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Sorry to leave you all hanging the other day. But I had already gone on so long about jewelry, for goodness sake.

Thank you so much for being excited about our news. That was very sweet.

So we are officially matched, much sooner than we were anticipating. (I dislike the word "matched," it makes me feel like I'm in some weird dating service. But it is what it is.) Most of what we know is private. But! I can tell you that Ms B (expectant mom) is gung-ho for openness (whoo!). And she lives about one hour from us (easy visiting!)

We won't get to meet her until next month. Generally our agency won't connect expectant parents and prospective adoptive parents until the second trimester is over. They feel it's important to not get too far into an adoption plan that early in a pregnancy, to allow women to just be pregnant for awhile while exploring their options. Early matches can create a lot of pressure, whether intentional or not. But I get the sense that Ms B is a determined woman who has her own thoughts about how the process should go. So the agency compromised by asking us if we'd be willing to pull our profile from the pool, but wait to meet until the end of her second trimester. (For those of you trying to do the math in your head, she's due in late January.) I have mixed feelings about the deviation from their normal practice, but had some good conversations with them about when and why they consider compromises. They're using this time to connect her with local support services and continue counseling. She is also seeing a counselor who is not connected to the agency.

Throughout this process I've been praying for the people who might see our profile materials, that they would be supported in their decision-making process and find the answers that are right for them. Now I have someone to pray for by name, as well. It's a nice change. It's interesting, our adoption experience with Puppy's first parents has become so much about the relationships that it's hard for me to wrap my mind around this possibility without having met Ms B.

On a different note, I have no idea why I didn't think to just show you a picture of the necklace. You mean my amazing powers of description weren't enough? It looks like this: