Baby Shower/Good Bye Party...

What a fabulous day! Gerry and I were both overwhelmed at the outpouring of gifts and well wishes we received at our party yesterday. So many people from my management team, to my Nurses and C.N.A's and their families all came to show us their love. WOW!!! There are no other words to describe our appreciation.

We were blown away with such a fabulous shindig! Barb and her entire family truly went all out with loaning their beautiful home for the day. Jo and so many others did an awesome job preparing decorations and bringing food dishes, and we can't forget Angelica who slaved for days on our beautiful and very yummy cake.

I am definitely going to miss working with these wonderful people and seeing their smiling faces every day. But I will definitely will keep in touch and certainly I will be visiting them with our new bundle of joy very soon.

The whole gang (well minus a bunch)

Della making the hat.

What's a baby Shower without a crazy hat?

Cole wanted a picture of the gift he bought us.


Quite the spread!

Thank you Angelica!

Becky and Bea (keeping track of all the gifts)

We have already planned on having a get-together here at our home in mid July to share in our new baby, since so many of our friends and neighbors are wanting to be included. We certainly did not prepare for the outpouring of gifts that we received yesterday. I suppose everyone was right in telling us to "Stop buying!"


Now its on to the multitude of 'Thank you' cards and of course, trying to find a spot for all of our little angels goodies in its waiting nursery.

Doing my civic duty as a new American.

They found me!!! I have been a U.S citizen for less then a year and already have been called for jury duty. Of the 36 people who showed 6 were chosen to serve, and YEP, you guessed it, I got chosen. All other 6 in 36 gambles, I would never be selected. My luck normally STINKS! But this... I get picked. Go figure!?! Actually, all kidding aside, it was a very eye opening experience and I even got to serve as the Jury Foreperson and submit our verdict to the judge. It was a criminal case and thankfully only lasted one day. I truly felt really great going home with the knowledge that I had made a huge difference in someones life that day.

Gerry is away this week playing soldier in the Pan Handle of Florida. He is dealing with intense humidity, heat and bugs while fighting fires and pretending to be at war. It has made him appreciate why we left Florida in the first place. Sorry, my dear Floridian friends, but it was certainly more then just the hurricanes that convinced us to leave and never look back. We LOVE Arizona and are so happy to live here. Gerry returns Saturday afternoon, just in time for our Baby Shower/My going-away party. It may just be a doozy as Barb and Jo have invited the entire facility to join in the festivities.

Tomorrow marks my last day in my 8 year career run as a Director of Nursing. I am overjoyed about beginning this new job on Monday and can't wait to get started and just take a bit of a break from worrying about everyone and everything, everyday. So Unit Manager...here I come!

We are already at 26 weeks and thrilled. My emotions tend to go from zero to sixty in a moment, ranging from, "WOW!" to, "OMG, what have I done?" to, " I'm going to be responsible for another little life very, very soon!" to, "this is REALLY happening!" But when all is said and done, I know that deep down this is our dream come true and together we can do anything.

Your Baby at 26 weeks:

Deep breath! Air sacks are developing in your baby's lungs, which means it just might be possible for your baby to take a breath at the end of this week. The air sacks (technically called alveoli) will continue to grow for the next nine years. The membrane that keeps the alveoli separate from the blood vessels is now thin enough to allow for that oxygen–carbon dioxide exchange we call breathing.

Other highlights this week:

The retina completes the development of its normal layers this week—all the better to see you with. Well not you, per se, because her eyes are still sealed shut and it's really dark in there, but your baby's eyes are now fully developed.

Brainwaves for the auditory and visual systems are detectable in baby's noggin this week. That means baby's brain is registering things like sound and light. She can't understand what any of it means yet, but she's on track to comprehend an entire episode of Blue's Clues in no time! As hearing continues to develop, your baby will start to recognize voices. Research has shown that newborns actually recognize familiar sounds after birth. Proof that your baby has been paying attention all along.

Break out the sparkling apple juice—baby has now completed two-thirds of her stay in Hotel Womb. Your baby is about 1 2/3 pounds and is 14 inches long head-to-heel, or about the length of a burp cloth (otherwise known as your primary wardrobe accessory for the next several months).

ONESIE Fun...

Your Baby at 25 weeks:

Get ready for pat-a-cake! Baby's hands are now fully developed and he spends most of his awake time groping around in the darkness of your uterus. Brain and nerve endings are developed enough now so that your baby can feel the sensation of touch.

Other highlights include: Your baby's arms and legs have grown to almost the proportions they will be at birth, which is still sort of short. So don't be alarmed when your newborn's arms barely clear his waist.

Baby's nostrils, which have been plugged up until now, clear out (like he's taken a super-dose of Sudafed) and he can practice breathing through the nose. The structures of your baby's spine are now made up of 150 joints, 33 rings and some 1,000 ligaments.

The capillaries, the teeniest blood vessels, are now forming in your baby's body, giving his formerly translucent skin a pink glow. The blood vessels in the lungs also develop this week. You'll see how well that worked out when your baby gives those lungs a workout while you're on line at the bank in a few months.

Your baby weighs about a pound and a half and is about 13½ inches long—roughly the length of one of those recorders you played in elementary school music class. Who's up for a round of "Hot Cross Buns?"

A POST FOR MY SOLDIER

When I met Gerry in 1998 he was not in the military. Very soon after moving to the U.S.A he joined the Coast Guard reserves. I thought, "Good for him, if that's what makes him happy. It's only one weekend per month and 2 weeks a year away from us, that's a piece of a cake."

A few months later, Gerry was called to active duty to serve in Operation Iraqi Freedom. My heart stopped. Thoughts of fear and the unknown filled my mind. I was never a soldier's wife! I don't know what to do all alone! What if he never comes home? etc. etc. This wasn't supposed to happen to us, but it had. February 2004 Frankie and I drove to the West Coast of Florida to drop our guy off for what would be a long flight to the border of Iraq and Kuwait. It was one of the most emotional and terrifying times in my life, one I will never forget.

What started out as, "Oh, the Coast Guard never does more then 3 month deployments." Turned into almost a full year away from home for Gerry. I spent little time watching the news as I was scared to know what was happening so far away and out of my control. I waited for my daily, YES daily phone calls from him. My amazing soldier would walk 2 miles and wait in line 2 hours (sometimes more) every day to use the phone, just to hear my voice. In 10.5 months he only missed one day (which was out of his control). Some calls would end suddenly and I would hold my breath hoping and praying all was okay, till the next day when I could hear his sweet voice again.
While Gerry bravely fought for our country (even if neither of us were actual citizens yet) I tried to keep things status quo on the home front and stay strong and calm for him. It seemed like nothing compared to the sacrifice he was making to protect me and our friends and family from terrorism here in America. In the end it truly made our marriage stronger and gave us both a better appreciation for what we had...each other.

Memorial Day makes me remember his sacrifice and duty to his country, and I couldn't be more proud of my man and what he has done. He has served in Desert Storm for the Canadian military and Operation Iraqi Freedom for the U.S military, 2 wars for 2 countries...What a wonderful thing to share with our children some day!

God Bless all of those men and women who have served so bravely and selfishly for their country so that we could live a life of freedom.

I love you Staff Sergeant Wile and I am proud to say, ' I am a military wife, and wouldn't want to have it any other way.'

Couldn't have said it any better myself...

One dear surrogate friend recently posted on another blog, and I am overwhelmed with emotion at how fitting her words were. Quite often I am asked, "How does it feel to have used an egg donor for your cycle?" Or, "What will you tell your child?" Trea's words really hit home and I couldn't have said it any better myself...

It might be a lot or it might be a little, but we would also tell them mummy's tummy was broken but her heart was not, and that we loved them so much we traveled across continents and oceans to be with them and that no matter what, they will always be our children.

Giving birth to a child does not define you as a parent - it is how you raise them. Make the way they were conceived and born a source of pride. If you are open with them, no one has anything to feel bad about. Children are amazing and all they want is the truth.

Finally we realized we needed to stop concentrating on 'getting pregnant' and start focusing on 'becoming parents' and if that meant that our child was not biologically related to one or either of us, then so be it - we would still be parents and love them unconditionally.

Thank you Trea for taking the words right out of my mouth. I am truly proud to call this child mine and she or he will never feel anything but pure 100% unconditional love from their Mommy.

We got to chat with KT on the phone a couple of nights ago. She is now resting comfortably at the SI clinic and it was so wonderful to hear her voice. We could picture in our minds, her sweet face as she told us that she was having a roti for lunch and she was "good", "feel good" and "baby good", she "missed us" and "loved us" and ended with "You come?" Although limited, it was a great chat and to just hear the joy in her voice and know that she and our baby are both doing well, means everything to us. We only wish we were closer and not 1/2 a world away, to travel and see her. Dr. Yash says KT's tummy is getting bigger and we can't wait to see it.

We Skyped with the Docs on Sunday evening and got to see our growing 'baby belly'(and boy has it grown since we were in Mumbai) and of course, KT's beautiful smiling face. She didn't stop smiling the entire time (and neither did we). She said the baby was kicking and it made her very excited and happy, YAY!!! The Doctors are keeping her a few more days at the SI clinic to allow her to rest some more and then she is moving into a place even closer to the clinic then she already was, just as a precaution. We are so very pleased the Doctors are taking such good care of her and our baby. We remind ourselves almost daily how grateful we are for both Dr. Sudhir and Dr. Yashodhara and the entire SI team. Without all of them, our dreams would not be coming true.

24.5 week Baby Belly

19.5 week Baby Belly