When Carol Plamondon got married at 33, the Batavia resident and her husband, Ed, knew they wanted children.

“We decided we should start trying immediately,” she said.

But they didn’t anticipate the battle they’d have with infertility.

“We just didn’t have any luck,” Carol said. “We did all of these fertility treatments, but they didn’t work.”

After four years of trying to conceive, the couple decided to close the book on that chapter and consider another option.

In 2007, they signed on with the Adoption Center for Family Building, a nonprofit adoption agency.

That process also had its ups and downs, including some prospective adoptions that fell through.

“There were a lot of disappointments along the way,” said Carol.

But in June of this year, they learned a woman from Peoria was looking for a couple to adopt her child. The single mother of two, already struggling to make ends, had gotten pregnant with a third child.

The birth mother picked the Plamondons after looking at several profiles, and had her attorney contact theirs. The Plamondons then went to Peoria to meet with her.

“She was seven months’ pregnant so we got to go to the ultrasound,” Carol said. “It was a really great experience.”

The couple also spent time with the birth mother and her family.

“Having the great connection that we did with the birth mother made it a tremendous experience for us,” Ed said.

On Sept. 17, the Plamondons got the call that the birth mother was in labor. They drove to the southern Illinois hospital, still deciding on one of four names they had picked out for the baby.

The couple got to the hospital 40 minutes after the 9-pound, strawberry-blond-haired girl was born.

“As soon as I saw her I started bawling,” Carol said. “And when I held her, I said, ‘I think she’s a Sarah.’”

“She instantly felt like a part of our family,” Ed said. “She was definitely worth the wait.”

They had decided early on that the baby’s middle name would be Renee. They found out serendipitously that the birth mother’s middle name was the same, but spelled “Renay.”

The Plamondons keep in touch with the birth mother, who sent Sarah a blanket as a gift.

Their daughter is also quickly getting spoiled by the Plamondons’ family and friends.

“We’ve already had three showers,” Carol said. “I’ve probably written a hundred thank-you notes already.”

The Plamondons are heading to Michigan to celebrate Thanksgiving — and the arrival of their daughter — with Ed’s family.

“She’s going to meet my sister for the first time,” Ed said. “And she’ll meet my brother at Christmas.”

While the experience has been an adjustment — “One day you’re not a parent, the next day you are,” Ed said — the family is counting their blessings.

“Thanksgiving (is) the perfect time for us to celebrate,” Ed said.

“Definitely something to be thankful for this year,” added Carol.