Impossible to Keep Up

I guess I am talking about Marek and the blog! We had a grand time over Thanksgiving break (Yes, I know it is almost Christmas). We went down to Argentina to surprise Diego's family. After so many pictures and phone calls, they were finally able to meet Marek in person. Abuela was so surprised. There were so many tears shed. We enjoyed lots of food and conversation. Marek is going through withdrawls now!!! Hee hee. He was so use to being held every second by someone in Argentina, that now, he always wants to be held! We miss them so much and wish we could be closer!

Eight Months Already?

Wow, how time flies by. Marek just turned 8 months. He is crawling everywhere, pulling himself up on anything he can find, and making us laugh until we are silly. Things are good and he continues to grow. What have we done in these past months? We had two big events...An Avalanche Hockey game and Argentina.
If you remember from before, Marek is named after Marek Svatos from Colorado Avalanche. We were fortunate enough to go to a game and meet him....thanks to Kyle Keefe, a commentator for the team. So, we have some great photos. As far as Argentina, I will talk about all that in another blog..
enjoy

Six Months

It has been forever. Marek is now rolling over and sitting up. He is so much fun. I went back to work, and it has been difficult not being able to see all the wonderful new things he does. We are enjoying every weekend and other moments with him. Tuesday is a big day for us, as we will go to court and everything will become official. Then, we will be able to get him a passport so we can visit family in Argentina. We feel so blessed!

Old Faithful

We went on our first trip as a family of three last weekend. We met up with Grammy and PopPops at Jackson Lake Lodge in the Tetons. It was a great time. We saw many moose and elk. Diego enjoyed seeing the Tetons and Old Faithful (Marek did too). Marek loved being in his bjorn on our hike near Jenny Lake up to Inspiration Point. He is talking so much now and moving about.

Tons of Smiles

It is so fun to watch Marek smile. He is smiling all the time for us now. It is amazing how much he has changed. At his two month check up he was 11 pounds! We love to watch his little dimples appear when he is happy. He has rolled onto his side a few times while playing. We can't wait to see more changes.

Angels

(The birth mother's name has been changed per her request)

If the world needs more angels, the first to be called would be birthparents. I have waited 38 years to be a mother. Without our child’s birth mom, Kristin, I would have never known what Mother’s Day felt like. She has given us the greatest blessing. When we look back at the entire journey, it is hard to believe we didn’t want to explore domestic adoption at first because the whole open adoption concept scared the pants off of us! Boy, were we wrong.

Before even trying to conceive, we both knew we wanted to adopt. I, Cathy, had volunteered at an orphanage in Honduras, and my husband, Diego, is from Argentina and had seen many children on the streets without a home. We both knew there were children who needed the security of a loving family. After two years of not being able to get pregnant, and several basic fertility tests later, we began the process to adopt from Colombia. International adoption was what we wanted for several reasons. We met in Honduras where I was teaching at an international school and Diego was working for communications firm. Because we are a bilingual family, it is important for us to raise our future children in a bilingual home. Colombia always interested us as Diego is from Argentina, and the South American culture is so diverse and unique. Also, we would be able to continue the customs and cultures of the child. We had thought about domestic adoption, but this whole “Open Adoption” thing scared us. What if the birth mother tried to take the child back? What if she wanted to visit us? What if she wouldn’t leave us alone? With all these questions, we knew international was for us, or was it? As of December 5th, 2007, we were officially accepted by Colombia for an infant 0-2 years of age. We are now settled in for our up to 30 month wait.

From the beginning of the process for Colombia, we began researching more about open adoption. As we began to read more, hear stories, and ask more questions, we began to change our pre-conceived opinions. While we were waiting for 30 months for Colombia, we thought, “Why not try domestic while we wait?” We decided to put in our profile for a domestic adoption. To our surprise, we were tracked down by our caseworker while we were on vacation in Mexico. Thank goodness she was very diligent in finding us, as she wanted to show our profile to a birth mother, who ended up being Kristin. Two days later, she notified us that Kristin had chosen us.
About a month later, I was having coffee with a friend (who is also in the process of adoption) when we got the call from our caseworker, “Kristin is in the hospital and five centimeters dilated!” Living 16 hours from the hospital (we are in Colorado, and Kristin is in Arizona), we knew we had to hurry to Arizona. It was very important for us to be there for the birth. Kristin wanted us to be in the delivery room and be a part of everything. We were still in shock, everything was happening so fast, but were so excited to begin our family. We had spoken with her several times, and each time, we were amazed at how willing she was to share with us anything we wanted to know. One surprising comment was when she said she was scared we would back out of the adoption. We felt the same, but worried that she would decide not go through with it. It was amazing how we were concerned about her and she about us!

We arrived at the hospital the next day around noon. Kristin was still in active labor and had remained five centimeters dilated. We thought about waiting for the social worker to arrive before we met with Kristin. We didn’t want to get too close to the situation quite yet. But, we were so excited to finally meet Kristin that we walked right into her room. She said she was just as nervous meeting us as we were meeting her. It was a little awkward at first, but she put us at ease soon after when she said to me, “Come and meet your baby, Mommy!” Of course I lost it and Diego had to comfort me. We continued to relax as she made us feel more comfortable. Anytime someone came into her room, she always introduced us as the adoptive parents and the Mommy and Daddy of the baby to be, Marek (she let us name him, too). It was remarkable to think that through everything she was enduring, she was concerned about us. During the next two days, we began to form a bond; one that both Diego and I were nervous about before, but it was flowing so naturally now between us. Kristin’s social worker and main support, remained by her side when we couldn’t be there. We know how much her support meant to Kristin, and also to us.

We will never forget the moment Marek was born. Kristin wanting to share that personal part of the journey with us was so noble. After being cleaned off, weighed, and measured, the doctors asked who wanted to hold Marek. Kristin gave us another gift when she answered, “Cathy, the Mommy.” Once again, I broke into tears and Diego was consoling me! As I held Marek, I took him to Kristin and she looked at me with tears and pain in her eyes and said,”Congratulations, Mommy.” I asked her if she wanted to hold him, but she said she wasn’t ready. Right then we knew she was the strongest person we have ever met. Diego and I put on his first diaper and gave him his first bottle while the social worker supported Kristin with many words and hugs. Eventually Kristin held him. And as tears rolled down Kristin’s face, she gently traced his face with her small fingers and told him she would always love him and, although this was the hardest thing she had ever done, she knew she was doing the right thing (yes, more tears and more consoling)! Kristin; what a miraculous woman!

Kristin is our angel. She gave us the most incredible gift. She wants us to live our life with our new son, Marek. We are sure she thinks about him and us every day, but she gives us our space. Every time we look at Marek, we think about this special person who made it all possible. We are calling her once a month now and sending photos frequently through Erica, Vanessa, and Commonwealth. Kristin will always play a part of Marek’s life. It is amazing how scared we were about open adoptions, but now, I wouldn’t have it any other way. As Marek grows, we will continue to let him know about the strongest and most caring angel in the world, his birth mom, Kristin. We will let him know how much she loves him and how big her heart is. When people ask me if we keep in touch with his birth mom, I am the proudest mother in the world to say, “Yes, of course.” I remember it seeming like forever while waiting to begin our family. But, now I know that Marek was in the works the entire time. He was being prepared especially for us. Now, the time we waited is a distant past. Our family has begun.

Six Hours

It finally happened! Marek slept six hours last night. We actually got some sleep. Now, I hope he keeps it up! He is growing so fast and smiling more and more every day. The babyBjorn is awesome. He loves it more and more. Next week he has his two month check up (athough his two month birthday is on May 24th). Can't wait.

Six Weeks and Still Growing

Marek was six weeks old on Monday. He gives us a few smiles every now and then, but not intentionally. We have to continually adjust his car seat as he grows. We feel so blessed to have him with us. Cathy is taking some classes two nights a week, so Diego is learning a lot while she is away!

The Little Old Man Pose

Grammy and PopPops Comes to the Rescue!

Marek's Grammy and PopPops arrive home from their travels and help us out. It has been great having them around. Pop Pops loves to sit and talk with him. He and Grammy fight over who gets to hold and feed Marek. We can't thank them enough for being our babysitters for a few days while we had more hoops to jump through, and then helping out around the house. We couldn't have done it without them.

How We Came Up With the Name

Marek? Many people have asked us about his name. Is it Argentinian? Where did you come up with that? Everyone is surprised when we say, "No, it is not a latin name, it is a name used in Polish and Czech." How did we come up with that name with Diego being from Argentina? Well, the difficult part of coming up with a name was finding one that sounded good in both Spanish and English. Finally, Diego asked, "What about Marek?" Although his favorite sport is Soccer/Futbol, he has always been enchanted with ice hockey. With his favorite player being Marek Svatos of the Colorado Avalanche, why not use that name? So there you have it.

Home at Last

Finally, we all returned home a week ago. It was wonderful seeing family and letting Abuelita meet Marek. Now that we are home, we are trying to settle in! Marek is surely the biggest blessing ever. He is sleeping well--most nights--and we adore just looking at him. He is very aware when he is awake and we love the cute, funny faces he makes when he begins to fall asleep. He is continuing to grow. Now, he weighs 6 lbs. 12 oz. I am sure that has even increased from the time we took him to the doctor. Thank goodness for all our friends' advise and help.

The Family

We are so fortunate to have family nearby. While waiting for paperwork to go through so we can leave the state and go home, we are staying with our aunt and uncle. Their support has been wonderful. The wait has been longer than we were hoping, so Diego headed back to work yesterday, and I will fly home, hopefully Saturday.
But, Marek is healthy and adorable. He is growing already and his cute little chicken legs are filling out. He still likes to sleep more during the day than at night, but who needs sleep! We feel so blessed that everything has been working out. I just can't wait to get home and start our family together!

Our Pick-up

We heard Friday at 4:30 that the birthmom (bm) was in labor and in the hospital. She was three and a half weeks early! We rushed to get things taken care of and we were off. We drove 17 hours overnight and went straight to the hospital. We made it there by 11:30 am on Saturday. She was 5 cm dialated and still having contractions. She stayed that way until Monday. After an amnio, we learned our little baby's lungs were good and fully developed. The doctors decided to induce. At around 6:00 pm, they started inducing and around 7:30pm, the doctor broke the bm's water. About an hour later, the contractions really started. We all took bets on the time. 9:00, 9:15, 9:32, 10:00. All of us were wrong. Then, we did another round! 10:15, 10:48, 10:58, and the bm said 11:00. She was the closest, because at 11:12 pm, Marek entered the world. It was an amazing experience being there, watching, and being a part of the entire experience.
I was able to hold him first and put on his first diaper.
It was emotional, but incredible. We were blessed that the bm wanted us to be there for the whole thing.

Our Son Marek

Welcome to the World
March 24, 2008
6 lbs. 9 oz
19.5 inches