Welcome to Our Hearts
Mylo Michael
OUR JOURNEY
Just wait and see why God had you wait.
What He's doing is beyond what you could ever hope or pray for.
Ryan and I got married in December 2013 and began our journey to start a family right away. After trying for about a year, we decided to visit Bryan Woman's Health and the nurse immediately requested that I get transferred to Omaha for the possibility of endometriosis. So we ventured to the Heartland Center for Reproduction and went into surgery that following year. Unfortunately, I was categorized at a stage 4 level and it required an additional surgery down the road but we decided to go through IVF. We completed 2 IUI's and 3 IVF's and lost our little one in the middle of it all. Following our infertility journey, Ryan and I knew we were meant to be a part of something greater. We found Nebraska Children's Home and on a cold night in October 2019, we ventured to Kearney, Nebraska for our first meeting. We had our first encounter with the term, open adoption. The next year was filled with learning everything we could about what open adoption meant, the adoption process, and what raising a child through adoption entailed and our hearts grew larger than we could have ever imagined. During this journey, we also reconnected with our faith at a new church, Christ Lincoln. Our Pastor and his wife also adopted and we've become so embodied with connecting our souls and hearts to the love of Christ and what He has in store for us and our family.
ADOPTION
We didn't give you the gift of life.
Life gave us the gift of you.
After a crazy COVID year of delays in background checks, zoom meetings, fingerprint orders, and so much more, we finally were put on the adoption list on October 21, 2020. We completed our profile and 6 home visits along with some amazing books to help us really prepare for this next step in adding to our family. On January 13th, I saw that one number come up on my phone that made my heart drop. I paused my work call and answered it shaking so much I could barely hold he phone. It was the adoption agency and they said "Kelli, we have a birth mom who's chosen you and Ryan to be the perspective parents to her child." Immediate tears filled my eyes and all I wanted to do was run to Ryan and jump in his arms with excitement! She mentioned that baby was due here pretty quick and asked if Ryan and I could meet the birth parents the next day. Yes! Yes! A million times yes! So Ryan came home and we cried together while also freaking out about the first meeting! The next day, we arrived and the birth parents were there waiting. I was sweating so bad, you'd think I just got done running a marathon. We sat down and just started talking...for hours! When we left, we invited them to our home so they could see where baby would live. We met birth mother's first child as well and boy is he a dollface! He's 5 years old and just the sweetest little guy. That day, I made the birth mom a blanket with the baby's name on it to tell her what we had chosen baby boy's name to be. She opened it and saw precious baby "MYLO" in the corner and loved it! I also was able to feel sweet Mylo kick that day. I've never felt anything more precious in my life. When they left, Ryan hugged me so hard and we just enjoyed the moment we've been praying for.
DELIVERY TIME!
Mylo was due on February 21st but as we've grown to know, God had other plans. The morning of February 2nd, birth mom texted me and said "I think I need to go to the hospital, can you take me?" YESSSSS! So I jumped in the car and took her to Delivery & Labor at 11am that morning. Fifteen and a half hours later, we were beyond blessed to be in the delivery room with birth mom welcoming our sweet baby boy at 2:38am on February 3rd. I cut the umbilical cord then experienced the magical moment of skin to skin that I've been dreaming of for so long. It was the most unbelievable day we will cherish forever. The next few days in the hospital we spent with birth mom and baby. Our love for her has grown deeper than we ever could have imagined. She's like a sister that God put on this Earth to be a part of our family. We brought Mylo home on February 5th to meet his sister, Peyton and his brother, Moglee. This sweet bundle of joy we've been waiting for for so long is here, he's home. And not only have we gained a son but we've added a new family to ours just the same.
Guide to Our Family &
Friends About Adoption
It's okay to ask questions.
Let us help you learn more about open adoption.
We want to share the love of open adoption, what it means, and how amazingly precious it is in an adoption plan. We understand there may be questions or wonderments about certain things, so we've created a simple guide to help our dear family and friends just the same.
POSITIVE ADOPTION TERMS
Terms to Avoid:
Real Mother/Father
Baby Mama/Baby Daddy
Adoptive Mother/Father
Natural Child | Your own child
Adopted Child
Give Up for Adoption/Give Away
Is Adopted
Positive Adoption Language:
Birth Mother/Father
Birth Mother/Father
Mother/Father/Mom/Dad
Birth Child/Biological Child
Child/Son
Chose Adoption
Made an Adoption Plan
Was Adopted
OPEN ADOPTION QUESTIONS
We are so excited to be in an open adoption with the birth parents and couldn't imagine it any other way! This means Mylo will know his background, his heritage, full medical history, and never wonder who is biological family is. They will and are a part of our family now too and the emotional bond is truly amazing! By keep them in Mylo's life, we can make sure that this is Mylo's adoption story to tell and we can grow in an honest home of faith and love.
We understand there may be some questions so we'd like to help answer a few for you now.
Q: What is open adoption?
A: There are many ways one can view open adoption. We want to give Mylo the best life possible and know that he is happy with no secrets and open communication. Open adoption for us means a relationship with the birth parents and getting together to ensure that Mylo has that precious time together with them. Not only have Ryan and I learned about open adoption and its meaning, we've grown to know and love birth mom as part of our family.
A great show we recommend to you all would be This Is Us to showcase the significance of why open adoption is important in a child's life.
Q: How often will Mylo's birth family and you meet?
A: We want to keep the birth family in Mylo's life but know that this is a time of loss for them and a bonding time for Ryan and I. We are excited to meet every month for time together. We also will be sending photos and updates quite often from us so we can share special moments with them both. We've already sent a million after leaving the hospital! Once birth mom is ready, we'll set a time for her and her son to come and play with us and Mylo.
Q: Can the birth parents change their mind after the child has been adopted?
A: It's okay to wonder this and there's no shame in asking. The answer is no but more importantly they wouldn't try. They love Mylo and chose us to be his family with Mylo's best interest at heart. The amount of time, openness, honesty, and communication we've had with birth mom especially thus far is amazing. This is a hard time for her and she will be grieving. But it warms her hearts and ours to know that our bond is truly God's sweet grace.
Q: Do you think Mylo will ever want to be with his birth parents as a teenager?
A: Mylo will know and love his birth parents throughout his life. We aspire to build a home of open communication and honesty surrounding that. I'm sure their will be times of teenage tendencies and words could possibly be said and that's okay. We as a family have the resources to help with these conversations and our plan is to bring Mylo up with open adoption being a common conversation with his mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual health a priority.
Q: What do we call Mylo's birth parents when we see them? What do we say?
A: We will introduce you to Mylo's birth mom at the time she's at any type of family or friend event. She's just like US and it's GLORIOUS! You'll think she's my long lost sister and love her like we do lol! Just be yourselves and don't let the adoption be a focus. Just be you and welcome her as if you would any friend or family member. Do be mindful of things you say and questions you ask. This may be hard and you don't know the emotions she may feel so like we mentioned, just be the sweet amazing people you all are and she'll love you just as
much as we do!
MYLO'S REGISTRY
Your love and support is such a blessing.
Thank you for being with us on this adoption journey.
Online Registry - You all have been so sweet and amazing to ask us if we need anything. We've decided with COVID to not do a baby shower but we do have a registry on Amazon.
Your support is beyond amazing and we couldn't be more grateful
for your many prayers and wishes!
We also are still learning and will be looking at cribs, rockers, dressers, etc. so gift cards are more than a blessing as well. Again you all are truly special and we couldn't do this without you!
A Note of Faith, Love & Hope From Kelli...
For seven years we’ve prayed for him. We thought he'd grow inside my tummy for nine months, kick me throughout the night, give me morning sickness, and send me to the hospital with butterflies filling our bodies on the drive there. We prayed for little hands, little feet, that sweet baby smell, and those first giggles that would melt our hearts. For seven years, we’ve been through the surgeries, the countless sleepless nights, the heartbreaking losses, and the questionable conversations with our Lord as to why we weren’t able to have the laughter and joy of sweet babies in our home. I’ve felt guilty for not being the happiest I can be when my friends post their beautiful baby pics for the first time. I dreaded my Facebook feed on the first day of school for years. The photos, the comments, the excitement of parents sending their children off to learn mountains of new things. I’ve sat in silence in an empty nursery room floor and
cried for what felt likes hours.
All this time, I’ve asked Him why. Asked Him how He can look at us cry and mourn throughout the process of infertility. Asked Him why I can’t give Ryan something so beautiful in life. Then a dear friend of mine gave me a book of prayers. There was a prayer in there that said God knows you’re sad, God sees you cry, He sees you in pain. He knows the strength and love in your heart and has a plan that only trust and faith can endure. It showed me that He knows before these ideas and images even cross our minds exactly what that plan is. He creates His sweet child, takes His time, and makes sure He's the perfect little guy to join our family. He's known this whole time that adoption was meant to be a part of our family journey through our love and faith we've built together.
Then this note shined in the middle of an adoption book of mine as a way to encompass His words to my heart…
Dear Adoptive Parents,
One of My children needs a home - a mother and father who will love him and provide for him. I know how much you wanted to have children. I know the tears and anguish you experienced. But the only way I could make a place for this child in your home was through the open door of your infertility. I am loaning him to you for a while to take care of. Do the best you know how to do for he is precious to Me. Thank you for being willing to love My son and give him a
home on this earth.
Love, God.
Ryan and I aren’t destined to carry a child in my tummy, we’re placed by God’s plan to love and carry this child in our hearts forever.
We've prayed for you, we've trusted God's plan He has for you, and we love you beyond words could ever say our dear sweet Mylo.
Love, your mommy