The wait....

[frenchteachermama]

I know I am a newbie here and our profile has only been live for a month but I still have feelings of worry and fear that we'll never be matched. Just feeling like I needed to share...

[browneyes8]

The wait is so hard! It drove me crazy at times. Hugs to you...

[chicago]

It sucks. You have no control and can only wait and obsess.

[casarosada]

The wait is soo soo hard. I wanted to give up many times and just use the money we had saved for traveling. DH put a stop to that. :-) we did try to focus in whatbwe could do as a childless couple and really did more than we used to - biking to breweries, craft fairs, etc. We evennwent on a few trips that would not have workes with a baby (hiking, etc). That really helped! While I wish our wait had been shorter (it was going on 3 years) I feel good about it. DH and I really got to enjoy ourselves as a couple and minus a few breakdowns are able to look back positively.

[badgergirl66]

It's so hard, and something so many people don't get. I hope it's a short wait for you guys.

And I feel you on the money. I often suggested we should just travel or buy our dream home. Thankfully, DH never agreed.

[pinkie]

The wait can be awful. We waited about 18 months for our older son and it became borderline torture for us. I have no advice except to try to remember that you will have a child eventually and it will all be worth it.

[frenchteachermama]

Thank you all. It's so wonderful to have the support of women who understand

[lbey]

Two things that helped me while I was waiting was taking classes that could help me with child and process and shop. I loved buying things for my daughter even though I didnt even know if it would be a she or he or what age, hut I bought books, bath things, some toys, the furniture...made me feel so happy...

[lizblue]

I also liked to take classes and webinars. I also devoured the site adoptivefamilies.com (subscription fee needed to read articles, but some of their webinars are free).

I also basically memorized our agency's "Waiting Families" page - I'm sure you've done the same!

Hang in there frenchteachermama - this is the hardest part I'm sure!

[lizblue]

I also lurked Adoptive Families discussion forums a lot (free)

www.adoptivefamiliescircle.com/groups/all_topics/

[pinkie]

Vacations did help keep us distracted. We went on a few

[cst2cst]

Waiting is so hard. Toward the end I was getting so defeated and kept focusing on what was missing from our lives and what our family would be when he had our baby. Recently I've really worked on focusing on what I do have now and the ways my life is amazing instead of focusing so much on what I was missing. It helped me not miss the good things that were happening now.

Good luck. I hope your wait is short.