Our little boy is due September 1st! Ryan and I plan to head down to North Carolina for the scheduled C- section a couple weeks earlier. Lauren had C-sections with her last two kids so she's a pro by now.
We met Lauren for the first time in person on December 22nd, when we did the embryo transfer in Connecticut. We had to move some of our embryos from NY to CT because at the time, surrogacy wasn't legal in NY which is crazy. It has now been legalized starting February 2021. Ryan and I took Lauren to lunch and then drove her to the clinic. We weren't able to go in for the transfer because of Covid, so we watched from our car via zoom. Life in the 21st century...
While we were waiting in the car for Lauren to come out, Ryan said "I really hope our little loaf sticks." That's how his nickname came about. At the time, we didn't know he was a boy because we told the doctors to just transfer one of the strongest at random. Once the pregnancy was confirmed, Lauren nicknamed him "Doodle" as for Yankee Doodle.
We went down to NC to visit Lauren for the 20 week anatomy scan. It was so exciting but I also thought I was going to throw up walking into the ultrasound. Ryan and I both realized how much PTSD we really have. Everything looked great and it was the first time that this pregnancy began feeling real to me. We continue to facetime Lauren for each ultrasound and thank God our little boy is doing well. Lauren says he's incredibly active, especially in the middle of the night (hopefully that will change!) and he gets very excited during baseball games. Lauren is a Dodger's fan so she's been trying to convert him but we will make sure he knows that he should be a Yankees fan as soon as he's home.
This surrogacy journey has been quite an experience and it's hard to put into words all of the mixed emotions that go into it for me, and I'm sure for Lauren. It is very difficult for me to give up all control but I am so thankful that there are amazing people like Lauren who are willing to do this, as well as the incredible innovative science that we have in our country. I was getting a physical a few weeks ago and my doctor said "Although you've had so much bad luck, you're so lucky you live in the USA. If you were in many other countries, you wouldn't still be here today. If by some miracle you did survive, you likely wouldn't be able to have a family. The medicine and science we have here is not the norm around the world." It's so true,
Whenever I try to think about what it will be like for us to be in the delivery room with Lauren and Loafy, my mind draws a blank. I think it is going to be such an overwhelmingly emotional and beautiful experience that I can't even imagine it. We have been so nervous because of all that we've experienced but we know this is going to be worth the very long wait. I can't wait to share pictures with you all once we finally have our little guy in our arms. Thank you for so much love and support over the past few years and please continue to send the prayers too.
XoXo
Jan
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