3D Scans and a Placenta as a Pillow...

Our surrogate had a 3D scan today!!! Our good friend, David, sent along and he hurried home and scanned the hard copies so we had them to wake up to this morning. Things are definitely getting tight in there, as evident by our little girl using a placenta as a pillow! She looks just perfect all snuggled in, with her cute hand and chubby cheeks.  And for the first time ever on our scans we finally saw the "goods" -- confirming she was, in fact, definitely a GIRL!!!  I have to laugh because it took me about an hour to realize what I was staring at and then I got a little embarrassed..LOL...but there it was, and there was no mistakin' it!  I guess I'm just a bit out of practice recognizing that body part!

Here are some of the shots from the big day...31 weeks today!  61 days and counting...

We say she's smiling...but maybe it's just gas.

I think the strategically placed text "IT'S A GIRL!!" tipped me off a bit.  DUH.

18 weeks!

Wow, can't believe we're almost five months...and I'm being just terrible about this countdown to the Big Gender Reveal thing.  Don't ever try to post every day leading up to Christmas...it's impossible with all the holiday parties and shopping.

But who cares because one week from tomorrow and we find out the gender!

We received the two packages from our surro "M" and she'll call us and let us know which one to open.  My sister-in-law Sherri is having a Christmas Day open house and she's already sent out an email saying they'll be a "surprise announcement"...should be fun...though all we ultimately want is a healthy baby.  Though there's something about knowing the sex for me because it just makes it more "real".  I think this is a common issue with an expecting parent or parents with surrogates who don't live nearby (as I'm sure all of you who are working with surrogates in India understand very well)...we wait and cling on to every email, text, ultrasound photo, video and phone call with all the gory details because it's all we really have. Though "M" has been amazing about communicating everything...from belly shots to doctor's appointments to what the latest craving of the day is...including the packages she sent.

One heart. Two heart. Wonder which one we'll open on Christmas Day???

Happy Holidays everyone!

The Christmas countdown poses another question...

We've got 22 more days until we open the results of the "wee-wee or the hoo-ha appointment", as Michael from Michael's Surrogate Experience so hilariously put it in his recent post.  While Michael does not want to know if he is having twin boys, twin girls, or one of each, we are waiting with baited breath to discover what awaits us on the other side (and as you can tell, so is Ashton Kutcher). As I mentioned before, we'll have several of the "uncles" here to celebrate on Christmas Day when we open the best present ever.  Our surro said she's mailing two sets of gender reveal packages since the ultrasound is so close to Christmas Day.  So we will receive instructions on which one to open, based on the visibility of the "hoo-ha" or the "weenie".


These two slang words for our private parts got me thinking (yes, once again, thinking...), "what will Bill and I call it?"  Boy, girl, no matter what gender this baby is, we'll need to come up with a name for it.  The biological names just will NOT do.  Sorry.  I grew up calling it something totally foreign to most everyone, except for our close childhood friends who heard it in our household.  Since there were four brothers and one sister under one roof in my family, the male name for it was used much more often, which turned out to be "gogi" (prounounced go-gee).  And since my parents really couldn't come up with a unique name, my sister's it was called a "gogette" (pronounced go-get).  Don't ask me the origin of this word but I kind of laughed and shuddered at the same time when I stumbled upon the Korean delicacy bulgogi.  Oh brother...literally.


So on day 22 of the Christmas countdown to the Big Baby Gender Reveal...what do you call it in your family, or what did you call it growing up? Inquiring minds (or at least two in Hawaii) want to know.


Please refrain from any graphic details in your answers, this is a family blog!  

The 25 Days of Christmas Countdown...

Yes, I'm doing it.

I'm counting down to Christmas Day when the Big Baby Gender Reveal is planned.  It's a way of distracting myself and having a little fun with it all.

So here goes:  On this first day of the countdown, I have been seriously pondering...

If it's a GIRL...how will Bill and I answer all those "girly" questions?


a) Do our best


b) Advise her to call one of our best girl friends


c) Google it


d) Immediately begin reading Woman: An Intimate Geography by Natalie Angier


or


e) All of the above