We're home!!

After all the waiting we are finally home and the drama is over!  I'll tell you how the last few days all played out in this post.
       We showed up bright and early Monday morning August 6th, 2012 to labor and delivery at shand's hospital.  We waited around and they took Angela (the birthmom) back around noon.  I was able to go into the c-section which was such a blessing!  Liam Gabriel was born at 12:29pm weighing 6lbs 10oz, 18 inches long, and healthy!  When I heard his first cry it was very emotional.  Everyone in the OR was super sweet and they even let me cut the cord!  For the first night we were able to have our own room with him, but the second day around 8 am they needed the room so we were in with the birthmother.  The rooms were double rooms so it wasn't like we were right on top of one another. She had also said she wanted me to take care of him so it was never awkward.  I kept asking if she wanted to hold him and she did a few times.  Her older son and daughter both came to see Liam and her daughter stayed the night, holding him every second she could.  The two days were filled with anxiety and the fact that we just wanted it to be finalized and be home.   The day she signed the papers we had to leave the room for about 3 hours.  It was killing us to be away from him and not know how everything was going.  Finally the agency called us and told us she had signed everything and he was ours to take home!  We were so happy.  Once we got back to the room the discharge was  not how we planned but it was for the best.  She was emotional so they had us go into the nursery to finish up discharge.  We felt weird leaving without saying goodbye but the agency handled that and gave her the gift we had gotten her.  She texted me later that night and I was relieved we were still on as good of terms as you can be in this situation.  The ride home was very surreal and we are so happy to be home!  Liam is amazing and we love him so much.  God has blessed us beyond what we ever expected and made this a very low drama, low emotional strain adoption. We hope you all know how much we appreciate your thoughts, prayers, and support during this adoption.

1 more day!

I seriously can't believe the day is so close!  We celebrated Duatin's mom's wedding this weekend and are flying back to Florida tomorrow.  We will plan on getting a great night's rest so we can wake up bright and early Monday morning August 6th to be in Gainesville by 7am to have a baby!!!  She is having a c-section so it could be anytime that morning.  I (Nicole) will be in the delivery room...what an amazing gift!  To be able to see my son born will surely be one of the greatest joys in my life.  After that we will be caring for him in the hospital but he won't legally be ours until Wednesday.  Our birthmother, Angela has been amazing thru this journey and very open.  She has allowed us at all her appointments and ultrasound.  She knows that us being Liam's forever family is truly whats best for him at this time in her life.  We can't be more happy about how this adoption has gone this far.  I will try and post as soon as I can on Monday to let everyone know all about our little bundle!!  Thanks again for all your prayers and support! 




Another fun fact is that Monday August 6th is also Duatin's grandmother's birthday and she will be turning 92!  

A post from our dear friends...

Dear family and friends,
About 12 years ago, I found myself living in a college dorm with 4 strangers.  One of those strangers would eventually become the best friend that I would ever have.  Dustin and I shared very few similarities at that point in our lives and no one would have guessed that we would develop a lifelong friendship, not even us.  There’s no doubt in my mind that it was a God thing.  Proverbs 27:17 says “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.”  Dustin is one of the few people in my life that has helped me truly understand the value and the meaning of this scripture.  Over the years, we have shared joys and we have shared pains.  But as you all know, Dustin has seen more pain in his life than most of us ever will.  
After the accident, Dustin took his shattered dreams of being a professional downhill racing athlete and humbly traded them in for better dreams.  Dreams of being a stronger Christ follower, and of being a devoted husband, and of being a role model to kids, and of being a loving father...  Rather than wasting time shaking his fist at God, Dustin chose to recognize that he had improperly valued his former dreams. And almost immediately after his athletic dreams were shattered, he acknowledged that they were destroyed so that he could experience the joy that comes with living his life for more fulfilling dreams. Nicole was by his side throughout the whole ordeal demonstrating her love, wisdom and strength.  We saw her Christ honoring dreams of being a loving wife and compassionate mother intertwine with Dustin’s.  The tragedy that threatened to take Dustin’s life ended up uniting him with Nicole and allowing them to dream better dreams than they ever had before.
I suspect most people (me included) struggle with pursing dreams that they improperly value for their entire lives.  But Dustin and Nicole have cultivated a wonderful dream that is undoubtedly honoring to God and one that will bring them more joy than they have ever known… Their dream is to be parents.  And God has opened the door for them to embark on this life changing journey!  But they need our prayers and our support as they endeavor to start their family.  The adoption process is emotionally and financially draining.  We need to pray for Baby Liam’s health and safe delivery, and for his birth mother, and for his mother-to-be.  We need to pray for his birth father and for his father-to-be, and for the transition from one family to another.   Aside from these ever important prayer needs, there is also a significant need related to funding the adoption process.  Please prayerfully consider helping the Kodger’s financially.  The adoption process costs an excess of $25,000 and the cost is more of a burden than they can bear alone. As close friends to Dustin and Nicole, Lori and I feel encouraged and privileged to be able to help them overcome this obstacle.  Please join with us in supporting the Kodger’s with a generous gift that will help them realize their dream of becoming parents. If you’d prefer to donate anonymously, feel free to send a check to Lori and I.  Otherwise, checks can be made out to Dustin and Nicole directly or you can give online at http://kodgeradoptionjourney.blogspot.com (click “DONATE” at bottom left).  Either way, 100% of your donation will go to Liam Kodger’s adoption!

Thank you so much for your prayers and support.  In Christ,
Bob and Lori Siffert
(For the Siffert's or Kodger's address please message one of us on Facebook)

Coming soon!

We have a set due date! At our birthmom's appointment this week they scheduled her c-section for Monday, August 6th. It's starting to feel more real as we know the date that Liam will arrive. Our birthmom has been sick lately and has been working a lot. She is exhausted. Please keep her in her prayers that she will get rest and healing these last few weeks of her pregnancy.

{Update} 8 weeks to go!!

Well the countdown has begun! We only have about 8 weeks until we meet little baby Liam!! :) Our birthmother had an official ultrasound on Monday at about 30 weeks and all looks good. Since our last update I (Nicole) have been to 3 appointments and the ultrasound with our birth mother, Angela. I have gotten to know her and learned that Angela and I have the same birthday! Different years but same day. How cool is that? I love it because we can always have that day to remember her and the amazing thing she did. Angela is very easy to be with and talk to. She is very open! She allows me to come to all her appointments and is always saying things like, "oh you just wait" when talking about her kids :). We have also met all 3 of her kids and they are super cute! Her son, who is 13 made sure we knew him and his 9 year old sister were the ones that chose us. I feel that God has blessed us thus far with a fairly easy adoption and a birthmom that seems to have no doubts. The most tension will be the 48 hours after Liam is born before he is leagally ours. We have also continued to fundraise and tho we have been super blessed by the ability to work extra, friends, and family, we have a little ways to go within the next two months. Please pray for these last 8 weeks as we prepare our hearts and home for this little one to come into our lives.

It's a......

{BOY}!!! Liam Gabriel looked great today by ultrasound and is measuring right on schedule! We felt so blessed to have the opportunity to see this little one and meet the birth mom for the first time. She seemed very easy going and was easy to talk with. PLease pray that she will continue to stay committed to her decision.

{Boy OR Girl}????

Medicaid has been quite frustrating and after our birth mother was finally approved, her FIRST OB appointment was made for April 24th! Talk about a waiting game. So, because it would be a whole other month and she will be about 27/28 weeks before she has an ultrasound we decided to have her come for a gender only scan. At this point she will be about 23 weeks along and should be able to see gender for sure! For anyone who doesn't know, I do ultrasound so we are blessed to have one of my close friends do the scan. We will also be meeting her for the first time on Thursday so we are super excited about that. Also a little nervous, hope she likes us!

Hurry up and wait :)

What's an adoption without some bumps in the road? Not that we have had any major set backs but, just realizing how much control we have which is zero. Lol. Our birthmother was supposed to have her first OB appointment on March 1st but because of her Medicaid being the wrong one they would not see her and she had to reapply for Medicaid that will cover her pregnancy. That new medicaid is not going to go thru until April 4th. At this point we are not even sure when her first appointment will be. She will be half way thru her pregnancy by the time she sees a doctor. She has had 3 other babies before so we can only hope and pray she is taking care of herself. We ask you to pray for our little one and his/her health. That God would just protect that little one and keep him/her safe. In a way it's good because it keeps me from shopping but I am so anxious to know what our little one will be. Boy? Girl? I have my guess but who knows!!! It's also frustrating because I have unlimited access to ultrasound and yet I can't just have her come on over! So at this point it will be about 1 more month of waiting until we know how this little one is doing in there and what their gender is. Thanks again for all your prayers and support!

Moving quickly!

One thing about adoption is that you never know how the process will be.  Will a birthmom choose you within a reasonable time?  Will we wait two years?  You just never know.  Well.... Dustin and I are truly excited to share with you all that a BIRTHMOM has CHOSEN US!!  After only 2 weeks of being with the agency we are working with they had a birthmom look through profiles and choose ours.  We were on vacation in Colordo when we got the call and it was amazing to share the news there with my family.  Our birthmom is still very early (around 15-16 weeks) with her due date being around August 11th.  She will be scheduled to have a c-section and has even invited us to be in the delivery room.  She is very open at this time and sounds very excited about what she is doing for her baby.  She has 3 other children who have been involved in her decision of choosing us and understand what this decision means.  She is being supported by her family and the people she works with which is amazing!  God is truly at work here and we can do nothing but praise Him!  She has a doctor's appointment coming up March 1st and at that time they will schedule her ultrasound, which she has also invited us to.  We should find out within a month or so what we are having :)  We ask you all to just pray that she will stick to this decision she has made if it's God's will, because up until 48 hours after the baby is born she can change her mind.  Again we thank you all so much for your love and support in this process and are so happy we have good news to share so quickly!! 

Meeting with the agency!

On Tuesday we had our homestudy.  Before the social worker left she told us we passed  so now we are just waiting on the legal documentation that shows that. :) 

On Saturday we met with the agency, Little Angels, and signed our contract with them.  They are amazing in how much focus and time they give the birthmoms.  There are only 2 ladies that run the agency and they only take on as much as they can handle.  We are honored to have the oppertunity to work with them.  As we sat and talked to them we loved the agency and what they do more and more.  We didn't have our "profile" with us because we had wanted to see some examples of what they would want it to be like.  The "profile" is what they give to the birthmoms for them to choose their adoptive parents.  We went home sunday and worked to finish our profile so we could send it on monday.  We were eager to get it to them because they have 3 moms that just came to them in the last week and we wanted to make sure we have a chance at being looked at.  They said they will not always tell us when they send it out, which is probably for the best.  Now all we can do is pray and wait.  We hope a birthmom will like our profile and choose us soon but we know God has the perfect plan and we are excited as we wait to see what that is!

Home Study

Finally getting most of our paperwork done for the homestudy!  The homestudy is something that has to be completed before we could ever bring home a baby.  The social worker comes to our house this coming tuesday, January 31st to make sure Dustin and I are fit to be parents :).  Thanks to some of our amazing friends we hope our reference letters from them will convince her we will be able to take great care of a child! 
We are also excited to sit down with the agency we have chosen next Saturday February 3rd and sign a contract with them.  Once we are in contract it could be anytime... we just wait either for a birthmother to choose us or for a special situation called a "drop" baby (a baby that the mother decides to give up her rights before leaving the hospital).  It is a slow process but we are making progress. We contiue to thank all of you for your love, prayer, and support.