And, Then it's Over

On Sunday Jamie came home from his weekend away.  We talked about how blessed we were to get so much support and how therapeutic it was to share our story.  We truly hope that it helped or inspired someone (and based on the many responses we saw, I think it did).

But, there is a part that is hard.  See, we know we are "closer" to bringing our baby home, but we're still not there.  The segment aired and although things changed, they stayed the same.  A baby didn't show up on our doorstep, and isn't going to.  It's still going to be a hard road ahead.  We have to match.  We have to wait for our baby to be born.  We have to hope that the baby's biological parents don't change their mind.  It's going to be hard, worth it, but hard.

I felt like this was the end of our story being shared.  I considered asking some friends if they'd be willing to share our story on their Facebook pages, but I hate to be obnoxious and keep asking people to "market" us.  What's happened over the last few days shocked me!

I didn't need to ask people to share our page.  They did, many, many people did without me asking.  People I hadn't seen since high school and college.  People I barely knew but was friends with on Facebook.  People I didn't know at all! One one friend's page I saw that it was shared 8 times from her post, I clicked to see who shared it and I didn't know them.

Here were a few of the many posts that accompanied the link to our story:

Hey FB world! This is a story of love and hope for a dear friend of mine from Willmar/Spicer MN. It is my prayer that God can bless the channels of social media and help them in sharing the hearts and home with a baby in need of a Christian home. Please pray for the Heather Wolney Thompson family for us as well!


I can't help but share this story of one of my dearest friends. Heather Wolney Thompson and Jamie have a dream of growing their family but have been faced with many challenges along the way. Their story has been a hard one. A sad one. But also - Inspiring. They continue to have such an amazing attitude and hope, even through the devastating times. Their story and the reaction they are getting from friends, acquaintances and complete strangers is a reminder of all the good there is in this world. Something we too often lose sight of. Heather and Jamie, thanks for sharing your story... You are offering support and encouragement to so many others that are facing the same hardships.


Heather and I attended High School in MN together. Please take a moment and watch this video (especially if you have or love kids or starting a family). So touching. They also have a Facebook page "like" and share this. Support brings you a long way. Love you Heather! Good luck to you and your beautiful family.


Show your Mud Butt (posted on the Mud Butt Cloth Diaper Facebook page) support for an awesome fan, friend, and fellow adoptive family! Check out their awesome story that aired last Friday night. Let's spread the word! They are a great family:)


A wonderful couple who truly are as good as they sound. Please share their story.

I checked our adoption Facebook page just now and we have 470 likes.  I realize not everyone is going to go ahead and like a total stranger's Facebook page, so I think 470 is terrific!  Totally amazing.  

Support Rolling In

I was totally shocked about the support that came in through Facebook the night the story aired.  WCCO added a link to their website so that people could find our adoption Facebook page, I didn't expect that many people would track it down, but they did!  Before the story aired the page had 307 "likes".  By Monday morning we had 121 additional "likes", many from people we didn't know.  We received many emails and posts from families that suffered miscarriages, adopted children, had children many years apart, and even one person who was adopted--he thanked us for choosing open adoption.  I wanted to follow up with each person personally, and still have quite a few to respond to.

Here were some comments from complete strangers.  Amazing....

"Just saw your story on WCCO and had tears running down our cheeks."

"I just saw you guys on TV.  You were so calm (impressive).  Prayers continue that the right people/person also saw it."

"Just saw your story on WCCO and hope and pray that your family finds what it is looking for!  Bless you all for being so open and willing to do whatever is needed to improve the life of a child as your family grows.  Bless you all..."

"Tons of prayers coming your way on this journey."

It was so incredibly uplifting.  I honestly could feel the prayers of many lifting us up during our journey.

We also received one email from someone that wanted to meet with us.  At this point, we don't see that going anywhere, but it's encouraging that someone saw us and thought that we would make good parents for their child.  I felt so calm about it and told Jamie that I felt a lot of peace...since we had so many more people praying for us, I was certain the right thing would work out!

Wednesday

I plan to blog my heart out on Wednesday.  Lots on my heart and in my brain!  We feel blessed beyond measure, the support we've received from the interview on WCCO has been amazing.

No, we still don't have a baby.

For those of you that didn't see my blitz all over Facebook, or didn't catch the news on Friday night at 10:00 p.m., here it is: http://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2012/05/04/after-4-miscarriages-minn-family-turns-to-an-open-adoption/

They did a beautiful job of capturing the true us.  I am so thankful for the opportunity to share our story.  I hope that it was not only therapeutic for us, but for others that have suffered through infertility as well.

It made me nauseous, but I did it.

A few posts ago, I mentioned the story that my co-worker sent me about a family that were matched with their adopted child through Facebook.  And, I also commented about how scary that seemed to me.  I am not a private person, but I don't like attention.  I really enjoy being under the radar, sailing smoothly in my comfort zone.
I decided to get out of my comfort zone and created a Facebook adoption page.  I asked my super awesome sister-in-law Jesi (see, I am practicing, Jesi) to check it out and tell me what she thought.  She encouraged me to post it.  And, I did!  Then I posted on her Facebook page that I thought I might throw up!  Here's what I posted:

Jamie and I are the kind of people that like to remain "under the radar", but some things are worth getting out of our comfort zone for...our family is one of them. We are currently a waiting adoptive family, we're approved for domestic infant adoption. 50% of matches happen by word of mouth. We'd appreciate it if you'd help us spread the word about our desire to be parents again by liking our adoption page-Thompson Family Adoption: https://www.facebook.com/ThompsonFamilyAdoption and sharing it with your friends. We're hopeful that we can help Griffin make his dream of becoming a big brother come true. Thank you!

I sat and watched all of the likes and shares come through and tears streamed down my face. People were liking my post, sharing it with others, liking our page...it was amazing! It was so uplifting to receive support from so many people. What an amazing gift. In 2 hours we had 70 likes on our adoption Facebook page. When I woke up in the morning we had 100. Last I checked we had over 40. Amazing. People were checking out our adoption website, too. The link is: http://thompsonfamilyadopts.shutterfly.com/. Pages that had 66 hits before I posted the page had 113 hits within two hours. It's great to know that if one of those people hears about a family that is choosing adoption for their baby, they will hopefully think of us. I received emails from people I have never met encouraging us, and from people I know that didn't realize we were hoping to adopt. Am I glad I got out of my comfort zone? You bet! Tuesday night will be a memorable one for me, I'll never forget the overwhelming feeling of support, love and hope I felt as the likes, shares and messages came through. A few other things happened due to our post--we received contact from another "I know someone" situation and it appears that we'll have some additional outreach coming our way thanks to people spreading the word! Stay tuned, I think we have some exciting things in store!

Follow Up to My Facebook Rant

The other day I was ranting about Facebook and this little game about posting X weeks and what you are craving, even though you aren't pregnant.  In my world, pregnancy is not something to laugh about.  Not even a little.  My sister-in-law put the BEST post on her FB wall and I just had to share it here.  (I hope that's OK, Jesi!)

The link she posted:

Feel Your Boobies - Are you doing it? A friendly reminder when you least expect it.

feelyourboobies.com Jesi's comments: I think breast cancer awareness posts are great. It never hurts to get the word out there. I didn't post the purse game...mostly because I didn't think my grandpa or mother-in-law would appreciate the humor ;) And I didn't post the pregnancy one because, knowing my history, the second I wrote that I'm sure I'd actually be preggers! But mostly because I thought of someone I love that would do anything to be able to post that on her wall ♥ So...here is my breast cancer awareness post.

How great is that!?!?!

Then she posted a link to this blog.  http://www.hannahweptsarahlaughed.com/2011/09/im-0-weeks-and-craving-a-baby/  Wow.  I kinda wish I had the guts to post on FB that, "I'm 0 weeks and craving a baby."  But, I'm too afraid I'll sound like some weepy-poor-me infertile woman that can't let go of our unfortunate circumstances.  Someday I'll get some more guts.  In the mean time, I'll let my sister-in-law stick up for us infertiles! 

My Love-Hate Relationship with Facebook.

I love Facebook.  I am a people person.  I am the kind of gal that wonders what such-and-such person that I used to work/go to school with, etc. is doing.  It's connected me to old friends. (Happyfull :) ) It's connected me to people I have never met that are struggling with infertility.  At dark times when I had a hard time being social because of grief and loss, I could be social through Facebook. 

I also hate Facebook.  I hate that it starts gossip.  I hate it when people are trying to one up another.  I hate it when people are all about themselves.  I hate breast cancer awareness games when I feel like if you want to raise breast cancer awareness, you should post that you recommend getting a mammogram in your post, not that you are 6 weeks and are craving a Twix!  And, this is why: http://cgwardphotography.blogspot.com/2011/08/regarding-facebook-breast-cancer.html?spref=fb
I can handle it.  Over the years that we have battled with infertility, I've embraced and celebrated my friends having babies.  With true happiness.  But, I have also felt the pain.  The pain of empty arms when I want nothing more than to care for more children.  Our children.  So, to have a game made out of what appears to be pregnancy and pregnancy cravings is not funny to me.  Not one bit.  It gives me a twinge of pain, but I know for others it's much more painful.  Call me sensitive.  Call me whatever you want.  But, walk a year in my shoes and I guarantee you'll be sensitive about it, too.

Going through this has made me sensitive to other issues, too.  And, although I'm not going to pretend to understand others feelings all the time, I try.  I really, truly try.