My dear beloved readers, they picked me!!!

After all three social workers (mine, hers, and the family finder) met with me, the family finder sent me some lovely feedback about how they thought I was wonderful and they are all in strong agreement it’s a really excellent match, and they picked me!!! This means they are not looking at anyone else to be this little girl’s parents, and they are going to book in a linking/matching panel date for me sometime in June or July.

One more hurdle achieved!

It’s a huge relief to have got to this stage, and I am so utterly over the moon about it. I am one step closer to being a mum after almost 18 months of hard work and relentless optimism in the face of so many rejections! Even though it in no way means it’s a done deal, and I still have to get approved by the panel and the local authority, it’s still a really big milestone achievement and I’m ecstatic about getting this far!

Whatever happens next, I will be celebrating this huge moment in my life – if things go well, this is the countdown to finally becoming a mum, and if it doesn’t, well, then it just means it wasn’t meant to be, and that’ll be a shame, but I’ll keep on chugging along until it does happen.

Waiting for a panel date to be set is somewhat complicated it turns out. The earliest date initially proposed was in mid-June, so first of all the family finder had to check if myself and all 3 social workers are free on the same day. Then she had to book in a final medical check-up for the child, leave enough time for her medical report to be updated (in case there is anything new they have discovered since her last check-up, or any ongoing issues they were monitoring). Once that is done they need to schedule an appointment for me to meet with the medical adviser and talk it all through (it’s rare that anything would come up at this point that hasn’t already been flagged as a concern, but you never know, and young children are changing all the time). It is designed to ensure that I am fully informed before the panel, in case any new information that comes up regarding her health makes me rethink the match or want to pull out.

Once they have booked my appointment in to see the medical adviser, they can re-schedule the panel, and it is now clear there won’t be time for all of this before the date they had initially proposed, (in mid-June) so the family finder will need to find another panel date probably in late June or early July and then start checking all over again if everyone can attend on the same day. It’s a lot like herding cats.

Then there are lots of other meetings to schedule in, such as meeting with the foster carer (which might happen before the panel, once they have a date in mind), and then after the panel (assuming it is approved) we will have to book in various placement planning meetings to plan when and how the introductions will happen, and several review meetings during and after the introductions to check on how things are going and how we are settling in together.

So there are all sorts of admin and appointments and meetings to schedule! But at least it’s exciting admin!

In other admin-news I finally completed on my re-mortgage, and bought out the remaining shares of my house! I am now a 100% owner of Case De Maya! Obviously the bank still owns about 50% of it due to the massive mortgage but after 8 years and a lot of admin, and some very generous help from my family, I got there! Very pleased about that too!

Also I finally finished my old job last week and started my new job, which involved a whole new layer of admin, so all in all, it’s been a week of transition and change and new things and LOTS of paperwork!

BUT, if bureaucracy were a measure of sucess, then it feels as if the universe is aligning in my favour and frankly, everything is coming up Maya!

I celebrated by getting some lovely new plants for my little Casa.

(Yes they have already fallen down and made a huge mess, and are now safely re-attached with wire! Wonder how long it will take me to kill them?)