Here we go....

C emailed me this morning to check in and see how things were going.  She said that she had emailed our NC yesterday to let her know that the contract had been sent to their attorney and that she would probably be contacting me with the calendar soon.  She said that she was going to head to the hospital to start Round 2 of her chemo.  This treatment is a little different than her last, as she will only go in every 21 days instead of weekly, but it may be a bit harder on her body.  Her parents got into town last night, so that they could take her today.  They seem to be a really close knit family, like mine and she has such amazing support from her family and friends.  She has such an amazing strength and positive outlook.  I really hope that the treatment is a little easier on her body than what they think it will be.  Please pray for her health and strength during this process.

Shortly after C's email, I got an email from my NC today saying that she was making calendars and needed a few pieces of information from me, including any dates we need to avoid.  I let her know that I am pretty open any time in the next 3 weeks since I will be on sabbatical from the 4th - 22nd.  She let me know that C & W had signed the contract and sent it back, so she said we will aim to start Lupron on Monday.  She told me that she was going to email me the consents and calendar later in the day.  I assume she got busy, as I didn't get either by the end of the day.  Guess we will see what happens tomorrow.

Final Contract....DONE!!

Almost there!  I got an email back from my attorney this morning that C & W were ok with all of the changes and sent back one small adjustment.  I emailed my attorney back to let her know I was fine with the last change and she sent me back the final copy.  Yea!!  Now to just get it signed and notarized.  Once she sent it back to me, she emailed the NC at the clinic my legal clearance letter.  Now we just have to wait for the calendar.  Really hoping we will be able to transfer while I am off from work, as it will be easiest for all of us and the most cost effective for C & W.  As typical with surrogacy, it is hurry up and wait.  Hurry up and get the contract done and now wait for the calendar.  Hopefull, we will get it very soon!

The Reason We Do It

Me with Miss Molly

 

Tonight was such a wonderful night.  I had the pleasure of visiting one of my surro-sisters and her intended family tonight.  I have known this surro-sister for quite a while now and have been following her journey from the beginning.  We cycled together once and supported each other through our difficult times/losses, as well as celebrated the good moments too.  I got to meet her IM when they were down here for an appointment back in the beginning too.  We all had lunch together. 

 

We were able to visit for a couple of hours and I got to get some snuggles in with Miss Molly, who I watched grow in her surro-mommy's belly.  After a very long labor, she delivered an 8lb 10oz baby girl to her awaiting parents and big brother.  With permission, here is a link to the video of the labor and The Birth of Molly with photo credit to Terah Pliley Photography. 

 

Unfortunately, I'm not able to post the pictures from "E"s birth, so I'm glad I can live vicariously through this video and want to share the beautiful joy and blessings surrogacy gives.  All the meds, restrictions, and months of pregnancy are all totally worth it for the end result of creating and building a family. 

 

Catching up with "A"

I tried to text "A" my yoga picture and one of the pictures from Tulum while we were still in Mexico, but I kept getting an error, so I texted it to her today (she likes yoga/pilates too).  We had a great chat (via text).  We still have only talked a couple of times since "E" was born, but text every few weeks.  We're both so busy and it's just so easy to send a text while still being with my family or doing whatever activity I'm doing and I imagine it's the same for her, especially with a baby that I'm sure requires her undivided attention.  We "talked" for a couple of hours and she sent me a couple of new pictures of him with one of her friends and a video of him laughing.  They are both doing really well and she is loving every minute of it.  I'm so glad that she continues to keep in touch.  It's so neat to be able to show my kiddos the pictures and how he is growing. 

Last Day in Paradise

 

Yes, it was a wonderful trip and it was our last day in paradise, but I think we were both excited to see our kiddos.  I was determined to do some yoga on the beach before I left, so that is exactly what I did.  I got up with the sun (only because we forgot to close the blinds by the desk, so it was starting to shine right in my face - all things happen for a reason) and threw on my work out clothes.  I stepped outside and realized it was a bit chilly, so went back and grabbed my sweater to head down to the beach.  It was so beautiful first thing in the morning and it was so quiet and peaceful.  Perfect for a morning yoga session.  I grabbed a golf cart (it was now a little after 7am) and headed to the beach.  I learned on the ride down that it was unseasonably cool this morning for Playa and it was around 50 degrees.  Once I got to the beach, I found a spot that I thought would be good and set all my things on a chair nearby.  I laid out my towel and started my session.  There were a few other people on the beach so early (no more than 5 or so), most just walking and a couple running along the tide line.  The water was surprisingly warm, but the sand still oh-so-cool.  My session lasted around 45 minutes and afterwards, I set up the timer on my camera to get some shots of a few poses.  I haven't taken any photos of my poses for a few years, so thought it would be a great opportunity and should make some beautiful photos.  I took a lot myself and then I had a nice lady running by with her son, take one with my phone.  (The photo below).  I think they all came out great, but absolutely love the one she took.  After I finished all the pictures, I had seen some people with really large conch shells, so thought I would walk the beach to see what I could find.  It was also really relaxing just listening to the water wash up on the shore and let the water run over my feet.  I actually found quite a few really great shells further down on the beach between another resort and ours, including 2 really large conch shells.  I thought the kids would love them and they would be something unique that I could bring back for them.  I had so many that I wrapped them in my towel, so I wouldn't drop them and placed it in my back pack.

 

 

When I was done walking the beach collecting shells, I grabbed a golf cart and headed back to the room.  On the way back, I saw the President of the company on a morning run.  When I got back to the room, I threw on my swimsuit, denim skirt and t-shirt since we were going to grab some breakfast before heading to the beach.  DH had his swimsuit and a t-shirt on.  We headed to La Lagunas for the breakfast buffet.  It was pretty good.  I stuck with the cottage cheese, fruit, some eggs and oatmeal.  Not too bad.  They had SO much food.  After breakfast, we rode a golf cart down to the beach and collected a few more shells and then headed back to the pool.  On our way, we thought we would get a few more photos of the locations around the resort before having to head back and get ready to leave.  Here are a few of them.

 

This is the infinity pool at the edge of the resort, next to the beach.

The pool bar (which was not open yet)

This was part of a maze of pools. A lot of them were connected, but there were big obstacles in the middle of them, which made it seem like they were separate pools.

It was a little bit overcast, so after laying by the pool for a little while, we decided to go ahead and head back to the room, order some room service for lunch and then get ready to leave.  Luckily, I had packed almost everything the night before, so there wasn't much left to do.  We had a wonderful lunch.  DH had clam chowder (for the 4th time on the trip - he said it was fabulous...and obviously, his favorite) and a steak.  I had a shrimp cocktail (that was phenomenal), a salad and a roasted chicken.  Once we finished lunch, we grabbed our luggage and headed to the lobby to meet the group.

 

A few minutes later, our charter bus arrived and we all loaded up to head to the airport.  They asked us to identify our luggage before it was placed on the bus (to avoid forgetting anyone's luggage I assume) and I couldn't find my bag.  Ugh!!  This is why I don't ever let my luggage leave my sight I thought to myself.  I'm frantically looking everywhere and the little bellman takes me to another area it might be.  Nope, not there.  Seriously?!  On the last day?!  Well, I walk to the other side of the bus and they are loading luggage there too.  They start unloading some of the bags and what do ya know?  There's my bag.  Whew!!  I went to get on the bus with DH.  We got to the airport, checked in and headed to the gate.  We were definitely plenty early and Mexico security was SO much easier than here in the states.  The terminal was like a mini shopping mall, so DH stayed with our stuff, while I went to grab some coffee and check out the little shops to see if there was anything else for the kiddos.  I did find some fun little, wooden whistles (almost like a recorder) and a bracelet for DD along with a bookmark for my Mom.  She has always been a reader and that's usually what I bring her back from vacations.  It started when I was back in HS and brought her a nice leather one back from Ireland.  The flight seemed so long going back, but I watched a movie, so that helped.  We arrived home, deplaned and headed to the car.  It was a little funny, because I NEVER check bags if I don't have to, so DH and I each had a carry on.  We walked through baggage claim and I saw a few of my colleagues and told them, "Have a great night.  I'm sure I'll talk to some of you tomorrow." with this big grin on my face.  They looked at me funny and one asked about our luggage.  I said, "We've got it.  We don't check bags."  Kinda felt bad for them, but glad to not have to wait for all that luggage.  We headed to my Mom's since she was keeping the kiddos to say goodnight.  We both had to work in the morning and she was taking the day off already, so we just let them stay there one more night, but definitely wanted to see them. 

 

 Here is a video with a lot of the photos from the trip.  Not the best quality, but it will do.  It was such a WONDERFUL trip.  Mexico Trip Photos