You think you are – you get your team in place – family support, consultant (but, of course), medical professional…you are ready and want your baby now! You start the process and then, well, it gets tedious and you slow down and before you know it, months have gone by and you haven’t done much.
Or, all of a sudden, life gets in the way. A family member gets seriously ill, you lose your job, you move or you simply get really bogged down with other things. That happens too. You THOUGHT you had a one-track mind when it came to your adoption journey, but life just got in the way.
Sometimes you are presented a situation that you agree to be presented for and the expectant mother is due VERY quickly. And then she chooses YOU. Like, really, it can happen THAT fast?!
And sometimes you are so discouraged because you keep seeing situations that really don’t feel right to you.
What if it feels right and she DOES choose you? Are you ready then? Of course you are…but then again, maybe there’s a little itty-bitty part of you that hopes you won’t get chosen yet. NOT YET.
Do you ever get over that feeling of not being quite ready just yet?
What if the birth mother changes her mind and decides to parent after all? Are you ready for that? Because that’s a reality to be “prepared” for, too.
And will I love this child as much as if he/she were my biological child? That reality starts to set it. How do you really know?
Here’s what I can tell you from personal experience. Ready? NO, YOU’RE NEVER REALLY READY! But that can be said for any major life change. And that’s ok. In life, you just have to roll with it sometimes.
There’s a great deal of control that needs to be released.
There are things you can do, though, to be as ready as you’ll ever be.
• Have difficult conversations with your spouse or family members.
• Know who your support system, your “village” will be when you need to call on them (and oh, you WILL need to call on them).
• Talk to an adoption counselor or coach ahead of time to discuss these issues and any fears or anxiety you might have.
• Meditate – visualize yourself with this sweet little baby in your arms and how that makes you feel.
• Be positive…it makes a HUGE difference! You want to create good energy around you and put that out into the universe.
• Start clearing space – you may want to set up the nursery, and you may decide to wait and just put the right pieces in place to make it happen on a moment’s notice. Fact is, a baby doesn’t need much for a few months.
What have YOU done to get ready??