Lewis G's Family
We have always had a special love and appreciation for those with Down syndrome. Ashley had an older sister with Trisomy 18, Juliett, an uncle with Down syndrome and a younger sister Camille with Down syndrome. Chad has two cousins with Down syndrome, Cami and Haley.
Since we were first married adoption was always something that we talked about doing one day. After following a close friends’ story and their adoption of two Down syndrome children, we knew we wanted to adopt a child with Down syndrome when the timing was right.
We were sitting down at dinner one evening (early 2017) and Chad said we were missing someone. I looked around and counted heads, 1,2,3,4. We’re all here. He insisted that one of our children was not there. We knew this meant that there was one more for our family. With all of our other children it was very clear that the timing was right, but I felt differently about this one. I had made and cancelled several appointments with my doctor- feeling like it wasn’t the right time for us to try and get pregnant with another. We continued to wait, and Chad worked toward finishing his residency.
Early May 2018, it was a regular Sunday. Chad was off at meetings and I was home making dinner with the kids. I was watching a show with my daughter and it was a mother telling the story of her adopted son. I instantly knew that it was time to start pursuing our adoption. About an hour later Chad came home and said that during his meeting he had the strongest impression that we needed to look into adoption. With one month left until he finished residency and planned on a move across the country. We knew this was something that needed to be taken into consideration as we found our home and settled down. We began “getting our ducks in a row”.
We found an amazing community and began building our home and saving for adoption. It was a terrifying feeling knowing that “your child” is out there and it is up to you to find him/her. We started researching everything we could about Down syndrome adoption. We decided that we needed to narrow it down to domestic or foreign. We talked with anyone and everyone we could about their adoption experiences. One day we came upon the National Down Syndrome Adoption Network, NDSAN. We watched the webinar and spoke with Stephanie. We felt so great about this option.
After we moved into our home we had the social worker out for a home study within 3 weeks! We were so excited and eager to be moving along finally. After our homestudy and background cleared, we registered with the NDSAN. By now it was the end of June 2019! We talked with our kids everyday about the new baby brother or sister that could be coming to our home. We checked our emails a million times a day just waiting for that moment that we would potentially hear about our child. This was the biggest test of patience- mostly for Ashley… we would get several emails and each one was such a roller coaster of emotions. We said yes every time, please send off our profile! Each time hoping and praying for the phone call that someone would choose us. In reality it wasn’t very long before the match came. But it felt like an eternity! I began to lose hope that we would ever get matched.
On September 3rd we received the email, like all the others I quickly replied “yes” we were interested. I didn’t want to get my hopes up, and didn’t think too much about it. After nearly 3 weeks- September 22, we were sitting in a church meeting and I was behind an adorable newborn. I began to cry and silently pray that something would come our way. I looked down at my phone and we had received an email that we were one of 3 families that the birth parents would like to talk to! We set up a phone call a week later. I drove to Chad’s work and we sat in my car and talked with the birth parents. It felt so natural, like old friends. We told them about our family, our hobbies, our everyday life. They were so kind and honest about their situation. After the call we looked at each other and instantly knew this was the one. It was an agonizing week waiting for their decision. On October 5th we finally got the phone call that it was going to be us, we needed to wait the weekend for the official yes but we could at least breathe. On October 8th we got our official yes! Baby was due December 11th and it was a boy!
As the weeks went on we busied ourselves making all the baby preparations. We emailed the birth parents a few times, with updates on the appointments and due date changes. On November 25th Chad and I packed our car and drove to El Paso. The night before he was born we had the opportunity to go out to dinner with the birth parents. I will never forget the overwhelming amount of love we felt for these two strangers, that they were willing to give us the greatest gift we will ever receive. The next day, November 27th (the day before Thanksgiving) we ran through the rain from our hotel to the hospital and waited to finally meet our son! The day was long, it was nearly eight hours before we were able to see him. We had gathered with the birth parents in their room when the nurse brought him in. I was able to hold him at last. I will never forget that moment.
The next day was Thanksgiving- and a complete whirlwind! Lewis began to have trouble breathing and was taken to the NICU where they found several holes in his heart. It would take nearly a month for him to be released, and we finally returned home to Utah three days before Christmas. We pulled up to the house and knocked on the door, our other 4 children were beyond ecstatic to open the door and finally meet their baby brother!
Lewis has been such a blessing and a joy to have in our family! He has such a sweet bond with each sibling. He has endured a lot in his short three months. His heart has been repaired and he has made a quick and full recovery. Our family is finally complete and we could not be happier to have him in it!
11/27/2020
Lewis is doing great. Our whole family is blessed with him in our home. The other children are enjoying him so much. I can’t believe he is already one. What a joy he is.
