We, Cory and Josh Ann, were matched on November 4, 2019. Harper Ann, not willing to wait for her anticipated arrival date of December 5th, decided she’d greet the world on November 5th at 4:15 PM, and so mom and dad hurried to Calgary to meet this sweet girl.
We are grateful to Harper’s birthmom for the gift of raising this precious life and for her supportive family.
This tiny girl spent several days in the Rockyview Hospital NICU where she got to know us and where we, her newly minted parents, had the kind and compassionate support of the medical staff and some very special nurses who helped us get to know Harper.
While hours away from home, with the biggest and most wonderful news of our lives, we were lovingly supported by colleagues, friends and family who’d hoped and prayed this day would come, and who took care of assembling all sorts of baby necessities so that they were waiting at home for Harper’s arrival. We are also grateful to our new friends at the Sandman Hotel and Suites who took care of us and made us feel at home.
We are grateful for the Adoption Options team from the front desk to our social workers who fielded our inquiries over the years and guided us on this adventure. We especially thank Mackenzie who said the words we’d waited so long to hear, “You’re it. You’re her parents” and kept in close touch from the day she consulted with us, through Harper’s birth, and each day as we waited to take our girl home.
We lived our story of waiting to grow our family publicly and have been gifted along the way with others sharing their journeys to parenthood, or their story of being a birth parent, or that they are adopted, or that they, like us are waiting. We have also fielded questions asked with kind curiosity about open adoption from people wanting to know more. These connections are a gift that made an often tough wait much less lonely.
Cory & Josh Ann