36 weeks - Happy New Year!!

Mark and I have arrived safe and sound in Delhi, we are staying at Svelte and it is really nice and comfortable, with the added bonus of being attached to a big shopping mall.
We have also made it to 36 weeks, Jyoti and the baby are doing fine, the next scan will be done on the 9th January and may be the last one. We will be attending the scan which we are really looking forward to seeing it in real time and also seeing Jyoti, so until then we will enjoy our time relaxing and seeing some of the sights of Delhi.

Wishing all our family, friends and of course our blogland family a very happy new year and may all your hopes and dreams come true in 2012.

Update - Good news

We received very good news yesterday that Jyoti's contractions have stopped and she has been discharged from hospital, YAY!! We both breathed a sigh of relief that the baby will cook for a bit longer and hopefully wait until we are there but we know that babies have their own schedule.

34 weeks

Friday we reached 34 weeks, we received our scheduled scan on Thursday and the baby measured smack bang on 33 weeks and 6 days which is great! Estimated weight was 2.29kg or just over 5lbs. The baby is also now in a head down position but still has a single loop of cord around his/her neck, other than that everything look great.

We received an email late Saturday night saying Jyoti had been admitted to hospital with contractions!! Thankfully she hadn't started dilating so they have managed to stop them with medication and she will stay in hospital for observation at this stage. We had a small panic but we know she is in great hands with Dr Shivani and her team. Fingers crossed that the baby stays put for at least a couple more weeks.

We were hoping to get some more 3D shots of the baby but things must be getting a bit squishy in there because they couldn't get any clear shots of the face and now with Jyoti being in hospital we will probably have to wait until the baby is born to see that little face and finally find out the sex!!

Well I have only got 8 1/2 days until I fly to Delhi and then we wait. It will be nice to be back in Delhi, to meet all of the new families and also to see Dr Shivani and the team.

I will keep you all posted with any new updates on Jyoti and the baby.

33 weeks

So I officially started maternity leave as of Monday, a lot of friends have asked if I am enjoying being a lady of leisure, well i can tell you there hasn't been much leisure yet! Mark and I have been bust getting the house ready and doing a much needed spring clean and declutter.

But we are nearly there and then I will be a lady of leisure! I am planning a couple of lunches with the girls and hopefully will sneak a day in at the day spa for a nice massage and pedicure. Mark and I bought a Nespresso coffee machine and can I say it is totally awesome and maybe the best appliance I have ever bought, I love it!!!

We have also finished the nursery, just waiting for some wall decals to arrive and then it will be totally complete, it was a very surreal feeling setting everything up in preparation for OUR baby, we have been imagining this day for so long and its hard to believe its nearly here!!

No news on the baby but we will get a scan next week to see just how big this baby has grown in 4 weeks, I hope that our SM Jyoti isn't to uncomfortable and I am sure she can see the light at the end of the tunnel too.

We picked up our visas yesterday, so we can now officially go to India at the drop of a hat, but it is only 19 days until I leave and Mark will be there 2 days after me. When we were at the Indian embassy putting our application in, the lady who served us said, "Wow you been to India a lot this year, even we don't go back that often" Mark and I just smiled at each other thinking if only she knew.

Congrats to the new parents and parents to be out there in blogland, such exciting times ahead for all.

Well here are the stats for 33 weeks:

Baby Size

17.75 in - 45.08cm

average cantaloupe

Baby Weight

4.75 lb - 2.15kg

Baby

The waxy protective coating, vernix, is becoming much thicker this week as the lanugo continues to shed and may be almost completely gone by now.

Inside your baby, the lungs are continuing to mature in preparation for breathing in the outside world.

31 weeks and 1 year ago

So we are totally getting down to the pointy end of things now, 31 weeks done and 63 days to go, which really means around 42 days or so since the baby will probably be born around 37 weeks. One year ago today we first made contact with Dr Shivani and her team, it's amazing to think that we are almost at the end of this journey with only 33 days until we head back to India.


Next week is my last week at work before starting maternity leave, while it is exciting to start a new chapter of my life, I also feel a little sad, I have been at my current job for 8 1/2 years and the people I work with are like my second family and I will miss seeing them everyday.


They have all been so supportive of Mark and I and without their support we couldn't have done this, especially with 2 trips to India this year, not one of them complained that they would have to pick up my work load again, they just did it because they know how much Mark and I want a family and this is one of our only options to achieve it and for that we are truly thankful. 

A special thank you to my girls, you have been with us every step of the way, helping us through the lows and celebrating the highs, right from our first trip to India in February which wasn't successful until now as we prepare to welcome our baby into the world and I know they will there for us again when we are ready for a sibling journey. Every week we discuss how big our baby is and when we get scans they are as excited as us to see this miracle growing in our beautiful surrogate. I truly work with amazing people.

Ok, enough of the sentimental stuff, I don't have any news on the baby front, next scan won't be for another couple of weeks and we are hoping to arrange another 3D scan to be also. Here are the stats for Week 31:

Baby Size

16.7in - 42.4cm

Large Jicama - I don't think we have these in Australia but this is what they look like.

 

Baby Weight

3.75 lb – 1.7kg – hmmm..... our baby’s estimated weight 2 weeks ago was 1.8kg

Baby

Your baby is really plumping up and will gain almost half his body weight by the time you deliver. This needed baby fat will help to keep your baby warm in the outside world. The layer of soft lanugo hair is also starting to shed.

Over the next few weeks your baby's real hair and skin will become soft and smooth.

30 weeks

Wow 30 weeks, where has the time gone! We received our scheduled scan the other day and Jyoti and the baby are doing excellent, Dr S is very happy with how things are progressing and by the looks of the measurements from the scan, we have a good size baby on the way.

Our scan was done at 29 weeks and 4 days and the baby measured 31 weeks and 3 days, estimated weight is 1.8kg or 3 pounds 9 ounces for you oldies, not that the weights are always accurate.

One thing that stood out was this kid has a big head, measuring 32 weeks and 3 days but it safe to say that this baby take after Mark's side of the family, FYI Mark was 11 pounds 12 ounces when we was born! Our money is on a boy!

The last couple of weeks in our surro blogland has had a lot of ups and downs, it makes Mark and I so very thankful that we are less than 6 weeks away from our dream of becoming parents. To our surro friends that have had sad news, I hope that as time heals you will have the strength to try again, my heart goes out to you and know that you have the support of us in blogland.

To the new families, Congratulations on your new miracles, it has been awesome to follow your journeys, it almost like we are there with you and at times I felt like a stalker constantly checking for updates.

There were no pics of the baby's face just measurements this time, so here are the stats for 30 weeks:

Baby Size

16.25 in - 41.3cm

four navel oranges

Baby Weight

3.3 lb - 1.49kg

Baby

This week your baby is gaining more weight as baby fat is filling in underneath the skin. Your baby's color is also becoming less red and more pink in color.

By now, your baby's irises can dilate and respond to changes in light.

200 days

That's how long our baby has been cooking for! 80 days to go.

Congrats to all those who have had great results/scans and NEW babies, it has been an exciting few days on the blogs. My heart goes out to those who have received bad news, there are never any words that make it better or take the pain away but know we are all thinking of you.

No news from Dr S and SCI, thankfully it is all quiet for us. I will update when we get our next scan next week sometime.

ps. 18 working days until I am on maternity leave!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

28 weeks - Home stretch, here we come

Finally we are on the home stretch! 28 weeks down 84 days to go until 40 weeks, but we are aiming for at least 60ish.

No news on the baby front which is good, means things are going smoothly and we pray that it continues to be an uneventful pregnancy. We should get our next scan in a couple of weeks, we look forward to each update as it brings us closer to the prize, our baby.

I have also added a new ticker, a countdown to when I fly to Delhi, OMG!! 53 days and counting.

These are the 28 week stats:

Baby Size

15.25 in - 38.75cm

butternut squash

Baby Weight

2.5 lb - 1.13kg

Baby

Over the next three months your baby is in for a major growth spurt. Because of this, you may have noticed smaller movement inside your belly. This is due to the increasingly cramped space.

Good luck to those waiting on beta results, scans or BABIES over the next few days, I know there are quite few of you. I will be checking your blogs regularly for updates.

x

26 weeks - 98 days to go!!!

26 weeks down, 98 days to go and all is well, we received the 3D scan and some belly pics of Jyoti. She looks great and getting bigger by the day they tell me. Hmmm.. I wonder how big she will be in 10 weeks or so.

Nothing new to report, no measurements were taken during this scan as it wasn't a scheduled scan just done for our viewing pleasure.

Mark and I are so very grateful and feel blessed that we have this amazing woman carrying our baby who taking such good care of our herself and in turn our baby. She is truly an amazing lady and we will be forever thankful to her and her family. The level of care that the surrogates receive from SCI is second to none and that is made evident by the healthy babies that are being born.

Here are the 3D and belly pics of our beautiful baby and surrogate at 25w 6d, enjoy!

25 weeks

Just a quick post, we received our scan on Saturday and everything looks great with baby and Jyoti is feeling well. Baby is still measuring 4 days ahead and has very long legs.

No profile or 3D pics this time but we have requested an additional 3D scan to be done, that will be done this week sometime and also we should receive a belly shot of Jyoti's growing belly.

Some other exciting news is that I offically go on maternity leave on 2nd December!! 7 weeks to go, not that I am counting. It has been kind of strange telling clients that I am going on maternity leave in December especially if I am seeing them face to face, as the first thing they do is look at your belly, it makes for an interesting conversation, most people have heard about surrogacy but don't really know the process and are fascinated and excited to hear about our journey to parenthood.

The next set of milestones we are aiming for:

11/2 weeks - Start of 3rd trimester- YAY!!!!!!!! We are on the home stretch!!
4 weeks - Next scan due
7 weeks - Finish work and OMG this makes 32 weeks!!

Time is flying by now, before we know it Christmas will be here and it will be time to fly to India to meet our baby.

Lots of baby dust to those in Delhi at the moment, good luck and hope to hear some good news in a few weeks!!

x

24 weeks!! and Thank you

Firstly, thank you to everyone for your kind messages of support over losing Delta, it's so nice that we have the support from friends, family and of course our surro family, whom we have never met personally but have been brought together through Surrogacy.


Now for the good stuff, no official news but what a relief to be at 24 weeks. It is a real milestone, if the baby was to be born this early there is a 50% chance of survival, by 28 weeks it jump to 90%, of course we are praying that this little one stays put for at least another 13 weeks so we can both be there in India when he/she is born.


These are the stats for 24 weeks:

Baby Size

13.5 in or 34.5cm

and the size of a rutabaga - apparently this is like a swede

Baby Weight

1.5 lb or 680g

Baby

Your baby's body parts are continuing to become more proportional to each other. Baby fat is also continuing to fill in your baby's wrinkled skin for a smoother look and more hair is growing, developing texture and color.

Congratulations to all who have had fantastic news in the past few weeks, it is so awesome to be able to follow others on their journey to parenthood, following blogs becomes very addictive and I have passed this addiction on to the girls at work. Every morning we check for updates and we have a chat about who's waiting for tests, scans or who has had babies. It has been a very emotional office over the past few months. They too feel part of our surro family.

Our next scan should be here next week, so stay tuned for an update.

RIP Our Beautiful Delta



Our Delta
3/12/99 - 24/9/11




Today is a sad day for us, our beautiful Delta has crossed over the rainbow bridge to heaven. She was our first furry baby and she was an amazing dog. She was nearly 12 and for an Alaskan Malamute she far surpassed the average life expectancy for her breed, but over the last 12 months her health has slowly deteriorated. This morning when I went into see them, I just knew it was time to let her go and be free.

This is probably the hardest decision I have ever had to make especially with Mark being away at work but I knew it was a decision I had to make for her not for us. Our tears will eventually dry and the pain of her loss will fade, we both have lots of good memories of her. We are lucky that we still have Phoenix (her brother) and 3 cats to keep us company. I am always amazed at how animals just know how to make you feel better when you are feeling sad.

Thank you to Rochelle, Sammy, Jerome, Emma and the staff at the Claremont Vet Clinic, without the love and support from all of you this day would've been a lot harder.

We now have 2 guardians angels watching over our family, good night my beautiful girl run free, you will always be in our hearts. We miss you already, till we meet again.

21 weeks

Wow, 21 weeks already! Time is flying by now. We received our scan last night, both baby and Jyoti are doing well. They did the full anatomy scan this time and took measurements of all the bones and organs, thankfully everything is normal, baby is measuring 21 weeks and 2 days so just a bit ahead.

It is still very surreal to see this little baby growing 7,854 km away from us and it is actually our baby. Everyone going through surrogacy knows exactly what I mean and how we never stop worrying until the baby is born and placed into your arms. CharlieCat wrote a post a few weeks ago called surrogacy pains and it sums up exactly what we go through and feel during this amazing journey to become parents.

So now the countdown is on:
3 weeks until the baby is hopefully able to survive if he/she is born early
4 weeks until the next scan
6 weeks until we start the 3rd trimester

That's about as far ahead as we are looking at the moment, this weekend we are going to order the nursery furniture and decide on paint colours etc as December will be here before we know it.

Here are 2 pics from the latest scan.




20 weeks 6 days






Happy Birthday Mum and 19 weeks

Happy 60th Birthday to my Mum!! The best mum/nanna in the world!


I know she won't like me mentioning how old she is but is a special birthday and she deserves a special mention on the blog.


We are currently in Bali to celebrate Mum's birthday, Mark's birthday and also this is our babymoon, the last holiday we hope to take as a couple! Bali is awesome, nice change from the rain and cold of Perth.


Congratulations to those who have had babies recently, such an exciting time for you all, hopefully we will be back in Delhi in about 17 weeks or so to meet our little one.


To B & D and Lucylu, my heart goes out to you on your recent sad news, our love and thoughts are with you all and that in time I know you will find the strength to continue on your journey to parenthood.


So onto the baby news, well thank goodness once again, no news is good news!! Our baby is now 19 weeks and 146 days to go!! So we are at least half way done! It is still a very surreal feeling to think that in 17 weeks I will be going back to Delhi awaiting the arrival of our first baby! I always knew that I would have kids one day but now it is actually really happening.


Our next scan is due next week and it will be a nice welcome home present for when I get back from Bali, poor Mark goes home on Monday to go back to work on Tuesday and I get to enjoy another 5 days of paradise. He's doing it for the team ,GO MARK, you are the best!!

I will update soon with some pictures of paradise!

xx

16 weeks

We received our 16 week scan on Saturday evening and baby and Jyoti are doing great. All measurements were within the normal ranges and baby is measuring 16 weeks and 5 days.

There is quite a bit happening over in Delhi, with 16 babies due this month and so many positives tests and scans it is all go. Big Congratulations to those who had had or about to have new arrivals and also those who have received positive results, to those who are waiting for the news that they are pregnant or are waiting to start, don't give up it will happen. It is exciting to follow other people's blogs and see people's dreams of a family becoming a reality just as ours are.

The next scan will be done in a month and OMG that will 20 weeks, hopefully we might some 3D pics with the next one!

Pics of the latest scan..



16 weeks



14 weeks and Second Trimester

Well we have reached 14 weeks and also have progressed into the second trimester. We are certainly glad to have past the first trimester and are looking forward to a very uneventful and boring rest of the second trimester and an even more boring third trimester.

We still have 2 more weeks until our next scan but I thought I would try and keep up with fortnightly updates.

There has been a lot about Surrogacy in India in the media lately some good things written and some not so good but everyone has a right to their own opinion. Dr Shivani also appeared on the ABC the other day talking about commercial surrogacy in India and also had one of her many success stories Sam and Phil who have just had 2 girls born from 2 surrogates.

Dr Shivani is an amazing women and so driven to make people's dreams of having a family a reality. It was clear to Mark and I when we first met Dr S and her staff that we had made the right decision to pursue surrogacy in India. While our first attempt wasn't successful, many people are successful on their first attempt because of this she has one of the highest success rates in India and is one of the most respected fertility specialist in India.

So now onto the baby, since we don't have any scans for another 2 weeks, I thought i would find some facts about how our little bambino is growing, so here is what one site said:

Baby Size

4.0 in

navel orange

Baby Weight

2.5 oz

Baby

The hair on your baby's head is growing in and the follicles will make pigment if your baby has dark hair. Around the body, there's still fine hair (lanugo) to protect against being constantly exposed to the amniotic fluid.

Your baby's skin is thin and nearly translucent and if you were to take a look inside your womb you'd see small blood vessels forming underneath the skin. Some babies may even be starting to suck their thumb around this time.

 

12 weeks - We made it!!!!!!!!!!

Finally, we have made 12 weeks!! It is such a relief to finally be at this point, we can now let ourselves start to get excited about becoming parents.

Our little bambino is growing like a weed and no surprises is measuring a week ahead already, poor Jyoti. All of the other tests performed at 12 weeks have come back within the normal range (another sigh of relief) and Dr Shivani is very happy with how things are progressing.

Now the boring waiting starts, from 12 weeks we get scans monthly so our next scan is due to be done at 16 weeks around 12th August, it is going to be a long wait but exciting because we will nearly be half way.

So our official due date will be Australia Day, that will be 40 weeks but due to Jyoti being so tiny and western babies being enormous compared to Indian babies it is unlikely that she will get there, they say be prepared for 35 weeks and anything after that is a bonus. So 35 weeks is around Christmas, which is just over 5 months away!!

Below is the latest scan, Enjoy!

10 weeks and some sad news

Well we received our scheduled scan on Friday and sadly it showed that one of our babies is now an angel and no longer had a heartbeat. Mark and I are both heartbroken but know these things happen for a reason and we will always have a guardian angel watching over our family.

On a happier note our other baby is thriving, currently measuring ahead at 10 weeks and 2 days and his/her heart rate is 173bpm. Our next scan is the big 12 week scan and hopefully we will be able breath a sigh of relief.



10 weeks



8 weeks

So we received our 8 week scan over the weekend and everything looks great. Our surrogate Jyoti is feeling well and Dr Shivani is very happy with how things are progressing with both Jyoti and the babies.

One twin is measuring 8 weeks and the other is measuring 7 weeks 2 days, heartbeats are 162 and 139 respectively.

Our next scan will be on 1st July, so we will update again then. x

Two heartbeats

We received our 6 week scan last night and we are having twins, both measuring 5 weeks and 6 days! Dr Shivani is happy with how things are progressing and they will do another scan in 2 weeks.

So now the real waiting begins, here's hoping the next 30 weeks or so are uneventful and go quickly.


Here is the latest scan. x

Our first scan

We have received our first scan and they have confirmed that we have 2 gestational sacs, so if everything goes to plan we will be bringing twins home.

It is still early days yet but we have passed another milestone, they will do another scan next Friday and hopefully we will see 2 little heartbeats.

The results are in, take 2

IT'S POSITIVE!!!!!!!!

Finally the words we have been waiting to hear, we received an email last night saying that Jyoti's blood test came back positive and even more of a surprise is there is a good chance that we could be having twins!!

So now we wait, next week they will do a scan to confirm how many gestational sacs are present and the week after another scan to detect the heart beats. It is still very early stages and still a long way to go but we are over the first big hurdle.

We will update again next week.

x

Update on embryo transfer

We have a small update, out of our 7 embryos 5 made the cut and all 5 were transferred on Monday. Out of the 5, 4 were Grade 1 and the other one was Grade 2.5. Grading is based on the quality and fragmentation of the cells, 1 being the best and 5 being the worst.

So at this point we are still in the 2 week wait and have a week or so to go before we find out if we have been successful this time, fingers crossed.

For those who are wondering, the chances of all 5 embryos implanting aren't very high. Because if the complications with high order multiples for the surrogate and the also babies, SCI have a policy that surrogates can only carry twins.

As soon as we have some more news we will update again.

x

Update

So egg retrieval went well and the good news is we have 7 embryos! Bad news is I am suffering from mild ovarian hyper stimulation and feel like I have been run over by a truck but day by day it is getting better. Dr Shivani said it will take a week or 2 till I'm back to full steam.

So everything thing at the moment is right on track, Dr Shivani is really happy with report from the embryologist and we are set for embryo transfer on Monday. From there we enter the 2 week wait period.

Tonight is our last night in Delhi, we fly out tomorrow at 8.45am local time and get into Perth early hours of Tuesday morning. We are both looking forward to a soft bed.

Will update when we have more news.

x

Friday is the big day

So after a few scans and blood tests, Dr Shivani has decided that Friday will be egg retrieval day.

I had a scan on Monday and it showed 11 follicles in total ranging between 14-16mm, Dr S wanted to do a couple more days of treatment and then have another scan on Wednesday, so off we go yesterday to see Dr Jolly for the repeat scan and good news all 11 follicles are all over 18mm and he thinks that there could be a couple more hiding too.

After speaking with Dr S yesterday, she feels alot more confident that we will get a positive result this time, so fingers crossed. I had to give myself the trigger injection this morning at 6am to mature the follicles and egg retrieval is set for 4pm Delhi time tomorrow. They will fertilise them straight away and we should get a report from the embryologist on Saturday or Sunday to let us know how the embryos are travelling. Embryo transfer will more than likely be done next week sometime depending on how many eggs are collected and also how many fertlise.

Our second journey in Delhi is fast coming to an end, we leave to come home on Monday morning and land in Perth at midnight Tuesday, can't wait to sleep in my our SOFT bed. The beds here are so hard, I don't think I have had a good night sleep since I have been here.

We will update probably on Saturday with how the retrieval went.

Also a big Happy Birthday to Nanna Elvie, who is celebrating her 85th birthday today. Happy Birthday Nan!!

xx

Update

So where to begin, a few things have happened since my last update. We were told the other day that we would need to choose a new surrogate as "G" has had to be placed on an extended rest period, not really sure what that means but we always listen to the advice of the good doctor. So once again we received 4 profiles of prospective surrogates to go through and decide which one would be carrying our bundle/s of joy. This time it was a much easier choice, one of the profiles was of a young lady who has previously been a surrogate and delivered her surrogate baby last year, so we have decided to go with her.

Her name is Jyoti, she is 25, married and has 2 kids, a 4yo son and a 2yo daughter. We met her when we went in to sign the contracts and once again she is tiny, she is about 5' 3" and a gust of wind would blow her over. She was very shy or maybe she was in shock to see both of us towering over her. We ask for a photo with her but she was too shy. So we just thanked her for what she is about to do for us and how grateful we are, all through an interpreter of course.

So now on to what's been happening with me, well I had a scan and blood test on Friday to make sure things are headed in the right direction and good news I have at least 11 follicles all between 11 and 14mm and growing happily! So already things are looking better than last time. I will have another scan on Monday to check the size of the follicles and that will determine the day of egg retrieval. At this stage Dr Shivani said at the earliest Wednesday but most likely Thursday, just depends on the sizes of the follicles, they all need to be around 16 - 17mm in size before they are mature enough for retrieving.

We have been very adventurous with eating Indian food, the owner of the apartments and the B&B recommended an Indian takeaway just around the corner from where we are staying, so on Friday we thought lets give it a whirl, we ordered Butter Chicken, Lamb Korma, rice and some naan bread. I must say we were all surprised at how much we enjoyed it, I thought it was a little hot but but Mark and our Darwin friends thought it was ok. So tonight we thought we would have it again, we got the same dishes but it was about 3 times as hot!!

Today we didn't have any appointments so we did a bit of sight seeing around Delhi, we went to the Gate of India, which is a war memorial and also to the Red Fort both were packed with locals and tourists but still interesting and definitely worth a look. The downside of going sight seeing this time of year is the heat, it was over 40 degrees today so not that pleasant walking around outside in the sun.

I will update again tomorrow after my scan, night x

The adventure begins

To all of the fallen diggers and those still fighting wars around the world, we salute you, Lest we forget.

So after my expensive departure from Perth, I made it to Singapore, had a 2 hour gap in between flights and then I was off again, destination New Delhi. The flight to Delhi was uneventful and unfortunately sleepless for me even with the help of medication. I don't think I am ever destined to sleep on a plane!! Keep telling Mark I am meant to be flying business class, he still hasn't come around to my way of thinking.

So I get to immigration and the smiley (not) immigration officer was just about to stamp my passport and the stops and looks at my visa and starts asking the other officer next to him questions, I was starting to freak out a little thinking what the hell (was really thinking of another word but need to keep it G rated for the blog) am I going to do if they won't let me in the country. Mark had already checked before I left that we could re-enter India and the embassy in Australia said we would be fine as long as there had been 60 days since we had last exited, well for me it had been 64 days so I guess that's what they were checking on, so after a chit chat with his mate he finally stamped my passport and I was on my way to get my luggage, damn having 27kgs!!

It took about 30 mins for the bags to arrive, you would think at 2.15am they would be pretty quick but one thing I have learnt is India runs on India time. So I lug my suitcase onto a trolley and off I go to find my driver who was collecting me, so I walk up the line of signs and couldn't find one for me so i thought I'll check outside too still nothing. So I text Mark and let him know I had landed and told him my drama, he was worried knowing how daunting Delhi airport is but I was too tired to be worried or stressed, so I did a few more laps inside and out and by this stage it was nearly 4am, so i thought stuff it I am going to check into the transit hotel inside the airport and deal with getting to the apartment once I had some sleep.

So I pay 2500 rupees for a bed and ensuite for 4 hours which is about $50 but I would've paid anything for a shower and bed, the room was clean and the shower was awesome but the bed was so hard but I fell asleep pretty quickly, so at 7.45am I got up and went to call the owner of the apartments and let him know what had happened, "apparently" there was a communication breakdown and he thought I had oragnised someone else to come and get me. But he was very apologetic and sent someone to come and get me straight away.

I finally get to the apartment which is on the second floor but has about 6 flights of stairs!! The apartment is really nice and has everything we need apart from decent shower pressure but you get that at least there is hot water! There is also a couple from Darwin here doing their first cycle and they are right next door, so after a shower and a bit of a chill out they took me to get some food and supplies. Let's just say it is very different food shopping here than at home but I will save that for another post.

So today I had my first appointment with Dr S, all pretty standard had a quick ultrasound, she said i had a good number of follicles on each side so we are on the right track again, now we just have to get them and more to grow. I was then ushered into another room and without warning the nurse comes in with my first injection and took blood from my hand too!!! Two needles, was so not ready for that!

So after that trauma, Dr Shivani hands me my esky with 5 days worth of injections and notes on when to come back to see her for another scan and blood test to see things are progressing. The thing with the injections this time is that I still have the injector pens but they don't deliver the full dose I need so I have to use a needle and syringe to draw it out of the pen to get the full dose, this is going to be interesting because the pen was a breeze its a tiny needle and you just has to put the needle in and press the button and your done, so tomorrow will be interesting having to use a proper needle and syringe, I'll have to be a big brave girl again and just do it.

Well it's nearly 11pm here so I better sign off and go and get some sleep, I'll post more about the shopping experience soon.

FYI - It's bloody stinking hot here, feels like I am having summer all over again, they are forecasting 40 degrees and humid this week!

Night Night x

Baby making take 2...

So the adventure continues, I'm at the airport sitting in the bar having a beer for the road. My flight leaves at 3.25pm to Singapore then I will finally arrive in Delhi at 2.15am local time tomorrow morning.

We have decided to stay at a serviced apartment this time instead of the B&B or hotel as planned, so since it's an apartment and has a laundry we thought awesome won't need to take as much clothes this time, worked well in theory!

So I'm packing this morning and have had to repack as I couldn't fit everything in, I am taking some food with us as we will be cooking meals, so it only left 1 side of the suitcase for my clothes, shoes and of course hair straighteners because who can go on holidays without them and 5 pairs of shoes! Fast forward to present time, arrive at the airport to check in and put my bag on the scales and guess what it's 27kg! Bugger and Qantas being the awesome airline they are promptly charged me excess luggage at $52 per kg that is over the 23kg allowed, so $208 later I am checked in and ready to start the next journey.

I am flying ahead of Mark this time, he will arrive in Delhi early hours of Thursday morning, so no one to carry my bags, crap another reason not to have a 27kg suitcase, cabin bag and handbag!

So first appointment with Dr Shivani is on Monday for blood test and ultrasound and the dreaded needles start again, I don't think I will be self injecting this time thank goodness, I think they will get me to go in daily to have the nurses do them as I will be on super doses of hormones. Good things are happening at Dr Shivani's clinic, they have just bought their own hospital which all of the IVF procedures will be done and new offices also. And of course lots of babies have been born since we were there in February and still about 60 due by the end of the year, fingers crossed this will be our time to be added to the expecting list.

I will try and post an update in Singapore while I'm waiting for the next flight but if not I will post on Sunday once I wake up.

Bye Perth!

Flights are booked

So we have set the wheels in motion to go back to India, thankfully we have both had our leave approved and I have booked my flight.

I will be flying out on Saturday 23rd April and Mark will meet me there 4 or 5 days later, should be an interesting few days for me without him but seeing as it will be heading into the hottest part of the year I'm thinking I will be chilling in my hotel in the air con a fair it.

I have decided to stay in a hotel almost right next door to Phoenix Hospital and not too far away from Surrogacy Centre India offices where I will be going daily for injections, again!! Not looking forward to that part but no pain no gain so they say. Once Mark gets there we will go back to the B&B we stayed in on the first trip.

So the plan is to start the medication on Monday 25th April and egg retrieval will be around the 5th or 6th May, then we will fly home on the 9th so much shorter trip this time but hopefully we will have some time to do a bit more sightseeing around Delhi.

Currently Dr Shivani has about 80 babies due between now and the end of October and quite a few of those are Aussies, here's hoping we will be added to the list of impending births.

We probably won't have much to update between now and when we go again but keep checking in just in case, lastly thank you to everyone for all of your love and support you have showed us both over the last 6 weeks and especially during the last week or so, it means a lot to know that everyone is behind us as we travel on this often bumpy road to parenthood, we couldn't do it without you all.

The results are in....

Sadly, we received news today that our surrogate G's pregnancy test was negative.

So what is the next step? Well not giving up that's for sure! So we are currently making plans to go back to India and try again. After emailing with Dr Shivani, we will make a few changes to the medication and hope to get a better outcome with the egg retrieval, fingers crossed.

So stay tuned for the next update, hopefully in the next week or so we should have some dates in place for the next trip.

Signed, Sealed and Transferred

First of all thank you all for my birthday wishes, it certainly was a different way to celebrate turning 33!! Mark of course bought me some beautiful roses for my b'day, he's a good boy.

So egg retrieval went well, we got the hospital at 6.30am, it was a sleepless night for me contemplating what will be, but of course for Mark nothing keeps him from his sleep, so I was shown to my room and all the usual question and pre-op stuff done, blood pressure, heart rate all of which were perfect, then came to the gown, it was red checks!! I have included a before and after photo for you all. One thing I found odd is they don't put a hospital name band on you, weird I know.

At around 7am, I was taken to the IVF lab (which is in the basement) then we waited for the anaesthetist and Dr Shivani to get there then i was taken into the OR, connected to the monitors and IV put in, which bloody hurt!! It was a very strange experience with no-one speaking english. Dr Shivani came in and explained the procedure and then I was put into la la land, next thing I knew they were asking me to move onto another gurney.

It took about whole thing 45mins from going to sleep to waking up, in that time Mark was called for his part and by the time I was back in the room they embryologist had begin the task of fertilising my eggs.

So, how many eggs did they retrieve, well even though I had 7 follicles only 3 of them contained eggs. It was very disappointing but not much we could do only hope and pray that they all fertilised. Dr Shivani re-iterated to us again that it is not quantity but quality that counts.

So that was yesterday, now for today's update, woke feeling ok, very sore and the pain killers they gave me I can't take cause they make me sick, they did give some anti-inflammatories which have a muscle relaxant in them and that has been doing the job.

So we waited most of day, checking my emails for news of if the eggs fertilized and did they progress into good quality embryos, well finally around 2pm we received word that 2 out of 3 fertilised and that Dr Shivani would talk to us when we went into the SCI office to sign contracts and meet our surrogate, more waiting!!

Well we have just come back from contract signing and meeting "G" and her husband, they are both very sweet and shy but don't speak a word of english, we had a translator but it was still a short introduction. We then spoke with Dr S and she told us that our 2 embryos were great quality but the other one wasn't mature enough and failed to fertilise and that she had not long transferred them into "G". The embryologist said that they were dividing well and ready to go so why wait. Dr S also said the "G" had asked her a lot of questions about what she should and shouldn't do and is also very excited to be hopefully carrying our baby/ies.

So now we wait, again with the waiting, in the fertility world this period is aptly named the 2 week wait or 2WW for short, so in 2 weeks we will received conformation via a blood test to see if the embryos have implanted and then 4 weeks after that if the blood test is positive "G" will have an u/s to see if both implanted or just one.

We have enjoyed our stay in Delhi and hope the next time we come back it will be to pick up our baby/ies, we leave on Saturday night and get back into Perth on Sunday arvo, we are definitely ready to come home, not looking forward to the heat though.

My birthday flowers



Before surgery



After surgery

Long Update

Sorry for the long delay between updates, blogspot has been down so we haven't been able to post.

So much has happened since our last post, so the lets talk about the injections, here I was thinking one tiny needle daily was bad, well was I wrong. So after a blood test on Sunday, Dr Shivani decided that she needed to ramp up the hormones, so I received an email from Dr S at 1.30am Delhi time (I don't think this woman sleeps) on Monday morning saying not to give my injection and to come into the office to receive it. So off we go to the SCI office and what do you know I have to have not one but two injections (kinda knew the second one was coming) so they out me into the injection room and the nurse prepares both injections, which made me feel sick watching her draw them up, then I ask her where they are going and she informs me one will be intramuscular in my bum and the other under the skin in my thigh, awesome I thought to myself. The so I drop my pants, get on the bed and the nurse tells me not to tense cause it will hurt more!! It was over pretty quickly, with me taking deep breaths and thankfully the nurse is very good at giving injections.

So that has been our life for the last week, going into to get jabbed once a daily and having ultrasounds to see if the injections are working, thankfully after a slow start my ovaries have decided to wake up and produce some follicles approx 7 -8.

So whats next, well tonight (Saturday) Mark and I went Phoenix Hospital for my LAST injection, this one is a trigger injection of HCG to mature the follicles for collection on wait for it, Monday my birthday!! The retrieval will probably be around 7am, apparently it only takes about 1/2 hour but I will be laid up recovering for most of the day. Mark's donation is also done while I am out cold (bet it won't take 1/2 hour though). Luckily it will be a good story to tell our kid/s. Then off to the lab for creating the embryos, we will find out a couple of days later how many fertilised and then they will be transferred into our surrogate for hopefully the next 9 months.

Now onto our surrogate, after choosing S, she went into to have some preliminary scans and we were informed that she wouldn't be a match to my cycle, so we have chosen another one, we will call her G, she is 28, married and has one daughter, we will meet and sign contracts on Tuesday

Mark and I have been very adventurous with trying new foods, most of you probably know, Mark and I aren't fans of Indian food but we came with an open mind to try it and we have been pleasantly surprised. We haven't been game enough to eat Indian out, instead we eaten here at the B&B. I'm not saying we are converted but we have enjoyed the Indian food we have eaten. Like for tonight's dinner we had Curried Tofu, rice with beans, peas and tofu and this soup that we haven't quite worked out what it is, the only down side is they use coriander in everything which we are not fans of but it has been bearable. We have also found a couple of other great places to eat in this massive shopping mall about 20 mins for where we are staying, they also have a Hard Rock Cafe which has yummy food ands awesome cocktails, Mark is trying to take me there on a date for "My" belated Birthday on the 17th, they also happen to have an AC/DC tribute band playing, how lucky am I, NOT!!!!!

One sad thing we have noticed on our travels around Delhi is the poor people, not that we haven't seen that sort of thing in the other places we have travelled but geez it's heartbreaking to see, don't think i could ever get used to it.

Also Happy Birthday to Ross/Dad, hope you have had a great day!!

Well that's about it for now, we will update on Monday arvo and let you all know how everything went.

Taj Mahal

Well the last few days have been pretty uneventful except for our trip to see another wonder of the world, Taj Mahal.

It was an early-ish start, our driver picked us up at 7.30am and we arrived in Agra around 12.30pm, the roads weren't too bad just lots of traffic and like our driver said, there are no road rules and Saturday and Sunday are the busiest days to see Taj.

We decided to get a guide as well to give a bit of history of Agra and the Taj, he was very knowledgeable and had the hairiest ears we have ever seen, it was wrong town. The size of the Taj Mahal is mind blowing and for those perfectionists it is symmetrically perfect. Before entering onto the marble you either have to take your shoes off (which they say you may not see your shoes again) or put on shoe covers, we opted for the latter. Inside is very small compared to the outside and only Muslims are allowed to take photos inside apparently.

Although it is a sacred place, pick pockets are rife inside, our drivers last clients had their passports, visas and all their money stolen while walking through inside, we were warned before hand only to take the necessities with us and leave everything else in the car. Mark felt a few fingernails trying to get into his pockets but we came out with everything we went in with.

For those who don't know the story behind the Taj, do yourself a favour and google it, it is a very interesting and sad love story.

After our guided tour around the Taj Mahal we then we back to a Handicrafts store, the shop had big windows and saw us coming!! Before we knew we had bought a Persian carpet, pashminas, marble jewellery box and a marble Ganesha, the credit card took a hammering needless to say, but we were supporting local craftsmen so the salesman kept on telling us.

The trip home was just as long, we got back to our B&B at 9.30pm and thankfully I bought 2 minute noodles from home so that was dinner.

Now for the daily injections, I am a pro now, first day on my own I thought I just need to do and don't think about it, the worst part of needles for me is looking at it going in and I would normally look away but it is a bit hard to inject yourself in the belly not looking!! So with my assistant Mark watching me I went for it and bugger me I hardly felt it. Had to do one on the road to Taj but luckily we stopped mid morning and it happened to be at the time I was due for it, for those who haven't been to India, the roads are bumpy and there was no way i was sticking a needle in me whilst moving.

The next few days we have a few appointments with Dr Shivani and hopefully on Tuesday we will meet our surrogate, her husband and the lawyers to sign the contracts.





Taj Mahal



1st Injection Day

So maybe I freaked myself out a bit over these injections. Mark and I made the trek to Phoenix Hospital, which is bout a 15 min walk from our B&B, the thing with traffic in Delhi is there a very few road rules and pedestrians do not have right of way, the worst part of it is the constant sounding of horns!!! Just about drove me mad by the end of it I had a headache, so we arrived at the hospital to meet with our nurse Lovely (yes, that is really her name) and we went into an exam room, she showed me how to prime syringe and then it was done. I even pressed the plunger myself, so deserved a lollipop!

Many have asked if Mark will be giving me injections and my response to that is there is NO FREAKING WAY I would let him near me with a needle, so I am on my own. Worst case scenario if I chicken out, we will make the trek again to see Lovely.

We also received 4 surrogate profiles today, now how does one choose the person to carry their baby/ies. We were thinking maybe the most robust one, for those who don't know, Mark was 11lbs 12oz, but not to be, all of them are 5'3" and slim build so we have decided to go with our gut feeling as it is usually right.

So we have chosen a young lady we will call her S (gotta protect her identity), she is 26, married and has 2 boys of her own, she is hoping to use the money to build a home for her family. She has a very kind appearance and we will get to meet her and her husband next week.

Next on the agenda for us is some sight seeing, we are hoping to go to see the Taj Mahal on Saturday. Agra is only about 250km from Delhi but it takes 5 hours to get there so most our day will be spent in the car. 

We will update again soon xx