This is about to be a LONG read.

First off, some of you may remember my post about wanting my ex's wife to adopt my oldest son. Well, I did speak to her briefly while on break at work, and she said she would. This won't be happening for a while because of my current dealings with DHS, but as soon as this is all dealt with I'll be moving forward with that.

Now, that brings us to the REAL subject of the day - CPS involvement with my children. I know my original post didn't hit 10 comments, but you all deserve an explanation after I was so vague. Fair warning, this may be a multiple-post story.

So, CPS has been involved since March of last year. It was a very stressful time for my family, and the day my daughter was taken things had boiled over and not so great decisions were made by my husband and I. My son was taken in July (same year) 2 days after he was born. We have been trying to get our kids home this entire time - classes, appointments, visitation, continuing therapy, anything required of us.

Unfortunately our progress came to a halt for almost 3 months this year due to loss of transportation, deactivated phones, and some financial hardship. Due to this perceived "lack of communication and involvement," DHS has petitioned the court to TERMINATE OUR RIGHTS. During this time gap, we never stopped doing the other required tasks, one of which was to clean our home environment. I got a job near where I live, and with my very first paycheck we bought phones. I also started prenatal care, as I'd found out in June that Baby #4 is on the way.

Our situation isn't the greatest still, we would LOVE to move and work on our marriage/family somewhere peaceful, but it's certainly loads better than what it used to be. I'm gonna end this post here though, because there's a TON more to this that will make you think WTF and that will be a post all by itself.

EDIT: I realize I missed some crucial information (sorry 😖). My oldest son lives with his dad, and I am perfectly okay with this. I have severe depression and other issues that I've been in therapy for a decade and I am on medication as well. I got pregnant at 17 (I'm 28 now) and that was a major tipping point for my relationship and everything else that has followed. I have made efforts to connect with my oldest, but I have realized that I am not in a position to care for him like I need to. I have prayed on this and definitely cried, and this is the best choice for my son. His stepmom is amazing, and she sees where I'm coming from because of where my mental state is. I will still be part of his life, but he deserves a mom who is at her best 24/7, not just sometimes.

EDIT 2: My husband and I met when my oldest was almost 6. Our daughter was born in 2018, and prior to the CPS case I got pregnant with our son. Things weren't bad then, but we hit one hell of a stressful time in 2020 that eventually blew up despite our efforts to deescalate the situation. Our marriage nearly fell apart due to all the stress a number of times and this current pregnancy wasn't planned either. I had fully expected Aunt Flo to make an appearance and only tested when she didn't. I wasn't exactly thrilled at first but I accepted it and moved forward with doing what DHS wanted from us. We fully acknowledge that we created this situation to begin with, but since we've been trying to fix it DHS has hindered us greatly and I'll spill ALL the tea in another post.

EDIT 3: I just posted Part 2 going further into the situation and Part 3 is soon to follow because HOLY SHIT y'all. And the show ain't over yet.