Nine hundred and forty days...

940 days have passed since we began our adoption journey. 799 days have passed since we were approved to be a waiting family in the state of Pennsylvania.

940 long, stressful, anxious, and scary days - where we would be lying if we said there were times we didn't want to give up and just admit that maybe we would never be matched.

799 days of trying really hard to stay positive and believe in the whole process. 799 days of wondering if we would ever be parents.

Let's just be honest and give it to you all straight - the adoption process is not for the faint of heart. There were hard days, harder days, and sometimes we had good days. But, it was always there in the back of our minds that we were missing something. We constantly tried to update all of our profiles and videos and the like. It was taxing.

But, we survived 940 days just so that we could finally celebrate and tell you all... we've been keeping a little secret!! 😊

Everyone, Seth and I are so blessed and grateful to introduce you to our new blessing. His name is Lucas Gabriel. 😍

Hi, World! I'm new here!
Thank you all for sharing in our journey! This is going to be a long post. Grab some popcorn and tissues and buckle yourself in! We've got a lot to share! πŸ’œ

Seth and I were contacted by our local adoption agency, Haven Adoptions, in late June of this year about a local birthmother who was looking to create an adoption plan. After some thought, Seth and I chose to place our names into the list of potential adoptive families.

About a week after that, Haven called and to be honest, I was certain they were going to tell us that another family had been chosen (as we had become accustomed to hearing that over the years). So, when Kelly said that we had been chosen by the birthmother - I didn't believe her. She probably had to repeat that a few times for me. (Sorry! πŸ˜„)

Lucas' birthmother was due mid-August, so during the month of July we were lucky enough to get to know her. His birthmother is an amazing woman. She is so caring and loving. We honestly could not have asked for a better situation - a local opportunity and a wonderful birthmother. We are excited that she lives near us to make it even easier for Lucas to have chances to spend time with her. She was kind enough to allow us to attend her prenatal visits. We even got to see our little guy via ultrasound. It was a surreal experience. Honestly, I never thought that we would be able to have such opportunities. But we did and we are so thankful and blessed for it.

On August 18th at 2:37am, Lucas' birthmother called us to let us know that her water broke and she was en route to the hospital. (I was so out of it, I thought it was my alarm for the gym πŸ˜‚) Seth and I both jumped out of bed and headed out to the hospital. We spent the day with his birthmother in her room watching terrible hospital TV and keeping her company.

Lucas was born at 6:11pm on August 18. He weighed 7 pounds 11 ounces and had a full head of hair. 😁I was able to trim his umbilical cord and we were able to have some skin to skin time with him. We spent the next two days hanging out in the nursery and just staring in awe at this wonderful little boy.

The state of Pennsylvania gives birthmothers 33 days to revoke their decision to place a child for adoption. To honor and respect Lucas' birthmother's legal rights, we chose to keep his arrival very quiet. So quiet in fact, that only our employers actually knew. It was very difficult to not share all of our photos and love for Lucas. But, Seth and I truly believe that this was in the best interest of not only Lucas, but our little family, and his mother.

The past 6 weeks have been amazing and fulfilling. Lucas is a treasure. He is wiggly and sweet. He loves tummy time and is so strong! He lifts his head up and moves it side to side easily. Lucas hates diaper changes - and essentially hates being naked in general. But, he loves the bath. We don't know how that works. πŸ˜‚He eats like a tank and has just started smiling and giggling (even when he's not pooping or passing gas). Lucas loves being dressed up as a dinosaur - or maybe that's because I love putting him in dinosaur clothing. He loves car rides and he loves being worn in his little baby backpack. He's been to the mall, Peace Valley Park, and the farmer's market.

We even found a local photographer to take his newborn photos!! If anyone in Montgomery County is looking for an amazing photographer, please consider Samantha Wilson of The Backyard Boutique in Lansdale! She is amazing!!







We will continue to share more about him as he gets older. But, we just wanted to be able to make this super official and tell everyone who has been following our story that ... Baby Hogg is here!!

Day 1 - Hospital skin to skin snuggles




Cruising at Peace Valley Park


Allentown Fair


First mini-golf game

That's a lot of furry helpers!






Thank you to everyone who helped us along this journey and during our wait. We couldn't have made it this far without you all. You all were our rock. Thank you just isn't enough.

All of our love,
Shana and Seth


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