We're back...

We're back in the saddle again...

That is a funny song my dad used to sing when we were all driving in the car on summer vacation. I always think of it when things start to kick off, no matter what they are. We are getting back into the swing of things in our life. We just wanted to thank you all again for your love, support, and patience during the last 6-8 weeks. We are not defeated as we were once feeling, which is nice. We do have loose plans for the future, but are not up to sharing right now. Sorry!

So, Stephen has been in school for about 3 months now. It is amazing to see how well he is doing there. He wakes up everyday and asks if he can go to school. I hope that sticks! His sentences are getting longer and his vocabulary has quadrupled! It is unbelievable. He has made a few friends that he talks about regularly and gets excited to see them. It is just so cute. The best part of Stephen being at school is at the very end of the day, when we get to pick him up. He comes running with his arms open and hugs us. It is the best feeling in the entire world.

We spent Halloween up in NJ with my family. We went trick or treating with some of my high school friends and their children. It is hard to believe that we have kids now! It was nice to spend time with them and catch up. We got a chance to see lots of friends this time. Most of our meetings seemed to be at the Pub. Speaking of the Pub, I was able to bartend with my sis one night! It was so much fun. I helped her out for a private party. I am not sure how well the drinks tasted, but no one really complained. It was my first time mixing drinks and really bartending, and I really enjoyed it. I enjoyed the stupid conversations that the customers were having with me and I enjoyed spending time with my sister! She is the bestest :)

It feels good to be back in the blogging world. I have been writing blogs in my head for a week or so now, so I knew it was time to give a little TLC to this site. Thanks, as always, for your love and support. Check back for regular posts now!

Hanging in

That is how we are doing. We are hanging in there, some days better than others. We can't thank you all enough (family, friends, and friends of friends) for your love and support during this time. It is incredibly difficult to still think about, but we will get through this. We have a little two year old that is gives us more joy each day. He has helped us laugh a little this week. We are trying to stay positive and encourage each other as much as we can. We spoke with Fr. Joe, which is also the priest who married us. He was a good sounding board and blessed our two angels that are in heaven. It was very emotional, but very healing. Please keep us, our surrogate, and our doctors in your thoughts. They are just as upset as we are. Stay tuned, we will be back.

:(

We lost our twins today. Please pray for us and our surrogate. She had a fall and miscarried. This is devastating news for all involved. :( :(

Summer fun

Stevie and I went to a museum two weeks ago with my friend, Jen, and her two children. Stevie had such a great time there and we are looking forward to going back soon. Here are some cute pics from that day :)



Stevie on the Magic School Bus



Yes, he is drilling into an enormous set of teeth!



Playing alphabet puzzles :)

Then last weekend, Stephen played in a softball tournament out in Mocksville. Stevie and I went to the first game and then went home. Stephen's team ended up winning the tournament. He had a great time swinging the bat. Here are some pics of Stevie at the tournament, in his Yankees' helmet, of course!

जुड़वा

There is no better way to start a day than seeing a little skype bubble pop up from SI. Although we do have regular updates from the wonderful docs, we always are hungry for more information. It had been about a week from our last contact with Dr. S and Dr. Y about our lovely beta numbers and we were getting antsy! We knew the numbers were a bit on the high side, but still well within the singleton statistics. We desperately wanted to know how many little embies were hanging out with us for the next nine months. We checked our emails, did research trying to predict it ourselves, and even test drove cars that are a bit bigger, just in case.

Well.... Dr. S asked us today how we would like to have twins, because that is what we are having!!! I had an exciting conversation with him this morning and he told us the news. I was so excited and overwhelmed, that I cried all the way to work. I called Stephen (who is out of town) and told him the news. We were both elated. This is just what we wanted. We wanted a family of three.

Over the course of the day, things started piecing together in my mind from the last two years. Many people have told me today, "When God brings you through troubles, he doubles the blessing." Ok, I am not sure if that is it word for word, but it is the meaning that counts. I know why those horrifying things happened to me, I know why the other surgeries to open my uterus were not successful, I know why we are where we are in our life. I know this because it makes sense now. We are bringing two beautiful babies into our family, into this world, that were made out of a love so strong between Stephen and I. We are helping Ms. K. and her family to give them better things in their lives. What better way to live than helping people? Stephen and I will never find enough ways to thank the SI docs, the SI team, and Ms. K. for what they are giving to us. They are giving us the greatest gift, a miracle, well... two miracles. Long before that though, they gave us hope. They gave us hope that we could have the family that we wanted, that I could have more children, most importantly, that I was not broken.

Not too many people know how we struggled after Dr. I-don't-care-that-you-are-bleeding-to-death sent us home, only to be rushed back again the next day. We went through endless boxes of tissues, crying and wondering why. Why did that happen, how could he let it happen, and most of all, we wondered how we were going to pick up our pieces and move on. It was not pretty, it was not quick, it was not over until very, very recently. But, it is clear to me now, so very clear. It was to bring us to this. Was it the best road to get here? No way! But, it is bringing us children that were meant for us and meant to happen this way. I will be grateful for that always. I could never have duplicated these two blessings that are coming into our life, even if I could get pregnant. That is the true miracle.

Enough with the reminiscing, I have to get back to school work. My mom told me that I had to blog today for the ladies at her work!! Shout out to AW Meyers!! Thank you again for reading this and supporting us. Please pray that we have a very, very boring, uneventful, and healthy nine months! P.S. the title of this blog reads "twins" in Hindi ;)

Life, even in the hardest times, is full of moments to savor. They will not come this way again, not in this way.
Paula Rinehart

Randomness

We are still on cloud nine over our news! Our prayers have been answered, our wounds are healing, and we are so thankful for what is happening in our life right now. Stephen and I celebrated our 4th anniversary this past Thursday. The night before, we found out we were pregnant. There will never be a better anniversary gift than that! For all of you who inquired, our first HCG (or beta) was 574. Pretty strong for a first number. We pray that Ms. K. is feeling good and as excited as we are. We have asked SI how she is doing and we have been told that she is in good spirits and otherwise well. Thank you for ALL the emails, phone calls, PM's, text messages, and every other way we were contacted. We are so happy to share this wonderful news with you :)

Back to our anniversary, I told Stephen that it felt like we have been married for much longer just because of all the things we have been through so far. Our marriage has been tested time and again and has only strengthened. We have been through 3 houses, 2 cars, deaths, birth, emergencies, 30th birthdays, numerous surgeries, and everything in between. We both feel like our wounds are healing and we can really put the past in the past, where it belongs. We have changed the way we think of things, how we perceive what has happened to us, and feel that there is only more good to come out of our life together. We are so grateful to have each other and truly know that we were meant to be.

Stevie has an update of his own, tomorrow he is "unofficially" starting preschool. We are starting him with two days this week and then full time next week. We all went there on Friday to let him look around and get comfortable with the new surroundings. He saw some friends that he knows and immediately went to the "beep beep" car. He had a great time. He kept telling me today that he was going to school tomorrow to do work. How cute! If he only knew how many years of "work" are to come. Otherwise, he is enjoying his summer and his time with me. We hang out in the morning and then swim or play in the afternoon. He is finally back to a regular bedtime schedule in his crib (thanks mom and all others who skipped the crib)... ;) Just teasing. It was somewhat of a challenge to get him into his routine.

So, Stevie and I are both going to school tomorrow. I decided to pop in my room and start getting things set up. It should be quiet and those are usually the best days to work. I am still thinking of a way to explain to my students that we are having a baby, but I will not look pregnant. hmmm.... any suggestions, let me know.

We have decided to repaint the dining room. It is a beautiful red, but a few weeks ago, I found new linens that are brown and blue. I am in love with these linens and want to repaint to show them off. Thankfully, Stephen is pretty easy about that stuff and agreed. I just have to get the time to do it now.

I think these are all the thoughts that have been wandering in my mind for my latest post. Hope you all enjoyed reading thus far and you have a great day :)


Stevie in my dad's 54 Ford, cruisin' for chicks...


Peter testing the riding lawn mower... I believe he liked it! Pete, you can mow ANYTIME!!!


Stevie in his "beep beep" car at Gamma and Umpa's


Stevie with my glasses, going to do "work"

Drum Roll Please............

We received a phone call about 11:30 pm last night with the results of our transfer and..... we have a POSITIVE pregnancy!!!!!!!!!!! We cried and cried and cried. Most of you know the struggles we have gone through since Stephen's birth. We are just so thankful for all the great things that are in our life right now and for all the things to come! A big thanks to all of our family, friends, "surro" friends, and of course the wonderful SI team!!! Without your love, support, and comments, we wouldn't have been so strong and determined! Thank you again :) :) :)

Patience

is one of my best virtues, not Stephen's though. Surprisingly, we have been very calm during our two week wait. It may be that we have a two year old running circles around us. He doesn't leave much time for our thoughts, so we stay positive.
I recently received a book called Happily Grateful from my mom's boss. She gave it to us for our trip to India. I read through it again tonight and came across my new favorite quote. It sums up our attitude for the next few days!

"Today I live in the quiet, joyous expectation of good."
Ernest Holman

Enough said, we patiently wait :)

Transfer

We are caught up on our sleep for the most part. We slept almost 2 days straight. I tell you, the time difference really hurts on the way home. We have been spending a lot of time with Stevie and he doesn't usually want to leave our side.

Yesterday we spoke with Dr. Sudhir and Dr. Yash and we were told that they transferred three "really good looking" embryos. So, ladies and gents, keep your fingers crossed and say some prayers for us, because the two week wait is on!! We should hear something early August.

We are really touched by how many people are following our blog and the amount of comments and emails we have received. It means a lot to us and helps us stay focused on our goal. We were very skeptical about telling people other than our family because it is such a foreign concept for building a family.

So, we will continue to post, not on a daily basis, but every few days. Stevie occupies all of our time, so we will do updates on him. We are going back to NC this weekend because Stephen has to get back to work on Monday and my summer is slowly slipping away. We start school on the 17th of August. I'm not sure when the kids get there, but it won't be too long after that. Why can't we go back in September?!?!?

Home, Sweet Home

We have arrived safely in Newark this morning and are resting at my parents' house. We woke Stevie up as soon as we came home and words can not express how happy we all were to see each other. More later, after we catch up on sleep. Thanks for all the great comments yesterday :)

Great news!

We have two pieces of great news to share....

1. EPU went fabulously. It was quick and flawless. They were able to retrieve my eggs and hopefully they have already been introduced to Stephen's swimmers... haha. Transfer will be on Wednesday sometime. Stick, babies, stick!!

2. We are flying home tonight!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I feel fantastic, we've spoken with the doctors, and most importantly we are all packed. So, we are off to the airport in 90 minutes or so to check in. We are very excited to get home and see Stevie. We miss him so much.

So, to all our of family and friends, thanks for the support and positive vibes sent our way. We will catch up with you guys when we are back in the US!!!!

Hospital Tour

Today, Stephen and I decided to visit the hospital where our baby(ies) will be born. It is a different hospital than where we have been visiting and getting our lab work done. It is a more modern hospital, built within the last 5 years and is very nice. We were able to see a L&D room, where a C-section would take place, and the regular room where we will stay with our baby. It was very reassuring to visit this hospital and it helps us keep focus on our goals.

While we were there, we were able to visit with another couple here for baby pickup. They also had a daughter a few days ago and she is precious. Dr. Yash told us that all 4 babies that have been born so far have been girls.... hmmm... is there a pattern? She said to Stephen that they pick the best sperm and that they are always the girl sperm. We all got a laugh. He told Dr. Sudhir to pick the sperm for us and to pick a boy. It is all in good fun. We will be happy with either a girl or boy, or both!! The fact of the matter is that we just want a sibling for Stevie. We did joke with Dr. Yash that if we had a boy, we would name it Dominic and for short, Dom. That would be after all the Domino's pizza we have eaten here.

We are both SICK of pizza!! I mean, we have had it everyday. I don't want to see pizza for a very long time. I had a second dream last night about a ham and cheese sandwich. Yum!!! We can't wait for a glass of milk either. We are in the home stretch though. Tuesday we are getting ready to fly home.

Last night I did my trigger shot, well I should say shots. It took seven injections to get all the medicine in. Talk about a tender stomach. I am so glad that my injections are all over. In total, I have taken 42 injections in the last 3 weeks. That is a lot for me, but I realize not as much for others. Tomorrow morning, bright and early we are going to the hospital for the egg pick up. I believe my surgery time is scheduled for 930 am. It is a quick procedure, usually about 20 minutes. Stephen will also give a fresh sample of his swimmers tomorrow. Then, shortly after, we will come back to the hotel. Our transfer will be on Wednesday. The eggs should be in by the time we get back to the US on Wednesday morning. We are beyond excited and just very positive right now!

We are venturing out to the Leela hotel tonight for Italian. We are going with Chaya and Sam and their kids. The hotel is right across the street and we should have no problem getting over there. It is going to be nice to see another hotel and have a change of atmosphere. That's all for now, I will post again tomorrow after I get back from my EPU!! Here's to lots of follicles that form into embryos :)

Trigger shot!!

Today was an exact repeat of yesterday. Tons of extra sleep, sat by the pool for a while with friends, and hanging out in the room.

The really good thing about today is that I officially had my last injections of Lupron and Gonal-F. What a relief, my stomach is bruised up a bit. Tonight is the trigger shot and no other needles until the IV on Monday!! The trigger shot, for those who are lucky to not be challenged in the fertility department, is to help all my follicles mature and get ready to be released. You have to take your trigger shot appoximately 36 hours before egg pick up. Three weeks of injections has worn on my body and I am ready to feel like myself again :)

Hope you all have a great day and thanks for the continued support, cheer, and comments. We look forward to them because they really keep us going!!

Hanging out

We had a very relaxing day today. It started off early though, a 530 am call home to skype with Stevie. He talks just for a few minutes and then we pass the computer around to anyone that is there. It is great that we are able to see him, because we are both at the point where we really miss him now. A very comforting fact is that he is having a great time in New Jersey. Somehow, he suckered my family into letting him nap on the couch and not the crib. hmmmmm..... spoiled a bit? It is ok, we don't mind as along as he is happy and comfortable. My dad is handling him Friday by himself though and that should be real interesting. I think they are going for a haircut, just a trim dad, no buzz, please!!!

We had breakfast with our friends and then came back to the room and slept until 230 in the afternoon. We headed down to the pool after that because it was sunny today! We were hanging out at the pool and ran into our friend Dave from Tennessee and decided to go sight seeing with him again tomorrow. Then our friends Chaya, Sam, Justin, and baby Ella, came to the pool to hang out for a while. We are very grateful to have met all these people and enjoy their company immensely. We were also informed that another member of our online surro family is coming here in the next day or so because their baby was born this morning. Hopefully we will be able to meet her and her husband and congratulate them in person!

After the pool, we came back to the room and we are just hanging out. Thankfully, we have a better internet connection today, so we were able to catch up on email and things like that. We officially changed our flight to depart Tuesday night and arrive in the US on Wednesday morning.

We are not scheduled to do anything with the doctors until Monday, which is for sure, my egg retrieval. Dr. Yash saw a few more developing, so it looks like maybe 12-14 eggs. She was very happy to see this and told us we will have several to freeze if we want to have more. We were also excited to see that things are progressing properly, even if it is a little slower than expected.

So, that's all for today. More updates tomorrow. I am going to try to see the cathedral here tomorrow, as I have read that it is beautiful. I have my St. Gerard medal around my neck, which was given to me by Kelly and Gerard, which was originally Nana's. I have been praying everyday and will continue to. For those of you not familiar with Catholic saints, St. Gerard is the patron saint of expectant mothers. Positive thinking brings positive results! Also, we saw another butterfly today!!! ;)

Thursday

This is going to be short and sweet. We have had a long day and the Internet was down most of the day. We went for the anesthesia test and everything looks good. They just ask some simple questions about your general health and past surgeries. My number of surgeries is getting longer and I definitely want this egg pick up to the be last one for a very long time. Then we went for a follicle scan. Wouldn't you know they still are NOT ready. They are still growing. So, Monday is THE day for the pick up, no doubt. Trigger shot is Saturday night and EPU on Monday around 930am. That means we will leave here on Tuesday and be in the US Wednesday morning. We are anxious to get home at this point. We miss Stevie and the comforts of the US more than you can imagine. So, we are off to bed and will have some more tomorrow.

Good things come to those who wait...

Today was the day we have waited over a year for. We finally met our surrogate!! She is a beautiful, 26 year old Indian woman with a husband and two children. She came with her husband and her 4.5 year old son to the doctor's office this afternoon. We signed all the necessary paper work and then sat down to chat. I was so overwhelmed and overjoyed that I started to cry. Stephen had a few teary moments also. We are just so grateful for what Mrs. K is going to be doing for us. She is going to complete our family puzzle with another child or two. She was very shy and quiet, but was very pleasant to talk with (through the help of Ravi). We found out that she is a seamstress, so to speak. She does it as her profession and her hobby. She told me she would make me some clothing. Her husband is a waiter at a restaurant near where they live. Her son was the cutest little boy ever and he is the same size as Stevie. Her daughter was with the grandmother to help look after her and attend school.

We gave them some gifts as a token of our gratitude. Not that we could ever give them a gift as great as they will give us, but, we gave the children lots of coloring books, crayons, colored pencils, and construction paper. We gave her husband chocolates and then found out that he is not to fond of chocolate, but she and her children are. We gave her some various scented lotions that she seemed to enjoy. It was truly an amazing experience to try to tell this woman (without crying too much) how we appreciate her and are so thankful for what she is willing to do for us. I know she gets compensated, but it is not enough. It is truly a selfless act. She is already a special part of our lives.

After she left with her family, we ate lunch with the docs and their office staff. They had some delicious Indian food, while we had... well, you can guess. Pizza.

It is getting to be an old joke...
D- what do you want for lunch?
S- I don't know, what do you want?
D- Well, if we have pizza now, we can have pasta or hamburgers for dinner, OR, we could have pasta and hamburgers now and then pizza for dinner. Which do you want?

I don't even know why we bother having the conversation, we should just have them deliver automatically. hahaha. Stephen misses American food so much, that he had a dream about eating hot dogs last night. He told me that he wanted like 7 Ball Park hot dogs when we get home. He is silly, I know, but we do miss real food!!

I went to Dr. Yash's clinic after lunch, which is downstairs from her office. It looks like we can harvest 10-12 follicles, which it the number they aim for. They don't want too many more or less. But, they are still on the smaller size (16mm) when Dr. Yash would like them to 18-20mm each. So, I am stepping up my shots, I just gave one when we got back and then I will give another one tomorrow morning. I go for my anesthesia test tomorrow and she will scan again tomorrow. This will set us back for EPU on Saturday morning and egg transfer Monday. So, it looks like a flight home Monday night, arriving in the US on Tuesday morning.

Stephen had the pleasure of giving a sample of his little swimmers today. I asked him permission if I could post this and he agreed, with very limited details! He said the room was disgustingly disgusting. They will freeze this sample as a back up and take another fresh sample on Saturday morning when they collect my eggs. And that is all I am going to say about that. If you want more info, question him ;)

We are having dinner tonight with some friends from Canada that have been here to pick up their baby. She is almost a week old and sooo adorable! I can't remember if I posted about them or not, but we hung out in their room last night until about midnight. They are so cool and we all have so much in common. It is nice to sit down and talk to people that were where we are in this stage of the game. They give us tips and things to be aware of. We really enjoy spending time with them. It will be sad when we have to say goodbye. I feel like we will be lifelong friends that have been bonded over this experience. We may not see each other again, but will we remain in contact.

Aunt Julie wanted to see some photos of the place that we are staying. The name of the hotel is The Intercontinental at Lalit. We have not been able to take a picture of the outside or pool area because it is still raining. I did take some pictures of the lobby, which is gorgeous and our room. It is the basic room. Enjoy and talk to you tomorrow:)


Lobby


Lobby


Lobby


Stephen in the bed snoozing :)


Bathroom, which is lovely, separate shower and tub :)

Rain, rain, go away

Well, we finally experienced a true "monsoon" day today. I was up about 6am and it has been raining, well, pouring, since I have been up. It is raining so hard that it is almost impossible to see in front of you. Some of Mumbai has flooded already and many things are beginning to close early so people can get home safely. That is exactly what happened to us. We were in the car for 5 minutes with Ajit when we got the call from Dr. Yash at the hospital that the lab was closing and we would have to reschedule everything for tomorrow. So, no scan today to see my follicles. After increasing my medicine the other day, I have begun to feel some discomfort in my abdomen. Today has been the most uncomfortable so far, so I was a little disappointed the scan was cancelled, because that may mean my EPU will now be Friday. So another injection of meds tonight and another 2 days of being uncomfortable. It is all worth it though.

Dr. Sudhir and Dr. Yash are going to try to come by tonight and visit with us to discuss the rest of the week's events. We are looking forward to seeing them and hearing what is in store over the next few days. We are going to be quite busy tomorrow because we will have the scan, the anethesia test, meet our surrogate and her hubby, and the signing of the contracts.

We skyped with Stevie yesterday and were able to talk to James, Jules, Meaghan, and my dad. Sorry, Mom, take lunch earlier ;) If you have not tried skype, you need to. It is really cool!! My mom and dad told us two days ago that Stevie climbed out of his crib the other night. OMG!!! I can't believe he is doing that. Stephen and I have talked about it, and it is probably time to get him a regular bed. We do not want him toppling out of his crib every night :( Ouch!! We are eager to hear if he tried it again.

That is it for now, it is kinda a boring day here. We have laid in bed and watched tv most, well, all of the day except for meals. If anything super exciting happens here, I'll surely post it ;) We just wanted to say how thankful we are for the support and love that we have felt these past few days while we have been here. We have heard from friends that we haven't talked to in a while either by comments, emails, or on facebook. It means a lot to us and helps us feel not so far away from home. Thanks everyone!!!!

Gateway of India

Today we ventured out to downtown Mumbai. We were guided by Ajit, a wonderful tour guide and driver. We were also joined by a man named Dave, whom we met this morning at breakfast. He is also from the US and here on business. We left this morning at 11:30 and just returned a little after 5.

Stephen, Daria, and Ajit

We started out at the Gateway of India. What a beautiful monument to celebrate the British exiting India after giving up their control in the 1940s. Right behind the gateway of India is the famous Taj Mahal Hotel. This hotel is breath taking. We explored inside the hotel and a little outside. They had a beautiful garden and pool area where I saw a butterfly!! My guardian angel made it to India!!



Gateway of India



Taj Mahal Hotel


Beautiful gardens and pool at Taj Mahal Hotel, this is where I saw the butterfly


Gorgeous lobby in Taj Mahal hotel, the marble used was unbelievable!

We then traveled to Ghandi's house and saw where he lived while in Mumbai. There was a very interesting exhibit of clay made statues that displayed all the important dates and events in his life. On the upper floors, they showed some of his writings on display and they had a love letter on display. It was the sweetest thing I ever read. We really enjoyed this museum and learning more about Ghandi and his mission.


Ghandi's home in Mumbai

Afterward, we had lunch, which was at a pizzeria. Surprise!! Are you catching on to our pattern? Pizza is a safe food for us here. Our new friend, Dave, had some Indian toppings on his, but Stephen and I stayed safe with the plain cheese.

We also stopped at a market and silk shop on the way back to the hotel. The market had lots of produce and such things. It was not what we were thinking of when we told Ajit that we wanted to go to a market. We were thinking more of local vendors that were selling local art and things like that. I did purchase a "Star of India" pendant from the silk shop. It is a beautiful blue stone that shows a white star as you move it around in the light. My description does not give it justice, but it is beautiful.

We were talking to Dave about the India people, as this was his first day out and about. He only landed last night. It is amazing how happy they are and how little they are able to get by on. Most of the cars are older here and many use public transport. Water is being rationed in many areas due to the lack of rains from the monsoons. Electricity is only allowed for 8 hours a day in some areas around the city. It is just amazing that the people are still vibrant even though they face these daily struggles. Many people here have referenced Slum Dog Millionaire but we have not seen it yet. We have been told that it is very true to form as to what goes on here. It is so sad to see the children beg for food and money. Most of them are barefoot and poorly clothed. They come right up to you on the street or in the car. It doesn't matter to them and they do not take "no" as an answer. They continue to beg until you enter a building or move in the car. It breaks my heart to see these children have to live like this. It makes me so thankful for my family and for what we have. Compared to the people who live here, our problems are minuscule.

So, here we are, ready for dinner. I am not sure what we are going to eat, because we have already had our pizza for the day. haha. Stephen is taking a nap and I am going to join him. Hope everyone has a great day. Tomorrow is another scan and some other things with the doctors. On Wednesday, we get to meet our surrogate!! :):):)

*pictures will be posted later, blogspot is not letting me upload them right now*

Sunday

We have ended another day here in Mumbai. We are just waiting for our dinner to arrive here, tonight we are trying Dominoes. Stephen experimented a little too much at lunch today and wanted to play it safe for dinner. We are eating kind of late tonight because we took a very long nap this afternoon.

This morning after breakfast, we went out on the patio of the hotel to look at the ocean and beach. It was so windy. We sat outside for 30 minutes or so and the wind did not stop blowing once. The wind was strong, almost like a weak hurricane wind. It was really funny to see the birds try to fly against the wind and then succumb to the direction the wind was blowing. There were crows everywhere outside today. Stephen told me I had to forget my superstition about crows for the time being.

For lunch, we went to the Intercontinental Hotel by the airport to meet Chaya and her husband, Sam. Chaya is here on baby pick up. She also traveled with her son. We were able to see and hold her little girl and she is such a cutie!! She is three days old and a little peanut. We wish them nothing but the best for their family. We were also joined by the doctors at lunch. The hotel was so beautiful and there were many restaurants to choose from, that we decided to switch hotels. Amit was here with us today and he made all of the arrangements. We felt terrible for cutting our stay short at the other hotel, but they were still working the kinks out.

After we got settled at the hotel, we both took a nap. We just woke up in time to skype our parents and talk to them. Stevie is doing great and he talks to us for a few minutes each time. Today, he kissed us goodbye on the computer and we both cried. It is so hard to be away from him, but we remind ourselves our purpose for being here. This was the second time we called and missed Steve and Philly! But we have been keeping in touch with them through email.

We can't wait for Tuesday to come so we can see the progress of my follicles and see what day the EPU will be. We are also looking forward to meeting our surrogate in the next few days.

I have some pictures below that capture what we have been seeing here as we travel around. They were taken from the car, as we have not had time to really get out and walk around yet. We may try to do some shopping or something like that tomorrow. The people here have been very accommodating and friendly. They are very eager to please and polite. Most of the people we have encountered are fluent in English, which makes it really easy to communicate with them. Sometimes their accent gets in the way of what they are trying to tell us, but I am sure that goes both ways. Especially since Stephen and I have different accents too. Ahhh, pizza is here!! Thank you for all the comments, messages on FB, and emails. We appreciate your support and prayers :) Talk to you later, love to you all from India ;)


Local produce stand


Housing shacks


Beautiful architecture


Rick shaw, or cheap taxi


Buildings in the financial district, I believe


Learn to speak English

Hello Mumbai Traffic

We had a fantastic day today. We started off with a walk on the beach after breakfast this morning. Our hotel is next door to Sun and Sand for those of you who have been here. The walk on the beach was nice and we caught a few minutes of an adult men's soccer league. We were surprised to see how many stray dogs hang out on the beach. One took a liking to us and sat next to me, as if she would protect me. It was cute.

We also went to the doctors office today. It was atleast 45-50 minutes away from our hotel with the traffic. There is traffic here that could rival tri-state traffic any day. I think Mumbai would win. First of all, they get a close as humanly possible to your car and surprisingly, no one seems to get in accidents. The other thing that drivers love to do here is beep their horn. It was as if they were trying to play a song, that's how many horns are being beeped while you drive.

The visit to Dr. Sudhir and Dr. Yash went wonderful. We chatted for a few minutes and talked about all the necessary events that are happening over the next few days. After giving some blood for routine blood checks, I had an ultrasound. Dr. Yash saw 4-5 follicles in each ovary, which I think is a good number. She increased my meds just a bit to help them develop a little more. She also commented that we may have the EPU (egg pick up) as early as the 16th. That means transfer would most likely be on the 18th and we could catch a flight home that night. We will see how things play out. We see the doctors again on Tuesday to have another scan done.

We ventured out a little tonight to get something different for dinner. We ended up at Pizza Hut, I know not real original, but I have a weak stomach and even though we have been here only a day or so, I am having some food issues. I am pretty sure I am going to lose those last 5 pounds I put on this year. haha... Stephen on the otherhand, is venturing into a little bit of Indian food. He is much more adventurous with food than I am and has a better stomach for it.

We are so tired and want to sleep constantly. It is like our body doesn't know if it is coming or going. It is only 9:30 here, but we are ready for bed. It is about 12 noon at home. We talked to Stevie a little while ago and it was good to see him still enjoying himself. Well, that is about it for now, we are ready to go to bed. In fact, Stephen is already snoring ;)

Welcome to India

We have arrived safely in India tonight. It is early Saturday morning here, like 2 AM. We just skyped with both our parents to tell them we arrived here with no problem. We also got to talk to James, Jackie, and most importantly, Stevie. There is a webcam at my parents, so we were able to actually see him waking up from his nap with Aunt Jackie. We didn't get to talk to my mom yet because she was still working, but we are calling back around 8pm tonight.

The plane ride felt never ending. It was 14 hours in total and we saw a sunset, a sunrise, and then another sunset. We lost a complete day on the plane. It was really weird to look at our watches (still on EST) and see it was the middle of the night and then look out the window and see the sun shining brightly. How amazing!

We have read all the comments and appreciate them, keep them coming, as we love the support and prayers. We are going to the clinic to meet the doctors and we are really excited. We also wanted to say a big thanks to Amit!! He made our reservations flawlessly. I highly, highly recommend you contact him if you are ever coming this way... Hey you never know, we never thought we'd be in Mumbai ;)

We will write more tomorrow, we are going to try to get to bed now. Good night!

Last minute things

There never seems to be enough time in the days lately. We have traveled from NC to NJ in the past two days and we are exhausted, only to get on a plane to Mumbai tomorrow night. We have been running around like crazy people trying to get everything in order. It seems just when we think that everything is crossed off the list, something else pops in our head.

Stevie had a rough time going to bed the past two nights and it breaks my heart to hear him cry for mommy and daddy because we will not be here tomorrow night if he does. My mom will answer his cries and he will eventually fall asleep, but it still breaks my heart.

This time tomorrow night, we will be above the Arctic Circle. It still blows my mind that we will be taking that flight path.

We were able to see some friends and family today that wanted to wish us well. We appreciate, as always, the love and support and prayers that have been coming our way. This was not the way we intended on building our family, but we think it will work just as well. Please check back here over the next two weeks for updates from Mumbai and if you want to chat and have Skype, email or message me and we can get in touch!

The moon

This was possibly the cutest conversation we have ever had...

Stevie: I see the moon, momma.

Mommy: I see it too.

Stevie: I wanna reach the moon, momma.

Mommy: Do you think you can reach it?

Stevie: Yes, mommy, I use daddy's ladder. I climb daddy's ladder and reach it. I reach the moon.

Mommy: Ok.

Stevie: I be careful.

Mommy: Ok.

Stevie: Ok.

Mommy: Will you come home quick, because I'll miss you.

Stevie: Yeh, momma.

How cute is this conversation! He is the sweetest little boy ever. We were driving home from Pops and Philly's house and he was completely exhausted in the car. I tried to get it on film, but he wouldn't repeat it. We love our little man so much!!!

Ready, Set, Shot

This is a mischievous grin if I ever saw one!


Wearing Daddy's cowboy hat ;)


Stevie is growing up so fast, I can't stand it! He said the best words a mom could ever hear the other day. We were driving home from the grocery store and we were talking in the car. All of a sudden, he said, "Momma, you make me happy." I thought that is what I heard, so I asked him to repeat it and he said it again. It melted my heart right there and then. He is just such a good little boy. He has such a great combination of Stephen and I in him.

For his final birthday gift, we bought him a Jeep Wrangler, a miniature one that he can drive. It is blue, his favorite color. It was bought with all the birthday money that he received, so thank you to all that gave him the gift of money!! He loves to drive it, although he does not understand the concept of steering. So, we have to help him steer, but that is very difficult when he tells you, "I'LL STEER BY MYSELF!!!!" And he does shout it at you. It is quite a comic skit! So needless to say, we go around our semi-circle and then park in the garage and disconnect the battery so he can have some "pretend" drive time. He is just as happy with the "pretend" drive time as the "I can't steer well and no one is allowed to help me" drive time!!





Our trip to India is 9 days away. There will be regular posts on our blog once we get there. This is the way we are hoping to keep in touch with everyone and let you know what is going on a daily basis. I bought a book on India this past weekend and have been reading up on the culture and what to expect. I think that we are in for a culture shock to say the least. I am really thinking in my head that is it going to be like our trip to Santo Domingo when we first met. The conditions were so different from what we are used to living with. It is such a humbling experience though and I am ready for it. We get caught up in so much of the day to day life here, that there are times we forget what is really important. I am really going to miss my DVR though. Haha, I'm not kidding. I am so dependent on DVR. We record everything and anything! We start shows late to skip over commercials. I am not even sure what kind of programs we are going to get in Mumbai. Let's just say, I am happy RHWofNJ is over, or I might have called Meaghan and listened to her tv in the middle of the morning!! hahaha....


Ok, so this is the first time I have ever had to stick myself with a needle. I didn't quite know how to handle it at first and Stephen wasn't able to help because 1. he is out of town, and 2. because he told me he can't even watch me do that, let alone help. So, yesterday I got courageous and stuck myself in the stomach. Well, it wasn't that bad at all. I don't know what I was worried about. It doesn't really hurt at all going in and when I think about the reason I am doing this to my body, it all makes sense. I have had two injections now and the only side effect I have felt is hot flashes that make my feet feel like they are on fire!! Otherwise, everything is good.

We are leaving to drive to NJ next Tuesday. We are spending the night in DC with Laura (hopefully, I have to call her and see if she'll be around). So, we will arrive in RP Wednesday morning/early afternoon. Then we fly out on Thursday night. I am probably going to cry my eyes out leaving my little boy for so long. We have been away from him before, but never for this long. We are on a direct flight out of Newark. Stephen and I have been tracking the flights online and the flight pattern is freaky!! We fly out of NJ, up over Canada, over Iceland, over the Artic Circle!!!, then down through Europe. It is about a 15 hour flight. We are planning on bringing tons of dvds, music, and books to keep busy. That is probably when Stephen will read about Mumbai!! haha!! He has just been super busy at work. It will be good for him to have some time off to clear his mind from deadlines and such.

We can't thank our family and friends enough for continuing to ask about our progress and support our quest to add on to our family. I have been a part of a great surro-online-family and I have learned more there than in the 5 years I spent in college. There are ups and downs everyday on the forum and there is constant support. It is unconditional support that means the world to Stephen and I during this time. There are days where we are so excited about all that is going to happen, then there are days where I am a nervous wreck. I get nervous about everything.. the flights, being away from my son that long, all the meds I am giving myself, going under anethesia again, and lastly the monsoon season. I know that is just about everything that will be going on in my life the next three weeks. Hopefully my nerves will settle down a little bit.

Away we go....

I can't believe it!! We have booked our flights, I have medicine shipping to the house tomorrow, and we are sending away for our visas. This started as a "you're not going to believe my crazy idea" to leaving in three weeks! Yay!!

Stephen's Second Second Birthday Party

Stephen and Mommy



Jeffrey, Stephen, and Daddy enjoying an ice pop with Papa in the background
PS- nice glasses Jeff ;)



Stephen and Uncle James playing airplane



Champy cooling off in the kiddie pool


Yes, a second, second birthday party. This time it was in New Jersey with my family and friends. The day started out chilly and rainy, but the skies cleared up and the sun came out for a while. We had such a wonderful time and all the kids enjoyed themselves. The pinata was the best part!! Here are a few pictures :)













Here's the long awaited India update. We have a date, we are leaving July 9th or 10th. I will have my eggs harvested on July 19th. We will be back in the US a few days after that. We have had all our preliminary blood tests done and are in the process of applying for a visa to enter the country. I begin my medicine treatment at the end of June. We have also picked our surrogate. She is a beautiful, young mother of two. We are so excited that she will be helping our family become complete. This journey is finally here for us. We have been waiting for so long and talking about this for many months now. It is very overwhelming and exciting at the same time. I have spent many nights lately working after Stephen goes to sleep until 11 or 12 filling out paperwork and transferring test results to the doctors in India.

We are very humbled that women across the world are willing to help families like ours. We are excited that she can help us fulfill our dreams and we can help fulfill her families needs by providing them money for a solid future for their children. Although their actions are not completely altruistic, there is no greater gift these women can give. We are very excited about our future and how our family may be expanding. Thank you for reading and continuing to support us. We appreciate all your good thoughts and well-wishes. While we are in India, we will definitely update our blog.

Mumbai, here we come!

We have a date! We have a date! We have a date!

We are beyond excited! Mumbai here we come!

Memorial Day Weekend- Chillin'

We want to start by saying thanks to all the men and women who have served this country. We hope you had a great day! We'd also like to thank Dr. Lipscomb on this day for saving my life two years ago. There will never be enough words to express how we feel toward him. He is an amazing, caring doctor and is still working with us very closely on our journey to India for surrogacy.




With that being said, Stevie had a funfilled weekend. We spent some time at home, completing some of our landscaping plans, beautifully created by Mr. Weiss of Greenland in Paramus. Stop by there and pick up your everyday gardening needs to make your home beautiful outside! He was so generous to draw up such detailed and well-thought out plans for our property off of a few pictures. I was amazed how well he got our house shape correct, out of all things. Like I told Krista, we will try our best to complete his dream for our land. Thanks again Mr. Weiss, we will be stopping by on our next trip to NJ!!!

We also went to Badin Lake to spend time with Popsy (Steve), Philly, Dana, and of course, Mom-o. It was Steve's birthday. Ok, follow me here... Steve (father-in-law), Stephen (husband), and Stevie (son). I know it gets confusing! So, we got there after an hour drive which consisted of Stevie's entire nap for the day. To say he had his moments was an understatement. The first thing he wanted to do was to ride Mom-o's boat. He was a little unsure at first, but then said, "I like it." Everything now is, "I like it" or "I don't like it". He will say, "I don't like it" even if it is something he has loved for a while, like watermelon. So, he decided to help his Daddy drive the boat. It was such a sweet moment. It is hard to catch him with a smile on camera lately, but I think we got a cute picture of daddy and son.







He did not want to lay down for a nap while we were there and who can blame him. There is so much to see and try for the first time as a toddler. He has been there every summer since his birth, but he really enjoyed himself this time. He wasn't too sure about fishing though. He didn't like the fish, but did laugh if they flopped on the dock or grass by accident. He fell asleep instantly when we got in the car for the ride home. He was snoring and everything! He had a fantastic day!!



Overall, we had a great three day weekend and wish that I didn't have to go back to school tomorrow. We are almost done and thankfully we all lived through EOG's!! If you got this far, thanks for reading and stay tuned.... exciting things are right around the corner ;)

You can see the rest of our pictures at
http://share.shutterfly.com/share/received/welcome.sfly?fid=90d3be8744462a75c7e45aad1e0cdff4&sid=8AatWjly0buWOD

for some reason, I can't get it to link there, sorry!