There's lots to write about today. I have spoken to my case worker twice since I last wrote. I'll start from the beginning and try to get it all straight.

Monday, August 1, my husband and I had just seen Niagara Falls, and were waiting on the bridge from Canada to the U.S. to get through customs. My husband's cell phone rang, and it was our case worker. She said she hated to call on our vacation, but that she had new information about the birthmother due on August 19. The couple she had chosen decided to back out because the birthmother hadn't told the birthfather yet. This family had a previous situation where the birthfather didn't know. It caused a lot of trouble, and they didn't want that to happen again. The case worker said that they now had more information about the birthmother, and that she had some drug use during her pregnancy. Our case worker wasn't sure how we would feel about it. Also, the birthmother had previously wanted numerous visits the first year, but she had changed her mind and now wanted as many as the adoptive parents wanted. I jotted down some information about what drugs she took, how much, and when. She said to call back by Wednesday morning with our decision about whether we wanted our profile shown again. I was told that we were one of three that she was interested in.

My husband and I talked it over then and again on Wednesday morning. We were very cautious about some things. It was possible the drugs could have affected the baby, although most likely in a minor way. What concerned us the most was the illegal drug use and her desire to have visits. We decided to agree to a limited number of visits the first year with the statement that we would not allow her to have contact with the child if she continued to have a problem with drug use. We left the message with our case worker Wednesday morning and continued on our vacation.

Today when we returned home I checked the answering machine and found that our case worker called yesterday and left us a message. I called her back today and got more details and the latest update.

The birthmother due on August 19, had her baby early. She did tell the birthfather, and he and his family pressured her to parent the child with their help. I don't think we'll be hearing anything more about her.

The birthmother with the baby due on July 23 brought the baby home for a few days, but decided that she wasn't up to parenting, so she brought it back to interim care. My case worker was right about her. Her baby was actually born on July 23 - our anniversary! She will be looking at profiles soon. She had an appointment yesterday that she cancelled.

And there's more....
The birthmother who had her baby July 24 (the case worker told me July 30, but I think she was a little mixed-up with all the birthmothers they have right now) She and the birthfather are currently filling out their medical and social histories. She's the one who wants a childess and infertile couple. She has looked at about half of the profiles and will look at the rest of them later this week.

One of these birthmothers was interested in us. I thought she said the July 23 baby, but it would make more sense that it was the July 24 baby because she is still looking at profiles and could have put us on a maybe list. I guess it doesn't matter. It's just nice to know someone is remotely interested in us.

Then there is the one birthmother who wants the agency to choose. My confused case worker accidently told me about her (and seemed rather flustered about her error) when she was trying to tell me about the July 23 baby. This baby was born June 30. Things were slowed down because the birthfather wanted a paternity test. However he hasn't done anything about it. By denying it and failing to have a test done, he's basically waived all his parental rights - at least that's the impression I got. The birthmother has until the end of the week to make a final decision regarding adoption this week or the agency will no longer care for the baby.

The interesting thing about this final situation is that our case worker is now saying that the baby could be placed with us. "Wasn't this the one they would place with one of the families waiting the longest?" you ask. "Yes, that's right," I answer. Apparently the list of families is quickly being depleted. A couple families have recently switched over to international adoption. So, if the families waiting the longest are chosen by the two birthmothers currently choosing, we could be considered for the June 30 baby.

This is all so exciting! I hope we get an update soon!!

The news at home while we were gone is that a woman from church had her baby - a boy. Another playmate for my baby! Also a childless couple from church that I once heard was pregnant recently had their second miscarriage. The first one was around the time of my sister-in-law's. Their sister-in-law just had her first baby. It sounds like this couple is planning to go away on their own for Christmas, and that they also plan to seek medical help. I feel sorry for them, and I can understand how they would want to be away from their extended family, which has a lot of little kids in it. No news about my sister-in-law. I hope she doesn't have to wait too much longer to get pregnant again.

One last thing...I had a dream last night that I was at some camp or vacation Bible school. While I was there I was given a baby to take care of for the day. I seemed to think that this was the baby I would be adopting. Anyway, my family (mom and sister and aunt) were there too. I was holding this baby a long time, because she was small (I think it was a girl) and wrapped in a blanket. After a while my family told me I needed to let the baby walk around because I was doing her harm by holding her all day. Under pressure I set her down. Somehow she became a toddler and did a lot of walking around. She walked so much that I managed to lose track of her in the crowds. I looked around, but couldn't find her. I eventually found myself all alone outside, except for my husband. He offered to help me search for the child. We never did find the child, and I figured she joined the class of toddlers at the camp. It was then that I woke up. Weird!