Baby Miller Coming this Fall

I’m not even sure where to begin, I’m almost 13 weeks pregnant and I’m still in a bit of shock.

I feel so honored to have the opportunity to be a mother again and I can’t believe our first biological child will be arriving this October.

Our path to parenthood has been anything but normal.

When we both decided that we were ready to grow our family we chose to start with independent domestic adoption. (You can read more about our decision to start with adoption and our adoption journey here and on Instagram.)

We spent a year trying to adopt domestically through word of mouth, an adoption website, social media, and our adoption attorney.

During that year we had 3 potential adoptions fall through and unfortunately also experienced an adoption scam.

We were heartbroken, but grateful that the 3 adoptions that fell through were because family members chose to step in and love and care for those 3 baby girls (two were adopted by family members and one mother chose to keep her baby girl – we support all 3 decisions).

Ever since Roger and I started dating my senior year in high school we had talked about possibly adopting from China someday, but it was still some time before we could begin the process (both spouses being 30 or older is a requirement).

So we decided that as we continued to try to adopt domestically while waiting to turn 30 so that we could begin the China adoption process, we would also open our home up to foster children who needed a temporary home.

We knew foster care was ideally for reunification, not adoption, so once our hearts were ready for this process (and to cheer on biological families) we began the classes and officially became licensed foster parents in September of last year.

Never in our lives had we felt called to something as much as we felt God calling us to foster care.

Overnight we became first-time parents to two little girls, Big Sis was 5 and in kindergarten, and Little Sis was 8 months old and teething.

Talk about jumping into the deep end head first.

Their case did not go as expected, the girls were separated by a judge’s decision, and we were devastated for them.

After saying goodbye to Big Sis and driving away from the DCS office I cried so hard I had to pull over because I couldn’t see. (Ps. From what we last heard the girls are still separated but are both at least in relative/family homes, and should be able to see each other sometimes. You can read more about our foster care journey here and on Instagram.)

Additionally, Roger’s employer had changed, and things were not working out well working for them. He ended up choosing to leave that job/office and resigned in December.

At the time he didn’t have a new job lined up yet, and I felt like I had not only said goodbye to two precious little girls, but also to motherhood, at least that’s how it felt.

The past year and a half had completely drained us and we had no idea what God wanted us to do next. Not only had our family situation been completely unpredictable, but our financial situation was completely up in the air as well.

We knew God had laid it on our hearts to care for His children in need, but we weren’t sure when or how.

While we officially closed our home to the foster care system after Little Sis and Big Sis left, DCS did tell us we could come back within 2 years and not have to start the process all over again (so it’s more of a temporarily closed home for the time being – we chose to close it rather than putting it on hold because we weren’t ready for the phone calls).

So our plan and hope was to open up our home to foster care again once Roger was settled in a new job, and our financial situation was not so disrupted and uncertain.

But December faded into January, and it wasn’t until February that Roger was finally able to make a clean break with his past employer, and begin looking for a new job.

Opening up our home to foster care again was feeling further and further away.

As was our dream to adopt from China.

In January, a month before my 30th birthday, I was in contact with the woman who had done our domestic adoption home study, who also worked with the China adoption agency we had planned to go through, and we discovered that adoption agencies were encouraging hopeful adoptive parent’s to consider options outside of China.

I couldn’t believe it. I had been hoping, praying, and planning to adopt from China when I turned 30 ever since I was in high school.

By this point, we decided that we would additionally open up the possibility of biological children if that was God’s plan for us, and remove any barriers to such a possibility.

Although I hadn’t been on birth control in years, we had been more careful because we were trying to adopt domestically, we were foster parents, and we were hoping to adopt from China.

All things we felt (and continue to feel) God is encouraging us to do.

Between our age (Roger 31 and I turned 30 in February), along with some of our health history, we were concerned that it may take some time to get pregnant.

Even though we were just beginning this process, we decided to make an appointment with the Chattanooga Fertility Center just to get everything checked out.

I knew my mom had struggled to get pregnant with me, but once they had found out it was a thyroid issue it wasn’t long before I came along.

So we figured that we should just go ahead and try to get the basics figured out so that we would have a clearer picture of our possibilities.

I made the appointment for February 24, and 2 weeks before then we headed down to the Florida Keys to spend a week with Roger’s family at a house they had rented.

As grateful as I was for this vacation, I was dreading it a bit.

Not because I don’t love our family, but because I was supposed to start my period while we were down there.

It’s not easy being surrounded by the most adorable nieces and the most gorgeous pregnant sister-in-law while being on your period.

I’d done it for nearly 9 years and it never seems to get easier.

But on February 9 my period didn’t arrive on schedule.

I assumed that I was just going to be a day late, I felt super bloated and my face was completely broken out, so all of the signs of my period were there.

I was so incredibly sure I wasn’t pregnant I even ate brie cheese and blue cheese while we were down there. (Whoops!)

But then Wednesday came and went and I still hadn’t started my period.

Roger knew I was supposed to start my period on Tuesday (I had talked enough about it) and at this point, he began asking me if I should take a pregnancy test.

So we had bought a pregnancy test just in case, but I really hadn’t planned on using it.

I was too scared that I was just late and I didn’t want to be disappointed by a negative pregnancy test while staying in a small beach house surrounded by extended family. Where would I go to cry?

Dress Details:
V Neck Spaghetti Strap Maxi Dress
Photos take with:
Canon EOS 6D, Canon EF 24-70mm, Travel Tripod, Wireless Remote Control

By late Wednesday night, I had decided to take one on Thursday morning, without telling Roger.

Before I even had a chance to turn the stick over I could see that a second line was already appearing.

I couldn’t believe it!

Once I had collected myself I went outside and knelt down praising God for a miracle I never expected.

I struggled to focus on my morning devotions. What if it was a false positive? Should I wait to tell Roger after a few more days and a few more pregnancy tests?

I looked up from my Bible and there was a beautiful full rainbow across the sky in front of me.

Of course, I started crying again.

Roger had promised to take photos with me that evening on the dock, so I decided to capture the moment I told him that I was pregnant (both recorded on my phone and through photos on my camera).

Even though he had been hoping I would take a pregnancy test, he was still completely shocked!

I still have so much to share, like about the sharp pains I’ve experienced, our health insurance (or lack thereof) debacle/dilemma, the morning sickness, our hopes for fostering and/or adopting in the future, etc. but as this post has gone beyond what I had planned, I will save the rest for another time.

I’m just so glad I can finally start sharing more of our personal life with you all again.

These last few months have been rough, I’ve felt like I’ve been so distant, as I’ve been afraid of spilling my own secret too soon.

But I just want to say thank you so much for all of your prayers over the last year and a half as we’ve tried to grow our family.

Big Sis and Little Sis will always be our first daughters and we feel so privileged to be parents again to this little one.

Thank you for your continued love, support, and prayers for our family!

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With love, Giusti

Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord,
The fruit of the womb is a reward. Psalm 127:3 NKJV