First Meeting Today

Today we are going for our first real meeting with Anna.

We are scheduled to meet our translator at the orphanage at 2 pm. She needs to be with us this time so that they can tell us about the protocol for spending time with the baby (they have ways of helping to aid the bonding process and also training us in her care.)

We are excited and nervous and already exhausted! It's been hard to sleep (especially for me) with everything that is going on.

Last night we had a fun little adventure. We borrowed a friend's car (our first time driving in Prague) and trekked out to Ikea and a Czech furniture store called Sconto (basically the Czech version of Ikea.) We bought a little rocking chair and a 3 drawer dresser, which will double as a changing table. It was fun because the Czech saleswoman at Sconto didn't speak any English, so we ended up communicating in broken German. :-) Not exactly part of my dream of how setting up our first baby room would come together...

Since we had the car, we also stopped at Tesco (huge, British mega store which we love) to buy groceries in bulk (definitely a first!) We have 24 boxes of milk in the cupboard now, which makes Matt tremendously happy. He's really into that kind of thing.

When we got home, Matt set up the rocking chair and we began with the dresser, but it was pretty complicated so we decided to wait unitl morning and try to borrow some tools from a friend (especially a power drill!) It was really fun to sit on the floor of the "Baby Office" and look around and realize "This is it!" This is the final push preparation that we have been building toward for so long. The circumstances are so different than what I ever would have though, yet it just feels beautifully right.

Praise God!

Baby Update

Well, the last few days have certainly been a roller coaster!

Here's a simplified update on what's happening:

• Because Anna had been made eligible for international adoption, the process is more complicated than we had initially thought.
• Since we have legal visa and residency status in the Czech Republic, they can move her back to domestic adoption status and allow us to adopt her, but this will take a little time and needs to be approved by a new person (from a different government ministry) who is currently out of town.
• We have a meeting with that woman on August 8th.
• In the meantime, we have been given the go-ahead to begin visiting her at the orphanage.
• We will be spending the afternoons (and perhaps evenings) this week over there, getting to know her and observing (and eventually participating in) her routine, in order to prepare us and her for the transition to our home.
• We may be able to bring her home as early as next week, although that may take longer.

At the moment, we're trying to find access to a vehicle so that we can use the time we have this weekend to buy some last few things we need for the baby room (a dresser, which will serve as a changing table, and a rocking chair.) We hope to get the room all set up this coming week.

We received a long-awaited package in the mail today of baby clothes that I ordered on ebay in mid-May. We thought it was a lost cause, but it's finally here and actually has a lot of little outfits that should work for her. So, we don't have as much of a need for older toddler baby clothes (which I had listed on our website.) That was a good thing. (I love all the tiny clothes! :-)

Well, enough updating for now. Please be praying for us. This has been an emotionally intense time (with less sleep than we would prefer!) and we're feeling pretty tired. But also deeply happy and hopeful. Praise God for this unexpected blessing!

Is it you, Little One?

Yesterday, on Matt's 36th birthday, we met a little girl whom we think just might be our daughter. :-)

We made our second visit to the baby orphanage in Prague on July 27, 2006. Not sure of what exactly we would do or find on that visit, we set up a time with our translator and the orphanage staff, mainly because the first time we came, it was late in the day and most of the babies were already sleeping. We arrived at 10 in the morning--a safe bet for finding them awake this time. :-)

On our previous visit, we had felt drawn to a little girl, Sara, who turned out to be unavailable for adoption because she is Slovak and needs to be returned to Slovakia. However, Sara touched our hearts and her age--15 months--led us to be a little bit more open than before to an older baby (we had been saying up to 6 months, maybe 1 year.)

This time, the orphanage staff informed us that there were really no small girls who were eligible for adoption, but they did have two older girls (about 2 years old.) We felt unsure, but agree to meet them and keep an open mind. We met the first little girl, Lenka, who was a precious 2 year old who lovingly cares for the smaller babies in her group (like a little "mommy.") Although our hearts went out to her, we didn't feel a peace about it.

After some more discussion, they brought us to meet another 2 year old--Monika. From the moment we walked in the room, it was as though Monika could sense that we were there to see her--and she didn't like it! Her body language was sending very strong signals of discomfort, even fear, and we quickly realized it didn't feel right to us either. However, there was another little one in the room who grabbed our attention immediately. Smiling and babbling in the high chair as her caretaker fed her vegetable soup, this darling little baby looked a bit younger than the other toddlers at the table. She was also one of the only ones in the room who made eye contact and even responded to our "ahoj" (hi!) greetings. She had real spunk and both of us felt a connection immediately. So, we decided to ask (assuming she must not be legally available or they would have mentioned her to us.)

To our amazement, we found out two very exciting things:

1. She was 100% available for adoption (even international adoption--which is rare for Czech kids because it means no suitable family could be found here in the Czech Republic)

2. Her name is Anna! (this is the name that we have been hoping since last summer to give to this baby :-)

Anna, who is 17 months old, has not been adopted for two main reasons. First, she is Roma, which means that most Czech families are not interested. (The Roma are a prominent minority in the Czech Republic who experience a great deal of prejudice and discrimination.) Second, she has something called Turner's Syndrome, a chromosomal condition which, while not as serious as many problems a child could have, requires parents who are committed to facing medical issues with her for the long haul. The orphanage workers had assumed we would not be interested because of these problems, however, we found ourselves drawn to her and surprisingly undaunted.

It was important to us to learn more about her condition and the prognosis before making any decision, so we sat down for a long talk with her doctor (who happens to be the mother of one of Jenny's former students, who was there that day too! Go figure!) and her social worker. Her life story is not easy, but we found nothing there that we felt unable to face, with God's grace.

So, after a lot of information gathering, we headed home to study more about Turner's Syndrome on the internet, call our families, and do a lot of praying. That's the phase we're still in as a write. We will have a meeting this morning with the Magistrate (hopefully) to talk more and there is a good chance that we will go back to the orphanage this weekend to spend more time with her--hopefully to bring her home some time next week, if everything goes well.

Please be praying for us during this time of major excitement, nerves, joy, lack of sleep, and the beginnings of bonding with this precious little person who we hope might be with us for the rest of our lives. As soon as possible, we will put up some photos on the website so that you all can get to know her a bit, too!

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Read more about our adoption story on our online adoption journal here.

Or find our new contact info and Baby Wish List (with an older baby, there are some different needs from what we had initially been preparing for) at the Keeping in Touch page of our website.

Unexpected Preparations

One of the most interesting things that I have been doing to get ready for this baby may come as a great surprise to many. I'm in the process of inducing lactation so that we can enjoy the bonding and health benefits of breastfeeding.

If this weirds you out, feel free to ignore the rest of this post (no offense taken...)

I learned about the possibility of adoptive breastfeeding last summer at the zenith of my "research-everything-about-adoption" phase. As I learned, women have been nursing babies not born to them (as wet nurses, in times of emergency, when a mother dies etc.) for milenia and its not actually so difficult.

What this has meant for me is taking some special medications and herbs which boost milk supply and pumping about 5 or 6 times per day. I am in email contact with a woman named Elizabeth Hormann, an International Board Certified Lactatioin Consultant, who happens to be a world-renowned expert on adoptive breastfeeding and relactation, and she referred me to a wonderful doctor here in Prague who is walking me through the process.

The coolest part of this all is that I can see it gradually working, and that helps me feel like I'm doing something very concrete to prepare for the baby coming. I'm finally making real milk and the milk supply just seems to grow each day. Yippee!!

So, why am I sharing this with you? During my recent trip to California, I realized that the whole topic of breastfeeding is a little bit taboo with many Americans. I guess this sadenned me because I think it is such an amazing gift from God to mothers and babies and I don't think it is anything we should feel weird talking about. I hope my sharing this will help get the word out to other adoptive moms that they can bless their babies in this special way. So, if you're reading this and you know any prospective moms out there: please, let them know!

Here are some great websites where people can find more information:

• www.adoptivebreastfeeding.com
• www.asklenore.com
• www.lact-aid.com
• www.lalecheleague.org

One of the things that I will need to carry me through this rather challenging journey is a lot of support and encouragement from friends who understand why I am doing this. So, if you feel like sharing a loving word of blessing for this process, don't be shy! :-)

Long time coming...

Okay, so not THE NEWS yet, but a lot has been happening that is worth telling about.

We are back in Prague and in our new flat, after what turned out to be 3+ weeks in California. This time involved:

• going to Sarah's wedding (my lovely sister--see photo above)
• sorting through a lot of our stuff at my parents' house and having a garage sale
• eating lots of Rubios burritos and fish tacos (and Taco Bell cruch wraps--guilty pleasure!)
• hanging out with wonderful friends
• a few Costco trips and a lot more Target trips
• being able to attend the first 4 days of TeachOverseas.org (ESI) training to meet our new team members for the coming year in the Czech Republic

With no news about baby, we decided to extend our trip a little longer than the two and a half weeks we had originally planned. Those last days at training were great and we're glad we got to spend some time with the new team. Hopefully, that will help us feel more connected this year.

So, what's the latest with Baby Thomas? We were able to visit the orphanage on June 27th, which was a really cool experience. Unfortunately, it was late in the day, so most of the kids were already asleep (they put them to bed at 5:30.... (?)) At that point, they didn't have any little girls in the age range we requested who were available to be adopted, so it was just a "get to know the place" kind of visit.

This particular orphanage is really incredible. The staff seem warm and attentive and the place itself is this amazing old mansion up on a hill. It seems like the babies get very good care--which helps us relax a lot. The good news is, we have another appointment to visit tomorrow morning (Matt's birthday!--July 27th) when the babies will be awake. We continue to pray for God's hand in finding the perfect match for us in the perfect timing.

My next post will be about our new flat, however I have some oatmeal getting cold on the table, so I had better go for now. Our VONAGE phone is up and working, though, (go Matt, Tech Wiz!) and so we're expecting lots of phone calls from everyone in the near future... (909 758-8497). We are 9 hours ahead of Pacific Time. :-)

Also, please note our new mailing address:

• Matt and Jenny Thomas
• International Baptist Theological Seminary
• Nad Habrovkou 3
• Praha 6 Jeneralka 164 00
• Czech Republic

You can find out more about the best way to send packages and other fun stuff at our Keeping in Touch page: http://www.thomasfamilyweb.net/keepintouch.htm.