How we got to this point

I wish that every adoption is as easy as Bailee's was. I know and have said before how lucky Jim and I are.

We have always tried to get pregnant. I knew that I had PCOS-Poly-cystic ovarian syndrome since I was 16 and that conceiving would be difficult but not impossible. Jim and I married in 1998 and have never ever prevented getting pregnant. In 2000, I had ovarian drilling done with no success. That is when they burn holes in your ovaries and hopefully making it easier for your eggs to release. Well that didn't work for me. So in 2002 we decide to visit a Reproductive Endocrinologist. She did lab work on both of us. Jim had a low sperm count which he took medicine for. I did about 3 rounds of clomid, then we did Artificial Insemination. In 2006 we moved on to IVF. We did one cycle but it was cancelled due to the fact I didn't respond to the meds fast enough. A couple of months later we tried again and got thru the whole cycle, but the weekend before Father's Day we found out I was not pregnant. I was so frustrated, depressed and broke it took every ounce of energy for me to put on a happy face and face the world everyday. And trying to be happy for the people around me that either just had a baby or found out that they are pregnant, I just fought back the tears.

I had received a phone a call one day in June 2007, asking if I would be interested in a part-time job. I wasn't due to fact I needed health insurance. Well one day my boss had put me over the edge, I called Jim and told him I was quiting. I was going to see if that part-time job was available and I was going to take it. The job was there, and they offered health insurance to part-time associates. We had decided to take money out of my IRA and do another cycle of IVF. Well the Saturday after my last day of work I broke my leg. I was supposed to start my new job, which consist of standing 6-7 hours a day. So luckily they kept my job for me and in October I finally started back to work. However the money we had set aside for the IVF was gone. We had to use all of it to cover bills and my health insurance for 4 months.

In January came the call that changed our lives forever. It was a Friday night, Jim was at a Basketball game and I stayed home to watch Friday Night Lights. The phone rang and usually during my show I don't answer it, but I did. It was Jim's Father, he said that his step-daughter is pregnant and wanted to give up the baby. And was wondering if we wanted to adopt it? We did a lot of praying, thinking and talking and we said yes.

We met the birth parents in February 16th. They said that they just can't afford to take care of another child. They already have a little boy. The birth mother told me that she didn't really feel any emotional attachment to the child and she said that it is ours. We were so excited. We found a lawyer and got the ball rolling. And finally on Feb.19th Bailee will officially be ours. We go to court for the last time to get the adoption finalized. The whole adoption has taken exactly a year. After many ups and downs that Jim and I have faced I really don't think I would have changed to much to get to this day.