Update is in! + pics

Today we received our latest update and everything is going well. Both babes are doing absolutely fine, and mrs. N is also doing fine, all though she has large babies to carry!

We are both totally excited now we're almost there. A is in Bangkok at the moment and he rang me a dozen times over the weekend. It all comes down to being scared and freakin' happy at the same time. We also received a couple of scans, but only one out of the ten pictures was clear enough to see a baby which was sucking his/her thumb.. we hope (s)he will carry on doing so after birth:)

I was really hoping for clear pics but they were mostly a blur to be honest. However, I've uploaded a few images and if anyone can figure out what gender they are; feel free to guess in your comments!

Fingers crossed for uneventful pregnancies! Enjoy your holidays, we definitely will enjoy our last Christmas without our babes! Can't wait for next year.

REAL TIME USG OF THE GRAVID UTERUS REVEALS:

A twin, live intrauterine pregnancy with both foetuses in cephalic presentation is noted.

Foetal cardiac activity and limb movements are observed. FHR1: 135 B/M. FHR2: 140 B/M

Two placentae are seen. One is along the anterior wall and one along the posterior wall.

They show grade 2 maturity. There is no evidence of placenta previa.

Liquour is adequate. A membrane is seen separating the two foetuses.

The lower uterine segment is normal. There is no evidence of incompetent os.

The cervical length is 3.6 cm.

Various foetal parameters are as follows:

(FOETUS 1 RIGHT SIDE – CEPHALIC) (FOETUS 2 LEFT SIDE - CEPHALIC)

BPD 1	8.1 cm.	32.6 Weeks.	BPD 2	7.0 cm.	28.2 Weeks.
HC 1	29.6 cm.	32.5 Weeks.	HC 2	27.2 cm.	29.5 Weeks.
AC 1	27.3 cm.	31.3 Weeks.	AC 2	24.4 cm.	28.5 Weeks.
FL 1	5.9 cm.	31.1 Weeks.	FL 2	5.5 cm.	29.0 Weeks.
FL/AC1	22 % NO IUGR.	EBW1: 1789 gm.	FL/AC2	22 % NO IUGR.	EBW2: 1300 gm.

Following foetal organs (both the foetuses) are well visualized and do not show any obvious abnormality.

* Spine * Brain *4C Heart *Kidneys * Stomach * Bladder *3 Vessel cord

* Eyes * Nose * Upper limbs * Lower limbs.

It should be noted that because of foetal movements, position and quantity of liquour all the foetal organs may not be visualized optimally in one scan.

IMPRESSION: A DICHORIONIC, LIVE, TWIN PREGNANCY WITH BOTH FOETUSES IN CEPHALIC

PRESENTATION.

BY ET, THE GA IS 28 W. 2 D. EDD: 13.3.10.

BY USG, THE GA1 IS 32 W. 0 D. --- LARGE FOR DATE.

BY USG, THE GA2 IS 29 W. 0 D.

just busy and a link

And we're a week closer again!

This week we haven't had any news so fingers crossed.

Two day ago my dad visited us so he could give us the shots for swine flu.

In Holland new borns won't get these shots until they're at least 6 months. And even though I know A through and through I was very much surprised to find out that he hates getting shots!

That night we also chatted via Skype with A's mum and my mum who are both in Spain, and since A's mum hadn't seen the nursery yet we showed it via video conferencing... and I also showed them the ordeal of getting A to sit down, look to the other side and my dad giving him his shot.

Not a pretty sight :)

But anyways, the pressure at the moment is quite intense, there is still a lot to do before we leave and we're just not home a lot the next coming weeks.

So I better get on with it, as soon as our next update is in I'll post it.

Good thoughts for everyone and fingers crossed for uneventful pregnancies!

Ps. here's a link to a site where they sell a story book for children with two daddies:

http://www.feel-good-families.com/

No pregnancy diabetics!

We received a new update and the results of the sugar tests and all is fine! It really seems to go by the book this pregnancy (knock on wood for the ... I lost count).

Both babes are still larger than babes usually are at this gestational age, they're also both quite a lot heavier again: the smallest one is 1 kilo (2lbs) and the bigger one is 1.4 kilo (2.7lbs).

The doc will make a pic of our surrogate at the next visit so finally we'll get to see her belly!

Our surrogate is doing fine and she is taking very good care of our babes, today I spent some time thinking of her and how her being a surrogate is life changing for so many. I mean, she will give us the greatest gift I can ever hope for and she will be able to provide education and other really life improving things for her family.

I just read on another blog that the IP's were sending presents over for Christmas, and I felt kind of uncomfortable because I haven't thought of that! And then again what do you send? I am sure she can use a lot of things, but I haven't got a clue what she would like.

At the moment the gestational age is almost 27 weeks and they are in breech position, the doc told us that there is still plenty of space for the babes to move around, but it seems likely that they will be born by C section. The expected due date is still the beginning of February and at the moment there is no sign that they want to come earlier than that. Which is very good!

At home we're still working on getting things ready, and it seems there is no end to it! We really have too much of everything! My father visited today and helped me clear out the storage... and throw things away. Most of the things will be sold at a flee market and the revenues will go to an elderly home (I guess it's the spirit of the year:).

My dad even tried to convince me that I should get rid of some of my Christmas stuff.. Say what! I do have to explain a little bit I guess, a few years ago there was a sale on really nice Christmas decoration and I, well lets just say I emptied the store. I think I can easily decorate about 10 Christmas trees and I know this is ridiculous but I am attached to every single Christmas ball! There are already some boxes going to Spain for the decorations there and I tried to convince my father to take some extra in his luggage but he doesn't want me to move all my stuff from here to over there. A also wants me to get rid of half the decorations but I have hold my ground:) I did promise however that I won't buy any new decoration material... ever.

All minor worries, the most important thing is that our babes are doing great and our surrogate is doing great.

Fingers crossed for uneventful pregnancies and good festive thoughts too all!

Our doc

We hadn't heard from our clinic with regards to the pregnancy diabetics so we called them today and learnt that our doctor isn't working with the clinic anymore.

Anywhere in the world people change jobs so we don't have any hard feelings, but we would have liked our clinic to inform us. During this whole process you built up an relationship of trust, it starts when you first inform via email, then phone calls and so on until you have the positive result you're hoping off.

We had a great click with our doc, she was almost always on top of our case so we have to rebuilt a relationship with our new doc. I am sure many already have experienced changing docs during similar processes so I am confident that we will get to the same stage of trust again.

Our new doc did know immediately who we were and she had just seen our surrogate, she is doing fine, getting more tired as the babies are larger than they should be at this point. The results of the diabetics tests will come in this afternoon and she will email us tomorrow morning Indian time, so fingers crossed!

We got in contact with our-concierge-to-be and he is going to help us out with various things, we've decided to go along with the same concierge as the Mikes have used.

Furthermore we still haven't decided on a hotel! Bugger, still working on the best deal we can get. We did find a service-apartment for 5000 INR incl breakfast and all the amenities you can find at a hotel apartment but we haven't heard of anyone staying there and we very much like the hotel apartment where other IP's have stayed as we are sure that everything is there as it should be. So... the reason for us to look for the best deal is because we haven't got a clue how long we'll need to be there. It can easily be a month... or three.

Last weekend we went to the UK and did some major baby-gear shopping. And we are definite set to go!

Last Friday we chatted with Mike and they are sending us their baby-carry bags! Which is great 'cause I am still in shock about the amount of money we have spent in just one single store last Saturday lol. I guess I'll be in shock a lot more in the future. The whole trip was fun even though we hadn't really had any sleep prior leaving. My mum decided 5 minutes before we left that she wasn't joining us since she just read on the internet that there was a storm! A storm to powerful for her to get over her fear of the wide open sea, so it was a shame she didn't go 'cause when we got to the boat there was hardly any wind or rain and we had a beautiful crossing (really mum, there was no wind:). My dad however, was even more excited with the prospect of being on a boat with a big big storm, disappointment all around us haha. Next time we'll go by plane.

We're also working on leave from our jobs, my employer is being fairly easy but A's employer is a bit more difficult. Here in Holland there are rules for just about everything, except surrogacy.

When we would adopt we would get paid leave, but there aren't any rules on surrogacy so we just have to beg for some understanding. A already experienced that a women from HR was explaining to him that men shouldn't have children without a women being present! Some people are so ignorant and intolerant, we hired a professional to join him in his meeting today with his manager because if they are taking a stand so can we; equal rights for everyone! In two weeks time we'll hear their decision. So far we've anticipated that it will come down to unpaid leave and that's fine, but no harm in trying. Christmas is getting closer and closer and we are so looking forward to spending just a few days in the Spanish sun! After that we'll be on stand by at home to wait for the big arrival of our babes. As we are getting closer to the end and reading, talking with other parents to prepare, we still feel we're not prepared. I am scared, A is scared but confident that we will do our utmost best. But how does one prepare on sleepless nights? How can we be sure that we'll understand our babes even though they can't express themselves with words? Will we be able to tell the difference between a little cry before sleep or a desperate cry for attention, food or pains? It's just nerves I guess and we'll learn soon enough.

For now fingers crossed for uneventful pregnancies and good thoughts for everyone!

100 Days

I was just waiting to write this, but till due date it is only 100 more days to go!

We're still keeping our fingers crossed for an uneventful pregnancy. Since we received the last update I am a bit anxious about the babes since they're so 'large' according to the docs... yep, I had a 'chat' with Dr Google.

We are awaiting the results for the tests for pregnancy diabetics, if they are this big due to pregnancy diabetics it can be controlled quite well by the docs.

If not treated correctly I understand that the placentae maturity can go up to grade 3, which normally should be more at the end of the pregnancy. Grade 3 maturity means that our babes won't be getting all the nutritions they need and that they should be born: and it is WAY to early for that.

But all of this is still unsure and the docs reassured us that even though our babes are quite large they still believe everything is fine with both of them. So this leaves us waiting for the results.

A was in Bangkok for a few days and he went to the Indian Visa Buro to get his visa sorted and he made the application ... in three weeks time he will be there again and thus able to pick up his visa. For him this was the easiest way to get a visa which allows him to stay for 6 months in India if needed. Next week I'll be in Belgium where I will sort out my Visa.

Fingers crossed big time for good health for our babes and our surrogate.

Good thoughts for everyone!