Where to begin? (post from Doubly Blessed)

For those who are reading for the first time and don't know us.  We joyfully welcomed our beautiful baby boy BLAZE XENNON into the world August 26th, 2009.  After starting the Journey to Surrogacy in India back in early 2008.  It was a very long, emotion-filled journey for us, but was hands down the very BEST day of our lives when he entered this world and we held him in our arms for the first time.

Fast forward 15 or so months later...

we talked about having a sibling for Blaze.  Were we being selfish after being blessed with such a miracle in him?  He has and continues to be, such an amazing child.  Yes I know, EVERYONE says that about their children, but we are truly lucky.  Many people comment on how they 'have never seen such a great kid' (not even their own children were as good as Blaze!')  He has had NO skin issues, he was not a fussy baby and is not a cranky toddler, he eats great, he has slept through the night since he was 8 weeks old, he is very, very healthy, and he has such a great demeanor.  He is SO happy, SO friendly, SO sociable, etc. etc. etc. Were we betting the odds in that we would have another child even half as good as Blaze?  Could we afford to go through another cycle in India?  Would Blaze's egg donor be available?  Did we want to start the roller-coaster of emotions ALL over again with the possible failures, the 9 months on pins and needles having our surrogate thousands of miles away.  We knew she would be in the BEST of hands with Blaze's Godparents AKA the Doctors of SurrogacyIndia, Dr. Sudhir and Dr. Yashodhara, but it is still so nerve racking...what pregnancy isn't right?

We talked and we talked, going back and forth, when would be the perfect time?  Blaze was getting older, and so were we! 

Fate would this time be in our favor!  We were chatting with Dr. Sudhir as we have done many a night for the last 3 years.  Out of the blue he asks "when are we going to give Blaze a sibling?"  We hummed and hawed and gave them all of our excuses and reasoning and blah, blah, blah.  Then he tells us, "We have been searching for over 6 months and we have found Blaze's egg donor"'  REALLY???  It gets even better, "She has agreed to do just one last cycle for them."  WHAT??!!  Could this be true? It had to be fate.  This was our time.  So we agreed to not mess with fate and go ahead.  This just has to be a sign that it is the right time to do this again.  So we said, okay we are ready.

At this point, the rest seems like just a blur.  We went through the process. Next thing I know, we get the phone call  'You are pregnant!'  Your beta number is 561.7.  I remember my mouth dropping open and thinking, 'Is this what I think it is...twins????!!!!'  OH NO!  What did we get ourselves into?  We only wanted one more child.  But as they say, be careful what you wish for.   My worst fear and greatest dream was about to come true.

Here are the STATS thus far:

Nov. 30, 2010 - Our amazing egg donor produces 18 eggs.  14 are mature.

Dec. 2, 2010 - 3 embryos are transferred to FB (our chosen surrogate)

Dec. 14, 2010 - The phone call arrives....POSITIVE PREGNANCY!  Beta number 561.7

Dec. 18, 2010  - 2nd beta number 2577.0 

Dec. 30, 2010 - Ultra Sound Report is as follows:

           CRL A   6.0 mm -  6 weeks 3 days - cardiac activity well appreciated in this fetus.

           CRL B   6.7 mm -  6 weeks 4 days - cardiac activity well appreciated in this fetus.

           CRL C   1.4mm -  Less then 5 weeks -  Cardiac activity not appreciated in this pole. :(

3 SAC's????  that's a surprise.  All I could think of is...'Thank God we don't have to go through the pain of a selective reduction.  Mother nature is taking over.' 

And so, here we are.  Not just pregnant, but pregnant with TWINS!

 6.5 weeks

Our Journey is about to start ALL over again.  This time x 2!

9 weeks

And now we wait! Wait for the scans, the lab tests, the pictures and the updates...

Blaze's Introduction to The World

  BLAZE'S BIRTH

Recently going through our thousands of pictures and video's and reminiscing.  Look what we found...

WE ARE HAVING TWINS!!!!!!!

Yep you read it right! and if you read the entire last blog post you would have already known....I must admit I am equally as guilty for skimming through all the many blogs I follow to get a quick update, as I feel like I have so little time keeping up with Blaze.  HA....just wait till the twins arrive...right????  That is exactly what has been going over and over and over in my mind since the day we got our first beta result on Dec. 14th.  561.7, my heart sunk...I have been in this surrogacy world too long to not know what those kind of numbers could mean.  Just 9 days later my worst fear and greatest joy would become a reality.  Twin separate gestation sacs!  We only wanted, hoped, and prayed for one?!  WOW...my head was spinning with a million thoughts.  Two newborns and an almost 2 year old at the same time.  How do we feed 2 babies and a toddler?  How do we change 2 babies and a toddler?  How do we sooth 2 babies and a toddler?  How? How? How?  I quickly started referring to all my fellow surrogate friends and blogs of twins just to find out.   I am especially going to be checking in on Todd and Alper as they have to be the ultimate pro's with 2 sets of twins just 6 months apart.  They have already assured me that we can do it.  But like I said when we found out we were pregnant with twins...'God only gives us what we can handle.  Well I think maybe God has a little bit more confidence in me then I do!'  (that goes for T & A too).

So here are all the specifics as I know many people wanted to know the details:

Many talks between us and between the Docs at SI about a sibling for Blaze over the last 6 months or so.  Can we afford it?  We better hurry and decide since we aren't getting any younger?  We don't want the kids to be too far apart in age?  Can we go through the roller coaster of emotions again?  We decide its NOW or NEVER and let's just jump in with both feet!!!

After 6 months of searching, Blaze's egg donor is found and the Docs tell us she is willing to do just ONE more cycle.  This has to be a sign of fate that we made the right decision.

Nov. 30, 2010 - Our amazing egg donor produces 18 eggs.  14 are mature.

Dec. 2, 2010 - 3 embryos are transferred to FB (our chosen surrogate)

Dec. 14, 2010 - The phone call arrives....POSITIVE PREGNANCY!  Beta number 561.7

Dec. 18, 2010  - 2nd beta number 2577.0 

Dec. 30, 2010 - Ultra Sound Report is as follows:

           CRL A   6.0 mm -  6 weeks 3 days - cardiac activity well appreciated in this fetus.

           CRL B   6.7 mm -  6 weeks 4 days - cardiac activity well appreciated in this fetus.

           CRL C   1.4mm -  Less then 5 weeks -  Cardiac activity not appreciated in this pole. :(

3 SAC's????  that's a surprise.  All I could think of is...'Thank God we don't have to go through the pain of a selective reduction.  Mother nature is taking over.' 

And so, here we are.  Not just pregnant, but pregnant with TWINS!

I still can't get used to saying that!!! How did WE get lucky enough to get a positive on our first try this time?  And all 3 embryo's implant?  Are they sure they have the right couple?  As many of you are aware that have been following us from the beginning, it took a few practice runs with Blaze before we got a positive.  How can this be???!!!

Just awaiting our next big milestone, the 13th week mark.  We are more anxious about this pregnancy obviously as twin pregnancies carry a higher risk.  We only hope and pray that it goes even half as smoothly as Blaze's pregnancy was.

I have said since day one what a GREAT child Blaze is.  Really I know how lucky we are!  Great health, great skin, great appetite, great temperament, great sleeper, just GREAT!  So...I have always said if we do this again the other child isn't always similar and in many times is the exact opposite.  Oh boy!  What did I wish for.  LOL 

Seriously though, we couldn't be happier.  It has (and still is) taking some getting used too, the thought of 2 more little ones and the thought that we are even pregnant again, but we truly are feeling blessed....DOUBLY BLESSED!

Our new blog dedicated to our 2 new little angels can be found here:  DOUBLY BLESSED IN INDIA.  After much thought we have decided to make this blog private, so if you want to follow along with the next journey please let us know.

To everyone out there who is trying and have had negatives or is just starting out...please don't give up, it CAN happen, just look at us and so many others who could truly be the poster children for this crazy journey we call surrogacy in India (right Kerrie ;)  )

The Common Denomenator

So, what do all these people have in common...

John Candy

Celine Dion

 

Pamela Anderson

 

Wayne Gretzky

 Jim Carry

 

  and Blaze W.  

 If you guessed that they are all    

 CANADIANS....  then you'd be correct!  Our Blaze received his Canadian Citizenship on November 8th.  So we are officially a family of dual Canadian/American citizens.  

 

Well the holidays are over. Just as quick as they came...they left!  We had a wonderful Christmas.  On New Year eve, both Gerry and I worked, and I also had to work on New Years day.  We are not really party animals too much anymore with a toddler in tow, so it didn't really matter.

Blaze is doing incredible.  He grows and changes and learns every day.  He teaches us so much about being parents.  The other night I was watching TV and they showed a baby being burped.  It felt like such a lifetime ago now when Blaze was that small.  He is now running...yes, I said running all over the place, bare foot or with shoes, once he started there was no looking back.  He loves to explore and see new things.  He is so very gentle, which I know Neyla appreciates, since he has now dubbed her back, his new chair.  She is SO good with him.  She lets him do anything and she just looks at us with that 'REALLY guys?!?' look on her face.  I cant' say it enough, we sure lucked out with this rescue dog.  It was Neyla's first real Christmas with a family and I think she liked it.

Blaze starts survival swim class next week.  He has done so well over the past 10 months in parent-tot classes that Coach Bryce says he is more than ready to advance.  We are a little disappointed cause we can't get into the water and share it with him, BUT we are proud of our little Michael Phelps.

Gosh he has changed SO much in the last few months it all just seems to roll together.   He is getting his top two incisor teeth, which has significantly helped in the chewing department. He still likes to ride the vacuum, but figured out that its a little loud, so whenever the vacuum starts up he puts his hands over his ears like ear muffs.

He signed his first 2 signs last week.  'All done/finished' and 'more'.  I got so excited when he did them, I think I scared him to death when I screamed. He is trying very hard to communicate to us.  'Ahhhh' is his favorite word to talk to us or answer any of our questions.  He is pointing to what he wants now, which is a huge help, since 'Ahhh' covers just about everything.  He says, Ma Ma, Da Da, dog, Pa Pa, Gamma, Nanny, pretty clearly and every now and then will say a new word, but not consistently like the others. 

Man of many faces, that's our boy!  He loves to furrow his brow and pretend like he is either mad or really thinking hard.  Mostly he smiles and is a real charmer with the ladies when he tilts his head and squints his eyes to really reel the girls in.  It totally works as they all respond with, 'Ohhhh he is SO cute!'

We also have his first job lined up as soon as he can work... he is going to be the youngest ever Walmart Greeter.  He says hi, to every single person (which was not an easy task over the Christmas holidays).  Most people say 'hi' back to him, because if they don',t well then he just gets louder and more persistent until they cave.  Even then he repeats it over and over to the same person to the point that they end up laughing and walking away, after Gerry or I say, 'Blaze the nice lady already said 'hi' to you five times now.'  When someone is leaving, our little man will wave his little hand and blow kisses to them, so darn cute!

We have decided they need to rename the 'Terrible Two's'  They need to call it 'here comes the 15 month old with an attitude...look out!'  We can't really complain though.  We haven't had any all out kicking and screaming temper tantrums...yet!  But we are patiently reading and learning how to redirect our little monster who decided that the one time Mommy wore her hair down for family photos was the PERFECT time to take a couple of fist fulls of it and pull with what looked like demonic possession in his eyes.  Photographer got a nice shot of that one.  SO embarrassing!!! ' No', is not in a toddlers vocabulary.  Well, I suppose unless its coming out of their mouth.  If not whatever they have in their hand goes hurling across the room at mach speed in an instant, followed by a loud yell.  I am convinced though that it is only Mommy that seems to be subject to this devilish treatment as Daddy just has to look at him the wrong way and the bottom lip comes out with a face that would pull on anyone's heart strings.  Daddy says Mommy is a 'pushover!'  Mommy says she just has to learn to look scarier then Daddy does.  As I said...we really can't complain, however its only 16 months in, so Blaze may just be testing us for what's yet to come.  I did teach him, 'gentle.' and he usually will take his hand and stoke our faces very softly, unless the devil rears its ugly head.

 
A great accomplishment at 15 months was Blaze going to bed on his own.  We will say...'Its time for bed.' or 'are you ready for bed?' and he immediately walks to his room and waits for us to pick him up and lay him in his crib.  Also, if we say, 'Ok time to eat.' he goes over to his highchair and pulls it back from the table and waits for us to pick him up and put him in it.  Still, once we put him in bed, then that's it and he is out for the night till around 8 or 9 a.m.  My parents didn't believe us till they babysat a few weeks ago and he did it for them too.  I think we totally have the smartest 16 month old out there.  ;)

He is learning the parts of the body and he loves when Mommy sings, 'head and shoulders, knees and toes...' His very favorite is 'belly-belly-belly.'  He giggles and pats his belly.  Daddy thought it would be fun to also teach him 'Dinky-dinky-dinky' and yes, he pats that too.  Boys will be boys! 

We were excited about Christmas this year thinking how much fun Blaze will have tearing all the Christmas wrap off.  Not so much....he still had 3 gifts under the tree on boxing day (day after Christmas for all you non-Canadians)  He loves his new set of wheels.  Spoiled child already has a cool ride at the age of 16 months.  Check out his mongoose quad.
 

So other than Blaze growing like a weed, Not much is going on around here.  Life is pretty status quo:  work, spending time with Grandma and Papa, trying to loose all that Thanksgiving/Christmas turkey weight, finding out that we are pregnant with twins, etc. etc.  Not a whole lot happening.