Of course I had not slept well the night before and started my morning off with a trip to the dentist which sucked!! But after all of that I was able to meet up with our IPs and do a little catching up before we went to tour the hospital. With Mercy being a catholic hospital I was not sure how a surrogate pregnancy would be received, but it went well. The lady that gave us the tour was very nice, answered all of our questions and showed us everything on the labor and delivery floor and pediatrics. It sounds like they will be as accommodating as possible to the needs of our unique situation. Then it was off to the doctor for our BIG ultrasound!!
I love my doctor. I chose him because I knew that he had worked with a few other surrogates in the area, he is younger and fairly laid back. He has a good sense of humor as well! His staff has really worked with us as much as possible to make sure that everything goes nicely. My Ips really liked him too. He took the time to answer questions and even gave us a little 3D peek of the baby!! Which brings me to the ultrasound. What an experience!! This was the fourth time that I have been able to see the baby BUT it was the parents first time getting to see their baby! It was so amazing to get to witness them seeing their baby move and we even got some really nice picture of its face. Again, my doctor took the time to explain all of the things that we were looking at and reassure the parents that everything looked normal. Emotionally it was an interesting experience for me. I was amazed by the 3D images, I did not have 3D with my kids. It was so cool to see the facial features already! But I did not feel that warm, falling in love with my baby feeling that I had with my own. It was more of a sense of joy for the parents. This was the moment that the pregnancy became very real for them. It was not just pictures and emails from the other side of the world, they were there, in the room seeing their baby and watching it move around and kick, and seeing its little heart beat. It was just an amazing experience! And so what everyone wants to know..... what is it??
IT'S A BOY!!! He is not modest at all and gave us quite a view!! THIS was especially exciting for me because while I knew that my IPS were leaning toward girl, I really thought it was a boy! They, of course, are thrilled with a boy as well! This is my first time carrying a boy so I am excited to see just how different it will be from my girl pregnancies. Unfortunately, this pregnancy is going so quickly!! I cannot believe that in just a few days I will be 6 months pregnant. That means that in about 16 weeks we will get to meet this little guy!
What a year it has been. To think back to this time last year, I was stressing over if I would meet the right couple and how long this process takes. Now, I wish it would slow down a bit! This has been such an amazing, life changing experience for my whole family!
As if seeing their son for the first time and checking out possible places to live for a bit was not enough, my IPs got to meet my family in person for the first time! We started off kind of slow. They met me and the kids at the mall and had a few minutes to chat with the kids while we did some shopping. Then my mom joined us. Now, I was quite excited for her to meet them. While she has been very supportive, I knew that meeting the parents in person would be when she would fully understand how and why I can carry a baby and be okay with not taking it home. Also why I would go through all of the medical stuff and the body changes of pregnancy for people who a year ago were strangers to us. As expected, she loved them! Then we all went to dinner where we were joined by George and Dallys. Dinner went really well and it was full of laughter and good conversations!
Today my Ips came out to the house to say goodbye. We had a nice visit and my dogs were pretty well behaved! As some know, I am a stress cleaner before we have company. Well because we had all been so sick we just deep cleaned a couple of weeks ago and time was pretty limited so of course things were not as clean as I would have liked, but it was reality! I have 3 kids and 2 dogs and work while going to school and pregnant, some dust and clutter is what life is really like for us! Now in about 3 weeks my housekeeping allowance will start!! I will still do the stuff I am crazy about but it will be so nice to pass on cleaning the floors and bathrooms! Dusting too, I hate dusting! I have never had someone else clean my house for me so I am really torn, do I hire a company that I know will do a good job, or do I hire Dallys who is cheaper labor!! Really, I think that I may do both, have Dallys clean one week and a professional the next!
Overall it was a great visit that was filled with emotions. It was so exciting to get to introduce my IPs to my kids and mom and Dallys so that they all know why I adore my Ips so much. It was also great for my kids to experience a little bit of a different culture! And it was absolutely amazing to get to watch my IPs realize that they really are going to be parents in just a few short months. I cannot imagine what it must be like for them. They have to trust that someone all the way around the world, in a country with different norms will be responsible enough to love and nurture their baby from just a few days after conception until he is ready to come into the world. They have to trust that I really will follow the things that are lined out in the contract and that their baby's health is the top priority. I think about how hard it is for me to let my kids go to a friends house and I cannot fathom what this is like for them. I hear horror stories of the limitations and requests that other surrogate have from their IPs and I am so grateful that mine just trust me to do what is best. What an honor to be a part of changing their lives like this.
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