He's here!

Monday, March 25th, 2013.  This is the day little Baby D was born.  My hubby and I arrived at the hospital around 7:00 am to be induced.  G&M arrived just after 8:00 am.  The nurse hooked me up to monitor baby's heartrate and to see if I was contracting at all.  I was contracting about every 3 minutes, feeling some, but not all of them.  Baby's heartrate was great.  The doc came in to see if I was dilated anymore.  He said I was about a 3, but baby's head wasn't engaged yet, so he wasn't going to break my water.  I received my first dose of cytotec at 8:00 am.

We did a lot of walking the halls to try to get the contractions going.  The doc came back in around noon to check me again.  No change...I was so bummed!  So I received another dose of cytotec.  More walking the halls, sitting on the exercise ball, swaying my hips.  Doc was back around 3:30 pm and I was at a 4.  Baby's head still wasn't engaged.  I received my 3rd dose of cytotec at 4:00 pm.  I began feeling the contractions more consistently.  They were getting stronger!  Doc came back once again around 4:30 and I was at a 5.  Baby's head was down, but doc still didn't feel comfortable breaking my water yet.

It was turning out to be a very long day!  G&M were getting more emotional as the day progressed, understandably so!  Doc checked me just before 7:00 pm.  I was at a 6 with a bulging bag of waters, head waaaay down.  He finally broke my water.  That feeling in itself is like a little bit of relief.  Things sped up after that.  I had to start breathing through the contratctions at this point.   Around 8:00 pm, they were coming every 30 seconds and lasting around a minute or more.

With my other deliveries, my thighs would start to shake once I got to 9 cm.  This one was no different.  By 9:00 pm, my thighs shook and I had to fight the urge to push.  Doc said I was, in fact, 9 cm.  I had to breath through the next 4 or so contractions until I was at a 10 and then it was go time!!  Everyone got ready.  Being able to push after trying to make your body NOT push was sooo wonderful!  I pushed through the next 3 contractions.  Baby D was born at 9:14 pm.  He is beautiful!!  G&M helped clean him off and stimulate him while the cord stopped pulsating.  Once it did, M got to cut the cord.  G wanted skin-to-skin contact and to try nursing asap after birth.  He didn't really have any interest in eating though.  He weighed in at 8 pounds 1 oz and was 20.5 inches long. 

As the doc was finishing me up, getting the placenta to deliver, making sure I didn't tear (which I didn't!) and all that, all I could do was stare in such awe at the new family we helped create!  I honestly can't think of strong enough, emotional enough, deep enough, words to describe what we saw.  G&M just couldn't take their eyes off of Baby D.  It was such a magical moment and I feel so very blessed to have been a part of it.  I can't even think of the moment without crying.  They aren't sad tears though, the absolute opposite actually.  I have no feelings of sadness, just pure, overwhelming happiness. 

It was such a different feeling than when I delivered my own children.  This has been the most gratifying experience of my life.  I was proud of myself for baking him until he was ready and for him being healthy.  I didn't feel the need to hold him or anything right away.  I wanted G&M to have their special time.  It was a room full of emotions, that's for sure!! I knew they would let me see and hold him when they were ready and they did.  He's so adorable, just so stinkin' cute! 

We had the kids come over to meet him yesterday.  Some family and friends also stopped by, which was nice.  Our boys were just so excited to finally meet him.  Our teenage daughter isn't much for holding babies anyway, so just basically looked at him a bit.  In the last month, she had expressed that she wasn't comfortable with the entire surrogacy.  That was tough to hear, since she was totally fine before we began the process and after the embryo transfer, saying she was cool with it as long as we weren't bringing another baby into our house.  She's having difficulties, since I'm not bringing home a baby, but she didn't not want G&M to have their baby. 

It is spring break for the kids this week, and she is at her dad's house.  In the midst of our teary (happy!!) goodbyes this morning, her dad sent me a text.  Not to air my dirty laundry on here, but I have to get this out.  The very first sentence was, "You are the most selfish person I know!"  My, how he knows how to ruin a wonderful moment, don't you think?!!  I'm trying to not let it get to me, since he is just being himself....the usual asshole.  I didn't even read the entire text at the time, but he basically said I was selfish because our daughter was having trouble dealing with this and I was a horrible person because I was doing something that made me happy.  Little does he know, that WE weren't even made aware of how she felt until a month ago!  ONE month!!  I can't exactly stop a pregnancy!  We will handle this and we will get through this.  It is an emotional event in all of our lives.  We are all going to handle this in our own way.  I just really wish she was here with us, so we could do it together.  He would never let that happen though.  Time will tell how things go with her.  Just like any parent, I don't like seeing my child upset and will do whatever I can to make her better. 

Anyway, Brad came over to the hospital after taking the boys to daycare this morning.  G&M wanted to get on the road in the morning.  Brad and I wanted to say goodbye without the kids there, because we knew there would be tears from all of us.  We had the nurse take a pic of us 5 together.  Then G&M let me and Brad have some time alone with Baby D.  Tears were flowing, but not because we were sad.  I am just so happy he's healthy and G&M are so happy!!  This had been a long time coming for them.  They deserve this little boy and have loved him so much from the very beginning.  That is how I wanted this journey to end.  Although, we will still be in touch through emails, pictures and texts so it's not officially "the end".  Hopefully sometime in the future we can take a trip to PA to visit them.  I am extremely humbled to be a part of their lives and to have been the caretaker of Baby D for his first 9 months.  They are in charge for the next chapter in his life.  I couldn't be happier!!

Almost there!

I had booked another doctor appointment for Wednesday since G&M are here.  They hadn't been to one yet, besided the ultrasounds.  The appointment went well.  My doc checked me, but there had been no change, still 2 cm.  I was kinda bummed.  I had so many contractions, I was sure there had to be some progress.  We went for lunch afterwards.  G was finally able to feel Baby move.  He had been quite stubborn whenever they were around by not moving an inch. 

Our induction is set for Monday morning.  We are to arrive by 7am.  I have a feeling I will not go into labor before then.  It just happens to be the same day as my sister's induction and a day after my daughter gets confirmed.  The weekend will fly by and Monday will be here before we know it! 

Everyone keeps asking if I'm ready and counting down the days.  Uh, nope.  LOL.  I guess we really have only...4 days left.....and I even had to look at the calendar to check.  Wow, that really is soon!!  Seriously, I'm not counting down the days!  Normally I would be, but this has been the easiest/smoothest (aside from 1.5" needles in my butt for a few months!) pregnancy by far.  I really am only a bit uncomfortable in the evenings, more towards bedtime.  I feel great throughout the day.  My ankles have only swollen a little bit compared to the others.  I've gained about 10 pounds less than the previous pregnancies as well.  All in all, I feel great. 

If I don't check in before the big day, please say a quick prayer that Baby and I do well during and after labor and delivery.  I just want him to be healthy!!  I can't wait to see his parents' faces!!  Here's to a speedy recovery as well!  Thank you all for following along.  :)

False Labor?

Boy, after my doctor appointment on Tuesday, contractions were coming quite a bit.  I figured I was just irritated from being checked.  They didn't really go away until Wednesday morning.  I was so exhausted yesterday from not sleeping well.  In the middle of the night, I kept going back and forth in my head about whether to tell G&M to head this way now instead of waiting until Friday. 

By yesterday afternoon, the contractions were coming back.  I was telling Brad about them.  I've never had that many contractions without ending up with a baby.  We decided we needed to tell G&M to head back this way...just in case!  They were more than ready to head on back.  They should actually be in the area late this afternoon.  I will feel extremely foolish if absolutely nothing happens before our induction date of 3/25 though.  They are able to work from here via their computers, so that will help.  I just hope they don't get upset if they are here for over a week before anything happens.  Maybe I was just stressing myself out thinking they may not make here in time and that caused me to contract even more.  Ah, who knows!  He can arrive anytime now!!  :)

I'm feeling better today.  Yesterday, I felt like I had been through hours of actual labor!  I was a zombie at work.  Contractions are tiring!  They are more sporatic today.  I'm thinking it must have been false labor, which I've never had before.  I'm really curious if the contractions thinned me out or dilated me more.  I don't have any more doctor appointments, although I could always make one just to see.  I won't be 38 weeks until Sunday.  I will feel better if he holds out until then at least.  Being 37 weeks just seems early to me, even though it's officially considered full term and only 2 weeks prior to our induction date.  I just want to make sure he's baked all the way!!  LOL.  No need to rush it, baby!

So, now that they will be here very soon, the anticipation is on the rise.  We will twiddle our fingers and wait.  And wait some more. 

Lots happening

G&M came this last weekend.  They got to meet our kids for the first time.  We went to a museum and aquarium.  I think everyone had a great time.  It was a lot of walking for me.  After the museum, we headed for lunch at Red Robin.  That's a great place for us as a family, (it's so loud) so our kids aren't the main attraction.   Plus, their bottomless fries are delish!  :)

Yesterday, we had our court hearing.  I think we were all a bit nervous.  Court isn't something to take lightly, especially when it's dealing with this sort of thing.  Our judge was fantastic.  He even joked around a bit.  I think he would have signed the order without hearing each of our testimonies.  When the guardian ad litem asked if he wanted to hear them, he slightly shrugged his shoulders and simply said, "sure".  It all worked out in the end though.  :) I'm sure it was a massive weight lifted of G&M's shoulders to have that out of the way.  Now they can take their new little boy home right after leaving the hospital.

Today, I had my last doctor appointment.  I am measuring right at 37 weeks.  Doctor checked me and said I was dilated to 2 cm!  Wow!  I have only been dilated prior to delivery with my first child, not my last three, so this was a surprise.  He said I was still pretty thick though.  Now, I just hope he stays in place until the 25th.  It will be much easier with the kids if we know when he's going to arrive.  Ah, but we all know babies are the ones that make the schedules.  LOL.  I think I freaked G&M out a bit by telling them I was dilated.  They could be here in just over 4 hours by plane, if need be.  Let's all pray that whenever this little guy decides to arrive, that his parents are able to get here in time to witness his birth.