The big countdown was on. The anatomy scan loomed large on the horizon and the anticipation of it was really quite delicious. Getting to catch up with Olivia AND seeing the baby, AND seeing that everything was alright, AND confirming the gender…. There was a lot to get excited about!
The baby name book got one last hammering and I even had it packed ready to take on the trip up from Wellington to Palmerston North with us… just in case there was a last minute scramble at the scan for a girls name… as we had already settled on a boys name. Mark blessed all the gods he could think of when I said, as we were pulling out of the drive way, “Oh bugger I’ve left the baby name book on the table”. Funnily enough he seemed to accelerate at that point with a grin on his face. I guess this whole name thing has been a bit of an obsession these past – um - well – years.
We met Olivia at the radiology place, and trooped into the room. After a quick explanation to the nice lady doing the scan as to who Mark and I are and what we were doing there taking up wall space (Must say Olivia is getting very good at explaining things hee hee) with a smile from the scan-lady, things got underway.
After much oooing and awwwwing (on my behalf that is) a few tears here and there (as usual – yes on my behalf too lol) Snowflake was deemed to be within ‘normal’ parameters. What more could we ask for!
We had all decided that finding out the gender was definitely on our ‘to do’ list. Snowflake decided to make the nice scan-lady work for it though, as she couldn’t quite get the right angle. After a bit of a wriggle, and a very purposefully danced jig by Olivia, we had another try……
Mark’s chest seemed to expand several inches! A very proud daddy moment! Of course I can’t say out loud (so I’ll just whisper it between you and me) but there were a few very big feelings going on for him. Another little girl would have been just perfect too, the love a father has for his little girl can not be measured…. And now for him to have the opportunity of experiencing that tremendous love for his son…. That is very special new territory.
There was a joined sigh of relief from the rest of the ‘team’ when Mark commented that the baby name book could now FINALLY be retired! For me… I felt that it was a job well done, and yes, I think I am ready to relinquish the well thumbed, creased, marked and drawn over book to rest….. (and I have to say, on reflection, when I look back over all the names I had marked at one point or another, thank goodness this baby wasn’t on the way any sooner or I shudder to think what the poor mite would have ended up being called! The phrase “what was I thinking” went around in my head as I read through some of my name picks!)
I just sat there blubbing and once again got poor Olivia in another of my ‘her lying on the table with me giving her a headlock hug’ expressions of emotion.
When we went to get the copies of the CD of the scan photos the lady at the reception commented on how happy we looked. Got it in one!
After lunch we had a nice little photo shoot to commemorate this big milestone. Some people have asked why we name the baby so early. Little Leo is such a real part of our everyday life, even though he isn’t in my tummy and we don’t have him here at home with us, we know that he is getting the best of care right where he is. Waiting for our son, Leonardo, connects us on such a deep level. Every day that passes, every week we get closer to meeting him in person just consolidates that.
So now the baby-stuff-gathering begins in earnest…. No more mint green!
…. Now the real ‘low-down’ on how things are going from the woman doing all the hard yards xxx ….
Time seems to have slowed down for me. I’m glad to be at the half way point and really hoping it will speed up a bit now. Things are a bit uncomfortable with my carpal tunnel playing up every day now. I’m used to it now but it’s a nuisance that it has started much earlier in this pregnancy. I’m also finding it harder lugging my ever expanding belly around lol. It’s getting heavy! I’ll be waddling soon I reckon. Getting a good nights sleep is a bit of an issue too, so I’m pretty tired. Hopefully my new preggy pillow will help with that. I’ve gained 7kg so far, so I am noticing that extra weight, especially when I’m trying to get up off the couch or out of bed.
I feel that I channel all his parents love to him from their messages etc, even though they can’t be right here with him. He still gets all that love from them; it’s a very special bond. I’m so very happy for them to be experiencing this pregnancy via me. Their excitement makes me excited….. especially at the scan. It was so great to see Bernice and Mark see their wee baby again on the screen, and of course excited that hopefully they would be able to find out the flavour.
It feels so much more real now that Bernice and Mark have named their son. I think it’s great for them to have that extra connection with him, and referring to him as Leo instead of Snowflake… well that’s pretty cool too.
I have been out and about wearing my “surrogate baby on board – due in August” t-shirt lately. It seems to get quite a response from people. I get lots of smiles and a few comments. A few people have stopped to say “I just have to say how lovely your t-shirt is” I love the attention I must admit, because it’s not everyday you see someone wearing a t-shirt like mine!
I find myself educating a lot of people about surrogacy in NZ. Most people have pre-conceived ideas of what its all about and often compare the situation to stuff they see or hear on TV about American commercial surrogacy (where the surrogate is paid to carry and deliver the baby) It is often a real surprise to people to hear how surrogacy here works, and that I am simply doing this because I want to, and I don’t get paid. Altruistic surrogacy is something that most people haven’t even considered. I love answering their questions and giving them an insight into the ‘surrogacy world’.
So from here at the half way point, I’m really looking forward to starting pregnancy yoga class and finishing work in 9 weeks. I think by then I will be more than ready to take a bit of a break and start getting ready for the big event. Hopefully we will have a due date somewhere around there too. Because it will be a caesarean birth there will be some decisions made by the obstetrician around that. Next event on our pregnancy calendar is the next midwife visit.
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