Is this what labor is like?

As you can see from the ticker, we are VERY due for our referral, and in another day we will be overdue. No inducing labor, I'm afraid. We just have to wait, for the slow machine of government (China) to creak to life and make another batch of new families. (Pardon the mixed metaphors)

Rumors are that packages have left the CCAA in Beijing, as of Monday. But there are lots of things that Beijing might be mailing to adoption agencies across the world. There can be LOA's (Letters of Approval), which are the documents that families adopting special needs children wait for, and that signal the CCAA's approval of a family's choice of a special chosen child.

There are TA's (Travel Approvals), which are the documents that allow families who have already received referrals to obtain the Visas needed to visit China to adopt their children. Once you receive a TA, you can book your flights.

And there are the referral packets, which are those magic missives that can finally bring the waiting (and laboring) to a close. Pictures, a profile, and a medical report. And a new future, for the waiting families and for their children.

Ah, the benefits of being in a post-vacation, philosophical mood. Actually, I am sick of waiting and want to get on with it!