Thanks Bella,
I sure hope you have a match soon..I give you alot of credit for pumping this long. Now they are saying Ana will be home between 6/04 and 11/04,,so 12-17 months old. Hard to believe we got her referral when she was 3 days old.
I still have not lost the weight from the protocol yet, I find I am pretty stressed about this adoption, and also sad that I am missing Ana's first Christmas,,I have even gained more weight!
I need to get myself back in shape so when she does come home I can keep up with a busy toddler!
I also wanted to say congrat's to everyone who has adopted, has a referral, has a bio baby or a baby via surrogacy..and,,,I will pray for those still waiting...Happy Holiday's to all,,Cathy

Cathy,
I myself and debating if I want to continue pumping. I am not sure I want to do it for another 8 months! I may go back on the protocol for 6 months then pump for another 2. My freezer is full so I will have plenty when our baby is born. I have been pumping since mid march. 9 months of pumping. I am a bit wore out <img src="http://www.asklenore.com/ubbthreads/images/icons/tongue.gif" alt="" />

Nona,
I just wanted to say that I hear you. I too may be stopping if we do not get a baby in a few months. I debate going back on the protocol again and just stopping when we get a baby or know of one in advance. I feel though that our adoption is just around the corner.

Maybe if you stopped and went on the protocol for six months it would almost be like physically going through the pregancy with your surrogate. Since you are chemically pregant. Eight months does seem like a long time. Think about you and your family and then make a decision that is best for all of you.

Best of luck in making a decision,
Bella

Cathy,
Thanks for the encouragement. Some days I wonder what keeps me going. I can fit six more gallon size freezer bags of milk in my freezer and then it is full. So at that point I will need to donate. I think that I plan on donating 300 ozs. and then go from there on what I donate in the future. Some of my milk is a little more than 6 months old so I hope that it is okay to donate.

I agree with you toddlers are busy. My son sure keeps me hopping but I love him just the same. Adopt shoppe has some cool baby/memories books that are suitable for babies, toddlers and older kids. I just bought one from adorable adoptees and I love it. It is more suited for older kids but it pertains to adoption well.

Good luck in your endeavers and with waiting for Ana,
Bella

actually your milk can be kept at "0" for up to 2 years! There will be nothing wrong with it. Its guidelines they setdown just to be on the safe side. I have had many babies drinking 2 year frozen milk.. They grew like weeds!

Hi everyone,
Nona,
its hard to say what to do..I know I couldn't go on pumping for another 8 months. I also don't think I could go on the protocol again either! I may start domperidone and pumping 2 months before she comes home. We had to hire a 2nd attorney in Guatemala to oversee the first attorney who did nothing on our case for 5 months. Our new attorney thinks he can have Ana home in 3.5 more months..worse part is we still have to pay the first attorney in full because he is the one who has custody of our daughter! We also are having to do our entire dossier over agian, things are starting to expire...updated homestudy, physicals, fingerprints for the State, and then new fingperprints in Feb for INS ,,it never ends!
Maybe you and Bella could cut your pumping down to 2x a day,,you both have so much in your freezers,,you could use the Lact-aid for a little while till your supply comes back up.
Take care, Cathy

Cathy,
Can you bring the first attorney to court to recover some of the money you paid them? It is not right that they get paid for doing nothing! Bad enough to do nothing, but while they were lollygagging around, your dd is busy growing up in a foster home!
Sorry, but I always look for updates from you........

Hi Dawn,
I love the photo of your two kids together..you are very blessed. As far as the first attorney, he is in Guatemala..and I do have to pay him the entire $17,000...in addition to the second lawyers $5,000 fee, plus the ageny fee in the US of $4,000...we are definately feeling the financial strain, esp with the trips over there every 8-12 weeks. I wish I knew that we had been lied to the first 5 months,,they were telling us that we were in Family Court in July,,,our new lawyer checked and the first time we went into any court at all was November 17th...all that time, not one thing was done since June. Alot of people are suing the agency in the US. I have been in contact with many families..one even did not get their daughter home for 23 months, using this same agency. At least our new lawyer is saying less than 3.5 months she will be home. So, hopefully she will be 9 months, instead of way over a year if we did not hire him.
I can't wait for my hubby to finally meet her in January. My husbands 87 year old father is really sick,,so we are also going to Florida to see him in Jan after Guatemala. My sister and neice are going to watch Sean when we are gone.
I am sad to miss her first Christmas, but we are brining her gifts and dress down with us and we will have a late Christmas with her. The airfare in Dec to Guatemala is $1200 a person,,we just couldn't do it..but in Jan, it goes back down to $450.
I am glad your nursing is going so well, I must say I am very let down that nursing will not work for me..she is soo used to that bottle, would not even take the Avent bottles, the nipple sheild etc,,, I will def. try when she is home though. I was surprised I could still pump about 5 cc from my left breast 2 months after stopping all meds and pumping.
Now, you have your new baby, Mary is close to having 2 babies , Nona will have hers ,,now..its Bella's turn! Thanks for being there, Cathy