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

Cathy,
Whew is all I can think to say. I cannot believe your adoption agency and attorney have put you through so much. That is great news that Ana could be home in a few months. You must be so excited.

Thanks for saying that it is my turn to get a baby. I feel that way too. It seems that everyone around me is either having a baby soon or I am hearing of women being pregnut. And of course the person telling the news is so excited to tell you but what they do not realize is that you are crying inside. But I usually just smile and say that is wonderful news and they must be so happy.

I still have a feeling that our baby is coming soon. I hope I am right. If it means a bm just conceived then I have a while to go. Everyday it just seems closer to my baby coming. When I think about the coming year I think about my baby and that soon after the new year I will be holding my precious prayed for child in my arms. Who knows. Lately to I have been thinking that I want/need to do things to increase my milk supply. Only time will tell what happens.

Thanks for keeping me in your thoughts. I truly do appreciate it.

Love,
Bella

Hi Bella,
Are you networking with more than one agency I know you have your profile on line.. Maybe you could get the information from Dawn and Eden about how they found their babies..also, China is much less expensive than Guatemala and the stay is only 2 weeks..such darling little girls also!
Just a thought,,,Cathy

I just could NOT afford the adoption route again. Domestic or international. The cost has gotten so high. I found surrogacy so much easier and about 10 percent the cost of adoption. If you know how to work it. Wayyyyyy cheaper than adoption for us! <img src="http://www.asklenore.com/ubbthreads/images/icons/blush.gif" alt="" />

Cathy and Nona,
Thanks for your replies. As far as networking with other agencies I do not know if we could afford another agency. The adoption agency through our church is so affortable. We would be hard pressed to find another one so cheap. Besides we basically have enough in our adoption nest egg to cover what our agency will charge us.

I think of spoke with Paul who Eden and Dawn worked with. I told him what we could afford to pay and that we were open to all races and special needs. Paul asked if we had a dear bm letter and while I was talking with him he looked up our profile and letter online. Paul said that he woud keep us in mind if a situation came up that fit our budget. We had a positive conversation.

Also when we send out our Christmas letter we are going to send out a letter stating that we are adopting again and if any one knows of a girl who is pregnut and open to adoption to please let her know about us and to refer her to our wesite. We are also going to print out business cards with info. on how to acess our website. I plan on handing these out at church especially to those visiting. Rather bold but it just may work.

I do not think that we would consider doing surragacy right now. Besides I can get pregnut fine but my hubby has several problems with his sperm. Me, myself I am not comfortable with donor insemination so that leaves us with adoption. But that is fine because we feel very good about adoption and we know that, that is how our sweet baby is supposed to come. Maybe in the future we may look at IVF ICSIE but as of now that is a road we do not want to travel. Besides our chances are not very good with ICSIE due to the severity of my hubby's problem.

But for a third adoption I would love to look at another domestic agency or to go international. It woud be a dream to go to China and get a little girl. Or any other asian country and get a boy or girl. If any of you know how much it is to adopt from some of the asian countries please let me know. In our future I can defiantly see us traveling this road. We have also discussed looking into South Africa/ Africa this too would be a dream for us. To be able to say to your child you come from such a rich cultural background and to try and share that culture with your child. How you would grow and grow as a family.

Thanks for your thoughts and ideas. Good luck to all of you in your endeavers.

Take Care,
Bella

Hi
Ana is not doing well in foster care, she has only gained 10 ounces since I left the end of October,,they took her off formula at 5 months and put her on powdered milk and applesauce..she also has terrible diarrhea and a perineal yeast infection...I started pumping again on Monday to see if I can help her diarrhea etc..by giving her breast milk,,I am moving over to Guat. as soon as I finish our new dossier...wish me luck!
Bella, I am sorry your last situation did not work out,,keep your chin up
Mary,,I am so happy Emily will be hiome soon,
Nona,,how great!
Lenore,,I haven't heard any updates lately on you 2 little guys! Take care, Cathy

Cathy, Do you need milk?
Email me wastelands@comcast.net
I will tally up what I have, and see what I can part with. I still make a little 4 ounce bottle every few days, from pumping. I am sure I can spare at least a little. What a poor baby!

Cathy, if you need milk I would be willing to pump for you. I am currently nursing my 13 month old. I do drink coffee (1/2 decaf about 2 cups a day) but I will quit if that is a problem for you. Let me know. Also when do you leave?

thanks guys,,finally got your messages! I just posted that we are back! Cathy

Cathy, I just read your other post. It sounds like you have enough milk but if you need some let me know, my offer is still there.