An interesting piece of advice given at last weekend's home study classes: Have your phone on, ringer up, and near you AT ALL TIMES once you are profile-ready.
I am used to having to have my phone on me, and expecting a call that could be life-changing -- so many phone calls about progress in a cycle, estrogen levels, and beta results that had me clinging to my phone, waiting for it to ring, hoping that I didn't miss the very important information that was coming to me.
But that was for a specific DAY, and a specific window within that day -- after 11:00 on Tuesday, or before 3:00 on Friday.
Now, NOW (okay, sometime late summer, we're not quite profile-ready yet) I have to be on call, all the time, because you just don't know when that call could come -- it's like waiting for a beta but without any kind of window at all, and for weeks, months, even years on end.
I could get a call at 2:00 in the afternoon and need to get ahold of Bryce and have a serious conversation in order to make a decision by 4:00 pm THE SAME DAY. This is not super frequent, but enough that I am freaking out a bit about this intensifying relationship with my phone.
I will need to teach with my ringer on and near me at all times...I will need to be sure that I have cell phone coverage in the building (it's an old building and parts of the first floor used to be nuclear bomb shelter, so that's tricky)...I will need to be sure that they have my school phone number as a backup, too so that I can be called by the PA to receive my call or call them back.
I may not actually receive a call for months or a year or more... but I will need to act like that call is imminent.
Those who have gone before me on the adoption journey, please help me to stop hyperventilating.
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Breathe deeply :-) It's like a roller coaster ride except that you don't know when you're getting on -- or when you're getting off -- until it happens.
ReplyDeleteVery exciting times....
I will definitely get closer to my yoga mat during this time. A consistent rollercoaster ride sounds exciting, and also makes me want to throw up in my mouth a little. From excitement, of course. :) I am really looking forward to waiting in earnest, but just a tad stressed too. Thanks for breathing with me!
DeleteThis would be a source of anxiety for anyone. So I'll echo what Lori said and be kind to yourself. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed for a short rollercoaster ride.
ReplyDeleteThank you! I hope it's short, too, but am preparing for looooong. May my colleagues be patient with the ringing... :)
DeleteThis kinda makes my stomach jittery FOR YOU! Holy cow- exciting times ahead, I'm so thrilled for you!
ReplyDeleteDoesn't it? Very exciting, for sure for sure! (Heart palpitation-y though, but mostly in a good way). Thanks for your excitement!
DeleteIt will be nerve wracking, but it will also be sort of exciting to know that any day could be the day. What a reason to wake up and get going every morning.
ReplyDeleteI love the positive spin you have on this very stressful soon-to-be existence... Absolutely a great reason to wake up and get moving.
DeleteExciting times!
ReplyDeleteI remember those days. The worst was when our caseworker called me during a meeting at work. I snuck out of the meeting, in a panic, only to answer it for a stupid question he had.
ReplyDeleteWe also set up a separate email account for our profile. That one was more time consuming then the phone. But it also ended up being how our potential birthmom first contacted us.
Interesting -- We are not doing any private profiling, everything is through our agency. Plusses and minuses to everything. Argh, that's the thing--you just don't know what the call will be, and I can imagine having your heart in your throat with it being the adoption agency, and then finding it's just a regular check-in. Thanks for sharing your experience with the phone tethering!
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