A message from the girls:
"Happy belated Channukwanzmas to you all!"
(Channuka, Christmas, Kwanza etc)
The girls are One Month Old Here!
Monday, December 29, 2008
Channukwanzmas Picture!
A message from the girls:
"Happy belated Channukwanzmas to you all!"
Monday, December 22, 2008
Another Visit at 3 Weeks!
My family and I went to the Bay Area to celebrate Christmas with my in-laws. Since we were so close, George and Sanj offered to bring the girls over for a visit. We had a great time hanging out and seeing how Natasha and Anjali have changed in the last three weeks.
Here is baby Anjali
and here's baby Natasha
Rick's mom was the first to hold one of the girls . . . I love this picture, I just wish I could see more of Ruby's face, she was so excited to see the girls
Here is Rick's sister Denise holding Natasha
and his sister Laurie holding Anjali
Of course, Ricky wanted to hold the girls too
Funny, that just like my own kid's photos, I'm no where to be seen . . . as I'm always the one taking pictures, oh well! There's always next week, when the come up for the Open House at my place.
After the fact, here's one of Preston kissing Natasha- and I'm in it!
Here is baby Anjali
and here's baby Natasha
Rick's mom was the first to hold one of the girls . . . I love this picture, I just wish I could see more of Ruby's face, she was so excited to see the girls
Here is Rick's sister Denise holding Natasha
and his sister Laurie holding Anjali
Of course, Ricky wanted to hold the girls too
Funny, that just like my own kid's photos, I'm no where to be seen . . . as I'm always the one taking pictures, oh well! There's always next week, when the come up for the Open House at my place.
After the fact, here's one of Preston kissing Natasha- and I'm in it!
Friday, December 12, 2008
Q & A Part 2
One of my favorite parts of being a surrogate is all the great (and sometimes funny) questions I get asked.
Here is the link to Q & A Part 1 and I thought I'd share a few that I've received in the last 2 weeks -it's been 2 weeks, can you believe it?
Q: Have you had them yet?
A: Now I try to not to take offense to this question, but it seems almost silly to me because I was so HUGE 2 weeks ago and even though I have a belly left (it's just deflated and several inches lower), I'm already back down to my pre-surrogate pregnancy weight. I would think it would be noticeable that I'm about 26+ pounds lighter than 2 weeks ago, but whatever! Perhaps, because I'm still about 30 lbs away from where I was before I gave birth to Ruby . . . but again, whatever!
Q: Was it hard to let the babies go?
A: Not at all. Again, I went into this whole thing knowing they were not my babies and that I didn't want anymore children, so it didn't bother me at all to see them drive away with their parents. I always wonder if people think I'm some cold-hearted lady when I say this, but it's the truth! (Wait, that sounds bad . . . the truth is it wasn't hard, not that it's true I'm cold-hearted, ha!)
Q: Did you cry at all?
A: Yes, I'm a total cry baby . . . Oreo commercials, Steel Magnolias, Brokeback Mountain, heck, even The Green Mile book and movie by Stephen King . . . not to mention I was full of hormones! First, I started to get all "misty eyed" in the delivery room- watching the dads react to the birth of their girls was amazing. Too see them so happy, and know that I had something to do with it, it was indescribable!
The other time I started to cry was when the parents and their family started thanking me (and hugging me) as they were leaving . . . I lost it. I wasn't crying because I wanted the girls, I was crying because the girls were so wanted. If you had a Grandma thanking you for helping her son and his husband and helping give her grandbabies, well, you would be a cold-hearted lady not to cry at that!
Q: Do you still hear from the parents?
A: Yes . . . mind you, it's only been 2 weeks, so I'm sure as time goes on, our communication will space out a bit- having kids will do that, but for now I seem to talk with them every day or two. I hate to call because I know they must be tired and I don't want to wake them (not the girls, I don't want to wake the parents!)
Q: Did you enjoy being a surrogate?
A: I can easily say my experience, as a surrogate was absolutely amazing. I really believe that in the future, when I look back on all my accomplishments, it will easily be one of the best things I ever did. As a friend of mine wrote in an email - “You were able to help give a wonderful gift so that two people could experience what you and I know so well... the incredible love and joy that can only be experienced by having kids." It really was an unbelievable journey for my family, their family and me. The feelings I had when I saw the parents with their babies will stay with me forever.
Q: Do you think you'll do this again?
A: I don't know. My goal was just to do this one time, but my experience was so amazing and there are other couples who still need help. I know after we got matched, I asked George and Sanj how long they had been with Growing Generations before I came along and it was almost a year! It's hard enough to find someone who wants to be a surrogate, but then to find someone who passes the medical and psychological screening, and who's not just in it for the money, that's were you run into even more issues. I tend to have easy pregnancies, heal quickly, and with my hips, I was made for childbirth . . . put that with the feeling of helping someone create a family they always wanted, it's almost like a drug- I think I'm addicted! :)
Here is the link to Q & A Part 1 and I thought I'd share a few that I've received in the last 2 weeks -it's been 2 weeks, can you believe it?
Q: Have you had them yet?
A: Now I try to not to take offense to this question, but it seems almost silly to me because I was so HUGE 2 weeks ago and even though I have a belly left (it's just deflated and several inches lower), I'm already back down to my pre-surrogate pregnancy weight. I would think it would be noticeable that I'm about 26+ pounds lighter than 2 weeks ago, but whatever! Perhaps, because I'm still about 30 lbs away from where I was before I gave birth to Ruby . . . but again, whatever!
Q: Was it hard to let the babies go?
A: Not at all. Again, I went into this whole thing knowing they were not my babies and that I didn't want anymore children, so it didn't bother me at all to see them drive away with their parents. I always wonder if people think I'm some cold-hearted lady when I say this, but it's the truth! (Wait, that sounds bad . . . the truth is it wasn't hard, not that it's true I'm cold-hearted, ha!)
Q: Did you cry at all?
A: Yes, I'm a total cry baby . . . Oreo commercials, Steel Magnolias, Brokeback Mountain, heck, even The Green Mile book and movie by Stephen King . . . not to mention I was full of hormones! First, I started to get all "misty eyed" in the delivery room- watching the dads react to the birth of their girls was amazing. Too see them so happy, and know that I had something to do with it, it was indescribable!
The other time I started to cry was when the parents and their family started thanking me (and hugging me) as they were leaving . . . I lost it. I wasn't crying because I wanted the girls, I was crying because the girls were so wanted. If you had a Grandma thanking you for helping her son and his husband and helping give her grandbabies, well, you would be a cold-hearted lady not to cry at that!
Q: Do you still hear from the parents?
A: Yes . . . mind you, it's only been 2 weeks, so I'm sure as time goes on, our communication will space out a bit- having kids will do that, but for now I seem to talk with them every day or two. I hate to call because I know they must be tired and I don't want to wake them (not the girls, I don't want to wake the parents!)
Q: Did you enjoy being a surrogate?
A: I can easily say my experience, as a surrogate was absolutely amazing. I really believe that in the future, when I look back on all my accomplishments, it will easily be one of the best things I ever did. As a friend of mine wrote in an email - “You were able to help give a wonderful gift so that two people could experience what you and I know so well... the incredible love and joy that can only be experienced by having kids." It really was an unbelievable journey for my family, their family and me. The feelings I had when I saw the parents with their babies will stay with me forever.
Q: Do you think you'll do this again?
A: I don't know. My goal was just to do this one time, but my experience was so amazing and there are other couples who still need help. I know after we got matched, I asked George and Sanj how long they had been with Growing Generations before I came along and it was almost a year! It's hard enough to find someone who wants to be a surrogate, but then to find someone who passes the medical and psychological screening, and who's not just in it for the money, that's were you run into even more issues. I tend to have easy pregnancies, heal quickly, and with my hips, I was made for childbirth . . . put that with the feeling of helping someone create a family they always wanted, it's almost like a drug- I think I'm addicted! :)
Friday, December 5, 2008
Happy One Week To You!
It's hard to believe but its already been one week since the girls were born. Crazy, I know. We'll here's a one week old picture for you to marvel over
I can't believe how alert they look for one week old babies! You can just tell they are totally advanced, probably geniuses . . . and I'm not just saying that because I carried them for 38 weeks. I'm telling you, like I've said from day one, GOLDEN UTERUS (okay, okay, and great genes that I can't take credit for at all).
I can't believe how alert they look for one week old babies! You can just tell they are totally advanced, probably geniuses . . . and I'm not just saying that because I carried them for 38 weeks. I'm telling you, like I've said from day one, GOLDEN UTERUS (okay, okay, and great genes that I can't take credit for at all).
Thursday, December 4, 2008
The Girls Go Home!
So, it's been a few days since this event happened, but give me a break . . . I just birthed twins by c-section and made it home to three kids ages 7 and under. Better late than never.
On Monday, December 1st the girls and I were discharged from the hospital. I was told some information about recovering from a c-section, given my prescriptions for pain killers and let go. My friend Jodi drove up to meet the girls and was awesome enough to drive me home. While she was there, she was able to meet Appachchi (Grandma/Logi), Dad (George) and Appa (Other Dad/Sanj) and help us get the girls ready to go.
First, they made sure to feed the girls for their long trip back home.
Then, there was the jobs of changing the girls into their "Going Home" outfits and filling out the paperwork.
And of course putting the girls in their car seats. Which brings me to a joke (and any of you who have ever put a newborn into their car seat for the first time know the answer) How many adults does it take to put a baby in a car seat?
Appachchi pulled out their going home outfits and let me choose who got to wear what. I decided Anjali should wear the dots and Natasha should wear the stripes.
Here's Baby Anjali ready to go
and here's Baby Natasha
While we were making our way outside we stopped by the Non-Stress Testing unit were I spent the last 6 weeks (twice a week) to show off the babies and say Thank You. A little while later we made it to the parking lot and it was time to say our goodbyes and take one last group photo. Here's Appachchi, Appa, Kelly, Dad, and Nurse Valerie with the girls in front.
The girls got clicked in their seats and were ready to go
We said our goodbyes, which included lots of tears. (I'll talk more about our plans to keep in touch on a later post).
It has almost been a year since we all decided to proceed with the surrogacy and there we were, about to leave one of us with an empty uterus but a FULL heart and the others with a car full of love
On Monday, December 1st the girls and I were discharged from the hospital. I was told some information about recovering from a c-section, given my prescriptions for pain killers and let go. My friend Jodi drove up to meet the girls and was awesome enough to drive me home. While she was there, she was able to meet Appachchi (Grandma/Logi), Dad (George) and Appa (Other Dad/Sanj) and help us get the girls ready to go.
First, they made sure to feed the girls for their long trip back home.
Then, there was the jobs of changing the girls into their "Going Home" outfits and filling out the paperwork.
And of course putting the girls in their car seats. Which brings me to a joke (and any of you who have ever put a newborn into their car seat for the first time know the answer) How many adults does it take to put a baby in a car seat?
Appachchi pulled out their going home outfits and let me choose who got to wear what. I decided Anjali should wear the dots and Natasha should wear the stripes.
Here's Baby Anjali ready to go
and here's Baby Natasha
While we were making our way outside we stopped by the Non-Stress Testing unit were I spent the last 6 weeks (twice a week) to show off the babies and say Thank You. A little while later we made it to the parking lot and it was time to say our goodbyes and take one last group photo. Here's Appachchi, Appa, Kelly, Dad, and Nurse Valerie with the girls in front.
The girls got clicked in their seats and were ready to go
We said our goodbyes, which included lots of tears. (I'll talk more about our plans to keep in touch on a later post).
It has almost been a year since we all decided to proceed with the surrogacy and there we were, about to leave one of us with an empty uterus but a FULL heart and the others with a car full of love
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