The
Waiting is the Hardest Part - well, I’m pretty sure giving birth is harder
simply waiting, but ...
Five
Years Ago Today ... an Abby’s Road
anniversary
October
1, 2009. The baby is due today. We’ve been told that before ...
Starting at page 145:
“...
Today Valerie will be induced and the baby born. She was scheduled to go into
the hospital at 7:00 am. Except for
drive-through in the nearby McDonalds we spent the day in our motel room.
...
She will share a birthday with
actors Walter Matthau, James Whitmore, Tom Bosley, George Peppard, Julie
Andrews, Richard Harris, Rod Carew and St. Louis Cardinal’s Mark McGwire. It is also the birthday of Randy Quaid, with
whom I share a bond. At the time he made news for also running up a $10,000.00
motel bill.
“What
are you mumbling about?” Esther said.
“I
was just thinking, today is Thursday. How does that go? Monday's child is full of grace, Tuesday's
child is in your face, Wednesday's Child had roast beef, Thursday's child had
none, Destiny's Child sang ‘Bootilicious’... “
“Sweetie,
I think you need to take a nap…” And so
I did.
...
Esther
posted on Facebook – today was the day. She asked for prayers for an easy and
safe delivery. “And fast,” I added, “Don’t forget fast or it will be a
three-month delivery! Don’t give God any wiggle room here!”
“Sweetie,
nap.”
“Yes,
my dearest love. Zzzzzz...”
Esther’s
cell phone rang at 11:30. It was Jonathan! Here it is! This is it!
“There’s
been some progress, but the baby hasn’t been born yet.”
Facebook
post at noon: Birthmother still
"in labor" - this kid will be born with a driver's license.
Facebook post, 1:00 pm: The baby
better be born soon: the only thing left to do is a Howard Jones concert this
weekend. And I’ll go! GOD HELP ME, I’LL GO!!!
Facebook post, 2:00 pm: C'mon
Abigail, I'm starting to take this personally. I think she's grabbed hold of an
intestine and refuses to come out. {Yank, yank} "No, you can't make
me!!!"
Esther’s cell phone rang again at
3:00 pm. It was Jonathan! Here it is! This is
it!
Facebook
Post, 3:30 pm: Nothing yet! Doctor had
a C-section to do (read: tough par three) and will "check in" on
birth mother. She's been given pain meds. Me? None. Esther has been sedated.
Esther’s Facebook Post, 4:00 pm: At
3:30 the Doctor had not been back in to check – off doing a c-section on
another patient. Pains were getting stronger at that time. No word yet. Still
waiting…
And that was the last we heard that
day. I got McDonald’s drive-through for dinner and Esther and I waited for
news.
Facebook Post, 10:00 pm: good grief.
I remembered Mark Twain: "All good things arrive unto them that wait - and don't die in the
meantime."
Esther’s Facebook Post, 10:10 pm: No news.
Will update when we know more.
By
10:30 I was ready to go to bed.
And the evening and the morning were the 13th
day…”
***
(SPOILERS
AHEAD)
I
slept through the night; that surprised me. I expected to wake at any noise
thinking it was the phone. Esther woke shortly after I did – around eight or
so. We were both still lying in bed reading when her cell phone rang at ten.
It
was Jonathan. Here we go again. Valerie was sent home. False alarms, maybe next
week.
Abigail
was born on October 1, 2009 at 11:10 pm, seven pounds, fourteen ounces. Twenty
and three-fourths inches.
Our
daughter is here!
My
little baby girl is here!
…
…
…
So
now what?
***
“Abby’s
Road, the Long and Winding Road to Adoption and how Facebook, Aquaman
and Theodore Roosevelt Helped” leads a couple through their days of infertility
treatments and adoption. It is told with gentle (and sometimes not-so-gentle)
humor from the perspective of a nerdy father and his loving and understanding
wife.
Join
Mike and Esther as they go through IUIs and IFVs, as they search for an
adoption agency, are selected by a birth mother, prepare their house, prepare
their family, prepare themselves and wait for their daughter to be born a
thousand miles from home.
Abby’s Road is available at Amazon here: http://www.amazon.com/Abbys-Road-Long-Winding-Adoption/product-reviews/0692221530/ref=cm_cr_pr_top_recent?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=0&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending
at Barnes and Noble here: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/abbys-road-the-long-and-winding-road-to-adoption-and-how-facebook-aquaman-and-theodore-roosevelt-helped-michael-curry/1119971924?ean=9780692221532
Copyright
2014 Michael Curry
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