I’ve been getting questions about Mercy and her story, well here are the basics.
We first got Mercy (not her name) when she was three weeks old as a foster child. Born with cocaine in her system and removed by DCS. We spent the first five month with withdrawal.
She had seizures and her muscles would tighten up. Throwing her head back and clench for a minute or two. Totally silent.
She also couldn’t sleep for more than twenty minutes or so at a time. Making her care pretty difficult for a working me and the wife giving aerobics classes. Eventually we started to swaddle her and she could sleep a lot more comfortably. She finally got through it but it wasn’t easy.
We went back and forth with DCs and the courts. She was returned to her birth mother twice. We found out much later that she tried to drown her in the bathtub. There was also a suicide attempt. We got her back the second time and decided to get a lawyer and fight for her.
Finally we got full custody of her and set the supervised visitation with the birth mother. She was about fifty-fifty on showing up. When she figured out that she was not getting her back, she got pregnant again. (Needed the meal ticket) and pretty much gave up on our girl
When we finally reached the magic numbers of one year of no support (we never got any and never expected any) and six months of no contact, we applied for a contested adoption. And changed her name to Mercy. She was almost five.
She was diagnosed early (4) with Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, Anxiety Disorder, Attachment Disorder.
She has since been diagnosed with DMDD and ADHD as she has gotten older and started to reach her teens.
Do we have issues from time to time? Of course we do. But she is ours. She will be thirteen in August
