Foster Care Orientation

What a great class put on by Boys and Girls Aid!  We have a much better idea of the steps and timelines involved in adopting out of foster care.

This was only one of the first steps.  Next, we'll attend a Foundations training in February -- an intense 3-day slam training that will give us a better idea of how to handle issues that will come up in parenting a special needs child.  This is something that is run by Boys and Girls Aid, but blessed by the State.

Once we complete that course, it's applications, questionnaires and homestudy time!  This could take 3-6 months to complete. 

Then our application can be submitted to caseworkers who are looking for families for children.  If our application is chosen as a finalist, then it will go to an impartial committee for selection.  This could happen several times over several years, so it's best to not fall in love with the children we see in adoption bulletins.  We've been advised.

A random collection of thoughts:

The roller-coaster of emotions would be hard for anyone, but it might be harder for those who've struggled with infertility or pregnancy loss.  I will likely be seeking counseling sometime in the near future, to make sure all my ducks are in a row before we delve too deeply into this process.

DM and I are still a new-ish couple.  We will be less-so by the time all is said and done, but we're still getting to know each other.  We are also going to be seeking couple's counseling to be sure we're on the same page and ready to support each other and our budding family.

The State of Oregon places children in families by way of committee.  You don't get to meet the children ahead of time.  But we learned that studies show that this has a better long-term success rate than other states that will have "Adoption Picnics" and the like.

It's interesting that you can be a foster parent for a long time without a child being placed with you that you'll have the option to adopt.  I think we're going about it the right way, in that we're on the adoption track and not on the foster care track.

DM and I are interested in children in the 4+ set, but especially teenagers.  It breaks my heart every time I hear about kids aging out of foster care.  It became especially obvious to DM and I when we read The Language of Flowers over the summer.  How about sibling groups?  Heck, yeah!  Sign us up.

We built a big binder to keep all our information together.  That was a pretty exciting activity for our Friday night!  Woo!

There's still so much to learn, still so much to do, still so much to sort through.  Really glad I've got that Darling M with me on this part of the journey.

Peace --Big Dyke Mama

Doctor Appointments

So, I'm in the process of switching primary care physicians (PCPs), and I scheduled an appointment with my new PCP  (Dr. M) for mid-March.  Wanting to start inseminations in early March, I asked her advice on medication I'm on and its effects on conception and pregnancy.  She doesn't have some special OB something something that she needs to advise me on such matters, so she sends me to Dr. G, an obstetrician.

I try to make an appointment with Dr. G, but he reviews my chart, and places me in the "high risk" category.  It is not mentioned the reason(s) I'm high-risk (I'm 35, fat, and have high blood pressure, so it could be any one of those things). He can't advise high-risk patients, so he sends me to Dr. T.  Apparently, Dr. T is some super-specialist?

My appointment with Dr. T is in late February, which is good timing.  While I'm a little woogedy about being dubbed "high-risk," if it gets me into see the doctors sooner, then that's fine by me.

In other health news, I'm in love with my Acupuncturist.  And I mean that in a purely professional, non-gender-specific way.  He's been working with me for about a month and, based on how well I've been responding to treatment, he's very optimistic about my chances of becoming pregnant.  He even prescribed some magic chinese herbs that are going to help prep my body.  They taste like ginger-y bile, but totally tolerable.

Tomorrow I've got an appointment with Dr. P, my Chiropractor.  I haven't talked with him about fertility, but I'm going to use some time tomorrow to give him a heads-up.  I really want to attack this from all sides.  My health is strongest when I handle it really holistically, so I believe that I should handle my fertility in a similar manner.

Wish me luck!

Big Dyke Mama

If you know me at all, you might be aware that I don't do anything right.  Or fast.  Or within any average social conventions.

Nope.

Also, if you know me at all, you are likely aware of how much I love children and that I've wanted to be a mom since I was in preschool.

Really.

So, how does a person who wants babies -- but who does everything backwards -- have babies?  We're gonna find out.

Yep.

Big Dyke Mama on a fertility quest.

Yeehaw!