Two Weeks and a Special Gift

In two weeks from today, God willing, we will be flying to Ethiopia. I cannot believe we are so close! We are soooo excited!

So, to commemorate T - 2 weeks to take off, I thought I would share a story that is very special to me.

As some of you know, I am an avid breastfeeding advocate and was blessed to enjoy a successful breastfeeding relationship with both of my kids. So, when we started our adoption journey in March 2008, one of the first things I did was meet with a lactation consultant to discuss adoptive breastfeeding.

In October of 2008, I thought we were moving closer to referral and so I started trying to pump milk to stockpile it in our freezer for the baby. I was breastfeeding Indigo at the time, but was not making much milk. I worked with a lacation consultant, tried herbs to increase milk supply and rented a hospital grade pump, but I was simply unable to pump more than a few drops of milk.

I was expressing my frustrations to my friend, Emily, over the phone one afternoon. She was pregnant at the time. She told me, "Rachel, you've done enough. Let me do this for you." She told me that when her baby was born she would pump for our baby. I wasn't really expecting her to actually do it. I pumped for several months for the Austin Milk Bank and I know the commitment it involves.

Time passed and Emily had her baby. She started pumping milk for me just days after her son was born. She pumped the early milk, the colostrum, and froze it for my baby. She continued to pump every day.

When we received our referral, we learned that Evangeline was born on April 7, 2008. [They are unsure of her exact birthday.] Emily's son was born on April 5, 2008. She has been pumping for Evangeline since she was born!

Slowly, Emily's freezer became too full of milk to store so she started shipping it to me. Now our separate deep freeze is getting full of milk too. Before shipping it down to me, Emily got screened for all of the different viruses and diseases that they screen for at the milk banks. Her doctor was happy to do this for her, for us, and it was covered by insurance.

We feel so honored that Emily made the commitment to give this gift to Evangeline. I wanted to do something for her that would be meaningful, too. I wanted to give her something from the heart. I decided to make a quilt for her. It was the first "big" quilt I've ever made. It's definitely not perfect... I was learning along the way. But my heart was full of love and gratitude as I made it for her - a very small thank you for her incredibly generous gift to us.

Thank you, Emily, for this wonderful gift! We are humbled by the commitment you demonstrated in giving of yourself for Evangeline. We love you!