Orphan NO MORE! Or: (At Least There's No Stirrups in the Courtroom)

I am legally the proud mother of this sweet bundle of love:

She has three brothers. She has a sister. She has a Mama and Papa. She is a joy and a treasure, and she is OURS forever.

Life doesn't get much better than that.

Court was incredible. Incredibly stressful, incredibly surreal, incredibly laid-back.  It was stressful because everyone spoke Russian but me, surreal that I was actually. sitting. there. after everything we've been through, and laid-back because my interpreter is amazing.

In the car on the way over she said "I will not tell you "rely on me", because we can only rely on God. But I will tell you to trust me. I will be ok."

And it was.

The judge was dressed in a business suit and blue tie. There was an orphanage representative, "Administration"(government) representative, and a prosecutor.  There were also two people that sat up by the judge, kind of like a jury I suppose. The judge read my "official" petition, which sounded really awesome. I'm not sure who wrote it, but it was basically a brief summary of our dossier and it made us sound super cool.  The judge asked me a few questions, what I did for a living, my address and date of birth, why my husband wasn't there (his work would not allow him to be gone for so long, and we felt it was most important for him to meet the child before moving forward with the adoption). The judge didn't smile at all, but at the same time he wasn't intimidating. It was business. He asked the orphanage representative and administration person to for some information about Vi. He asked me why a child with special needs, and if we "could" have more children of our own (I told him being a nurse I felt qualified to care for a special needs child, and that yes, we could have more. Although, if my husband had been there he would have been vigorously shaking his head Nooooooooooooo! We CAN....we won't. Don't worry honey!)

He asked what I wanted from the court. "Please, sir, I would like to ask for approval of my petition for adoption, to be named the child's mother, and to change her name from *birth name* to *full new name*"

He asked the three, prosecutor, orphanage and administration representative, if they had any objections. They all stated they supported our petition, and it was in the best interests of the child.

He said "The court will now adjourn to discuss your case."

Then he stood up, smiled directly at me, and said "To keep you from having to wait, we grant your request. Congratulations."

I think my heart stopped. 

I had been expecting to have a  few moments to breathe, to collect my thoughts, to prepare for some big final proclamation.....but that was it! The news that I had just become a mother, delivered to me via business suit, blue tie and a smile.

Alyona, our interpreter, hugged me. Svetlana, one of the "jury" but she also works with Alyona, came down and gave me a big hug.  We left the courtroom and my friend Jane was seated just outside. She gave me a big hug.  Suddenly, I was shaking like a leaf. I think I had been too nervous in the courtroom to even BE nervous, if that makes sense, and it hit me afterwards like a ton of bricks. I felt like I might pass out, everything was sort of blurry. Alyona was still asking me questions, but I couldn't tell you what they were. 

Back in the apartment, I was still shaking. I told Jane I just couldn't stop, everything was just so overwhelming and and wonderful! Jane, in her most delightful british accent, said "Well, you've just given birth, after all! Except with out the stirrups!"

And thats just what it felt like. The overwhelming feeling of creating a life. The feeling of sitting in a hospital room, cradling your newborn, gazing in to their face and saying "Now, the real adventure begins." This is very much the same.  Lots of hard work, more than a bit of pain.......Incredible joy. A labor of love. 

But it's over now.

Today, Almost exactly 9 months after starting this journey (May 18th, 2011 we committed to Tanner), one day before our 7th wedding anniversary.......we are parents once more.

This afternoon I will get to hold our girl, sweet little Vi, and tell her for certain "I am your Mama. Let's go have an adventure."