The Rainbow Gift, something I created to gift to a special family that has suffered through a storm and now getting their rainbow. I was so incredibly touched by the stories momma's shared with me, and in the end decided to choose not just 1, but 2 winners for The Rainbow Gift!

Collin's parents struggled with infertility for years, then had the opportunity to adopt their rainbow! His parents were gracious enough to share their story openly with me, and allowed me to share below with all of you that may be going through your own storm and need a glimmer of hope right now!

(ALSO, for my clients due in the coming weeks, this baby boy was born full term and we did his session at 6 weeks old and this is no where near the full gallery, so don't worry...i'll still capture a beautiful gallery for you when businesses can resume!)
<3

Their journey to their rainbow, told below by his momma:

Justin and I were married in September 2016, and immediately started trying to get pregnant. I have been told for years that I would probably have significant issues when I tried to get pregnant; I’ve been told I have endometriosis (like 3 generations of women before me in my family) and possibly PCOS. First we tried the “natural” way (fertility tracking with temps, calendars, and all the things).

When we had been unsuccessful for 1 year, my OB NP put me on a couple of different medications to try and regulate/kick start my body. After another year of trying with different methods and medications (and becoming a miserable emotional wreck who gained all kinds of weight and had severe anxiety/depression issues), we were very discouraged at our chances of becoming biological parents. We had Justin evaluated as well, and he was cleared by his doctor and a urologist who said that there was nothing they could find on his end that could be contributing to our fertility issues.

As we began the third year of trying without any success at all, we were both miserable. I couldn’t even think about going to a doctor without breaking down in tears. I was so upset and felt that I had disappointed my husband and our families because something just wasn’t working right and I couldn’t give them a baby. After a very tearful appointment at my OB, she offered a fertility specialist referral. I told her that I would like to discuss it with my husband before we decided. Being the angel that he is, Justin sat me down and told me, “I can’t stand to see you so upset anymore. We don’t have to try anymore for a while. We don’t have to see any more doctors. I just want you to be happy again, and if that means we don’t have kids then so be it.” It was such a relief to know he wasn’t upset or disappointed (although I should have known he wouldn’t be). So we stopped all the “trying” and just enjoyed each other.

Although we took that break, we knew deep down that we were meant to be parents. We had discussed before we were even engaged the possibility of adopting/fostering, given that I had been told a long time ago that it would be difficult to get pregnant. We both knew Adoption was something we were both interested in, even if we had bio kids. So the more I thought about it and we talked about it, the more we researched it and decided that that was what God was calling us to do.

We started looking at agencies vs consultants vs private attorneys, and finally decided to go through an agency in KY called Adoption Assistance. We read story after story about their successful adoptions, and knew very quickly it was the best option. We requested information and filled out the initial app, and started a savings account to put a little money back here and there.

We got a little distracted with travel plans and life (Making up for the time we had spent focusing on getting pregnant), and suddenly 9 months had passed and the case worker from the agency reached out to see if we were still interested in pursuing adoption. Thank goodness Michelle reached out when she did, or else we may have missed the opportunity of a lifetime.

We gathered all of our paperwork, did our 3 background checks, got fingerprinted, had 2 home visits, and finally got approved and were “home study ready” in August 2019. I spent several days compiling small snaps of our life into a profile book - 12 pages to tell expectant mothers our life story. We were then added to the exclusive group that allowed us to request to be shown to expectant mothers.

We probably asked to be shown to over 20 situations, and each one was a heartbreaking “no.” 4 months passed and it felt like 4 years.

Justin and I had discussed early in the adoption process that we did not feel totally comfortable taking on a medically complex child. Working as a nurse full time, I did not think I could handle being a nurse 24/7.

However, on December 12, we were notified of a situation of a baby boy due in January in Louisville that had a heart defect. I was at work when the email went out. Justin texted me and said “I think we should really consider this one. You are a nurse and you love hearts, and it’s a KY baby.” I found the email and read it. The only details we had were that he was “missing a valve.” I did some Googling on what that could possibly mean, and after a few hours, I decided to go for it. If it was meant to happen, it would happen and it was exactly what God intended for us.

Little did I know, it WAS exactly what God intended for us. As soon as I sent that email asking to be shown to his mother, I got the most serious chills I’ve ever gotten. I immediately texted Justin and said, if we don’t get picked for this baby I will seriously never stop thinking about him. We tried to not think about it for the next several days, but I asked every day if the birth mom had viewed profiles or chosen.

Finally, on December 20, we got the call that would change our lives forever. The birth mother had chosen us! I was at work, and rushed into the nurses station crying my eyes out and yelling “we got picked!!!” I left work and picked up a couple little onesies as a way to tell Justin. “Early Christmas present” is what I told him and will never forget the look on his face when he figured out what it meant.

Fast forward about a week, we started getting more details about the situation. Birth mom had been admitted to the hospital for her blood pressure, and the ultrasound on the baby had come back abnormal. They did a fetal echocardiogram, and found that he had persistent truncus arteriosus. A more rare heart defect, it would need repair very soon after birth to keep the baby from going into congestive heart failure.

We were given the birth mom’s cell phone number, and given permission to contact her anytime. We were super nervous, afraid that we would say something wrong and she would change her mind, but God provided in ways that we never would have imagined. Conversation with birth mom came so easily, and we began a flourishing relationship with her. I was on a few phone conferences with her at doctor appointments, and she even invited me to come to Louisville to meet the baby’s cardiothoracic surgeon prior to his birth.

We were showered with love and prayers by so many family and friends and even strangers when we found out we were becoming parents. We were blessed in so many ways with many resources for our inevitable stay in Louisville while our baby recovered.

We were on our way to Louisville the night before birth mom was scheduled to be induced, and a family member of the birth mom texted us and told us she had gone into labor. We headed to the hospital instead of where we were staying, and let our families know so they could come up and wait with us. We visited with the birth mom, and got to experience some of the beautiful, painful parts of childbirth that we didn’t think we would get to experience.

After several hours of unproductive labor, we went to our camper (my in-laws have a huge camper that we stayed in about 10 minutes from the hospital, best resource ever) and tried to sleep. When we went back to the hospital, we suddenly weren't allowed to have any information. The birth mom did not want to see us. We sat in the waiting room for a while and were suddenly confronted by one of the birth mom’s family members, who threatened us with “backing out” of the adoption plan if we didn’t “back off.” We had no idea what was going on and we were suddenly terrified that everything we had dreamed and hoped for was going to be ripped out from under us.

Finally, our sweet baby boy was born. January 27 at 12:45pm. Thankfully, another of birth mom’s family members came to get us when they wheeled him to the NICU. The first time we saw our baby was such a release of emotions, another detail I know I’ll never forget. That feeling was also tempered with MUCH fear and hesitant excitement. I was able to walk over to the NICU with our sweet Collin, and held him for just a few seconds while the staff got him situated in his new room.

The next week was a tumultuous mess of emotions. Justin wasn’t allowed to see Collin for 4 days after he was born. The day before he was finally added to the visitor list by the birth mom, we sat in the camper and I held my husband’s head in my hands as he sobbed for several minutes because he had not been able to see his son (another detail I’ll never forget). The day he finally saw him was another huge relief.

Collin had his first open heart surgery on February 3, at 1 week old. His entire medical team was such a Godsend, especially his surgeon, who the nurses said “sprinkled magic fairy dust” on his patients because they did so wonderfully after surgery. That day was a day of reconciliation for us and birth mom, as she was able to witness first hand the love that Collin would grow up with. Our families, some church deacons, a couple of women from church who have adopted children, and more were in to visit that day, and Collin, us and birth mom were all prayed for right there, out loud, in a powerful way. Birth mom had to leave before surgery was completely finished, and the last thing she said to us was “I know I could not have picked a better family for my baby.” As of 10am that day, we were officially Collin’s parents.

Collin made it through surgery with minimal issues. The next 3 weeks of recovery were filled with scary, beautiful, miraculous events and people. We are forever indebted to Norton Children’s Hospital for their care and kindness and the love they have for our sweet boy. We are also so grateful for such a powerful prayer warrior community who carried us to the feet of Jesus every single day without fail.

We brought Collin home on February 21 and we have savored every single second of every day. We are waiting on a court date for finalization so he can officially be called Collin Glenn Kidd. He is truly our Rainbow; God interceded on our behalf and proved to us once and for all that His plans are far greater and more beautiful than we could ever possibly imagine.

-Hannah & Justin

Reflections By Talea Photography is an Owensboro Ky photographer serving owensboro Ky, Louisville KY, Lexington KY, Bowling Green KY, Evansville IN, and Nashville TN areas, specializing in maternity, newborn, baby/milestones, children & family portraits.

I offer a custom experience with every session, whether you choose my studio, which is an old victorian house with so much character, or an outdoor session in the field or beautiful waterfront location! I provide a curated Studio Wardrobe (used in the portraits above!) with tons of dresses for the mommas (sizes 0-18+), shirts for the dads and a full baby/kids wardrobe for sizes newborn-16! I also offer the option to add professional hair & makeup to your session, and arrange a HMUA to come to the studio to pamper you for your session! This makes the process stress-free for my clients, and ensures you'll get the styled look you see in all of my work as well!

Interested in booking RBT for your session? Scroll to the bottom below and click Contact Us, or email me at Talea@ReflectionsByTalea.com to see if we're a good fit for you!

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Maternity | Newborn | Milestone | Family
Custom Portraiture
Owensboro, KY

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{Collin's Rainbow Story-Infertility, Adoption, heart warrior & more} Kentucky Newborn Photography

Their journey to their rainbow, told below by his momma:

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