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Monday April 28th, 2008
It started off early; I woke up at 4:25, 10 minutes before my alarm was supposed to go off. I decided to go ahead and get up and in the shower early. I got out and got dressed and ready, made sure I had everything together, then got my hubby up. He got dressed and ready and we took the kids to my friend Chrissie's house. She was up waiting for us, and wished us luck. We took off from her house and headed towards the hotel. I called J and he said they were getting dressed and they'd be downstairs soon. We pulled up and I saw N, I got out and went into the hotel lobby, I said today's the day, and gave them each a hug. We all got into the Van and headed towards the hospital. Base was fairly busy as it was Monday morning PT time, so we waiting a little and talked about how everything would go.

Finally we got up to the hospital, and to Labor & Delivery, we left N & J in the waiting room and I told them I would have a nurse come out and get them so they could meet their son, but that the next time they'd see me I'd be on the mother baby floor and I couldn't wait to see them with their son. I hugged them again, and we took one last belly picture together.

I checked in and got all set up, I asked the charge nurse if she could make my IP's more comfortable with the whole situation, and since we could only have one person in the delivery room, I asked her if they would be able to see their son before he was taken off to he nicu. She said as long as he was doing well, she would make sure they could see him. So she set them up in the L & D room that was closest to the OR.

Meanwhile, I got shaved, and had two IV's placed; they also gave me some reglan, and zantac for nausea and heartburn. I also asked if I HAD to take the poly-citrate, for acid reflux, and he said they recommend it. I told him the last couple times I've had to take it I've thrown up and it makes me feel ill, so he said he promised that I wouldn't throw up and did a few little tricks (like making me smell alcohol pads) to take me feel better.

Finally at 8:00am I was wheeled back to the OR, they messed around with my back placing the spinal for what seemed like forever, then finally rolled me over and put the sheet up, after letting me get numb for a bit, they announced the start time, 8:31 and asked to bring "Dad" in. Shortly my hubby came around the corner, he asked how I was doing and I said well, and I happily announce that I didn't throw up. Finally I heard uterine incision, and then I felt them tug and then I felt Ari come out. It felt amazing, I could finally breathe again, He started wailing, and tears streamed down my face. He was here, I did it again. I felt an amazing rush of adrenaline and emotions overcome me. Anthony went over and started taking pictures, and then they came around and let me see him. I gave him some kisses and then they wheeled him out to see his parents.

I then found out that during the process, my bladder had either been nicked, or tore b/c of thinning, so they repaired my incision, then placed a patch in my bladder. It took almost an hour to fix me all up, and then off to recovery I went. My ob explained to me I would need to go home for at least a week with a catheter in. Then off to recovery I went, while in recovery my temperature was very low, I was 92 when I got there and 94 when they brought me to the Mother baby unit. But I was never cold; they said it was from the meds. Once at the mother baby unit I called and asked the nicu to bring up the baby then called Anthony and told him what room I was in and to call N & J to let them know.

I got to spend some time with Ari before N & J got there. It was so nice to meet him and cuddle him. N & J got up to the hospital within the hour and presented me with a dozen beautiful roses. I was holding Ari when they came in and I placed him into N's arms. It was amazing, she sat with him and talked to him, and then J held him and they both just looked so in love with their son. An amazing sense of pride overcame me at that time, and tears started coming to my eyes.

View Slideshow


We spent the rest of the afternoon just taking him in, holding him, changing him, and teaching them how to swaddle. J wanted to get us some dinner, so we decided on Olive Garden. J called 411 and got the number, ordered our dinner and drove to get it. When he got back, we realized that the meal wasn't correct, he called OG and explained the situation, and then we finally figured out he called Olive Garden in Fayetteville, ARKANSAS!!!!! Somehow when he went to the Fayetteville Nc they had a order for J that was the almost exact same thing, so he explained things to the manager and that manager called the OG here in our Fayetteville, and we were able to get our meal remade.

After we ate, I sent N & J back to the hotel room, they looked like they could use a good night of sleep and I really didn't mind taking care of little Ari. It also gave me time with him to cuddle and hold him. We spent the entire night cuddling, feeding (I was blessed to be able to pump for him) and sleeping off and on. It was wonderful.

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Tuesday April 29, 2008
That morning N & J were up at the hospital with Coffee & Lemon Cake from Starbucks, YUMMY!! We spent that day with my friends who decided to come up and visit, Chrissie, Kandi, Missy, Ang, Jackie one by one came up to see me, N & J. They had all helped along the way somehow by watching my kids or taking pictures for me. The day went by rather quickly, and J headed off to grab us some lunch from Jason's' Deli. He got back and we had lunch, and Kandi took pictures of all of us. They turned out AMAZING!! Shortly it was time for N & J's friend to come into town; she was flying in to help them with the drive back. They headed up to the airport to get her, and to pick up some dinner. They got back up to the hospital, and I hugged their friend A, and we ate dinner. It was so yummy, Outback steakhouse! We watched American Idol and hen J & A headed back to the hotel to get some rest while N & I hung out and I got some much needed rest. I woke up a few times throughout the night and poor N was wide awake, It was so adorable, she was just so in love with her son.

Kandi's Pictures

My Friends & Ari

The next morning J came up with some breakfast, and we started the day to get discharged. I got all my stuff ready and changed into a fresh set of clothes. I cuddled with Ari all morning, and took a few last pictures. Finally after what seemed like forever we were all discharged. We got Ari strapped into his car seat, and stroller and walked out of the hospital. We got to the cars, and J reached over and gave me the biggest hug ever, meanwhile he's telling me thank you for everything, you are our angel, we will never forget you, and he started crying, I lost it. N came over and hugged me too, and I was just so overcome with emotions. I am so thankful for my Ip's they are amazing. They never once made me feel like I invaded their space, they never made me feel like I wasn't wanted there with them, they always included me, and I know they will be in our lives forever.

So I did it again, I completed my second surrogacy, but it was much more than that, I made new friends, I made a new family. I will never forget the amazing experience that we went through to create a miracle, to bring a new life into this world, Ari Gabriel; I will love you and your parents forever. Thank you for giving me this gift!!!

Going home...

It was finally here, tomorrow I will deliver my surro son, I am so anxious, nervous, scared & excited. N & J are coming in tonight, we're going to grill steaks, and have a little get together with one of my friends. I can't wait to give them their gifts, and see their faces, and hug them. Tomorrow they become a family, they become parents.

Well, they just left, we had an amazing time. They loved their gifts. I gave them a Moses basket filled with goodies; one of my favorite gifts was the blanket we had made with his name on it and a little lion. His name Ari means lion in Hebrew. They gave me a scrapbook of our journey. It was awesome; N has never scrapped before so it means a lot to me that she did something so special. Well off to bed, it's almost 11, and I have to be up by 4:30... Eek!! Here is a slideshow below....

http://s9.photobucket.com/albums/a56/Hedr/Ari%20Birth/?action=view¤t=8c35ce47.pbw

Today I went in for my pre op appointment, It was supposed to be at 3:30, but I ended up waiting until ALMOST 5:30 to be seen, when Dr Allen came in he was so apologetic he wanted to make sure that I was okay, but he had an emergency situation come up with another lady who was pregnant and very toxic. He body was trying to kill the baby, so they ended up doing an emergency c-section. Thankfully both mom and baby were okay. Phew. Well he checked me over, I am measuring at 42 1/2 cm now, he is sure the baby will be over 9 pounds now, I agree. So he wanted to send me for a NST to make sure the baby was doing okay before the c-section. I ended up going up to L & D and hanging out with them for another 2 1/2 hours. The baby was doing well, and I was having contractions every 7-10 minutes. They checked my cervix, and it was pretty much pointless. I was a "fingertip" dilated, so basically nothing. I got home by 9:00 and headed right to bed.

I had an ob appointment today Things went good, I am measuring at 41cm now, the doc says the baby is about 8 1/2-9 pounds! My next appt is the 17th for my pre op, then after that the c-section is on the 28th.

Only 19 days until this "little" guy is born..

I think he dropped

34 Weeks 3 days- March 24, 3008

Anthony & Bryce picked up N & J at the airport this morning; they flew into Charlotte so we could all go into court today and meet with the Judge to issue our PBO. He brought them to the hotel room and we finished packing everything up and headed towards the courthouse. Once we got there, I was told I couldn't bring my Camera in. Dang! Anthony ran it back to the van, while J & Bryce headed up to our courtroom. We met with the lawyer and he said they were about 30 minutes behind schedule. So we hung out until they finally called our case, we sat in front of the judge then he asked me about my kids and told me I looked like a good person to be doing the surrogacy. He signed the order and that was it. Five minutes of face time, for all the travel we all had to do.

Since it was my husbands birthday we decided to go out to lunch, we got to the Cheesecake factory, and sat down. The kids were pretty restless from all the travel and what not, so they kept jumping around. We got to order finally and the food was great, I couldn't eat it all b/c of how far along I am. They brought Anthony a piece of cheesecake and everyone sang him Happy Birthday. It was pretty neat. After that N & J had to head back to the airport. So we got them to the airport and everyone said their goodbye's I can't believe the next time I'll see them it’ll be time to have their little boy. This journey has gone by so fast.


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