She's Here!

Sorry there hasn't been an update for some time. Truthfully, we were enjoying being a family of four and settling in with our little miracle.

Spencer Mae was born January 16 at 11:30 PM. She was 6lb 11oz and 19.5 inches long. The whole experience was so surreal and one day I will write her birth story but for now I will leave you with some images and to thank again our surrogate Stephanie. Without her none of this would be possible. She is truly an Angel and has sacrificed so much so that we could complete our family. I will forever be grateful to her and her family.

What a difference

What a difference a year makes? Am I right? Stephanie and I were texting last night about how it was one year ago yesterday that we MET for the first time. Can you believe that? One year ago, four strangers met at a coffee shop in the middle of a winter storm to discuss surrogacy and get to know each other. And now only a year later those strangers have become like family and Stephanie is about to deliver our baby any day now. So crazy!

This weekend Carmelo and I took Eliza to a hotel down the street. She's been having tantrums and just not acting like herself. She seems to really be craving attention and with the baby coming I wanted to make sure she had some special time with Mommy and Daddy. It turned out to be the best decision and we had such a great time. The Northeast has been hit with some brutally low temperatures, so between needing attention and going stir crazy in our house it was nice to go some where new and go swimming! Eliza loves the water and we spent hours in the pool at the hotel, went to dinner and then just went back to the room and snuggled. We had nothing else to do, nowhere else to be and it was a perfect little night away with just the three of us. What a difference getting out of the house can do!

And now:

• Hospital Bags are packed and ready
• Car seat is in
• House is cleaned

Now we just need Baby!

38 Weeks and Still Cooking

The baby cooperated and stayed put for the "bomb cyclone" that hit the Northeast. Thank you Jesus!

We had our 38 week appointment today and Stephanie is 3 cm and about 80% effaced which means this baby really could come at anytime! We are SO excited and even MORE anxious. It's hard enough trying to prepare for a birth plan when just one family is involved but trying to coordinate two families with parents that work full time and have four kids among us is pretty intense.

The countdown is on!

37 weeks and 5 days

By 37 weeks and 5 days Eliza had already made her appearance. She decided to show up 2.5 weeks early. It's so crazy to me that this baby could make his/her appearance at any point!

We are expected to have a big snow storm tomorrow. Considering our track record with meeting up with Stephanie and Eric during epic storms I wouldn't be surprised if this baby decides to make a dramatic entrance tomorrow. However we are praying that little one stays put until after the storm!

Below is me on the left with Eliza at 37 weeks and Stephanie on right with Baby P at 37 weeks.

I keep going back and forth on if this one is going to be a boy or girl! Can't wait for that moment!

Things to figure out

I started to panic the other day about Stephanie going into labor. Being on this side of things can make you really anxious. Obviously if I was pregnant I would know when my body was going into labor and be able to prepare, but not being the one that goes into labor and needing to be "on call" made me so nervous. My smart phone is also the phone I use for work and I can receive emails at all hours of the night because for big projects I work with offshore. So I tend to silence my phone as to not have it go off every couple minutes. I suddenly realized I need to figure out how to allow Stephanie's number to dial through even if the phone is on silent. What if she goes into labor in the middle of the night?! What if I didn't have my phone on and we missed it?! All things I didn't think about until this week. I need to have someone ready to come to the house to stay with Eliza if this happens in the middle of the night. There is so much I need to figure out!

1) make sure I can get calls from Stephanie at all hours

2) I need someone on call for Eliza

3) book tour of the hospital

4) confirm the hospital knows we need two rooms

We made some updates to the nursery. Eliza has been spending alot of time in here.

By The State of Connecticut - It's Official We Are the Parents

On Wednesday we went to court. It's a formality and necessary part of the process, but we went to court so the State of Connecticut will recognize Carmelo and I as the parents of the baby. We had to accept all rights to the child and Stephanie and Eric had to waive all rights. The judge granted us to be the intended parents and we can officially have our names on the Birth Certificate. Seems funny to have to go to court to get our names on the Birth Certificate and when I told people that we had to go to court. Their first question was "Did Stephanie change her mind?"  - NO absolutely not. But it's people's first reaction that you only go to court for bad stuff. But as we learned, you can go to court for good stuff too!

49 Days To Go!

CT Family Court after it was Official

Nursery - 30 Weeks

Friday marked 30 weeks! Which means we now are less than 10 weeks away from holding Baby P! I can not believe how quickly time is going.

This weekend we prepped the house for Baby. Initially I didn't think we were going to put a room together. I figured the baby would be sleeping in our room for the first three months and depending on how good of a sleeper the baby was, He/She may just share a room with Eliza. But of course as time ticked away I felt really strongly about having a space for Baby P. So I guess nesting does kick in for Intended Parents!

This weekend I put together a dresser and the crib, moved the glider into the room and picked up some formula and diapers. I also ordered a bed frame (the room is also our guest room) and new area rug. Those should arrive in the next couple weeks and then I'll have to decide on any prints or decor I want in the room.

I've already found myself stopping by the room every time I'm upstairs. Eliza has also already climbed into the crib twice "to sleep" and asked if she could sleep in the room and said she misses "her baby brother/sister so bad". I tell her we will meet them soon. I just feel so lucky and happy and the room gives me some peace. So countdown is on! Less than 10 weeks to go!