First IF support group

Last night I chaired the first IF support group in a meeting room in town. There were six of us present!! I was blown away that that many women came to the first meeting considering I only started advertising it just over three weeks ago.

I set up some very clear boundaries and obviously will remain respectful of those who attended the meeting by not revealing any personal sharings. We are all in very different stages of our journies but we could all relate to the 7 seven stages of grief that we talked about for a bit. I brought a box of tissues along and they were used!

I now feel as though I am part of something quite special in the town I live in! I cannot believe after three years of virtually going through SIF on my own; I can now talk face-to-face with women who have either been through similar or have come out on the other side of it all.

The meeting was just over an hour long and everyone who phoned turned up! After the meeting we had a cuppa. I baked some banana chocolate-chip muffins and there was nothing but warmth, understanding and compassion in the room. I'm looking forward to the next meeting on November 4th. (the meetings are monthly). I have emailed a contact list out to everyone who attended the meeting as some obvious connections were made even at the first meeting. How wonderful if friendships form because of this group. :)

Yesterday afternoon I had the pleasure of looking after my neighbour's newborn for about an hour as my neighbour wanted to mow her lawns and do some dishes - her baby likes to be held a lot even when sleeping. It was really nice actually to do a bit of my internet stuff while holding such a precious little package. It has been a loooooong time since I actually held a newborn for more than a couple of minutues. My daughter was quite intrigued by baby B and even requested a go at holding her. I managed to get some delightful photos of her and baby B!

I was in a good space when holding baby B and actually it just made me feel as though this could be a possibility for our little family one day - I could end up holding our baby one day and our daughter might one day have a photo taken of her and her actual sibling!

My husband and I were talking about how God works in mysterious ways. With our daughter's ASD she needs to be warmed up to change (if possible) over a longer period of time than "typical" kids. So God could be preparing her - possibly - for a sibling in the future by forming a bond with the neighbour's baby.

As far as the adoption side of things goes, I have given myself a wee break from it. We have some paperwork to fill out for the next step which will be followed up with some intensive sessions with our social worker. I'm not quite ready to delve into the nitty-gritty side of the application assessment form we need to fill in. I'll have a look at it next week. Besides, I've been very busy with the school holidays (which finish at the end of this week). I've had some great mother-daughter days as well as a few playdates these school holidays - and not too many playdates with the MOTs out there! My daughter is happy and has relaxed into the hols. I've truly felt grateful to have some extra time with my four and a half year old these school hols.