Two Under One: Announcing #2

I was twelve weeks pregnant with Stella when Gideon was born.

I realize that this is not how most people start their family, but it was the perfect way to start ours.  [Um, I have to say that, because there's no changing how things went down. But really, it's exactly what was supposed to happen for us!]

I think for the entire second trimester, strangers just assumed I had leftover baby fat. Fine. And for the third trimester...I don't know. Either I had a LOT of leftover baby fat, or that kid in the stroller wasn't mine? I wasn't too worried about what strangers thought.

But I really, really dreaded telling friends and acquaintances that I was pregnant.

People in general get way more excited when you tell them that you are pregnant as opposed to when you tell them that you are adopting. People [again, in general] don't really know how to respond to adoption. They're hesitant to get too excited because the process can be so unstable. They're not sure if it's what we really wanted [IT WAS], or if it was just a last resort...like, we're just desperate to have a child and we’ll do anything. It’s not so much that people are rude…it’s just that they’re pretty uneducated when it comes to adoption. 

I suppose, in light of that paragraph, I need to quickly tell you our reasons for adopting [if you don’t already know]. We felt called to adoption from the beginning of our marriage. When we decided we wanted kids, we tried biologically and had two miscarriages. By far the worst two experiences of my life, but statistically our odds were still good to get pregnant & have healthy kids that way. We knew, instead, that we were being called to actively pursue adoption.  Okay that's the quick version. 

Back to telling people I was pregnant... Of course I wanted the baby [who I now know is my darling Stella], but when I got pregnant all I could think about was:
1). I cannot deal with another miscarriage
and
2). This could destroy our adoption plan.  I could lose a child that I was already becoming attached to. [We were completely blessed with the fact that neither of these worries actually became reality. Completely blessed.]

 So. Announcing. We waited until after we came home with Gideon before telling the world that I was pregnant. And people got extra happy for us. Ugh. Like, 'yay, you're finally getting what you really wanted!' I would cringe at these comments. I heard everything from "I suppose you could have backed out of the adoption?" to [my very, very least favorite] "You went through all of that just to get pregnant!" 

Of course people meant well. But that was a rough time for me.

And of course it turned out great. One of my biggest fears is that people will think I didn’t want things to work out the way they did…that I didn’t want one child or the other. The fact of the matter is, I am unbelievably blessed with these two babes. I am thrilled that events took place the way they did. Looking back, I realize that the timing of e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g. was completely perfect.

It’s almost as if some great cosmic being had his hand in this. Oh. Wait.

He did. 

Looking at this past year, I can see God’s fingerprints covering every little detail. Our family is blessed to have such an amazing story to share!