Our Story

Welcome to our adoption journey blog!
Our Story from the Beginning....

Chad and I met in March 2004.  I knew we were in it for the long haul when he went on a trip that October to my family reunion in the hills of North Carolina.  8 1/2 hours, 11 people, 1 van, 1 car, no sleep and he didn't go running away from the hills.  In November, Chad proposed at the Alabama Shakespeare Theatre on the patio when we went to go see "A Christmas Carol".  Clay and Chad picked out the ring together!  We got married on October 1, 2005.  We knew from the start that we wanted to have a child together to add to our family which includes Clay (who is now 12) and Monkey and Dixie (our furry children).

After years of trying, we found out we would have to seek other options for having children.  We decided to try IVF to have a baby.  We expended every resource we had to fund IVF and knew it was a one time shot because of the cost.  IVF is an emotional, physical, and financial roller coaster.  We stayed strong and continued on.  We were very fortunate to find out we were pregnant on the first cycle of IVF.  We were over the moon and ecstatic.  The pregnancy was a whirlwind for the first 7 months.  Everything was easy.  We set up the nursery, had fun picking out names, and finding out it was a girl.  In February, we decided to have a second 3D ultrasound done to see our little girl again.  She was never very cooperative during ultrasounds or check ups.  She was hiding and always had her arm up above her head.  During the ultrasound the doctor saw a spot on her heart.  At that point our heart sunk.  We found out that she was going to be born without a pulmonary valve and a tricuspid valve.  We spent the next two months going to doctors, talking with insurance, making a plan for birth, after birth surgeries, and home.

On April 22, 2009, Emily Reese Peacock was born a Northside Hospital!

She was perfect!  If you didn't know about her heart condition you wouldn't be able to tell.  She was taken to Egleston to be monitored and to verify the first surgery that should take place.  I had to stay at Northside because I had a C-section.  This was an awful couple of days for me.  I was able to have a day pass to go to Egleston for her first operation.  The plan was for three operations.  One at birth, one at about 3 to 4 months, and the last one about age 8.  We understood each step and what was in store for her and our family when we got home.  Believe me it was going to be difficult, but we were just happy that her heart condition was able to be fixed.  She wasn't necessarily going to be a star athlete but would have a normal life.  We even met a girl while we were there that was having the last surgery.  Emily's surgery went well and the doctors were very pleased.

The next 11 days were up and down but we were always positive since the surgery went well and she was making progress.  Our days consisted of sleeping and eating dinner at the Ronald McDonald House and spending as much time at the Hospital as possible.  Chad got to feed and hold Emily.  I got to change 1 diaper and hold her as well.  For the first days she was hooked up to at least 8 monitors.  I just can't say enough about the Ronald McDonald House or Egleston.  We had a nickname for Emily while she was in the hospital....we called her our little "Goose"  because she made a noise like a goose....she honked...because one of the tubes scratched her throat when they pulled it out.

On May 3rd, Chad's mom came up to stay with me.  Chad was going to have to go back home to work.because he had exhausted all of his vacation time.  We all went up to the hospital and were trying to go back and see Emily when they told us we would have to wait because they were having complications with a baby  in her section.  This was normal so we didn't think anything of it and went to wait.  We finally got to go back and at that time found out that the baby having trouble was Emily.  We were told she had Necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) which is a serious intestinal illness in babies that results in the death of intestinal tissues.  We hoped that they had caught it early enough to  cure with steroids, but the meds were not helping. We called for family to come up to the hospital and made the decision for the doctors to go in and see how extensive the damage was to her intestines.  Emily Reese Peacock passed away at 6:54 pm that day.

That day a tornado went thru the area we were staying at and we could not come home until the next day.  We went home and tried to figure out what to do and how to function.  We had a lovely service for Emily.  We were fortunate to have tons of family and friends present.  During the graveside service one goose flew over and honked!  Chad and I feel it was like Emily was letting us know she was there.   From that day forward, everyday has been a challenge.  We learn everyday how to cope with not having Emily with us.  I am very fortunate to have found the Healing Hearts group that I still attend each month.  Even though she is no longer here with us....she is thought of each day!


Since that day our lives have been a rough and challenging road.  My grandmother passed away unexpectedly that January.  We did try again to conceive with another procedure.  Chad  had to have his pulmonary valve stretched in Atlanta. 


We started foster to adopt classes in July of 2010.  We completed the classes but I think we still were not ready and needed more time to figure some things out.  Our lives were again challenged when they found an aneurysm on Chad's aortic valve root.  In April 2011, Chad had open heart surgery to repair the aneurysm and replace his aortic valve and his pulmonary valve.  He was at Emory Hospital for 11 days.  We came home and after two days Chad started to feel sick.  We went to the emergency room to find out that he had a staph infection and he spent 23 more days in the hospital.  The staph infection almost killed him.  Once home was the recovery period.  He spent a total of 12 weeks out of work without pay which was very difficult for us.  I am happy to say that last week he was cleared by his doctor for a year.

Needless to say the past 3 years has been a very trying time on our family.  We just kept on keeping on and here we are today.  

Now we are ready to start a new chapter in our lives and start our adoption journey.