Adoptions

Today I just wanted to talk about the adoption of our boys.
Micheal and I wanted to have babies together, but we also talked about adopting even before we were married.  After 3 years of trying to have a baby and not having a baby, we decided that we would adopt through the foster care system. We chose that route because we knew that private adoption was expensive and we did not have the money for that type of adoption.

If you have ever been involved in the adoption scene, it can be emotionally taxing. But, we filled out our paperwork, got physicals, finger prints and all the stuff needed to qualify to be in the FosAdopt program. The last step was to have the social worker come to our house and do a homestudy. But, for some reason (later I knew it was God's reason) we decided not to go through with it. We decided that if God wanted us to have babies, then we would get pregnant.

Fast forward to 2004. I got an e mail from a friend of mine named Kelly. The e mail stated that a group called Adoption Ark was sponsoring several Russian orphaned children to come to America and needed host families, with the premise of finding adoptive homes for these children.
 I knew that adopting from Russia was much to expensive for Michael and I, but I did know someone who might be interested since she has adopted from Russia a few years prior. I also chose to not tell Michael about the e-mail, as I didn't want to burden him with any of the emotional stuff.
Within the same week that I had gotten the e-mail, Michael came home from work and asked me if I knew about a group of Russian kids coming to Hanford. One of the guys he delivered concrete to had mentioned it to him and he was interested. I showed him the e-mail. I knew at that moment that God had a plan and it was much bigger than me or any plan I might come up with.  I told the Lord, if you want us to go to Russia, you are going to have to make the way and provide the finances.

So we met with one of the coordinators and she let us know that usually you must travel two times to Russia in order to adopt. But since we would be meeting the child here, we would only have to go once. We looked at the pictures of the children that were coming and I immediately fell in love with Ivan♥. He was the youngest of the group coming. He would be turning 5 yrs old just before they were to come. But we figured he would get a home easily, so we chose a sibling group of a boy and a girl.  A few days went by and we were told that those two had already had host families, so we chose Ivan♥.

 Ivan in front of the Russian Orphanage in Ivanovo Russia.

June of 2004 is when the kids were to come to America. But Ivan did not come. We were told he was sick and unable to make the trip. Our hearts were broken. But we loved this little boy. We already considered him ours. We were going to find a way to travel two times to Russia.

Fast forward again to Nov. 2004 and our coordinator called us to tell us that the director of the orphanage said that Ivan has severe mental problems and that he was not recommended for adoption, that we would have to chose someone else.  We will never know the real reason that we could not adopt him, but we trust the Lord that he has a plan for Ivan and pray he is in a wonderful family.
Michael and I cried. We were crushed by this news. This little guy is who we did fundraising for and unknown to him, he was in our hearts. This is the reasons we chose not to continue with the previous adoption adventure. Our emotions were raw.

After a few days of prayer and contemplation we knew that the Lord still wanted us to continue to adopt a child from Russia, so we called our adoption coordinator and asked her to find us other child/ren.

Early Jan 2005  we got news and pictures of two little boys in the Siberia area of Russia and if we wanted them, we needed to be ready to travel right away. We accepted.

End of January 2005 those boys were no longer available, and we took that news much easier as we were now guarding our hearts. That is when we got offered yet another set of boys.

                                                                                                                                                 

ABOVE: Valera 6 1/2  Now called David



RIGHT:  Dmitri 7 1/2 now called Timothy

So in February we traveled to Russia and met the boys and in April we traveled again to pick them up and bring them home.

The first year home with them was extremely hard.
Then in 2007 we found out why it was so hard. Both boys have Fetal Alcohol Syndrome.  If you would like to know more about what FAS is, then please visit my web site at www.FASD101.com.



Left to right is David Valera, mommy and Timothy Dmitri

After we made the adjustment and educated ourselves on FAS, we decided that we wanted more boys who were effected with FAS, and we wanted to adopt in the USA, So we had to re-do our FosAdopt paperwork and wait for the next child God would bring to us.

In February 2009 Orion came to live with us. He was 22 months and very delayed and very very small for his age. He wore a size 9 months.  

Here is mommy and Orion meeting for the first time.

Orion became Daniel in August 2010 with the finalization of his adoption. 

Celebrating Brandi's life

Today is my daughter's 27th birthday!!

 This is three of our boys and my daughter. 

The little boy on the left no longer lives with us physically but is always in my heart.

She is my only biological child. Her biological father was my first husband, who died at age 27.  

 For most of her young life, it was just her and I, as her dad was out of the picture doing his own thing except for a couple of months.  

She was my reason for persevering. 

What a sweet little girl she was...

Brandi was 14 yrs old in this picture. 

She was my maid of honor when I married Michael.

what a trying teenager she became...

a stressful young adult...

and now, a beautiful young woman.  

She is the mother to my most precious grandson and she is soon to give birth to my granddaughter. 

My grandson Alex (5 yrs) on the left and my son Daniel (4.5 yrs) on the right.

She is married to a wonderful man named Leonel whom I believe is her perfect match and great fit into our family. 

Brandi and Leonel Christmas 2010

She is a naturally talented photographer. 

You can see her work at  http://www.facebook.com/brandi.noel.75

She is not only my daughter but I am delighted to call her my friend.  

Brandi is on the left and I am on the right. This was taken at the lake in the summer of 2011

She has a big heart,  is forgiving and kind. 

Sometimes she can be a bit naive. 

She is committed to her relationships with others. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

BRANDI  NOEL  RODRIGUEZ 

Praying the Lord blesses you abundantly this year and all your years to come.

 

 

First Doctor visit

I had my first visit with my doctor. I was thankful the Lord gave me several distractions to help me before the appointment. 
My sweet husband and I left early for the appointment and we ended up in Fresno a half an hour early, so we were able to grab a bite to eat before the appointment, then after I checked in I had a bunch of paperwork to fill out.  I would have had a packet sent to me ahead of time so I could fill out the paperwork at home, but since I was able to get in because of a cancellation there was no time to do that. 

I didn't wait long at all after that and then they brought me back to get my vitals and wait for the doctor. When he came in he was so gentle and kind. He spent  about 45 minutes with us asking me all kinds of questions about my medical history over my life. 
He asked several questions about my weight and how I got to the weight I am now. 
Because of the all the people who I have had the privilege to talk to about this doctor, I trusted him. If he would have said to me that I was having all these problems because I am fat and have asthma and I am out of shape, I would have believed it to be true and went home. I think secretly that is what I hoped he would say. But he did not say that. He  said that I have many factors pointing to PH. I am a woman, overweight, I have "asthma", sleep apnea and  I took Fen Phen. He said that my chest x ray showed no lung scaring, and my heart looked good (yippee). He basically threw my echo out the window. He said it was not very accurate in determining the lung pressures or clear pictures of my heart, especially with my body type (fat) and they are notorious for being wrong with to high or to low of pressures. My sleep study is outdated and I have to get another one, more blood work, PFT's (lung function tests including the 6 minute walk), and the right heart cath. which is the only way to measure the lung pressure.  He said all these tests will be done and I am to be back in his office in 8 to 10 weeks.  That works out to be end of November or mid December.  How am I gonna pay for all this? Stinking crappy insurance. I think the boys will have a very slim Christmas and birthdays for sure. I have e mailed a place PHAssociation.org has on their web site called "Caring Voices Coalition". They help people with certain chronic terminal illnesses (PH is one) sort out co pays, insurance, wills, meds. I hope they can guide me as to what to do. I am willing to purchase more insurance, I just don't know what to get. If you ever get a chance to look around on PHAssociation.org, you can learn a lot of updated info about PH.  


So many things to do over the next couple months. My daughter's birthday is tomorrow, my husbands is on Friday, my daughter is going to have my granddaughter sometime between now and end of October, my grandson and two of my boys' birthdays are in December, Thanksgiving, Christmas, our annual New Years Eve party  and now add all these tests.  

Jeremiah 29:11-14
11 For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. 12 Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. 13 You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. 14 I will be found by you," declares the LORD, "and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you," declares the LORD, "and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile."
 

Anticiapation

Well, today I went to church with my family as I usually do on Sunday.  We had communion today. I have been attending churches over the last 14 years that celebrated communion much more frequently than this church, so I was really happy that we got to be there today. Don;t get me wrong, I love my new church a lot.

While worshiping lately, I realize that I could see my Lord sooner than I expected. It's kinda weird to think about that. I guess, really, that has always been true though. Anyone can die at any time. I just have never looked at the thought of death from this point of view. Of course, I don;t even have a DX yet and I am not giving up.

I finally have an appointment tomorrow with Dr. Bala. He is the PH specialist. I have heard he is very nice and knows about this disease. I will be in good competent and compassionate hands. My dear husband is going with me.  I am very nervous about this appointment. I am always nervous to go to the doctors, especially a new doctor. And there are so many unknowns with this appointment. What is he going to do to me tomorrow? And how the heck am I going to pay for all the tests?  Thankfully, I should be able to get help from the drug companies or whoever for help with paying for the meds. they are VERY VERY expensive. I am talking like hundreds of thousands of dollars per year.

I guess one reason I get nervous about going to the doctors is I am always worried they will say I am faking. At this point, I wonder if I am just so terribly out of shape and that is why I get so out of breath with such little activity.  I am ready for answers and a plan.