today (it's 12:30 AM here)! Yes, that is correct, according to a projection by researchers working with data from the United Nations Population Fund. Could TO or TT be the 7th billion or will it be Doug and Chad's babies (http://justoneoutofsevenbillion.blogspot.com/)? Let's see what the next 12 1/2 hours brings, which is the expected arrival of the new baby...
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Day Trip to Agra
Since we have plenty of free time on our hands (I bet we don't repeat those words for awhile), we decided to take a day trip to Agra. I was positive making plans would induce labor, but no such luck. Oh well. We were in Agra in March to see the Taj, but didn't have time to visit the Agra Fort or Fatehpur Sikri, so yesterday was the day. Apparently, we are the only couple to visit Agra and not go to the Taj Mahal. The day was filled with lots of lessons about the, oh so powerful ruler, Akbar! Both places are worth a trip; however the Fort was far superior to Fatehpur Sikri. Enjoy some pictures...especially all of you east coasters stuck in winter wonderland:)
In the background is Diwan-i-Khas, Hall of private Audience for Akbar.
Tomb of Cheik Salim Christi
Fatehpur Sikri (The City of Victory)
Fatehpur Sikri Jama Masjid in the background.
In the background is Diwan-i-Khas, Hall of private Audience for Akbar.
Tomb of Cheik Salim Christi
Agra Fort
The entrance to the Fort.
Akbar's living quarters in the background.
The view of the Taj from the Fort.
The gate leading into the Queens quarters.
Friday, October 28, 2011
It's quiet here...for now...
If you came here looking for an exciting update, sorry you will have to keep checking!
The point of the noisy Diwali "crackers" is to scare away evil and after Wednesday nights nonstop explosions I am pretty sure it's all gone! So besides the standard honking and city noises Delhi is fairly quiet. And all is quiet on the baby front too - for now! So if you voted October 27th...you were wrong:)
We have been relaxing, shopping, working(well Lee has) and meeting up with new friends for lots of great food. Yesterday after some shopping in Hauz Khas Village (we will take pictures next time since it's quite beautiful) we met with Poonam, the woman who will help us navigate "operation get out of India". The process is pretty straightforward, two stamped birth certificates, two passports and two stamped exit visas. Not too bad, right? The challenge is how fast can we get all of these documents, so that Lee can return to work and our babies can meet the rest of their families and begin life at home. The US embassy is closed November 10th and 11th, so Poonam told us if the babies aren't here by the middle part of next week we would most likely be rescheduling our November 15th return tickets! Only time will tell when TO and TT decide to arrive...
The point of the noisy Diwali "crackers" is to scare away evil and after Wednesday nights nonstop explosions I am pretty sure it's all gone! So besides the standard honking and city noises Delhi is fairly quiet. And all is quiet on the baby front too - for now! So if you voted October 27th...you were wrong:)
We have been relaxing, shopping, working(well Lee has) and meeting up with new friends for lots of great food. Yesterday after some shopping in Hauz Khas Village (we will take pictures next time since it's quite beautiful) we met with Poonam, the woman who will help us navigate "operation get out of India". The process is pretty straightforward, two stamped birth certificates, two passports and two stamped exit visas. Not too bad, right? The challenge is how fast can we get all of these documents, so that Lee can return to work and our babies can meet the rest of their families and begin life at home. The US embassy is closed November 10th and 11th, so Poonam told us if the babies aren't here by the middle part of next week we would most likely be rescheduling our November 15th return tickets! Only time will tell when TO and TT decide to arrive...
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
36 Weeks..
How many people out there actually thought we would make it this far? Since March, I have felt like October 21st would be their birthday, but clearly I was wrong. The babies are obviously very happy hanging out where they are and are in no rush to enter the outside world! Since Lee is still working, the length of our stay here needs to be kept to a minimum, but actually the US Embassy and government offices are closed until Monday the 31st because of Diwali, so we can't start the exit process until then even if the babies arrived now. So babies, if you want to listen, continue to bake for a few more days! I have put a poll on the right side of this blog, so that people can guess when the babies will finally make their debut.
While we wait, we continue to sleep a lot, eat too much, shop and hang out with other intending parents - some at the beginning of their journeys and others waiting for their twins just like us!
While we wait, we continue to sleep a lot, eat too much, shop and hang out with other intending parents - some at the beginning of their journeys and others waiting for their twins just like us!
Sunday, October 23, 2011
New Scan
Yesterday, we were able to attend Mrs.R's ultrasound scan. She walked into the radiologist's waiting room right after us and wow did she look great! Seriously, I couldn't believe how ridiculously great she looked for being SO pregnant. She has the most adorable baby bump I have ever seen!
While Lee drooled through the entire scan, I was able to stay composed and ask the Dr lots of questions. We could see the babies moving around and TT was sucking on his/her fingers. We were both desperately looking to see if there was anything between the legs of either of them, but the Dr stayed far away from that area, so we will just have to wait for their arrival.
We haven't seen a picture of his/her adorable face for 16 weeks and boy has he/she plumped up since then. TO is now weighing ~5 lbs! Dr. Jolly (the radiologist) didn't send a profile image of TT in the report, despite focusing on TT's cuteness during much of the scan. TT actually looks almost identical to TO, but is only ~4lbs. We are so happy that just shy of 36 weeks they are finally both over 4lbs! Everything looked good with the blood flow to the babies, but TT hasn't gained much weight in the past week. Hopefully, during the next week TT will pack on some weight! We will continue to relax, sleep and wait for the healthy arrival of our babies!!
**I changed the requirements to comment, so you no longer need a login to leave us a comment! So, family and friends, comment away:)
While Lee drooled through the entire scan, I was able to stay composed and ask the Dr lots of questions. We could see the babies moving around and TT was sucking on his/her fingers. We were both desperately looking to see if there was anything between the legs of either of them, but the Dr stayed far away from that area, so we will just have to wait for their arrival.
Isn't TO cute?
We haven't seen a picture of his/her adorable face for 16 weeks and boy has he/she plumped up since then. TO is now weighing ~5 lbs! Dr. Jolly (the radiologist) didn't send a profile image of TT in the report, despite focusing on TT's cuteness during much of the scan. TT actually looks almost identical to TO, but is only ~4lbs. We are so happy that just shy of 36 weeks they are finally both over 4lbs! Everything looked good with the blood flow to the babies, but TT hasn't gained much weight in the past week. Hopefully, during the next week TT will pack on some weight! We will continue to relax, sleep and wait for the healthy arrival of our babies!!
**I changed the requirements to comment, so you no longer need a login to leave us a comment! So, family and friends, comment away:)
Thursday, October 20, 2011
What a difference a day makes…
While yesterday was pretty boring, today started with a bang, and I don’t mean the incessant firecrackers the locals are setting off to celebrate Diwali (for those who don’t know, Diwali is a festival of lights to commemorate the triumph of good over evil and light over dark…also the Hindu New Year). The short video should offer a fairly accurate depiction…
But I digress. The day started with me finding out that the donut and coffee shop downstairs doesn’t actually open until the crack of 10:00 AM, a perfect time for my first cup of coffee. The day got better when we open the door to head out for the morning, only to find Delhi PD officer Singh coming up the stairs with the intention of coming into the apartment for “a routine security check”, which loosely translates to “a routine bribe to make sure our stay doesn’t have too many problems from the locals”. But of course, given that neither Stacey nor I have exactly perfected our mastery of Hindi, and officer Singh was equally skilled in English, and even with the help of our driver, we had to call in our landlord to figure out what exactly was going on. She later explained the story about the “routine security check because of heightened concerns around Diwali”, which the owner of our car service, Rahul, even later explained as “they wanted a little money which the owner’s employee took care of”. We feel like real locals now after our first shakedown.
The rest of the day was fairly uneventful, except for a pretty good cup of coffee with two lovely new friends who are in the early stages of the surrogacy process with Dr. S. I can honestly say, I don’t think I’ve ever had a conversation with people I’ve just met that so quickly got around to what happens behind closed doors at fertility and surrogacy clinic…I’ll leave the rest to your imagination since my mom, mother-in-law and sister will be reading this too.
A few hours of work (yes, it’s very much a part of my day) later, and a couple of visits to the local baby stores to pick-up a pack-n-play, the most natural (read expensive) baby laundry detergent and soap Stacey could find, and a fantastic butter chicken and burra kabab at Moti Mahal for dinner, I can say it was a pretty good day in Delhi. To wrap it all up in a nice little bow, we just got a note from the Dr.’s office that Mrs. R is scheduled for a scan on Saturday and we’ll finally be able to see her and her baby bump in person. At this rate of improvement, I’m getting goose bumps just thinking about tomorrow!!!
Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Day One of life in Delhi
Wow, we were pretty boring yesterday. We spent the day trying to adjust to the time difference and fill our apartment with the basic necessities. We are so lucky to be right across the street from the market (India's version of a mall), so everything we need is available within minutes. Downstairs from our apartment is an excellent donut shop, which may get more business than our waistlines need!
We brought a lot of the baby stuff with us, including two car seats. I was concerned that the car seats would use too much of our luggage space, but we received two JL Childress travel bags for them which are fantastic. The bags are for the large toddler car seats, so using them with an infant seat left a ton of extra room to fill with stuff. It was shocking to me that when we finished packing there was actually extra room in our luggage. Tomorrow we are going shopping for the pack n' play and "fun things" to fil the extra luggage space!
On the baby front, we haven't heard anything. We are planning to attend the next scan, but we don't know exactly when that will be yet. I will probably make fool of myself when we see our surrogate for the first time because the thought of her brings tears to my eyes every time. I can only imagine what a cry baby I will be when we actually see her!
I better go back to bed, since it's 5:30AM here and I need to take advantage of what little time I have left to sleep in!
We brought a lot of the baby stuff with us, including two car seats. I was concerned that the car seats would use too much of our luggage space, but we received two JL Childress travel bags for them which are fantastic. The bags are for the large toddler car seats, so using them with an infant seat left a ton of extra room to fill with stuff. It was shocking to me that when we finished packing there was actually extra room in our luggage. Tomorrow we are going shopping for the pack n' play and "fun things" to fil the extra luggage space!
On the baby front, we haven't heard anything. We are planning to attend the next scan, but we don't know exactly when that will be yet. I will probably make fool of myself when we see our surrogate for the first time because the thought of her brings tears to my eyes every time. I can only imagine what a cry baby I will be when we actually see her!
I better go back to bed, since it's 5:30AM here and I need to take advantage of what little time I have left to sleep in!
Tuesday, October 18, 2011
Landed
We just arrived - woohoo! Delhi feels oddly more familiar than it probably should considering we have only been here once before.
The flight was fast and uneventful, but has left us both exhausted. We will update tomorrow once we get unpacked and settled into what will be home for the next few weeks!!
The flight was fast and uneventful, but has left us both exhausted. We will update tomorrow once we get unpacked and settled into what will be home for the next few weeks!!
Sunday, October 16, 2011
All checked-in and ready to roll
The bags are packed and waiting. The boarding passes have been printed and in a few short hours we’ll finally be on our way to meet our babies! I’ve been walking around all week pinching myself and repeating, “OMG, OMG, OMG, we’re going to India in X days”! Besides the giddy smirks on our faces, I gotta say that this weekend has been pretty much routine, with the exception of Lee thinking we’re leaving today (Sunday) instead of tomorrow (don’t know where he got that). We had late dinners out, slept in and lounged around for the most part. Strangely our big tasks for the day were finding a new dish rack and reorganizing the storage unit. Obviously neither of these things have anything to do with our trip, but it was strangely calming to focus on meaningless stuff rather than the life-changing trip we’re embarking on in just a matter of hours.
Adding a little extra excitement to the week, as if we needed any, we got two (sort of) unexpected scans. On Wednesday, Mrs. R had a routine scan, which was supposed to be Saturday (Lee’s trying to convince me that he got the travel dates confuse because the Dr’s office threw-off his timing…sure, Lee, whatever you say), but the scans showed the babies are doing well and progressing as they should. Their combined weight is now over 8lbs with TO coming in at a husky 4.3lbs and TT at ~3.8lbs, leading daddy Lee to continue thinking TO’s a boy and TT’s a girl. On Saturday, we received the second scan, unexpectedly since we thought the Wednesday one was replacing the Saturday scan. I’m sure everyone who’s done this before understands the pit that quickly formed in our stomachs when we got a surprise email from Dr. Shivani’s office. Mrs. R wasn’t feeling normal fetal movements on Saturday morning, so she called the OB and they promptly brought her in for an ultrasound, which showed the two little buggers where perfectly fine. It may just seem like the logical thing to do, but it’s really comforting to know that when something seems out of the ordinary that both Mrs. R and the doctors quickly make sure that all is continuing to go well. So far, there have been no mentions in any reports of any impending labor, which is fantastic news for TO and TT (not to mention their very happy parents)!
Hang in their little ones, your mom and dad are on their way soon. The jet plane* is waiting for us!!
Adding a little extra excitement to the week, as if we needed any, we got two (sort of) unexpected scans. On Wednesday, Mrs. R had a routine scan, which was supposed to be Saturday (Lee’s trying to convince me that he got the travel dates confuse because the Dr’s office threw-off his timing…sure, Lee, whatever you say), but the scans showed the babies are doing well and progressing as they should. Their combined weight is now over 8lbs with TO coming in at a husky 4.3lbs and TT at ~3.8lbs, leading daddy Lee to continue thinking TO’s a boy and TT’s a girl. On Saturday, we received the second scan, unexpectedly since we thought the Wednesday one was replacing the Saturday scan. I’m sure everyone who’s done this before understands the pit that quickly formed in our stomachs when we got a surprise email from Dr. Shivani’s office. Mrs. R wasn’t feeling normal fetal movements on Saturday morning, so she called the OB and they promptly brought her in for an ultrasound, which showed the two little buggers where perfectly fine. It may just seem like the logical thing to do, but it’s really comforting to know that when something seems out of the ordinary that both Mrs. R and the doctors quickly make sure that all is continuing to go well. So far, there have been no mentions in any reports of any impending labor, which is fantastic news for TO and TT (not to mention their very happy parents)!
Hang in their little ones, your mom and dad are on their way soon. The jet plane* is waiting for us!!
*Cousins Jack and Max only refer to planes as jet planes and will correct anyone who says otherwise J
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
34 Weeks
We are 34 weeks today! We haven't received a scan or an update for nearly three weeks, which feels like an eternity at this point in the pregnancy. We are expecting a new scan on Saturday and are hoping both babies are over 4lbs and everyone gets a healthy report. Since the moment I found out that we were expecting twins, I have been concerned about their potential early arrival. While we hope that they stay put for a few more weeks, they are now considered "late-term preemies". Hitting 34 weeks means the risk of any long-term complications falls. I have been talking about hitting the 34 weeks for so long that its hard to believe we are actually here!! Every additional day now is icing on the cake.
The exciting news is that I just booked our tickets. We are leaving in less than a week. We will arrive in Delhi at Week 35. Our plan is to set up the apartment for the arrival of babies and then Lee will just work from there while I find things to keep myself busy. I am positive that I will be able to find things (M-block is a block from our apt!!) to keep busy while we wait for the babies arrival.
Besides the obvious excitement that comes with the anticipation of meeting our babies, we are very excited to head back to India. We loved our time and the memories we made when we were there in the spring and can't wait to make many more memories this time.
The exciting news is that I just booked our tickets. We are leaving in less than a week. We will arrive in Delhi at Week 35. Our plan is to set up the apartment for the arrival of babies and then Lee will just work from there while I find things to keep myself busy. I am positive that I will be able to find things (M-block is a block from our apt!!) to keep busy while we wait for the babies arrival.
Besides the obvious excitement that comes with the anticipation of meeting our babies, we are very excited to head back to India. We loved our time and the memories we made when we were there in the spring and can't wait to make many more memories this time.
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