Let's Hope Bunnies are Good Luck

Well we were just settling back into some normalcy in our lives when Gerry had to leave again. He is off to San Angelo, TX for a training course with the military for the next 3 months. It was sad for us to say good-bye after going through such an emotional and heartwarming experience together, 24/7 for 18 days straight. We both truly believe it has made our marriage stronger after 8 years and we fell more in love every passing day. I just have to keep reminding myself, I made it for 10 months while he was over serving in the war, 3 months should be a cake walk, right???

On a brighter note, our Docs have been checking in with us and Asha is feeling well and getting lots of rest. We went for supper with Melanie and Brijesh and it was a neat feeling being able to talk about Bombay and really know and understand what we were discussing. We weren't the students any longer! I am finding the jet lag on the return trip a lot more severe, and I am really glad I took an extra week off before starting my new job on Monday.

We had a few surprises when we got home. 1. A white dog who REALLY needed a bath! (absolutely NOT her favorite thing to do) 2. The duffel bag that we took with us to India which was out in the garage,till Gerry grabbed it to pack the other day, had a little surprise in it. Low and behold a little baby bunny that had crawled in it for a snuggle. We immediately looked at each other and said ' Let's hope bunnies are good luck!'

We confirmed with the Doc that we should get our news on May 2nd. Until then we are receiving tons of well wishes from everyone and lots of questions and comments from other couples interested in pursuing surrogacy in India. We hope their journey goes only half as wonderful as ours has so far.

Great Medicine in a Foreign Land

Being a nurse, my expectations are probably higher then most when dealing with the medical community, but as with everything, from the beginning of our journey we went into it with an open mind. We were pleasantly surprised and even a little amazed at the professionalism and competence of all the medical teams while in Mumbai. For starters being the good Canadian I am (on a side note I go for my U.S citizenship on May 6th) I have very deep veins and I am a very hard stick, so most always I am stuck for a blood draw numerous times in one sitting. While in Mumbai, I had my blood drawn on 3 separate occasions by 3 different individuals each time they hit my veins immediately. Second, I have had numerous abdominal and transvaginal ultrasounds since the entire process began each time I end up laying on the table for long periods of time while they try to find my 2 of everything, sometimes resulting in incomplete or inaccurate results. With each ultrasound in India, the Docs had no trouble finding everything x2 quickly and accurately. Needless to say we were both very impressed and relieved. After much discussion with the Docs we discovered that in Mumbai with a population of close to 20 million the sheer number of patients the medical community sees in one day greatly out numbers that in North America, so they really get a lot of experience (For example in India there is 1 birth every second). Coincidentally our Doc, Dr. Yashodhara and Dr. Soni once delivered 100 babies in 1 day. We had the grand tour at Hiranandani Hospital from Dr. Soni, OBGYN who will follow our surrogate Asha after confirmation of pregnancy and keep us updated with monthly reports and sonograms. We even got to peek in the window of the NICU where twins born a little early awaited their American parents to arrive. What a welcome and beautiful sight. Keep in mind, the buildings and facilities may not be flashy and brand new, but the care is superior and ultimately in the end isn't that what counts?

Sorry, I am figuring this out as I go...

Just a note to say that I edited/updated and added some posts please check out the changes:

April 3, 2008 (why I hesitated)
April 12, 2008 (photos of Sindhudurg)
Doctor meet Doctor's slide show
STATS (side bar) *note: a work in progress
WHAT A LONG JOURNEY WE HAVE HAD... (side bar) *I think I covered it all*

Thanks for your patience while I figure this BLOG stuff out.

Again, thanks for visiting and please leave a comment we love to know you are interested and/or thinking of us.

Back Home Sweet Home

We made it back home safe and sound. I really don't care to see another plane again, at least for 9 months anyway. What a long trip! Our flight was late leaving Mumbai what an experience that was, I have never been frisked so much in my life! We made it into JFK and it was a complete mess; our bags took forever to arrive and then we had to put them through customs again. We had to run through the airport at mach speed and almost missed our flight but, we made it JUST in time. We arrived in Phoenix on time, but all of our baggage didn't. The remainder of our bags arrived later this evening around 10pm and were delivered to the house. We called our family to let them know that we made it back and also received a call from Dr. Sudhir who was 'just checking in.' We are now patiently waiting and nail biting in our 2 week wait and trying to get back in the swing of things here at home. It was wonderful to see our baby Frankie and do some much needed snuggling. Glad to be home, but missing our new second home, Mumbai.

Our AMAZING trip is coming to an end...for now!

Well, we leave tomorrow night, Sunday April 20th at 1220 am India time and arrive back in Arizona, Sunday April 20th at 1120 am (MST). We are very sad to leave as we have become really attached to our Docs and Henry (Mel's Dad) but we are excited and really looking forward to seeing our 4 legged baby, Frankie. It has definitely been both an emotional and cultural eye opening experience for the both of us. We truly cannot say a negative thing about our entire experience. Today we spent the afternoon visiting Henry's home and had lunch with the whole family and a few friends. Christine (their servant of 25 yrs) prepared an amazing spread of Indian food. I asked her if she wanted to come home with us. Henry and Lorna (Mel's Mom) presented me with a gorgeous gold bracelet as a memento of our visit. I was overwhelmingly touched with their sentiment and will hold this dear gift close to my heart. Melanie is a lucky girl to be surrounded by such a lovely family (as we do). Tonight we see our Docs again for a night out before preparing for our final day in Mumbai tomorrow.

We cannot begin to think of the words to describe how extremely blessed and special we both feel. The love and support we have received by everyone here in India and all of our friends and family back home praying for us and sending continuous emails and comments, is so very touching.

Don't worry we will continue to write after we arrive home until we receive the good news (positive thoughts!) We plan on including some pointers, tips and useful information for others who may want to embark on their own journey of surrogacy in India. We want to help others see that there is a ray of hope for them as well and that SurrogacyIndia and it's amazing doctors will be able to help. Just know that while struggling with infertility you are not alone.