What an amazing weekend! I believe that there are some moments in your life that are forever etched in your mind. The day you meet the love of your life, your wedding day, the day your child is born, and this past weekend for me...
I rushed home Friday after work, first stopping for balloons and then changed into my scruffy clothes all ready to work until dawn preparing all of the food for the big party. Gerry arrived home just shortly after me and as we were talking, the door bell rang. Much to my amazement there stood my Mom. The tears started to flow and Frankie got so excited (unfortunately that triggered another episode there on the front porch). Of course Mom said...'Well, show me the nursery!' We headed to the nursery and I opened the door to see my big sister Tracy standing there. I screamed in shock and then the tears really started to flow. Lately I had been feeling a little lonely preparing for this big celebration of our new arrival and it felt empty without my family there with me. This just made it all that more special. We had an amazing evening cooking, preparing and just bonding. I just kept looking at them and smiling, I was so happy.
I rushed home Friday after work, first stopping for balloons and then changed into my scruffy clothes all ready to work until dawn preparing all of the food for the big party. Gerry arrived home just shortly after me and as we were talking, the door bell rang. Much to my amazement there stood my Mom. The tears started to flow and Frankie got so excited (unfortunately that triggered another episode there on the front porch). Of course Mom said...'Well, show me the nursery!' We headed to the nursery and I opened the door to see my big sister Tracy standing there. I screamed in shock and then the tears really started to flow. Lately I had been feeling a little lonely preparing for this big celebration of our new arrival and it felt empty without my family there with me. This just made it all that more special. We had an amazing evening cooking, preparing and just bonding. I just kept looking at them and smiling, I was so happy.
SURPRISE!!!!
Here come the tears...
And now the tears REALLY start to flow.The next day we were all up early and began finishing up the remaining work for the big bash. After a few hours the door bell rang once again and there stood my dear friend and neighbor from Florida, Ivonne and her family. Ivonne was there for me when my family couldn't be...my miscarriage, my time alone when Gerry was deployed overseas during the Iraq war and so much more. She is the sweetest, most wonderful person and dear friend a girl could ever ask for. I was blown away.
Wonderful friends from FloridaEvery time the door bell rang that day, I was afraid to answer it!
The party was a huge hit. Everyone seemed to have a fun time and we had so much food. We even served some Indian food, chicken tikka, samosa and naans, which was a huge success. We were blessed with so many beautiful gifts including MORE clothes. Oh my, I think our little one already needs another closet at this point.
Grandma warming up
Opening gifts with my sister keeping track
Angelica's beautiful creation...and all edible
Playing 'guess the melted chocolate bar in the diaper' game
The Girls!We met with our Pediatrician Dr. Gentile last week. He is a soft spoken, calm and gentle man. We were very pleased with him. We found out that he has had quads via IVF, so we figured our story of surrogacy in India didn't even phase him. We talked about required tests and vaccines while in India and anything that we needed. He assured us that everything can be done once we return to the U.S and just to give his office a call from India so that they can get us in as soon as we return.
Our preparation for Operation Birth in India is getting done and we are hoping and praying for as much time as possible to be sure everything is in place. (YAH right! like that could ever happen in the best case scenario with a baby).
We recently heard from our incredible Doctors, and they said we are probably looking at the end of August for travel to India. That would put us around 38 or so weeks. It is still a little early to tell, but at this point that is just over a month from now. WOW!... with all the babies being born lately it is really getting us more and more excited. Congrats to my cycle buddy Carrie Jo. We have been chasing her heels since the beginning and we are so thrilled at the birth of their precious little girl, it won't be long until we have our little angel in our arms.
Your Baby at 33 weeks:
The big news this week is lung development—baby's respiratory system is almost completely mature. That means if your baby was born this week, odds are he'd be a healthy bouncing baby with a just a little help from his friends (aka, the NICU).
Some of the specifics are:
Your baby can now detect light and tell the difference between night and day (of course that ability will miraculously disappear once he's born and up all night screaming). His pupils will constrict and dilate in response to light. The bones in your baby's skull are soft and are not yet fused together. In other words, now is not the time to teach him how to do a headspin while breakdancing. This pliability allows the bones to overlap; making that trip down the tight birth canal possible (and resulting in that surprising cone head look your baby will sport for the first few days post-birth. Don't worry, it's totally normal and that's what hats are for.) Your baby will continue to pack on the pounds gaining around ½ pound a week from here on out. Your baby weighs about 4½ pounds, as much as a grownup duck, and is approximately 17.5 inches long, about the same as a collarbone-length pearl necklace.
Posts
