Any advice

[trying2keepcalm]

Hi, first time posting on here.

We have just been to matching panel and are due to start introductions shortly with our new 8 month old son .

I just wondered if anybody had any advice for us? Anything they had wished they had done or known before introductions.

By the way... I can't stop grinning!

No advice because I'm only in stage 1 but just wanted to say CONVRATULATIONS!

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Thank you... Good luck with your journey.

Congratulations.

But a blanket of cuddly toy. Wash it and then sleep in the bed with it for a week or as long as you can. Then ask social worker to pass item to little one.

Make good friends with foster carer. get their mobile and stay in touch if you can.

Good luck.

I wish i'd spent a bit more time googling "what an 8 month does" on babycenter etc and reading up on 6, 7 and 9 too so i felt like i knew where dd was - advanced/behind/on target etc
I read that someone took photos and when they looked back dc looked terrified. So i didn't take many - and yes dd does look petrified with shock but i still wish i had more of them.
Stock up on illness stuff - calpol, calgel, kiddy neurofen, snot sucker etc. You always need that stuff at 3am.
Have at least 20 packs of wipes in store! And 2 week's of nappies (going thru about 6 a day in early stages).
Pace yourself. It's not like working overtime for a few weeks or a string of manic weekends knowinv the rest time is coming. There will be no long rest time!

There's an app called the wonder weeks and there's also a book, but I had the app. It's for tracking when baby's go through a mental leap, it's fascinating. Tells you what to look out for.

Congratulations!

Intros were quite a while ago for me, but I remember a few things I was glad I did / wish I'd known.

1. Take lots of photos (yes LO looks a bit terrified in some - to be fair so do I!! but I have found it really useful to have photos of this time when me and DD are talking about adoption, looking at her life story book etc.

1. Intros are bloody knackering. Everyone tells you so and you think you're prepped for the exhaustion but it is a physical and mental exhaustion like I'd never known. Be kind to yourself during intros week, try not to panic if you hit a bump / have a meltdown (I remember crying over a glass of wine with the FC because it all felt too much) as it is perfectly normal for intros to be difficult (although my DD was a toddler so perhaps it might be easier with an 8 month old? Don't know, I have zero experience of babies so may be talking utter twaddle.) Have lots of meals stocked up in the freezer (or the names of your favourite takeaways on speed dial) you will not feel like cooking.

1. Try and get everything practical ready before intros start (eg bed/cot in place, baby's room as you want it, stock up on nappies, lotion, wipes etc plus chocolate, wine, beer, cake etc (for you, not the baby obv )

1. Trust your gut instinct, smile and nod at SW and FC and take what works from what they tell you but don't be afraid to trust your gut too.

I hope everything goes well for you. It's a really exciting time. Best of luck with it all

That's buy a blanket and not but a blanket!

absolutely agree with the blanket.
Find out what washing powder the fc uses and switch to it if you can.
if you have friends with babies that age, get them to either write you a list or go shopping with you.
Spend some time with some babies that age.
When he arrives, spend as much time with skin to skin contact as he can handle.
baby massage.
get some sleep :)