I Love Autumn

So while we're all on the edge of our seats waiting for little Miss Looking for Baby to arrive in Washington DC I thought I'd take some time to check-in and say Hi!

Hi everyone! xx

Thank you all soooo much for the wonderful information you have volunteered about the different accommodation choices in Delhi. I have spent some time (yes - 'Itchy Scratchy') compiling it all and creating a handy little 2-pager that compares each option rather than each post and - I LOVE it - it's GREAT - but I can't work out how to attach it to this jolly post so if someone could tell me how to make that happen that would be great! (PS: I am quietly proud of myself for getting that hyperlink in!!) I haven't had the correct time-zone on my blog since - forever - just reminding everyone of my limited skills in this field!

By all accounts we 'should be' at the '27 Weeks and 4 Days' point today - and oh what a lovely day it is outside! I should really be out and in it! Crystal blue skies - insignificant white whispy clouds - no wind and a temp around the 22degC mark. In fact - I'll go and take a photo and show you ......

This was taken two minutes ago from my front verandah! As you can see our front lawn is starting to go off in the cooler months (we've had several nasty frosts already) and the bloody cockatoos have eaten one of those gum trees across the road - but all in all it's lovely to sit out the front there. We like to enjoy a beer in the summer and watch the joggers go by ha ha.

Getting back to my last post - "24 Weeks and we go LIVE" - our big reveal to the rest of my family was sensational.

As mentioned I had to tell my brother the night before (on his own as it turned out) - but in the scheme of things it didn't matter and his reaction was just so precious becasue as it turns out his wife (my sister-in-law) is now 14 weeks pregnant so (god willing) the two little cousins will be a mere 3 months apart!! How great would that be?? Also 300km apart but nonetheless - there's SKYPE!

So by the time the offical 'big reveal' arrived the next day (Sat 12th May) I was down to one set of parents (mine) and one sister who was there to hear the news for the first time. My other sister and her little family (the ones who came up to visit before) were also there which was magic!! Anyway - the place was PACKED full of people because it was the day before Mothers Day of course. It was quite noisy and my dad is quite hard of hearing. Oh yes. So I knew from the outset my news would need to be broadcast across the room at a volume nearing boom-box intensity but so be it! I waited for all of our meals to be eaten (nervoulsy and with beer) and then 'BOMBS AWAY'!!

I was soooo surprised by my dads heartfelt joy and elation that I promptly stopped talking, burst into tears and hugged him (all very 'Home and Away'!!). I wasn't too sure how he would react - but obviously I wasn't expecting that! As for my mother and sister - well - they are completely overjoyed as well!! Completely! My mother wants to start knitting things asap and my sister is planning little sleepovers already! Again with the 300km - but hey - where there's a will there's a way!!!

My brother-in-law (are you still with me? the one who already knew the news) jumped up as soon as I belted out "I have a bit of news...."  and ran over to the bar and so while I was telling my story (and blubbering all over the place) a bottle of champagne and multiple glasses magically appeared and everyone started drinking toasts left right and centre -  I was in another world!!

So the BIG REVEAL got a little bit BIGGER that day and I have those memories now forever. After the meal at the Hotel we went back to my nearest sisters house and we all watched 'Black Caviar' the freakishly good Aussie Racehorse win his 21st race in a row at Morphetville (Adelaide) and of course we toasted that as well ha ha! GO HORSEY!! Of course with every elation I immediately have conflicting demons pop into my head (what if .... what if ....) but for that day at least I chose to ignore them and enjoyed every moment until bedtime. It was an early night for me tho - knackered and out to it by 8.30pm! What a stayer!!

So here I am today. Still haven't bought a single item for the baby (excepting our family high-chair at mum and dad's clearing sale - and that's a story for another day) - and despite my plans to buy a bunny I haven't done that either. Our next scan is due May 28th and that should herald us in to the 29th Week so maybe that's when I'll lash out and buy a bootie or two  .....     

Phone-A-Friend

Dearest Blog-land,

We are finally reaching the point of - 'OMG this is really happening'sville". And as you know we (aka "I") haven't exactly gone overboard on the prep work yet (i.e. hello zero's-ville!)

Oh and incidentally my well thought out plan to break the big news to the rest of my family already has hairline cracks as my brother (sister-in-law and second youngest neice) accidentally got their dates mixed up and turned up to our family luncheon last Saturday instead of this Saturday - oops & bugger - and as luck would have it now can't get to lunch this Saturday because of a first birthday party somehwere else (crap & crap) - and yes I'm sure they would come to this luncheon if they really knew what was going on but then having to tell them feels like spoiling it and/or guilting them into going etc and blah blah that's just not how I wanted it to go down etc and it's hard to explain but  .... sigh and ahhh. So  now I have to go down and tell them separately the night before everyone else gets to hear because that's the time that suits best etc and yeash deflating balloons and all that - but that's just how life is isn't it? So move on...

Ok so probably the REAL reason why I am blogging tonight is to ask the big ol 'DELHI ACCOMMODATION QUESTION ... (yes - that old chestnut people...).

Clearly I need to give some serious consideration to booking something to sleep in soon  ... but procastination works well for me too so let's just say ummmm - the day following our next positive scan result (?). Anyway with this in mind I would REALLY appreciate some honest feedback from our surrogacy vets out there (as well as our more-well-prepared-than-me) SCI Bloggers who have already sorted this sort of stuff out!

PLEASE! IF you have already stayed or booked any of the following accommodation options within the last few years please tell me/us - what you liked most about it (or why you've booked it) - what you liked least about it and whether you would stay there again (i.e. whilst awaiting the delivery of your baby and then the exit India process)..............    

And the nominees are :

1) SVELTE HOTEL
2) INDIA LUXURY HOME (SERVICE APPARTMENTS)
3) TULIP APPARTMENT (SERVICE APPARTMENT)
4) GREEN LEAF APARTMENT
5) APARTMENT 18
6) HOTEL PARKLAND
7) HOTEL IMPERIAL
8) HOTEL AMARA
9) HOTEL VELVET APPLE:
10) HOTEL GLITTER

 Have I mentioned already just how grateful I would be? XXXXXXXXXX..............

24 Weeks and we go 'LIVE'

We have finally taken that big bold step from Blog-World to Real-World and told a real-life-person (or two) our news! That's it - TWO real-life-persons - but that's a start right? Don't want to over do it!

We asked SCI to please bring our 24-week scan forward by 48 hours (to Friday 27th April) to let us share the news with my visiting sister and her husband. They (SCI) were only too happy to oblige and got really excited about the prospect themselves! Encouraging!

Anyway - They (the entourage) arrived at our place late on the Friday night (300km) with three very wired kids in tow. There was much excitement and bouncing off the walls (3 hours in a car seat does that to a kid) and in between bounces I surreptitously checked my emails waiting for the (fingers crossed) good news! Finally at 10.55pm it arrived! Yes - Dr. Shivani has reviewed the reports & found everything fine with the scan - YES! - and Yes - we were all still up - and still bouncing off the walls. But it just didn't feel like the right time to drop the bombshell and then say - OK then well that's it I'm off to bed - nightie night everyone!

So we waited........

........ And dropped the bombshell the next morning while the three little poppets were riding their bikes around the house (through the car shed and down the driveway). My sister and her husband thought we were about to announce our plans for the weekend and were thinking perhaps a hit of golf or a visit to the local footy oval - but ah no - the thing is, we've got a baby growing in another woman's uterus over in India that we made with yet another woman's eggs and oh yes she also lives in India and perhaps you've heard of the clinic becasue every time they do a tv documentary about surrogacy in India they seem to interview our Doctor and she always seems to speak so well and we love her and oh yeah the other thing is the baby has made it to 24 weeks and we'll be flying over to India in about 3 months time if not earlier .......................

tick .................................................   holy ...................... crap.....................

Oh MY God THAT'S W*O*N*D*E*R*F*U*L!!!!! Aaaaagggghhhhhh!!!! Eeeeekkkkkkkkk!!!!!!! Followed by Much rejoicing and hugging and hoopla La-ing and OMG'ing and frantic hand gestures and more OMG'ing and questions and more OMG'ing and laughs and little jigs etc and yep - you get the picute. It's fair to say my sister and her husband are behind us 10,000% on this one!! And all the time with three little poppets riding their bikes round and round yelling out 'look at me! look at me!'

So after taking off on THAT rocket fuelled high we found ourselves trying to wind it down a notch or two (sigh) and just re-confirming that nothing's ever concrete until you're actually holding a baby and how the journey has already been marred with the loss of a twin etc But still - it's so great to finally have it out there!

GREAT but scary.

And so we're not in any big rush to tell the rest of the world yet - we just don't want to jinx it!!! So here's the plan. I would MUCH prefer to tell the rest of my family (one set of parents, one sister, one brother, one sister-in-law and one brother in-law) face-to-face rather than over the phone or in an email (ick) and as there's no more impending trips planned by anyone as yet to come up here, we will wait until I get down there to them! Luckily that's in a weeks time now so not too long really. We are all going out to lunch to 'catch up' on Saturday 12th May and then it will be 'BOMBS AWAY'!! I am expecting a tentatively mixed response (perhaps from mum & dad) and I won't have my husband with me which is unfortunate (bloody work) but am hoping for more of the same (above) from everyone else.  I guess you just never know though do you .......!

Finally; Following the awsomeness of our last Scan pictures in March (3D Bunny) I can barely make out what s/he is up to in these (suddenly shy?) but when Dr Shivani says that everything is fine then I have absolute faith that it is!

My love and friendship goes out to everyone sharing this cyber world with me and I hope to read many promising updates soon and for a long time to come!!

For those of you awaiting the all important BFP news - My special thoughts are with you.

Jacaranda XX