My Head is Spinning

Last Friday, we got the call! It's now Wednesday, and my head is still spinning. There's so much to do, and everything is happening so quickly. I'm happier and more excited than words could ever describe, but I'm also incredibly overwhelmed. We weren't expecting North Carolina. In fact, we were originally working with an agency that works with ONLY Texas birth families. The other profiles we had viewed before NC were all in Dallas, San Antonio, Austin, and Corpus Christi. Now we're preparing to travel to Charlotte, North Carolina as soon as we get the call that she's in labor!

There are so many factors at play. Since we have no idea if our sweet boy will arrive today or in a few weeks, we obviously can't make travel plans yet. We don't know if we need to fly or drive. There are pros and cons to both. (The biggest determining factor is finances. Travel isn’t included in the $40,000 for adoption! Airfare/gas, lodging, meals...all extra!)

Another difficult factor is ICPC. This is the process of being able to leave the state with the baby. Our sweet boy will be born as a NC resident, and the process for an adoptive newborn to be able to become a resident of another state can take several days, or even 2 weeks! Yikes! Basically we can't leave NC until we've been cleared, so after the baby is discharged from the hospital, we'll have to stay in a hotel/airbnb for most likely as least a week or more. That's another added expense.

The final difficult aspect is my job. I work in a great district filled with wonderful people, and my students are incredible. I have the most amazing sub lined up, but at the end of the day, being gone for several weeks is hard. Preparing for at least 6 weeks of sub plans is very difficult. Pregnant women have nine months to prepare, and I don't! It was difficult to prepare before we were matched because we didn't know when or even IF we'd have a baby during the school year. I'm beyond overwhelmed by school right now. I know things will work out. I have a great sub, a wonderful aid, and fantastic teacher friends who will help things to fall into place. I'm sure of it, but it's still stressful!

I'm trying to get things ready to leave, but it's hard when I'm not finished with school plans and I don't know our mode of travel, so I don't know HOW to pack. I'm fully aware that I'm overthinking everything, but it's hard not to.

(Also, to throw another CRAZY kink in everything, we are buying a house! Yep! A few days before our match call, we signed a contract because, "Clearly we're not having a baby soon, so may as well get settled in a house." HA! The closing date and due date are the SAME DATE! February 28th! Yall, my only option is to trust God's plan. I've been saying all along that God's timing is best! I know it's true, but I never expected that His timing would be ALL AT ONCE!)

Seriously I go back and forth between laughing and crying because I'm so happy and overwhelmed. Life is so wonderful! God is SO great! We are thankful for everything!
PLEASE PRAY! Pray for the baby and birth mom. Pray for our nerves and sanity. And please pray for God's guidance as we make decisions.