2 years ago today...

...I lay nervously on an exam table hoping to become pregnant.  A few days later we learned that we were successful and our pregnancy journey began.  To celebrate our transfer-versary, I thought that today would be a good day to take a walk down memory lane.

THE JOURNEY

Nana's Plugged In To Surrogacy News

My Nana, my ninety year old Nana recently sent me an article from a magazine she was reading - Ladies Home Journal.  The article was about surrogacy.  Now we all know how much I enjoy seeing surrogacy in the news, so I was thrilled to see the article, however, what struck me more than that was the fact that Nana read the article, thought of me, and sent me the article along with this lovely note.

Jeni - Didn't know if you got Ladies Home Journal - thought you'd enjoy this article.
This lady is older than you but she's giving of herself just like you--
Love you - Nana
Hugs & Kisses to the girls!

The article was about this beautiful family.

"Bringing In Finn"

God bless my Nana.  The 90 year old woman who had no issues whatsoever when it came to me becoming a surrogate.  The woman who completely embraced the fact that I was carrying for 2 men and lovingly referred to them as "The Boys."  The Nana who was thrilled to crochet baby blankets for Gustavo and Milena that I could give to them at their birth.  And when she heard how much Farid and George liked the blankets and wanted one "their size", she gladly (and proudly) crocheted an adult size Nana blanket for them.  Nana blankets are a real specialty in our family.  We all have and treasure them and it makes me very happy to know that the guys and the babies also have a Nana blanket.

Pretty impressive that a ninety year old woman is such a cool chick, wouldn't you say?  Apparently it's in the genes.  :)

6 Months Old

It's May 6th folks, which means that 6 months ago today, 

Milena and Gustavo made their debut.

What a wonderful, transformational, joyous 6 months it's been!

These kids just couldn't be any more perfect.

Yes, you can call me Mr. Handsome

I'm happy and I know it

Happy 6 Months Gustavo and Milena!

Jeni sends you lots of great big hugs today.

Featured Blog

Check out this blog.  It's awesome.  This girl's got a pretty fantastic story to tell. I'll let her give you all of the ooey gooey details but here are some teasers for you.

1. She's pregnant.  Possibly (I think) with multiples.  :)
2. For her best friends.  Baby Daddy 1 and Baby Daddy 2 
3. She's moved into BD1 and  BD2's mansion, while she's on unpaid leave from her highly successful job with the US Government, to write her life story...oh yeah...and have a baby or 2.
4. This after spending 3 weeks traveling across the country of Spain. On horseback.  For real.

Intrigued?  Me too.

My Baby's Daddies

One Year Ago Today

The view from our hotel room.  George and Farid really spoiled us.

One year ago today, I woke up from a 3 hour sleep feeling incredibly excited...and a little scared. It was transfer day.  My mom, Jill and I took turns taking showers, and began getting ready for the trip from New York City to Connecticut.  Our morning consisted of Jeni "losing it" for a brief moment, as I was really feeling the pressure.  I wanted SO badly for this transfer to be successful.  Our morning also consisted of losing all power to our hotel room.  Did you know 3 blow dryers at once is too much juice for one hotel room?  :-)  Fortunately, hotel staff fixed the problem quickly and seemed to find the humor in 3 chicks trying to blow out their hair at once.  Hey!  A girl's gotta look nice when she's getting knocked up!

Stress much?

We made a quick stop at Starbucks for breakfast and we hit the road.  We made great time and arrived at Connecticut Fertility with time to spare.  This gave us some time to sit in the parking lot and process what was getting ready to occur and how amazing it all was.  It also gave me some time to become a little more nervous!

Mom and I.  Yes, I know...she's gorgeous.

We waited only a short time in the waiting room before being called back for the actual transfer. After they took me back to get changed, Dr. Doyle stopped by to say hello to Mom and Jill. They told him I was very nervous.  He asked what I was nervous about. They explained to him that I really wanted the transfer to work. He reassured them that it would work.  He felt extremely confident that I would become pregnant.  He was right.

These 2 beautiful embryos were transferred to my uterus.  

It was such an amazing moment. 

 I will never forget how full my heart felt at that moment.  

The 5 of us left the clinic with  two precious babies in tow.  

We grabbed a bite to eat on our way back to the city.

Once back at our lovely hotel, we took some time to chill.  I did a whole lot of this:

That evening the guys picked us up at the hotel and we all went to George's volleyball game.  It was super fun to see George and his team doing their thing and especially exciting that they won!  After the game, Farid and George took us on a little driving tour of New York City.  I absolutely adore New York City at night. I love New York City during the day too, but I think it's especially beautiful at night. We ended up ordering some dinner and having it delivered to our hotel room. We got a chance to eat, hang out, and chat.  We were all wearing our good luck bracelets that Skyler had made for us and we made lots and lots of  twin wishes.  I remember laying in bed that night, thinking...wondering.

Was I pregnant?  

Was I pregnant with twins?  

Yes, I thought.  Yes to both.

One year ago today I woke up after a 3 hour sleep feeling incredibly excited

...and a little scared.  

This morning I woke up after a 7 hour sleep feeling extremely happy

...and incredibly proud.  

For today, there are 2 men in Brooklyn who woke up to 2 beautiful babies.  

The Babies Are Coming! Are We Ready?

I felt compelled to offer a bit of my perspective for surrogates and budding intended parents alike who are either going through this journey or contemplating it. In a recent blog post, Jeni opened the 'floor' to questions to be fielded by me from her readers. I will attempt to answer some over the next few days / weeks.

To begin with, George and I can not believe how quickly the time has flown by. In the beginning of the process (summer of 2010), there is a sense of urgency, excitement and anticipation for the process to happen already and when it finally did, it flew by.  As we approach the end of the journey and look forward to the arrival of our children (a boy and a girl: Gustavo and Milena) due in November, we are filled with the same anticipation and excitement we had when we were beginning the process.

We're frequently being asked by our many friends and family members, "Are you ready?"  While I understand many of them are referring to the material things that need to be in place at home for the arrival of babies, I confidently answer, "I've made a huge room for them in my heart, my mind, my soul and now my apartment. (Giving up the home office was tough!) Yes, I'm ready.  Gustavo and Milena, we're ready for you. The question is: are they ready for us?  We've got an amazing world filled with love in store for them.