Holly*Berry

SeattleMom · #1 (**permalink**) 07-17-2005, 10:42 PM

Every time I see your siggy I think about your foster baby and how hard it must have been to let him go after 11 months with him. Would you mind sharing your story a little bit? What has been your experience with fostering? It must be rewarding to be able to be an influence for good in a child's life but my heart just breaks when I imagine having to say goodbye to a child I had brought into my home. How do children get placed with you? Do they stay as long as Baby "C"?

Marianne

Holly*Berry · #2 (**permalink**) 07-21-2005, 06:26 AM

Oh I must have missed this post!

Kids come for all different reasons. They all stay for different lengths of time. You just never know with foster care. I'm relatively new to it. Our baby "C" was our first longer term placement. We had 3 other kids who went home after only 2 weeks, then we were empty for a year.....till they called us to take a precious newborn boy with Down syndrome and a heart defect. He really was the heart of our family for the time he was here.

We got him through is heart surgery (tough one!) and saw him through is feeding issues and therapies for develpmental delays. When they told me he would be going home to live with his parents, my heart sank......I know he'll have a rough life with them (no abuse issues, they are just trashy and DIRT poor). I told myself that I could handle it and I didn't cry or feel anything for about 2 weeks. I thought I was doing so great.........until..........we got another baby placed with us a few days ago. When I saw her playing with his toys I had a HUGE FLOOD of emotion. I could barely stand it. What a time for this to hit me.........I had to pull myself together for this little 11 month old girl who needed me........it's still hard but I'm managing.

We will be seeing our little baby "C" on Sunday. After that he'll be coming for overnight visits whenever we can work it out with his parents. They're really good about understanding how much we love him and that we want to be as much a part of his life as we can. So yes, it's killing me but I'm really happy that I was the one chosen to get him through his 1st year. And my heart, and our family, will never be the same.

Thanks for asking!

SeattleMom · #3 (**permalink**) 07-21-2005, 09:04 AM

That is really beautiful. I hope you have kept a really good journal. I'm just struck by the idea of being called to fulfill this unique role--guardian of the first year of his life.

Thanks.

Marianne

SarahBeth · #4 (**permalink**) 07-21-2005, 05:39 PM

Your post gave me chills! DH and I have been talking about becoming foster parents and hopefully being able to do foster to adopt. We ttc for 5 yrs before adopting our daughter and want to continue to build our family through adoption. Your post is inspiring!!

angiemom · #5 (**permalink**) 07-21-2005, 09:47 PM

You are an amzing woman.

The Lord is surely happy with the love you share with these children.