New year's eve

It is new year's eve in Asia and we can't help to look back what this year had brought us. It has been quite a ride with all the ups and downs. Nothing has come close to the experience of parenthood. We feel so blessed in this journey. Although we know it won't be easy raising two little ones, we can't wait to take on the challenge and grow with them.

S text sums up our journey well so we just borrow what she said to conclude the year of 2014.

"I think we all got really lucky in this adventure... :-) and the girls are gonna get the best end of the deal!!"

Happy New Year to everyone and to our little baby girls. Daddy and papa love you to the moon and back.

24 weeks!

Here comes 24 weeks! Each new week is additional assurance that our dream of being daddy and papa will eventually come true. At the moment, we are traveling in Asia for the holidays and this post comes from Siem Reap, Cambodia. The fun part of expecting babies is to prepare for their arrival. Our traveling activitity has been consumed by shopping for our girls. We love to get them stuff from all over the world if possible. For the first time in our lives, we bought two dresses. :-)

S told us that our daughters like cheesecake with raspberry topping. She had one piece and they were allready bouncing off the wall of her belly. Just like daddy, like daughters.

 

Happy holidays!!

Since "S" passed this photo to us, it just stuck on our mind. It is such an emotional and powerful image. Link to an article

Below is a video of their beautiful family.

This is a moment for many parents, especially for those going through surrogacy. Pregnancy is a lot of things. It is the gift of life. It is a miracle. It is exciting…to create a life. To carry that life for nine months. To nurture it. To feel it grow. It is incredible.

It is also horrifying. It is dramatic. It is bizarre. Things happen…strange things. Not nice things. Things you don’t expect. Things no one warns you about with 9 months of constant worry and it is only the beginning.

Happy holidays and we wish all of you a New Year filled with peace, happiness, health and prosperity. We know ours will be with two little miracles on the way. 

23 weeks

It's 23 weeks today. We are visiting S and the twins this weekend for pre-birth order hearing and ultrasound. The judge enthusiastically granted our petition and signed the order yesterday. We are now the legal parents of our twins and very excited to reach another milestone. In the afternoon, we got to see the babies. Each now weighs about 1 pound and couldn't look more beautiful.

Spending time with S and her family is always wonderful. We are so grateful for what they have done for us. 2014 is almost ending. It is a year filled with memories that we will never forget and there are so much to look forward to in 2015.

Sex of our twins :-)

Here we go. We couldn't be more excited and thanks for your patience!!

(Click the photo to reveal the sex)

22 weeks

We had 21-week appointment yesterday. Everything was fine. "S" belly bump was actually measured at 34 weeks. Twin pregnancy always measures ahead. It is good to know that babies are growing. We haven't seen her for a few weeks and definitely will notice a big change when we see her next Friday. 

22-week is here. It is an exciting week because we have our pre-birth order hearing scheduled on December 19 and an appointment with maternal-fetal medicine doctor on the same day. We can't wait to see all of them again!

Babies are now the size of a papaya (one of my favorite fruits). They measure about 11 inches from head to heel and weigh about 1 pound!! They start to look like a miniature newborn. Lips, eyelids, and eyebrows are becoming more distinct, and they are developing tiny tooth buds beneath their gums. "S" told us that babies are very active and one of them like to kick! Just hope they all get along. 

Tomorrow we will reveal twins' sex to our friends. Based on the poll with 26 votes, girl & boy 14 (53%), two girls 5 (19%), two boys 7 (26%). 

We went to check out car seats and strollers last week and visited Babies'Rus for the first time. We had a lot of fun in the store. Here is the video of test driving the stroller with two infant car seats. I think this is going to be our view in the next two years or so. The video is pretty meditating so have a look. 

21 weeks

21 weeks and 133 days to go!! Twins should measure around 10.5 inches from head to heel. At this point, they weigh around 10.5 ounces. Their digestive system has developed enough to start absorbing water and small amount of sugar from amniotic fluid that they swallow. They are also developing visible eyebrows, eyelashes and hair on the scalp. In case you are wondering, the twins are a size of carrot. :-) 

We received the affidavits from our attorney yesterday for the pre-birth order hearing scheduled on December 19. The hearing is to legally establish our parental rights for the twins. Once we have the court order, we will be the legal parents and it will be another major step forward. 

Time is going by so fast. Baby stuff also has started accumulating fast. 

Second ultrasound

August 27 was the second ultrasound. Embryos were 6 weeks and 4 days. We couldn't attend the appointment but did Skype with S. For the first time, we heard babies' heartbeats. It was incredible to hear that and see their hearts flickering. Baby A (on the right) measured 6 weeks 1 day with heartbeats of 118 and Baby B (on the left) measured 6 weeks 3 days with heartbeats of 130. So far, we have had six ultrasound with lots of ultrasound photos and we are amazed to see how both little blobs turning into human form over time.

Finally, we have caught up with what has happened until now. Here is the post of all the milestones so far. Counting down 21 days till Xmas and 135 days till babies are here!!

20 years today!

20 is the number this week. Not only it is the 20th week of our pregnancy but also marks the 20th year that hubby and I have been together! We probably could make the Guinness record to be parents after being in a 20-year relationship. Only surrogacy could make this possible.

It is going to be another chapter of our life with kids on board. We look forward to another 20 years and more! We were so excited to decorate the Xmas tree this year because our babies are on their way. Each new day is another day closer to have them home!

 

20 weeks

Happy Thanksgiving. It's 20th week and how fitting it falls right on the Thanksgiving weekend. We are very thankful for what S and her family have given us and and feel blessed to have received so much love and support from friends and family.

Those two little miracles are growing under S's care and are already loved by many. She said they are very active lately and felt baby B outside of her belly for the first time. It is getting exciting day by day.

We are visiting Vienna this weekend and could not resist to buy them some souvenirs from abroad. Also, Aunt Sissi so excitedly gave the babies a pair of penguins. She is well equipped with all the toys that the kids will be spoiled.