braxton-hicks

The news of our daughter has not been delivered yet. It seems we must continue to experience this most indescribable anticipation.

When I was around 38 weeks pregnant with our 1st child, I had such a significant amount of Braxton-Hicks contractions that my husband and I were quite certain that this was the REAL THING. We watched the clock, we paid attention to the strength and duration of the episodes, we recorded the time of every little cramp that my bulging tummy was experiencing. Oh, the thrill! I had called our obstetrician's office, spoken with a nurse, and was given instructions that we were to make our way on to the hospital. We just knew we would be seeing our baby's face within hours!

Off we went, packed bags in hand, to birth our precious son. We were checked into The Women's Pavilion and sent to a room within minutes after arriving. I was hooked up to all the necessary monitors, and the wait began. It took less than an hour for my obstetrician to explain to the expectant couple, that we were experiencing a "false alarm."

SO, monitors were unplugged, packed bags were retrieved, and the now-much-embarrassed-and-disappointed-couple were officially released from The Women's Pavilion. Mind you, we were given instructions as to what to continue to watch and wait for, and we were assured that our baby would eventually come out and join us!

I was all the more embarrassed, since I was a Miss Know-It-All Registered Nurse, myself. AND since, just as we were walking to our car, family members began to arrive in the parking lot. We ended up going out for a nice dinner that evening, and less than 2 weeks later our sweet baby did join us.

Last week, I felt those false labor contractions all over again! In my heart, this time. Without being POSITIVE (one can never be positive of anything on this adoption journey), we were quite hopeful and even expectant, that we would get The Call about our daughter. The rumors were floating and the news seemed to support our hopes. Yet the end of the week came, without communication from our adoption agency.

The disappointment I felt seemed to be almost tangible, though it lasted only a moment. Surely we know by now, that in God's most perfect timing, the news of our Precious One will come. It will.

There were no bags packed this time, only a few phone calls to be made. And just as we left that hospital all those years ago to WAIT some more, we are doing so again. The labor pains continue, but we know that very soon we will hear of and rejoice over, our newest family member.

Hebrews 6:15 "And so after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised."

And so will we.