Just around the corner

The third trimester official starts in two days, it's hard to believe we've come this far. Jenn is looking very pregnant and I believe this is the time that getting bigger and being pregnant starts to become a little (if not a lot!) uncomfortable. I hope that things continue to go smoothly and Jenn stays feeling good. I'm sure there are difficult times that she doesn't tell me about but for the most part I think baby Evan is being pretty good to her.

We have an appointment in two days where we will have the opportunity to discuss the option of a natural birth after a previous C-section. I know that Jenn is not too hopeful that the doctor will be positive about going for a natural birth, but I hope that we will find that we have someone in our corner. As the birth gets closer, I know that Jenn will become more nervous as a scheduled C-section approaches and that's not what any of us want. I think knowing now what Jenn went through with the birth of the twins she carried, and finding out that the time frame between these two births leads most doctors to request another c section, we would have either waited a little longer before transfer or not have gone ahead at all. I can't imagine going ahead with the real chance of creating such pain and distress for such a good friend. Anyways, let's just hope it doesn't come to that, fingers crossed!!

Jenn and I frequent a forum of surrogates and intended parents and in the group who transferred the same month as us (December 2009) the first of the surrogates gave birth this week. She was approximately 25 weeks along with boy / girl twins. It's a frightening thought, both for the surrogate and those twins AND the very real thought that it could happen to Jenn anytime too. Of course it's rare and much more high risk when it comes to twins, and there is no reason to believe that will happen with baby Evan, but it's still in the back of my mind. It leads me to ponder whether we are really ready for our little man, physically or emotionally, and if nothing else this recent birth has pushed me forward emotionally to be ready at any time! Fortunately physically we have a nursery set up already and anything else we don't have can't be that hard to come by.

In good news the surrogate and babies are all doing really well and fighting hard. They are on my mind constantly and give me even more reason to count our blessings at how lucky we are for the future that Jenn is holding in her hands.

Acceptance and Organization

Since I have totally accepted this is really happening and we will be bringing a real baby home this summer I thought it's about time to get organized and started buying the essentials baby Evan is going to need. We had already decided on the bedding set, and this week I went out and picked up baby Evan's infant car seat. The pattern is super cute and says "all star" on it! I love the colours and can't wait to see baby Evan trying it out for size. We have a gap in our collection of baby items from the twins to fill from newborn to 12 months since that's when we bought them home.

I have lots more purchasing to do, but I'm trying to plan to save as much money as possible on my purchases and buy a little at a time. It's also hard trying to purchase big baby items when you have two little three year olds in tow! Hopefully for little Evan I'll be all done by the time he arrives!!

This playard is next on my hit list, it has a little bassinet attached;

Second Wind

This pregnancy has been SO easy anyway, but I'm definitely feeling the second trimester second wind right about now. I have so much more energy and motivation. :) Baby Evan is doing well, kicking a lot, and last week I discovered that you can sometimes feel his kicks from the outside. K and C haven't had a chance to feel his kicks yet, but hopefully soon. Baby kicks are such a weird thing! I know I'm due for a belly pic, I'll get to it some time this week!

A New Life

When Sarah and Jacob joined our family in 2008 a good friend of ours gave us a gift we treasure every day. It's a set of two figurines from the Willow Tree collection called "Two Together". It's a gift I love and I couldn't wait until we could add to the collection.



We are so happy to be able to add the following entitled "A New Life". It's going to go so perfectly with our twins!



I'm not usually a collector of nicknacks, but in this case I can totally make an exception!

Uneventful

Yesterdays appointment was totally uneventful, which is how we like it. Jenn is measuring 23 weeks, which is right on track. Her rounded tum is really obvious now and it makes me smile and lifts my heart every time I see it. I don't feel at all strange or envious that Jenn is carrying baby Evan around for us, it just seems like the normal way things are done and I am excited things are working out so well.

Jenn told me yesterday she has become addicted to eating chili so maybe baby Evan is going to be a fan of spices, we will have to wait and see!

We were given the baby package at the doctors which includes lots of information for baby classes, CPR and how to look after a newborn. I have a good deal of reading to do and some classes to sign up for. There is even a Daddy boot camp!!

Our next appointment is with a different doctor, when we can get a second opinion on C section v natural labour after a previous C section, let's hope we get to hear the opinion we want!!

It's getting closer

Time is ticking along. Jenn is getting bigger, summer is getting nearer and we are closer to meeting our little boy than we ever thought would happen. Things are pretty quiet on the baby front, thankfully. Jenn seems to be happy and healthy, I don't *think* baby boy is giving her too much trouble, although I think she could do with less kicking and more sleeping! I, for one, am still in shock that we are welcoming a new addition into our family soon, but I can't wait to bring him home and already feel he is part of our family even though we haven't met him yet.

I admit I am also starting to get a little freaked out at how I will cope. Usually I don't worry much about these things, best to just let them happen and deal with the logistics as needed. However, S and J are proving to be very difficult right now, my nerves are frayed, my patience levels are almost at zero and adding one more to the mix is starting to make me think I am headed straight for the crazy house.

I realized yesterday, of course I am eternally grateful to Jenn for giving us the opportunity of expanding our family in a way we could never have done, but I am also grateful on a more daily basis that SHE is doing all the hard work and carrying our son for me!! I feel like a team, she is doing all the hard work now (I am in awe that she looks after two little people AND is slowly expanding her waistline for us and all that goes with it!), and I will take over and do the hard work as she recovers from this journey. I have tried to imagine taking care of S and J on a daily basis and dealing with pregnancy and I just can't get my head around it. Thank you Jenn!

We have an appointment tomorrow so hopefully we will get to hear a little heartbeat and find all is well with Jenn and our baby boy.

We are 99% sure that we won't be changing our minds on our sons name, so from now on baby boy will be replaced with "Evan".

I love his name!!