to prepare or not to prepare

This is the question!

We will likely have a quick turn around time from the moment an expectant mother chooses us to when the baby is placed with us. Often it’s 24-48 hours! So then the question for me is do I start to prepare for a child or wait? Everyone has a different opinion on this one, even prospective adoptive parents. Considering that we won’t have much notice before flying to the US I feel that we need to do some preparing. But how much preparing does one do? I have little interest in walking by a baby room completely ready sans baby for months on end….but at the same time there are a few things that we can do now versus when we’re sleep deprived with a little one. So this is my conundrum! I really want to start preparing, but I don’t want to have to look at a completed but empty baby room! Especially with our uncertainty regarding the Hague and how the rules will impact our adoption process.

Even with all of our uncertainty I have decided to do some preparing because I’m feeling the pull and need to do it. I also need to do something for me to feel like the possibility of a child is real. I don’t have an expanding belly to constantly remind me that our lives are in for a dramatic change so I need to do other things to help me mentally prepare. I need to fold some sleepers, oogle over tiny newborn diapers, and get a diaper bag ready (that is one thing that we will need ASAP when we get the call!) to remind myself that someday, somehow, we will become a family of three.