5th Birthday Party

Five years ago (specifically, this past Thursday), my life changed forever and for the better. My son turned 5 this past Thursday - as mentioned, his birthday party was held today, Saturday. In previous years, I held his birthday party in late November because December is such a busy month for everyone but this year I decided to stick to the Saturday closest to his birthday.

For his first and second birthday party, I rented adjoining rooms in two different community centres. For his third and fourth birthday party, I rented an entire play centre. For this birthday, I went back to a community centre - the room I rented was for a maximum of 165. The party was small with only 11 kids (a few kids were sick and couldn't make it) but it was nice having the large space to ensure the kids had a lot of space to safely play. The adults also had a lot of fun. I rented four hours which included set-up and clean-up - it came with two party leaders who manned the arts and crafts table. They also pulled out the gym playground equipment including tables, chairs, decorations, and kid-sized, foot-powered vehicles. The room also had a stage up front and an adjoining kitchen. Since it was held after lunch, I only had some snacks (prawn chips, cookies, chips, mini bread sticks and cheese dip, pretzels, etc.) and beverages out (bottled water, fruit boxes, pop). Instead of cake, I decided to go with cupcakes with each letter of "Happy Birthday" on one cupcake. Four dozen cupcakes in total.

The balloon artist was great - she was advanced meaning she did more than the boring typical hat or sword. I've included a photo of one of my son's many balloons. The airbrush tattoo artist - who was also at my son's first and second birthday - was also great. Here's my son's cool spider tattoo. Kids went home with party favours in a plastic treasure chest they (or their parents) decorated with decorative jewels. Of course, my son received several gifts - as mentioned, we will go through the ones he wants to keep, donate an equivalent number of older toys, and donate the gifts he doesn't want. Yes, I don't believe in re-gifting. Overall, it was a long day but fun. Of course, what makes it special is seeing the smile on my son's face and the laughter coming from him.

Thank you for letting me share this part of my world with you!

Happy Holidays Everyone!

Just wanted to take this moment to wish everyone a safe, Happy Holiday Season! I feel very privileged and honoured to have met awesome people, followed some incredible journeys via blogs, and been part of something very special - surrogacy in India. Although my journey does not have a happy ending just yet, the journey I have taken so far has been an incredible blessing. So a big thank you to everyone who has been part of my journey in one way or another. Many 2013 bring you all many moments of happiness, joy, and success in all your endeavours, wishes, and dreams!

As always, thank you for letting me share this part of my world with you!

Waiting Before Deciding

Wow, it's been a full week since I last blogged. Just crazy busy, preparing to go on my year-long parental leave starting next month including recruiting for my temporary replacement. Not much going on in terms of SCI surrogacy. I have a few account-related questions so been waiting patiently for a response before making a decision on next steps. Apparently, the account manager is away this month so it's been difficult getting a response from them. Given the delay in getting my answers, I will most likely wait a bit before trying again - I have 9 embryos remaining. I was hoping to have a third child soon after my second but waiting is fine too. I look forward to building a strong bond with my daughter, and watching her bond with her big brother.

All is well with my baby via surrogacy here in Canada. We are heading into the 33rd week. Given her advanced progress, we suspect we can have my surrogate induced mid to late January! Baby will most likely be above 9 pounds. Also, my son is turning 5 next week. For his pirate-themed birthday party, I rented out an indoor space (which can hold over 200 people) so the 14 kids and 30 or so adults have a lot of room to move around. There will be gym equipment, kid vehicles, balloon artist, airbrush tattoo artist, etc. Cake, cupcakes, and helium balloons ordered. I go big with his birthday parties but it only happens once a year. His birthday is also close to Christmas so to teach him charity, when new toys come into the house, "old" ones are donated to charity. This also keeps the toy inventory in check and my household looking like it belongs in a magazine :)

I'm still following the blogs and happy to read things are going well or progressing. Best wishes to all especially my Aussie crew that I met in India. I'm bummed that I cannot join them in India but I will surely make a visit to Oz in a couple of years or so. I also wanted to thank  everyone for their support and well wishes when I found out that I lost my baby with my Indian surrogate.

Thank you for letting me share this part of my world with you!

Sad & Disappointing News

So I got one of those "URGENT" emails. Unfortunately given the time difference and the fact that I was travelling on the road for work, I was not able to connect with Dr. S directly via phone. She did leave me a message so I knew she tried calling.

So it is sad and disappointing news - no heartbeat was found during this most recent ultrasound. When you get the good news, sometimes you feel like you are still dreaming. When you get the sad news, it also feels like you might be dreaming as well, or more accurately you are having a nightmare and hoping to wake up. Also, each loss is equally devastating no matter your personal circumstances - of course, I feel blessed with what I already have but in no way does that make this sad news easier to handle. I found this photo which represents how I feel right now.

After writing all of that, I am a matter-of-fact individual who logically focuses on what's next. Not that I don't wonder what went wrong but I also know even if that question can be answered, it won't make me personally feel any better - I appreciate that might not be the case for everyone. I also truly believe, what is meant to be, will be. So where do I go from here? Well, I'm not sure just yet. I will take the weekend or so to think about it. My goal was to have another baby close to the birth of my second child - I might have just slipped out of that time frame.

Also, although I personally wanted to finish having kids in my early 40s - I am 41 now - I might extend that time frame to mid-40s. I have 9 embryos left so at least two or three more tries. But again, I want to take the weekend or so to decide if I want to try again right now. In the meantime, ALL my thoughts and prayers now shift to my Aussie friends, and hope each of their little beans continue to grow. They are such wonderful people and I have no doubt they will make wonderful parents! Plus I want to thank them as well as other SCI clients for your invaluable, priceless ongoing support. It means a lot to me.

Thank you for letting me share this part of my world with you.