Giving Birth

On Saturday, we got Cookie's new birth certificate in the mail. It has our names on it as the birth parents, and says that we were both 34 at her birth, and that I gave birth to her in our county on December 20, 2005.

While it was a painless delivery *grin*, the disappointments we experienced prior to her adoption on March 2nd, 2007 were nonetheless painful. Infertility changed me, my husband, our marriage, and our entire world view. Holding an infant one day and sending him home days latter changed us, too. We sent home 2 newborns, a 2 month old, and a 4 year old before Cookie came into our lives on December 22nd, 2005 at 2 days old. Those 4 children came and went all in a total of 4 months. It made my head spin. It broke my parent's hearts all the way from Florida.

We've healed from that pain. We've healed so much so that we look at our daughter and see the choices we made. While we were sitting in foster parenting classes, she was developing in the womb. At the time we received our license, J. was just beginning her 3rd trimester. We understand "timing" now more than we ever did.

Looking at the birth certificate makes me smile all over.