Thursday, February 23, 2017

.....The End

     

 I can't believe this day is here. We finalized the adoption of our sweet daughter, Olive Sparrow Anderson. She is everything that was ever missing from our family, and the final piece of a puzzle. I always knew there was something missing & now, we are complete. She will forever be our baby & we are totally fine with that. As much as we would love another child, its not in the cards for us. We aren't 100% opposed but I can say, we won't pursue this again. The only situation that would ever be up for consideration would be a sibling for Tuck or Olive because they don't have a bio sibling in the home, but that is uncertain. What can I tell you about this baby. I'll start at the beginning. She was a 29 week preemie who had a very rough stay in the NICU for 2.5 months. During that time she was put on a ventilator twice, suffered bilateral brain hemorrhages, contracted staph & sepsis. This rough start left her with permanent neurological damage that has proven difficult for her. But against the odds, she is a fighter, a warrior & above anything else, she is a true joy. She is sweet to a fault and full of fire & fight. There is something about her that people are drawn to. Maybe it is her smile or her strength, but we have people come up to us whenever we go out. She has been in therapy since we brought her home & she currently sees a physical therapist, occupational therapist & a speech therapist. She works so hard & surprises us everyday. We realized her issues may be severe about the 5 month mark when she started showing signs of neurological damage, it was then we were told her issues may never recover. She may never walk, or function like a "normal" child. But, we pushed on & believed in her. When asked if we were still interested in adoption if her case went that way, we had no hesitation, as she was always our daughter. How do you say you don't want your daughter because of that? She has exceeded every expectation we've put on her & on Christmas Eve she took her first steps. She still has a long way to go, but I think we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. For the first time we are picturing her going to a regular school & being in regular classes. We are seeing her start to say words & really fight to catch up. Again, we are ready to just start living our lives as regular people without all the visits, licensing, attorneys, training & restrictions. And to live that new life, we have a new home. Our dream home. We feel so incredibly blessed to now be raising our family in the home we always wanted. We started moving in this past weekend & will finish up in a couple of days. It is close to my parents & in a small town where the communities & neighborhood amenities are perfect for raising kids. It is going to be a big adjustment to go to such a small town experience, but we know it is best for our family. As a final thought to this journey, its hard. The system is broken. CPS is a broken system, BUT we as a country are failing 400,000 children in the foster care system. We as everyday citizens are turning a blind eye as children age out of the system, grow up in group homes & newborns are sitting at hospitals with no homes to go to. We are wasting our energy & time worrying about who is using what bathrooms & using funds building a wall when these children should be our focus. These children are the future of our country & they deserve better. They deserve to have the cycle of poverty, addiction, abuse & neglect broken. We need better programs for biological families to have access to resources, jobs & training. Our kids deserve better. Our future needs better.