support network and since we were with a small agency we didn't really know any of the families also going through the process. With our Ethiopia adoption, we have entered a whole new place full of amazing families and hopefully play groups in the future.

4) How at peace and certain I was that adoption was for us.

I can't take full credit for this thought but it rang so true for me. This huge weight lifted off my shoulders when we decided to adopt from Ethiopia. Everything fell into place. What was so muttled and jumbled in my head suddenly made sense.

5) How truly okay I am with not getting pregnant.

It took me awhile to get to this place but I am so okay with it. In fact there is part of me that can't even imagine getting pregnant. Not saying that if by some crazy miracle I were to get pregnant I wouldn't be ecstatic, I would for sure but adoption will start my family and we are already talking about adoption #2.

6) How amazing my friends and family have been.

Not all of our friends and family know the intimate details of our TTC but they do know about the highs and lows of our adoption journey. We hit one speed bump with our adoption journey and a family member but all is forgotten. Everyone is on board to support us and be excited with us.

I know our journey isn't over and I am sure once we have our referral and travel more things will surprise me but this is where I am today. As for what will lie ahead all I can do is sit back, wait and try to enjoy the bumpy ride.