Deep Thoughts

Deep Thought #1--My birthday is May 9th. Tabitha's is May 10th. China is 12 hours later than our time zone here. So, if she was born in the morning of May 10th, she was actually born on my birthday! There's a 50% chance we actually have the same birthday!! Cool, huh? And, it would've been on my 29th birthday, which wasn't one of my better ones. I remember feeling sorry for myself that night . . . maybe even at the exact time that my precious daughter was being born. If I had only known what was happening on the other side of the world. What an awesome birthday present . . . even if I didn't realize it at the time.

Deep Thought #2--I've been thinking about how adoption is similar to pregnancy. For one thing, I've been quite scatter-brained lately. (This has actually been happening ever since I was expecting Ethan, but I'll go ahead and blame it on this "pregnancy.")

Here's how my analogy works:

The last 15 months of preparation were like hoping to conceive. Now that we have a little girl in our hearts, we've gotten the "+" on the pregnancy test. But we're still waiting for our "application approval"--that first doctor visit that confirms the pregnancy. Then of course there's the waiting for more information . . . in pregnancy that's finding out the gender with an ultrasound; for us, we already know her gender but are eagerly awaiting those precious updated photos. Then, of course, there's that nagging worry that something will go wrong. Mostly we're at peace that everything will go as planned, but every now and then I have a flash of anxiety that this little girl will never be in our arms. When we receive the LOA in a few months--the OFFICIAL "YES"--it'll be like that 38-week check-up when the doctor says, "Everything's ready; you can go into labor at any time now." And of course, Heath will say that the labor pains are the torturous flight half way around the world. Well, at least this time, he'll be taking most of the labor pains, since I don't hate flying as much as he does! Then there will be that first moment of seeing our baby . . . probably lots of crying, just like in birth, but soon that sweet, amazing feeling of a new life in the family, of realizing what a miracle this is, and the assurance that it's been worth it all.

I can't wait for that awesome day!

Now. If I can just keep off that "baby weight" . . .