GREAT RUMOUR AND WHAT WILL HAPPEN AFTER REFERRAL!

Yesterday the latest rumour was that maybe all of September would be included in the next batch of referrals - that would be fantastic, it would put me 5 weeks from the front of the queue.
The last batch of referrals came through at the beginning of November - with the previous batch at the end of September, slightly over the usual month between batches. So it's likely that there will only be 1 batch before Christmas. However January often sees 2 batches of referrals - as Chinese New Year often means that there isn't another batch until March. So that would PROBABLY (have you gathered yet that nothing's definite til we're home?) mean referral early next year (I think I'm border line between referral in January or March) and then travel about 8 weeks later!

Why the delay between paperwork arriving and travel? When the papers arrive and I'm happy to accept the referral, then there'll be alot of other bits to do (not the practical preparations but the official bits):
- Monmouthshire have to approve the referral - I think that this is like a safety net for the authorities to ensure that I don't bring back a child who will be an unexpected burden to society.
- Acceptance will then go back to the Dfes, who may wait a while to collect several acceptances before returning them to China.
- Then I have to wait for China to issue an ITT (Invitation To Travel), this seems to be a relatively random process in term of how long China take - recently they've only taken 2 weeks but can also take more than 6 weeks.
- When I've got the ITT I can then apply for a business visa to enter China.
- Then I've got to book everything (this can be done provisionally, but it's still a nail biting process) and get there!!

I type it and talk it but still can't quite believe that I'm ever going to going to be someone's mum, it brings on moments of disbelief and the occasional panic. I was talking to a newish mum yesterday (great lunch D!) who reassured me that even pregnant women experience the same emotions. However long it takes I don't feel that I'll be ready - I can't bring myself to buy the important bits like a cot, changing table or pushchair, I don't want to tempt fate.