[kaylee23]

Hi all,

My husband and I are in the process of our first adoption. We signed with an agency and all is going well. They told us we should be matched fairly quickly. My question is, how do you keep the waiting from making you crazy? We are so excited, but everytime the phone rings I feel like my heart is going to beat out of my chest! Any ideas from some of you who have already been there?

Thanks,

Kaylee

[Gardenia]

I've had plenty of practice coming up with things to do to keep busy since we've been waiting almost 2 years. Here are some things I've been doing:

1. clean out cupboards/closets (then have a garage sale)
2. workout...great stress relief for those long days of waiting
3. have lunch with friends
4. go on vacations
5. scrapbook pictures from vacations
6. start a new hobby...I quilt (I've made at least 10 in the past 2 years)
7. get the nursery set up
8. rearrange nursery several times
9. volunteer to babysit friends' kids...practice makes perfect!
10. take long bubble baths
11. read books for fun
12. start looking at baby name books...make a list of your favorites
13. go to the movies
14. go shopping
15. take long afternoon naps (I'm great at this!)
16. try new recipes
17. get a video conferencing system set up on your computer for you and family so you can show off your little one once he/she comes (we talk to our nieces and nephews now and they love to actually see us instead of just talking on the phone...once it's set up, you can talk for free!)
18. work on the yard

That's all I can come up with for now.

[tobeafamily]

Good list Gardenia. We also got plenty of 'weekend vacations' in, took ballroom dancing and SCUBA, etc.

Enjoy.

Regina

[Kat-L]

Originally Posted by kaylee23

Hi all,

My husband and I are in the process of our first adoption. We signed with an agency and all is going well. They told us we should be matched fairly quickly. My question is, how do you keep the waiting from making you crazy? We are so excited, but everytime the phone rings I feel like my heart is going to beat out of my chest! Any ideas from some of you who have already been there?

Thanks,

Kaylee

I know what it's like to wait for that call. It's so hard. After doing everything that had to be done, I was just waiting for that call. My friend said "How long will it be?". I said "Could be tomorrow. Could be next year.". He said "Wow. It's like you're pregnant-except you don't have a due date". And that is exactly what it's like! You KNOW you're going to be a mom. You just don't know when.

I used to pray for the birthmother. I knew she was out there somewhere, either pregnant or about to become pregnant. I used to check in with my social worker once a month just so she wouldn't forget about me!

I bought some stuff I knew I'd need (like a carsear and a crib). I spent a lot of time picking up little things (tiny t-shirts, little socks-most of those things are unisex).

After 5 months of waiting, I called my social worker to give her a new phone number and she said "I was just going to call you. Can you come in on Thursday?". I was floored. I said "I have a baby!". She said "I can't give info over the phone but I'd like you to come in this week". (I would have gotten into the car and driven over at that moment!) I said "Should I be excited?". She said "Yeah. You could be excited!". I couldn't sleep for two days. When I got to the meeting, my social worker invited me into her office and said "We have a baby. She was born on September 17th. Yes! She's a girl!" (During the homestudy, the social worker told me the baby would most likely be a boy so I was really surprised and super delighted by the thought of having a daughter).

When I think back, Maire-Kate had already been conceived and was on the way when my homestudy was completed. Of course, I had no way of knowing that! I spent a lot of time bugging God "Where is that baby?!!". God probably wanted to bonk me on the head more than once and yell "PATIENCE! SHE'S COMING!!". I promised myself that I wouldn't bug Him this time around!

Although this is the hardest part of adoption (the waiting and waiting), there really isn't anything you can do that genuinely makes it easier. It's just one of those things where you have to be hopeful and just wait it out.

[ChitownTracy]

to do while waiting, Dh and I are going to take an infant cpr/first aid class....
we need these life saving skills, and what a perfect time to take them....
just wanted to share
tracy