We're home!

Ok. We've been terrible bloggers. But I think we have a good excuse. Ok, two good excuses!

Our time in India came to an end on Monday night. Following two flights (which Sebastian and Sienna were AMAZING on), we are now back home, trying to get into the swing of things and nail down some sort of a routine.

Before I go on, I have to say HUGE thanks to Dr. Shivani and the team at SCI. They have made our dreams come true and everyone there was very great to work with as we went through the formalities following the birth of Sebastian and Sienna. Our wonderful surrogate has also been amazing. We'll never forget what she has done for us and she'll be a part of our family stories for the rest of our lives. If it wasn't for her nearly nine months of dedication, this wouldn't have been possible:

For those of you who are going through the process now, all of the waiting, stress, emotions, emails and late-night calls all become a distant memory the minute you hold your little ones in your arms. Many of you have asked for more details about logistics so we'll share what we can in hopes that it helps those of you who are descending on Delhi soon.

The biggest piece of advice we have is to be sure you have all of your paperwork ready and printed out, extra copies made and folders created for each of the offices that you'll need to visit (ie. Embassy, FRRO). It really helps you keep sane, though to be honest, the US Embassy was very simple. The FRRO was chaotic (and thank god we had somebody helping us navigate and expedite our way through) but ultimately, it comes down to having the right paperwork in order and ready for their review.

Here are some details on what we brought and what we used:

What we brought:

700 diapers, 1000 wipes, 14 bottles, electric sterilizer, 10 short sleeve onesies, 10 long sleeve onesies, 12 socks, 7 hats, 2 hooded towels, 4 pacifiers, 2 pacifier holders, 6 blankets, 2 packs of cloth diapers (used as spit-up rags), 5 swaddle blankets, 13 long sleeve pijamas, 2 sleep sacks, 1 crib sheets, 24 small liquid formula bottles, 5 boxes of powder formula, 1 baby soap, 2 baby lotion, 2 powder, 2 diaper rash cream, 1 thermometer, 1 saline nose drops, 1 gripe water, 2 books, 1 diaper bag, 2 Phil & Teds Cocoons, 2 Ergo baby carries, 2 Ergo inserts.

What we actually used or wish we had more of:

~150 diapers, ~ 200 wipes, bottles and sterilizer, didn't use long-sleeve onesies, didn't use socks since they wore pajamas, only needed one hat each, wish we had brought two towels each (they like to pee when they are being dried off), glad we had extra pacifiers as we always dropped them, only needed two blankets each, really needed more swaddle blankets as they are in them a lot and they pee on them sometimes or milk gets all over them, didn't use sleep sacks, only needed like 6 of the small liquid pre-mixed formula as we only used it for our embassy/FRRO appointment and plane ride, had too much powder formula and only used one box, only needed one soap/lotion/powder/cream, didn't really use the books yet, the Cocoons were the BEST thing possible to bring, didn't need the Ergo carriers.

So that's what we used. Hope that helps, but also keep in mind that we were only in Delhi for 12 days after the twins were born. If it would have been longer, we probably would have used more of the stuff.

Back to twin duty now...

 

Meet Sebastian and Sienna

Yes. November 21, 2012 is the day that we've been waiting so long to have.

Sienna Ann and Sebastian Luke were born yesterday afternoon. We'll share more details over the next few days but wanted to let everyone know that both the twins and our amazing surrogate are doing great.

Here are a few quick pics from yesterday (about 20 mins after they were born)!

This is the best Thanksgiving that we could ever have hoped for.

Sebastian:

 Sienna:

36 Week Scan: Live From Delhi

We made it.

After a long few weeks full of work, packing and questioning whether or not we have everything we need, we landed in Delhi. The trip over was pretty uneventful, apart from some "interesting" formalities that we had to go through to leave the airport (I'll post about those once we are back home). We arrived at the hotel around 3am and you'd think that we would have been exhausted. Instead of exhaustion, we found ourselves wide awake. We tried to sleep for a few hours but ended up drifting in and out of dreamland before we had to get up and head to the ultrasound appointment with our awesome surrogate.

We walked into Dr. Jolly's office and met two guys from Australia who were doing the same thing -- waiting for their surrogate to arrive to see how big her belly has gotten, as well as stare at the screen as their baby comes to life through the power of video. We were in the waiting room when we peeked out the door to see our surrogate waiting outside of the exam room. She looked great. There is something about her that is truly magical. She's a very shy woman and when we went into the exam room and said hello to her, it was her smile that stole the day. You could tell what a happy person she is and as we tried to have a broken conversation via a translator, her positive vibes made us both feel at ease.

The ultrasound was incredible. We got a few good videos and some great 4D pics of one twin, like the one below. The other was hiding his/her face and at one point actually turned his/her head as if he/she was looking at a camera, only to turn it away a second later, so we couldn't get a good shot.

Everything is looking good overall. The report came back today and they are happy with it. Both twins are measuring a bit smaller than the norm, but I guess that's pretty common with twins. Here are the latest stats (we are 36 weeks 2 days by our calculations):

Twin 1 -- 34 weeks 2 days
BPD- 85mm 34 weeks 4 days
HC- 312mm 35 weeks 0 days
AC- 292mm 33 weeks 2 days
FL- 66 mm 34weeks 1days
EFW- 2281grms (5.02 lbs.). Cephalic presentation.

Twin 2 --35 weeks 4 days
BPD- 88mm 35 weeks 5 days
HC- 327mm 37 weeks 1 days
AC- 305mm 34 weeks 3 days
FL- 68 mm 35 weeks 0 days
EFW- 2572grms (5.67 lbs.). Breech presentation.

We should know more on Monday but the latest estimate is that they would do a c-section on Nov 26 or 27 if everything continues to go well. That means we have just over a week to hang out and wait in Delhi. Any day trip suggestions?

Off to bed now. This time, I'm going to sleep.

34 Weeks + Art

So we're at 34 weeks tomorrow and I can't believe it. Really, this is kind of unreal. I'm officially in the "freaking out" stage. I think the roller coaster of emotions goes somewhat like this:

Anxious (to get things started) ----> Excited (that things have gotten underway) -----> Nervous (that you have to wait for news on the transfer) ----> Over the moon (that it worked) ----> Nervous (that you have to wait again to see if it really worked) -----> Over the moon (that there are heartbeats) ------> Patient (as you wait for the next scan) ---------> Reluctant (to get too excited because there is a long road ahead) ------> Excited (that all is going well) BUT --------> Hesitant (to do anything because so many things can go wrong) -------> Reluctantly excited (as scans come back positive) ------> Denial (that this could really be happening and that it will all be OK) ----------> Continued Denial (that this is all OK... and that you should be excited) ---------> Desperate (for more information, thinking that there is no way you can get enough information to calm your nerves) -------> Reluctantly happy (that you are actually shopping for stuff and telling people about the good news... but will everything actually be OK?) ---------------> Overwhelmed (with the amount of stuff that you have to do before the new arrivals make their debut) --------------> Freaking Out (that this is just two weeks away).

Such a roller coaster, but in just a few more weeks, it will all be worth it. We leave for India in two weeks. Even writing that makes me nervous. Though I guess that's normal for anyone who is about to welcome twins into their world.

We've gotten one bag packed (full of diapers so wasn't too tough). And the rest of the packing of the baby bags is happening this weekend. We'll be as ready as we can be, just in case they decide to make an early debut. I'll share our full list once we finish up packing.

In other news, our DNA kits have arrived at the Embassy and are awaiting our arrival. So all smooth on that front.

Check out this painting that C drew and painted for the nursery. It's amazing. So perfect for the elephant/giraffe theme of the room! This is where having somebody who can draw, paint and take pictures comes in handy. I told him he should start to do it as a business along with his photography! Right?

32 Week Ultrasound (and a few shower pics)

Now that we are getting closer to the big day, time seems to be flying by. I haven't had a chance to update the blog at all as work travel has been uber insane.

The positive? I have been in the US alot so have been able to see my prego sister and my mom.

In fact, I went to my mom's house two weeks ago and her and her girlfriends surprised me with a shower! It was awesome. Carlos was in the UK so he couldn't be there... :( but we sent pics and Facetimed him in. Isn't this a cool cupcake cake that they ordered???

The next week, my US colleagues got together and threw us a surprise shower in the office. It was such a great surprise and everyone has been super cool. Cute elephant and giraffe cake, huh?!

Last week, we got an update and our 32 week ultrasound. Everything is looking good. The pics didn't show much again (grrrrrr!) but the important thing is that the twins are both growing well. The small echogenic intracardiac focus didn't show up in this last scan...so fingers crossed that whole thing is all over with. The only issue that we are dealing with right now is our awesome surrogate having gestational diabetes but they have been treating that with insulin everyday and that seems to be working.

So here is what is happening with the twins. The scan was done at about 31 weeks 5 days:

TWIN- I

Cephalic presentation

The approx. gestational age is 31 weeks 0 days

BPD- 77 mm 31 weeks 0 days

HC- 292mm 32 weeks 2 days

AC- 259mm 30 weeks 1 days

FL-. 5.9 mm 30 weeks 5 days

EFW- 1607grms

TWIN- II

Breech presentation

The approx. gestational age is 32 weeks 2 days

BPD- 81 mm 32 weeks 4 days

HC- 297mm 32 weeks 6 days

AC- 286mm 32 weeks 5 days

FL- 59 mm 30 weeks 5 days

EFW- 1909grms

 

I guess we should start to get ready for the trip, huh? We are scheduled to leave for India in just 3.5 weeks. This is so crazy. Is this really happening?

I've finally started to get stressed out. Mostly about the details of things like passports and visas... luggage and lists of what to bring...

Details...details...details.

So many updates...

I have been the worst blogger. Ever.

So more than a month has passed since our last blog. I don't know what has happened with the time. Carlos and I have so much to update everyone on. So here we go...

Just after I wrote our last blog we received an email from Dr. Shivani. Our awesome surrogate had completed her diabetes test and unfortunately they found that she has a mild case of gestational diabetes. Of course, I went straight to Google -- the absolute worst thing to do. I read a ton about the condition and it made me worry even more than I already was. That said, everything has gone just fine since then and our surrogate is responding well to her daily insulin doses so I guess we shouldn't worry.

Since our last scan, we have had another scan, one surprise shower with friends and family and one virtual shower with everyone from the U.S. I have gotten my DNA test done (we used Chromosomal Labs in Arizona and I had my DNA collected when I was home in the US last weekend) and we have put together the cribs.

Our 28 week scan came just on time (two weeks ago). Pics aren't great, but here they are:

TWIN- I
Cephalic presentation
Approximate gestational age is 27 weeks 4 days
BPD - 69mm, HC - 259mm, AC -220mm, FL - 5lmm, EFW : l020gms

They still see the small echogenic intracardiac focus. Ugghhhh.

TWIN- II
Breech presentation
The approx . gestational age is 28 weeks 5 days
BPD - 75mm, HC - 268mm, AC - 239mm, FL - 50mm, EFW: 1169gms

Last weekend, we went to see friends in Chicago. Little did we know that they had planned a surprise shower for us and my dad and step mom flew in to surprise us as well! It was a great weekend and something we'll always remember and tell stories about for years to come. Oh, and the bloody mary bar was awesome. Thanks to everyone who came to celebrate with us and my family and friends for organizing it!

This weekend, we had a virtual baby shower with our friends and family back in the U.S. It was so great to see everyone and share our new pics of the nursery with them! Before the shower though, we had our day-long Caring for a Newborn Baby class here in London. It was just the two of us so we had our own personal teacher for the day. Most of what she went through was pretty straight forward and actually the material that she taught from was free material that anyone can access.

Literally, visit this site and go to the "Your Newborn" tab at the top, it has everything you need to know including a few videos. It was nice to be able to ask questions and try a few things out but really could have saved the money and just read most of this on our own. We did get baby and child first aid and CPR though, so that was a plus.

The shower was amazing. Even though it was virtual. We did it in the nursery so that everyone could see. Here are a few pics of the virtual shower and the latest happenings in the nursery (ignore the screwdriver on the floor and the little table between the cribs -- it's leftover from the guest room):

Looking Good!

Right on schedule, we received our latest ultrasound results yesterday. Everything appears to be on track. One of the twins is measuring about six days behind the other one, but guess a few days is nothing to worry about. There is plenty of time to catch up! That pesky small echogenic intracardiac focus is still seen :-/ I wish it would go away...

The pics that we got this time around weren't that great so you won't see much, but here are the details and pics:

Normal active and passive movements are seen.
The liquor is adequate .
Placenta seen along anterior and posterior wall , low lying, not previa, grade 0

TWIN- I
Variable presentation
The approx. gestational age is 22 weeks, 6 days
BPD 56 mm, HC - 204mm, AC - 18lmm, FL - 39mm, EFW : 540gms
Nasal bone is seen. The fetal head shows normal ventricular system. The fetal spine, limbs, cord insertion, 3 vessel cord, KUB, four chamber view, stomach bubble show no obvious abnormality. Small echogenic intracardiac focus seen.

TWIN- II
Variable presentation
The approx. gestational age is 23 weeks, 5 days
BPD - 59mm, HC - 220mm, AC -190mm, FL - 39mm, EFW : 594gram
Nasal bone is seen. The fetal head shows normal ventricular system. The fetal spine, limbs, cord insertion, 3 vessel cord, KUB, four chamber view of heart, stomach bubble show no obvious abnormality.

We went to the beach today since the weather was awesome and ended up popping into a store after lunch and walking out with a few more baby items.  We couldn't resist. Check out some of the super cute stuff they have in their new Baby Elephant Collection.

OH! And we ended up ordering our cribs last weekend! They are scheduled to arrive around September 20. That was pretty exciting as well. Here's what we ended up picking out:

OK. No more shopping for us. We now need to put all that shopping time into reading baby books so that we know what to do once these two new additions arrive. Seriously, if you handed me a baby right now, I'd have no clue how to even hold it. I guess that's easy to learn, right?

That was easy...

We're finally back from a few weeks of travel and I'm really excited to say that telling work was a piece of cake. I wasn't too stressed out about it but was definitely anxious to tell everyone and make it all official. My boss was amazing. My team was equally amazing. And colleagues that found out were super excited. I have to say, the fact that I work for one of the world's coolest company's makes this all so much easier. I'm going to take four months off -- the best benefit that we probably have as a company.

Last week I was in the US again for work and spent the weekend with my mom. We went shopping and bought a few things. She got the twins the cutest bedding ever. Check it out on Pottery Barn Kids. We got some more clothes, a few other small things, and I found the stroller that we want at Buy Buy Baby (LOVE this store) for about $300 less than it would have cost us to buy it here in London. So I bought it (Baby Jogger City Select). I should have taken a picture of me lugging a massive duffel bag and three large boxes back to London by myself. Thank god for car services.

Today, we're going to check out a few cribs and then try to get our list of stuff we need together as my step mom (P) and dad (ok, mostly P) is putting together a virtual shower type thing for us since we are all alone in London with the family being back in the U.S. and in Mexico. They are coming to visit in two weeks so can't wait for that!

One question, will just bringing two Phil & Teds Cocoons to Delhi be enough to get the twins around in and let them nap and stuff or do we need to bring something else like a stroller, pack and play, etc.???

This weekend all of our friends are hanging out in Chicago and we're kinda wishing we could be back there with all of them. Such a fun weekend in summer. Carlos and I were just talking about how nice it would be to be out on a boat with friends again. I think it's because we have this pic in the house from one of our last boat trips in Chicago before we left and it made us just a little homesick this morning. But alas, we have the Olympics. We saw the 3m men's diving finals on Tuesday and I saw the women's beach volleyball finals on Wednesday, where the U.S. brought home the gold. Guess I can't really complain.

Big Week

With just a few minutes until I board my flight back to the US for a week full of meetings, I thought I'd post a quick blog to say that this is the week I'm going to tell my boss the big news. I'm pretty relaxed about it and love the fact that this isn't stressing me out. We'll see how that goes after my meeting tomorrow morning!

Everything is going well with our surrogate and the twins. Following the last scan we had a cardiac specialist do an ultrasound to look at the twins' hearts. I was nervous about the small echogenic intracardiac focus that they saw on one of the twins, but continue to be told it's nothing to worry about. The cardiologist did a very in-depth study and sent through pictures and videos of both of their little hearts, pumping away. And found them to be in perfect condition.

Ok, I'm paranoid. But everyone who has gone through this or is going through this, knows why. You just never know what kind of news will come next. In our case, it has been all very positive news so far.

Last week, we actually gave in and bought some awesome clothes for the twins. They are super cute and we were super awkward actually buying clothes. We had fun with the family doing it though and that's what really matters. My mom simultaneously has bought a few things for the twins so it's getting more and more real by the second.

I think this is really happening. Oh, and did I say that my sister told us she is prego and just five weeks behind us?!?!  So crazy. Especially since it's just the two of us. Our parents are going from zero grandkids to three in a matter of weeks. Nothing like us going all out on this one.

Surprise Scan!

The past three weeks feel like months. While they have flown by, the only thing we've had to look at are the ultrasounds from the 16 week scan. The next scan was supposed to happen next week (20 weeks), but to our surprise an email came in from the wonderful team at SCI yesterday. It was our next ultrasound (at 19 weeks).

To put this all into context, the scans don't always happen as planned. It usually takes place within a few days of when it is supposed to happen. And that's OK.

The good news is that we are able to see the little twins growing away. The bad news is that we have to wait four more weeks for a new one.

Everything seems to be on track. The only issue that came up was that Dr. Jolly saw a small echogenic intracardiac focus in one of the twins. I've been told that everything is fine and that this usually disappears before the third trimester. I've also Googled the hell out of it and sounds like it can be nothing, but that it could also mean there is an increased chance of a problem. We're going with the "it's all OK" explanation for now -- which is what Dr. Shivani said.

The pics look amazing. Would love to know if any ultrasound experts reading this see anything in particular that we might not have made out. The 3D images are pretty cool. A little weird. But amazing to see.

Here is where we are at:

Normal active and passive movements are seen.
The liquor is adequate .
Placenta seen along anterior and posterior wall, low lying, not previa,

TWIN- I
Variable presentation
The approx. gestational age is 19 Weeks 4 days
BPD -46mm, HC -170mm, AC -150mm, FL -26mm, EFW:288gms
Nuchal Fold - 2.4mm
Nasal bone is seen.
The fetal head shows normal ventricular system. The fetal spine, limbs,
cord insertion, 3 vessel cord, KUB, four chamber view of heart, stomach
bubble shows no obvious abnormality. Small 'echogenic intracardiac focus seen.

TWIN- II
Variable presentation
The approx. gestational age is 19 weeks 0 days
BPD -44mm, HC -16lmm, AC -134mm, FL -28mm, EFW:260gms
Nuchal Fold - 2.8mm
Nasal bone is seen.
The fetal head shows normal ventricular system. The fetal spine, limbs,
cord insertion, 3 vessel cord, KUB, four chamber view of heart, stomach
bubble show no obvious abnormality.

16 Week Ultrasound -- Half Way There (sort of)

We keep asking ourselves, "Is this real" and "At what point do we need to admit that everything is good and on track and actually start planning?"

As most of you know, we've been hesitant to jump the gun and get too excited. But there was something about hitting this 16 week milestone that made this all real. Maybe it was seeing the report with the estimated birth weight, the actual measurements of the twins' heads and abdomen, or maybe just the pictures of the almost-human-looking babies growing bigger every week. Whatever it was, it has made this all real and we're now going to start planning. That said, we know that it is still early on and that we have a long way to go, but we have to focus on being excited and the positive -- which is what this scan was all about.

So I said that we are half way there, sort of. Here's what I think... Since a singleton is normally born at 40 weeks or so, and twins are usually about 3-4 weeks earlier, I'm guessing that the two (which we are convinced are one boy and one girl) are going to be born around November 18 or so. That means they will be born at about 36 or 37 weeks. If that's true, then we are just about half way there, with only about 20 weeks left to go. That's awesome.

We get the next scan in four weeks. Following that scan I'm going to make it totally official and tell work.

I'll quit rambling now and get on with the details and pics...

The scan took place a few days before we hit 16 weeks and the twins were both measuring perfectly!

Placenta seen along anterior and posterior wall, low lying, not previa, grade o 

TWIN- I (1st and 2nd pic on top)

Variable presentation 

The approx. gestational age is       16    Weeks    2       days 

BPD -33mm, HC-120mm, AC-102mm, FL-21mm, EFW:153gms

Nasal bone is seen.

The fetal head shows normal ventricular system. The fetal spine, limbs, cord insertion, 3 vessel cord, KUB, stomach bubble show no obvious

abnormality.

TWIN- II (last pic on top, first on bottom)

Variable presentation

The approx. gestational age is        16     weeks     2     days

BPD -34mm, HC-125mm, AC-110mm, FL-18mm, EFW:149gms

Nasal bone is seen.

The fetal head shows normal ventricular system. The fetal spine, limbs, cord insertion, 3 vessel cord, KUB, stomach bubble show no obvious

abnormality.

Patience is Overrated

So I've written a blog post with this title before. It's so true though. Patience is overrated.

For some reason C and I were thinking that we would have another scan this week as this weekend will be two weeks since the last one. I was wrong. At this stage, the scan happens every FOUR weeks, not two. How are we supposed to wait four weeks? That's an entire month.

I guess the good news is that everything is OK and there is no need for a scan every two weeks. But I got so used to seeing the updates, new pictures, little alien, peanut-looking things turning into what now actually looks like a little human. Oh well. Guess we have to wait.

Now that we are at 13 weeks, we're starting our second trimester, or ending our first, depends on what you read. Think maybe we'll start to think about planning now. Maybe even look at baby stuff. And we might even buy a book or something (any suggestions???) to start to learn more about what's about to happen come Nov/Dec.

On another note, could you please ask summer to return to London? I prefer sun and warm to rain an cold. Thank you.

I guess I'm not patient with the weather, either. Do you see a theme?

Congrats to our fellow bloggers Jeff and Kevin in DC who just had an amazing (and 10 lb!) little baby boy. It's so cool to watch other people who have been on this journey reach the point where all the waiting, all the emotions and all the dedication pays off.
 

Surprise Scan

The weather is finally great here so we decided to head to the beach for the day. On the train ride back, we got an email with our latest scan results. Everything is on track and both twins are measuring about 12 weeks, 3 days. We are technically at about 11 weeks and 3 days so they are definitely growing ahead of schedule!

So we thought we were going to get the scan later this week, but Dr. Jolly apparently had an appointment this weekend and was able to do it early. This was our 12 week scan, which included the NT test. Everything looks great, according to the OB. Here is what it said:

- Active and passive movements were seen.
- Liquor was adequate (don't know what this means)
- Placenta along anterior and posterior wall, low lying, not previa, grade 0 (don't know what the last part means)

- Twin 1: BPD 16mm, HC 61mm, Nuchal lucency 0.8mm, nasal bone seen, ductus venosus shows normal flow (don't know what this means), no obvious gross congenital anomaly.

- Twin 2: BPD 16mm, HC 64mm, CRL 47mm, Nuchal lucency 0.9mm, nasal bone seen, ductus venosus shows normal flow (don't know what this means), no obvious gross congenital anomaly.

So we're right at about 12 weeks. We are excited, but cautious still. About a week or two and we'll be done with the first trimester. I suppose in another month or so we'll have to shift from being cautious to actually planning.

Is this for real?

Looking at the image on the top right, I'm starting to feel like it might be.

All good

It's been a busy week this past week, which was probably a good thing as it kept us from obsessing over the waiting game and worrying too much! Over the past week, we were happy to find out that everything went OK with our surrogate. We are now expecting twins and as of the latest scan, both of them are doing well and measuring in at about 10 weeks and a few days.

We are so happy that everything went well, but know that this is still very early and that we shouldn't get too excited. I think the thing that made it different for us this time is that the scans really do resemble little alien-like babies. And I mean that in a good way. It's really the first time that we can make sense of what's happening in there... and that's kind of exciting.

Heartbeats were coming in at 156 and 162 bpm, and the one with the 156 heartbeat is measuring in at 31mm, the other one is a bit bigger at 37 mm. Still a long road to go, and we're not over the first trimester hump yet. But we're keeping hopeful.

In two weeks we will receive the next scan, which will be right at about 12 weeks. Now we wait again!

Have a great weekend everyone! It's been a good week!

Latest Scan

It looks like time has gotten away from us again and we've realized that we haven't updated the blog in the past two weeks or so. Here's where we are at...

Two weeks ago Saturday, we received an email from Dr. Shivani's office that said our surrogate had came in due to light bleeding. We of course freaked out. They did an emergency scan that day and found that everything was totally fine. No issues at all. Apparently, this is fairly common. Who knew!?

That said, we had a scan at 7 weeks, instead of the normal 8 weeks. You can see it below. All four embryos were fine, all four had heartbeats detected (124, 126, 132, 136 bpm), and the next step was to wait two week for the next scan and update.

We heard from the doc on Monday and the specialist has seen our surrogate and believes that everything is looking really good so they have decided to schedule the mandatory reduction for Saturday. Bummer to have to go through this, but we don't have an option. I've read about many people who really struggled with this and I can now understand why. The only saving grace to it all is that we have no option in the matter. Otherwise, we'd probably be having quadruplets.

We're thinking good thoughts for the next few days and wishing our awesome surrogate and the docs in India all the best.

More to come next week. Hopefully continued positive news!

6 Week Scan

It's funny how quickly a week passes by, while at the same time feeling like it has taken forever. It's been nearly two years since we've gotten this far along in the process and we nearly forgot how annoying the waiting process is! Patience is the name of the game though (I suppose).

So I woke up on Thursday morning, the day that this week's scan was suppose to take place. I hadn't heard from the doc so I waiting a few hours. Ok, I waited one hour. And then sent a short note "just checking in." They quickly responded -- side note: Dr. Shivani and her team have been AWESOME at responding quickly to any of our emails or calls -- and said that the scan has been scheduled for Friday. Ughhh. Another 24 hours of waiting.

It was worth it.

The email came in this morning and much to our surprise showed that there were not three, but FOUR "well defined gestational sacs with live embryos." Heartbeats were detected in all four (110, 118, 124, 126 bpm). Ummm. Great news right?

We're keeping our fingers crossed still and we'll see in two more weeks how everything progresses. It's super exciting but still super early. Based on the CRL measurements, we are at 6 weeks, 1 day. So much can happen over the next 6 weeks, which will be the end of the first trimester. Twins are the max that surrogates are allowed to carry, for both their health and the health of the babies. So we'll have to see what happens and deal with it in a few more weeks.

But until then, we're really lucky to have received good news, yet again this week. And we'll see just how slow the next two weeks go before we see our next scan.

Here's a few pics. So cool.

Lucky Three

Just a quick update...  Right on schedule we heard from Dr. Shivani's office that the scan was done and that three gestational sacs were identified. So awesome. Super early of course but the fact that we have three chances for things to work out is really great.

Next week we'll have even more good news hopefully. Until then, here's the picture.

I always like to see the pictures!

Super. High.

So I decided to take a look back at old blog entries over the past two years. Have two years already passed by since we started this whole process?

I was specifically seeking out the results of our first Beta HCG report. So it was June two years ago and the first blood test that they did was 23 mIU. We thought that was great at the time as it was more than 0! Unfortunately, that didn't work out. But...

We just got our blood test back from the transfer that took place on March 27 (transferred four embryos at Blastocyst) and it is... 831.25 mIU! Ummm. That's super high. Super. High.

We know that we have to keep guarded on this one and that we've been through this all before. BUT we have been through this with an initial blood test of 23 and this is 831. I'm hoping that this means that we have had really good luck this go around.

And now we wait. Next week will be the first scan to see what exactly is going on. The next scan (assuming all is good) would happen the week after.

Great news in what has been a tough week. We're headed in the right direction.

Thanks for everyone's encouraging comments. They no doubt helped make this a great start with the new clinic, donor and surrogate!

 

25. That was a fun year.

After a quick whirl-wind trip to Delhi, I made it back home and jumped into the madness that is work. Really love my job. But need to fit in some sleep and down time at some point!

For the first time in a really long time, I returned from my travels with an upset stomach. Something got to me. I probably shouldn't have drank the water out of the tap in Agra. Not a smart move. About Agra... Seeing the Taj Mahal was incredible. I can truly understand why it is such a wonder. What is also a wonder is the amount of time it takes to drive there. Don't get me wrong, there is a bunch of stuff to see, culture to soak in and everything from cows crossing the road, to monkeys hopping from roof to roof, to chaos at every intersection. Getting there was interesting. Getting home was a true test of patience.

I'm thinking that when we go back in nine months (hopeful thinking!), if somebody wants to see the Taj, I'm going to recommend the train. Surely can't be that much worse than the drive back, especially if you get carsick.

Back to baby stuff now... Today was the egg retrieval day. All went well and they were able to harvest an incredible 25 eggs. Will know more about the quality and how many are viable after Sunday. But 25 is a great start. We couldn't have asked for better news!

Now the fun starts. Learn more about the status of the embryos on Sunday/Monday. Wait a few days for the transfer to take place. Wait two weeks for a blood test. Wait a few more days after that for another one, hopefully. Then wait two weeks for the first scan.

I feel like we've been through this before. Oh, wait....

From London to Delhi

We're both really excited to say that we are off and running... again.

Last night, I fell asleep just after taking off from London and woke up this morning as we were descending into New Delhi. Between our recent move and work being super busy, we haven't had the time to really think about whether this time was going to be our time or not. Stepping onto the plane last night though, I felt really positive.

Landing in India, reality set in and it took me back nearly two years when we started this whole process for the first time. I was really nervous then. Not sure what I was walking into. This time though, I felt at ease. The ride to my hotel was pensive. I dazed out the window at the passers by and random cows on the side of the road. I was soaking in the vast differences between India and London and for some reason, thinking about how calm Delhi feels to me in comparison to Mumbai or even Hyderabad. Yes, it's chaotic. Yes, it's even shocking what you see at times. But not to the extent that it was in Mumbai and Hyderabad.

So I spent the afternoon catching up on work and hanging out by the pool for an hour or so. I grabbed a snack and then headed to meet our new doctor. I waited in a waiting room with about six other people in it. There is no doubt that she is busy and has a successful practice. But once she came out to introduce herself, the six other people in the room seemed to disappear as she was fully interested in getting to know me, hearing about things at home and our experience thus far.

I was given a tour, shown the very detailed medical records that they keep, explained the process of finding and then qualifying a surrogate and donor and then introduced to the many people that she has working for her. We sat down, went through the various surrogates and picked the wonderful woman that will give it a try for us in just a matter of weeks.

We're really excited and hoping that by mid-April, we have good news to share...

More to come from Delhi.

We're back in action.

Updates coming soon...

Hey everyone. We know it's been a while since we've updated the blog. But we're back. We're working on the final details of our next plan of attack. Should be able to share an update very soon!