"No Fly" Zone

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I wanted to keep you guessing by the title of the blog post tonight.... still nothing?! :)  Well, we got good news... no... GREAT news about the adoption this past week.

Most of you probably did not know this fact, but Zane is not technically "ours" yet in the legal sense of the word.  Of course, he came from our hearts so of course he is ours, but that final signature by a judge and receipt of a Social Security card have not happened yet.  Long story short, one of the 2 adoption judges in Oklahoma got into some legal trouble and had to step down, putting the adoption (and hundreds of others) behind in the already backlogged system there.  We have been getting frustrated, thinking he might be as old as a 12 months before we'd get to close officially.  And to close on our adoption, the archaic OK system required that we (meaning both parents and Zane) all travel back to OKC, stand before a judge for literally 5 minutes, show that we are upstanding parents, sign a paper, and go back home.

Finally some good news came last week.  Our attorney, Bob, got up with Justin and let him know they had changed that crazy law as of 2 wks ago... we don't have to fly back to OKC!!!  AND, the best news is... the adoption can be finalized over the phone and will probably occur over the next couple of weeks!!  Isn't God just too good to us?!

On another note, I am truly looking forward to having my "optional organs out" OOO (a.k.a. hysterectomy) on August 19th at Duke Raleigh Hospital - I would really appreciate your prayers!  If you want to specifically name my surgeon in prayer, his name is Dr. Sobolewski (pronounced So-bo-LES-kee).

Pray specifically for:
  • The doctors to be able to complete the surgery using Plan A... laparoscopic (minimally invasive with 3-4 small incisions instead of one large C-section-type incision) and with the robot.  They said they use the DaVinci robot for their most challenging cases :)
  • An easy day for daddy & baby ... this will most likely be a 6-8 hr surgery and therefore could potentially be a long day for them - we will probably leave Z at daycare that day but haven't made official plans.
  • No post-op complications!  Risk for infection as well as the never-fun post-op nausea & vomiting.  Also all the lovely after-effects of no longer having ovaries or a uterus (menopause at 30 just doesn't sound all that appealing -haha).
  • Very quick recovery - I will have used up all my sick time at work by the end of the first week after surgery, and will have to go without pay probably for the remainder of my recovery until I'm able to return.  Usual turn-around time for laparoscopic hysterectomy:  "2 weeks at best, be prepared for 4 weeks."  Usual recovery time if they have to convert to an "open laparotomy" (a.k.a. large incision):  6-8 weeks :(

Thanks SO MUCH for your prayers and your support throughout my fertility issues, difficult decisions, our month-long sojourn to OKC to receive the absolute best gift God could have placed in our arms, and our journey through this thing they call parenthood.  We love you all and will keep you updated!

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