Our amazing surrogate

We are just blown away by our first look at our gorgeous surrogate.  We feel so blessed to have Mrs M carrying our babies for us, she has done such an amazing job. We are 32 weeks pregnant today with the twins and can't wait to meet them and hold them in our arms.

7 Months - Shower, Scans & Nurseryland

At the end of October we shared a memorable day with family and friends at the baby shower we never thought we'd have.  It was an opportunity to celebrate and reflect on the amazing commitment and achievement of what has been a 10 year battle to start our family.

Thank you to all our family and friends for making this day so wonderful!!!

Our 28 week scans consisted of the usual head and abdomen shots, but this time round we did have cardio scans which looked amazing.

B1 was measured 27 weeks and 1 day at the time of the scan.  New measurements are BPD 66mm 26wks and 5 days, HC 255mm 27wks and 5 days, AC 214mm 26wks, FL 52mm 28wks and EFW 997gms.  All other details from previous scans remain unchanged so all good there once again thank God.

B2 was measuring 26 weeks and 2 days at the time of the scan.  New measurements are BPD 64mm 26wks and 2 days, HC 245mm 26wks and 5 days, AC 203mm 24wks and 4 days, FL 51mm 27wks and 4 days and EFW 893gms.  B2 is still in breech position which has now sparked talks with the clinic about a confirmed c-section for Mrs M. 

And now for the big nursery reveal...woodland animals here we come!!!

Night night, sleep tight little ones!

I love these baby owls...so cute!

Can you tell mummy works in a library???

A magical woodland nursery for our twins...

As this update is a little over due, our 32 week scan and report (along with belly shot of Mrs M) should be sent this Saturday.  I'm guessing it will be our last emailed scan and report as we will be arriving in Delhi on December 12 unless the twins decide to make an earlier entry into the world.

So the babies bags are packed (guess we should pack a little something for ourselves shortly), we have the visas, accom and flights booked, DNA test done so I guess that's it.  Parenthood here we come!!!

Thank you to all our family and friends for their love and support we can't wait to introduce you to our bundles of joy in a few weeks!  As always we are thinking of everyone in blogland and wishing them the very best!

6 Month Miracles

We received our 23 week scans and report back on the 18th of September and we're very happy to hear that Mrs M and the babies are continuing to progress through the pregnancy well.  

Whewwww another month down and just a few to go!  

The placenta has moved up and is no longer low lying grade 0 but seen along the anterior and posterior wall, so grade I (we think this is a good thing??)  

We think the kids have had their first tiff as B2 seems to be giving B1 the cold shoulder and decided on a change of position...conversation probably ended with something along the lines of 'hey buddy...talk to the foot!'

 So at the time of the scans the babies were about the length of corn cobs!

And now for some stats and pics..........

B1 was measuring 23 weeks and 2 days at the time of the scan.  New measurements are BPD 55mm, HC 212mm, AC 175mm, FL 44mm and EFW 588gms.  All other details from previous scans remain unchanged so all good there.

B1's noggin

B1 striking a pose from the other angle!

B2 was measuring 22 weeks and 4 days at the time of the scan.  New measurements are BPD 52mm, HC 215mm, AC 170mm, FL 40mm and EFW 518gms.  B2 has decided that a change of scene is needed and so is now in breech position! 

B2's noggin

Great pic of B2's spine...wow!

We recall at the time of writing last months blog entry we were still pottering around and trying to pass time, but now everything is in full swing and there just doesn't seem to be enough time during the days to get everything on that list done.

For now though...baby shower invites are posted, flights and accom are done and dusted, the nursery is under construction and the DNA test will be happening next week.  Then just the visas next month and we should be set!

In the midst of our chaos and excitement of preparing for the arrival of our babies we would like to just take a minute to let everyone out in blogland know that we feel the pain and sorrow of  the recent losses in the SCI families. Each and everyone of the babies, IP's and surrogates are in our thoughts and prayers.  To the IP's we understand and feel your loss and pain too.  Please remember that we are all here right with you on your journey's, so don't forget to reach out to us...we will always reach right back!  The kindness and support we were given during our loss in March was amazing and unexpected and we will never forget it!!! 

Congratulations to all those who have received the best news of their life recently...the almighty BFP, good luck to everyone with 1,2, 3 or even 4 on the way and for those who have had a BFN don't give up because we are all proof that in time your baby dreams will come true!!

So it's bye for now from nursery construction land!!!!!  

Oh yeah check out this little corn cob...still trying to decide if it's cute or a little crazy lookin???  

Probably best not to turn your back on that one though huh!

5 Month Delight!

Much to our delight we received our amazing 3D scans 1 week early at 19 weeks.

We are relieved once again to hear that Mrs M is doing really well and the babies have been making fantastic progress.  Babies are only a few days shy of 20 weeks so looks like we have a couple of bananas at the moment.

B1 was measuring 19 weeks and 3 days at the time of the scan.  New measurements are BPD 46mm, HC 166mm, AC 134mm, FL 30mm and EFW 278gms.  All other details from the 16 week scan remain unchanged which is great.

B1's noggin

Our first picture of B1 - hello sweet baby!

B2 was measuring 19 weeks and 0 days at the time of the scan.  New measurements are BPD 43mm, HC 163mm, AC 127mm, FL 30mm and EFW 264gms.  All other details from the 16 week scan remain unchanged which is also great.

B2's noggin

Our first picture of B2 - our little avatar!

We continue to pray every day and night that Mrs M and the babies progress through this pregnancy well, as we pray also for the other surrogates, babies and IP's.  

Thank you to all our friends and family for their support...you keep us grounded when our thoughts and worries start to drift off between India and home.

These scans could not have come at a better time for us as we were starting to get the case of the 'nerves before next update thing' which now we can see everything is fine...so we're fine.

Week 17...half way there!

We received our 16 week scan and report during the week and are of course over the moon in hearing that everything with Mrs M and babies is just fine.  So it's all oranges and onions for week 17!

B1 was measuring 16 weeks and 3 days at time of scan.  New measurements are BPD 34mm, HC 126mm, AC 105mm, FL 21mm and EFW 156gms.  Nasal bone is seen.  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.

B1's noggin

B2 was measuring 16 weeks and 2 days at time of scan.  New measurements are BPD 32mm, HC 124mm, AC 98mm, FL 22mm and EFW 152gms.  Nasal bone is seen.  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.

B2's noggin

So we are very blessed that everything is continuing to go well for Mrs M and the babies and we are so so grateful for this pregnancy.

We are passing the time attempting to de-clutter the house and prepare the nursery.  We've given ourselves the next couple of months for this mammoth task (only like 8 weekends really eek!).  We are hoping to then focus on the paperwork, visa's, DNA test, flights, accom etc...in the last couple of months before we head over to Delhi to be united with our precious little ones.

Our highlight of the week was the absolute joy of sharing our news with our 100 year old relative which is something we never though we would be able to do!

As always cyber hugs to all those in surro blogland, we will continue to pray for you all on your journeys (through the highs and the lows). A a huge thank you to our friends and family who continue to support us on our journey to parenthood... thank you xxx.

We'll sign off with Mr onion now....happy 17 weeks Mrs M and babies

We're here...sensational second trimester!

B1 measuring 59mm, 12 weeks and 4 days and looking quite snug!

B2 measuring 58mm, 12 weeks and 3 days and looking really snug!!

Our little ones have actually made it to 14 weeks today (and tomorrow for B2) which we are absolutely thrilled with.  As you can see our scans rarely show the twins together in the same shot - so individual already!!

We are pleased to learn that both the twins nasal bones were seen on their scan and both are clear of abnormalities.  Our email from SCI detailed that all is well with Mrs M and that the babies are progressing perfectly.  Well we can't ask for more than that.  We now have graduated to the monthly scan and so will have to get used to waiting a little longer for progress updates, but from what we have seen of other IP's scans it is well worth the wait when each monthly scan shows so much progress!

We are starting to think about the layout for the nursery now and managing to go through and make an inventory of the various baby items we have collected over the past 10 years that until recently we thought may have been accumulated in vain.  We were surprised at how many bits and pieces we had collected over the years, and for a little while there we tried so hard not to think about.

I'm really excited to be going to a friends baby shower this weekend as it's the first one I have been happy and excited to go to in years.  Bring on the cupcakes, baby talk and silly games!

Well as always we had to check the fruit and veg comparison for the week and as it turns out our limes have developed into lemons.  Quite fitting really as the winter weather has set in here and the hot honey and lemon drinks have been almost a daily ritual!

Thinking of all of you in surro-land and sending prayers and good thoughts for whatever stage of the journey you are on.  Thank you for everyone's support as always, we really look forward to hearing from you!

Well done babies and Mrs M - happy 14 weeks!!!

And we have limes...and a special dedication

Our little ones have now developed to the size of limes and are doing very well with strong heartbeats and great growth.  We were equally pleased to hear that Mrs M is doing really well with the pregnancy too. 

Our scans are proudly on the fridge where we can stare at them dreamily and  remind ourselves on a challenging day of the rewards of not giving up when things get a little tough.

We would like to dedicate this post to our amazing friend Milsy whom without her love, support and encouragement we would probably not have been brave enough to continue to pursue our dreams to have a family due to the many years of heartache and challenges.

And now for the scan we were so afraid we would never see as we have not progressed past week 10 with a pregnancy before.  Just 2 more sleeps until we make week 12 (not that we're counting)...bring on the 2nd trimester!

Wishing all the other surro families all the best with pursuing (and maintaining) their dreams!!

Magical 8

We have received our 8 week scan and report and are very, very happy with the progress our little bubbles have been making...or should we say raspberries!  Our little bubbles are now the size of raspberries having grown 15mm in the last 2 weeks.  Their heartbeats are now showing 124 and 132 bpm which is stronger than on the last scan.  It was lovely to hear that our wonderful surrogate is doing well with the pregnancy too!!!

Wishing everyone in the surro world much luck and happiness with your journey no matter what stage you are at and we thank you for following our story and supporting us!!!  

A Double Delhi Ashi

We are thrilled to know that we now have two heartbeats in our 2 beautiful little bubbles.

We are so grateful for our amazing surrogate and we feel like the luckiest couple on earth right now!  

Our next scan is due in 2 weeks time...so grow little ones!!

A big thank you to our surrogate family who have once again helped us get through another incredible week.

Have you ever seen a double rainbow?

Have you ever seen a double rainbow?

We just did and it looked like this

Our beautiful surrogate is carrying 2 bubbles measuring 5wks + 3days!

Who would have thought after the storm of our hearts blew through our lives in March with the loss of our first bubble that we would be blessed enough to see a beautiful rainbow...make that a double rainbow today in our surro mummy's belly on Mother's Day!

We thank God for the gift of the special women in our lives today especially our surrogate, the other amazing surrogates and the talented Dr. Shivani and SCI team.

Happy Mothers Day!

We did it!

Just a quick update to let you all know that WE DID IT! 

Well Dr. Shivani, her team and our awesome surrogate did it...mostly!!

That's right...were pregnant!!!

We still can't believe the magic numbers that came with this update...our beta was a whopping 394.45!!!

Now we're really scared AND EXCITED.  Our first scan will be done before the end of the week which will reveal more...maybe alot more.

Thank you to everyone for their well wishes and prayers (obviously every single one of them counted!), but a special thank you to temmytango, Dehli Dreamers, lucylu, New Year Dreaming, Jacaranda, bear, Arya and Paul and lisalu...thank you for reaching out to us when we needed that pat on the back and a nice word.

Another new beginning

We are on the count down for that all important email that has the ability to change our lives (hopefully) as we know it.  We will be out of the 2ww on May 6...and wouldn't that be something to receive such wonderful news of a pregnancy 1 week before Mother's day.

Work, studies and a very long list of things that need doing around the house have been keeping us occupied, but the art of distraction comes at the price of exhaustion!!!

We will be praying for all those waiting on receiving the same hopeful news, those who have recently had this amazing news and those who have achieved what seems the impossible.

Before we forget...a sincere thank you to all those who offered their words of wisdom and a shoulder to lean on over the past few months.  We always thought this was going to be pretty much a solo journey for us, but we are so overwhelmed and grateful to share our journey with all those in the surro world and feel very privileged that you choose to share with us too.

When starting over brings more heartache

This wasn't how we planned on starting our blog to share with the Club Surro, but here we are!  We actually had a plan to begin on a positive note and make our story known once we could safely say that we are pregnant (for the first time) and expecting in awww 6ish months.  However last Saturday brought us back to the reality of the miracle of creating life with an unexpected email from India explaining how our 8 week old fetus was showing no cardiac activity on the scans taken.
We were absolutely devastated and found out that Dr. Shivani and the embryologist were just as shocked over this as us given that our little bubble was making excellent progress each week.  We found ourselves in a daze and numb trying to comprehend that we were going through yet another loss.  Our loss was endured silently as were all our previous losses, yet this time it seemed compounded by the fact that India seemed so far, far away from us here in Australia.

We reached out for the first time to poor Meg and Margarida to try and understand how to cope with this new level of pain and we trawled through countless blogs trying to pick up on how others who have gone before us on this surrogacy journey have coped with the loss of miscarriage without the support of family or friends.  Admittedly we had previously read all your blogs for the heartbreakingly good news not the sad news.  So if anyone can share with us some words of wisdom about how to get through these next few weeks it would be much appreciated.

Our story so far...is that we have been trying to start our family for 10 years now which has financially and emotionally robbed us of some of the best years of our lives.  Testing after the initial 12 months without conceiving revealed that I had a uterine abnormality which 3 different gynies had 3 different opinions about exactly what the abnormality was.  The final conclusion was a dideiphus mullerian abnormality and for good measure menopause was also thrown in at the ripe old age of 34.  This outcome was only known to us in the last 6 months and previously we had a failed IVF attempt and had numerous unconfirmed miscarriages over the years.
We made a decision to abandoned our 3 years spent waiting to be allocated a child through international adoption before we started our IVF treatment as that seemed to be going no-where fast.
The discussion of surrogacy came up once again as this really now is our last shot at becoming parents.  So in September last year we approached SCI and decided to give surrogacy shot.  We were in India in January this year and had the privileged of meeting the talented Dr. Shivani and her team and they have been in our hearts and minds everyday since.  So we transferred 4 embryos and considered ourselves very, very lucky to have 1 stay with us for 8 weeks.

So now with slightly more fragile hearts we hope to try again very soon with some of our frozen embies.  So now we hope and pray that for 'a Dehli Ashi - which translates to a Dehli Blessing or Miracle'.
Thank you to everyone for sharing a special piece of your private lives with others like us...as this is the only place we can go for information, reassurances, to have a laugh and a cry with all things surrogacy and infertility related and where others are actually walking in the same shoes and experiencing the same personal stories.