Baby Room

Well, admittedly we are waaaaay behind on an update. Monday, August 14th will begin the 31st week, which means that we are within the final 10 week countdown (actually, we have been since the 28th week). The latest the babies will be born is October 2nd. So this is the final stretch. Agghhhh!

After the 20 week visit that occurred at the end of May, our next visit will be for the birth. So, we've been doing all we can to get ready. At the end of May, Rachel's mom came up to visit and they painted what will be the baby room. It was wonderful mother-daughter time with lots of laughter, frustration at pesky screws in the wall, and tears. It had all the feels.

We also put together 2 cribs without the proverbial cursing, weeping, and gnashing of teeth. Maybe direction writers have improved their craft. We inherited 2 cradles, a rocking chair, and a dresser. Rachel picked out some adorable curtains. So here's the basic idea...

The dresser has been in the Frost family for several decades. Jon and his siblings used it growing up. Though now it has a much spunkier look after the sanding, painting, and yellow knobs. The crib on the left housed all 3 of our Manhattan nephews so hopefully their good sleeping habits have seeped into the soul of that wood. The rocking chair belonged to Rachel's grandparents on her dad's side. The cradle on the left housed Jon and all of his siblings at one point in time. The one on the right was given by Rachel's sister-in-law's family. A lot of history and a lot of love in this room!

Towards the end of July, Rachel had a baby shower down in Maryland and we were blown away by the generosity and creativity of the gifts. We can't wait to put this sign up in the baby room, which also bears the name of this blog..

We're really happy with how the room has turned out. Now we are stockpiling diapers, clothes, and formula among other things. These two are gonna be here soon everybody!!!

20 Week Visit

On Sunday, May 28th, pretty much right after church, we flew out to Wisconsin for our 20 week OB appointment.  We flew into the teeny little regional Wasau airport and Jenna picked us up to bring us to our hotel.  Our plans for our visit were to do a pregnancy photoshoot with Jenna, meet with the OB, get wonderfully long ultrasounds, get a hospital tour, and meet with the hospital social worker to talk about the birth.

 Monday morning we woke up to rain so we went to the back-up photo location of a nearby covered bridge.  Jenna picked us up and we met her sister-in-law there to do the photos.  We had found some photo ideas online and Jenna had let us see some of the ones she had done with the last couple that she carried for.  Posing for photos is always awkward but we ended up loving how they turned out! And no - Jon did not plan his shirt to match Jenna's skirt. But sometimes his natural fashion instincts just take over.

After the photos we went out to lunch with Jenna and her kids (her husband was away on a trip). If it were nice out, we were going to go on a short hike. But since it was raining, we returned to her home and just had free time to spend with Jenna and her kids.  We spent time playing with the kids and continuing to get to know Jenna.  We also shared how excited we were for the hospital appointments the next day!

First thing up on Tuesday was the ultrasounds. IT WAS AMAZING!! We settled into the room and proceeded to have about a 45 minute long ultrasound for each baby. It was almost 2 months since the previous ultrasound and it was so incredible to see the difference in their development. One of the things that really caught our attention visually was their spines - such intricate detail. I (Jon) don't think I closed my mouth the entire time because I was simply in awe.

The twins were very active - they kicked Jenna several times bc apparently it must not be pleasant to be poked and prodded for an hour and a half. We got some amazing photos too!

After the ultrasounds, the three of us (well, five of us) went to lunch. Those of you who know Jon know how much joy food brings him. We went to this microbrewery in Wausau called Red Eye Brewing Co. It may have been the best burger he's ever had. But we digress.

After lunch we went back to the hospital and met with the social worker, who gave us a tour as well as went over some things related to the birth plan. Starting to get real people! Then we met with the doctor very briefly, and he was pleased with how things are progressing.

We finished the trip back at Jenna's house for some more playing with her kids and connecting with her. We left on Wednesday to come back home and the crazy thought that kept going through our minds is that the next time we come back will be for the birth. Also, we're so glad we flew into the Wausau airport bc their TSA people are the nicest people in the world. We feel good about flying back out of that airport bc we'll have enough stress without having to worry about surly airport employees.

Heartbeats

After the 12 week visit, it would be just about a month until Jenna's next appointment. We were very excited for this one bc we would get to hear the heartbeats! So, on May 2nd, Jenna FaceTimed us from the exam room after the nurse left but before the doctor came into the room. We chatted a bit with Jenna and the doctor and then we heard this...

Heartbeats audio

It was amazing. From the recording you can tell that one was much easier to hear than the other but they were both in there! We had some time to ask some more questions to the doctor, one of which was the debate on whether to fly or drive back with the newborns.   Despite our flight issues, we decided after hearing the doctor's input that after the birth in Wisconsin we would fly back. That will be an adventure! 😳

Jenna has been awesome about sending us photos as well as little texts when the babies are moving. As much as we can, we are trying to experience every little thing possible. One thing that has surprised us throughout this part of the journey is experiencing the immense joy and excitement of the babies' growth at the same time as experiencing the difficulty and longing that comes with being far away from them. Obviously, we'll take it!

We'll let these photos catch you up on the weeks following the heartbeat appointment...

12 Week Visit

Jenna's first OB appointment was scheduled for Monday, April 4 in Wisconsin.  We flew into Minneapolis on Sunday and rented a car to drive the 3 hours to where the OB appointment would be.  On the way, to break up the drive, we happened upon the Leinenkugel Brewery so we took a quick stop there.

Jenna and Joe picked us up at our hotel Sunday evening to go out to dinner. It was great to spend more time with them.  We ate at a really delicious farm-to-table restaurant.  

On Monday, our OB appointment wasn't until early afternoon so we ate an early lunch and then headed over to the appointment.  We were so excited and nervous.  This was Jenna's first time meeting with this OB doctor as well since the practice had switched who could see patients carrying multiples.  We were allowed to go back to the exam room with Jenna and Joe and had time to just sit and talk with the doctor first, which was great.  We could ask lots of questions and he was super easy to speak with.  He and his wife actually have twins through IVF, so that was really comforting.  

Then we got to the part we were all waiting for...the ultrasound!  It was incredible.  As the doctor moved around the ultrasound we could see the babies react by flailing their arms or moving around.  Amazing.  These are our babies...in person (kind of).  So incredible to see them and be mere feet away from them.  This was the first ultrasound we were present for.  It was also incredible to see Jenna and Joe's excitement at our reaction to seeing the twins for the first time. 

This is a brief clip of the ultrasound.  You can't see much but you can see one of the babies move a bit.  Really amazing.

 One of our babies (the other one wasn't positioned well to get a close up).

Both of the babies, side-by-side.

As we left the appointment, both Jon and I teared up at being able to witness our babies in person for the first time.  

We spent the rest of the day with Jenna and Joe's family.  We got to meet Jenna's parents & their two kids.  We ate dinner at their home (and had delicious cupcakes from a local bakery) after having a tour of their hometown.  We headed back to Minneapolis and flew back home the next morning.  On our drive back to Minneapolis, we posted our announcement on Facebook with a link to this blog.  We teared up in the car just reading everyone's responses to our announcement.  We had kept everything so secret for so long because of how emotionally hard this whole process was, it was incredible to finally be able to share it.  

Weekly Ultrasounds

Over the next several weeks following the initial blood work & ultrasound, Jenna would get blood work and ultrasounds done every week.  It was amazing to get such frequent updates!

Monday, March 6th 

Each time they did an ultrasound, they would give the measurement of the babies & their heartbeats.  The babies were 11 mm and 14 mm.  Although the heartbeats couldn't be heard yet, they are able to visually see their heartbeat, which is pretty incredible.  So their heartbeats were 157 and 149.  All was looking really good! 

Monday, March 13th
By this ultrasound, the babies were 19 mm and 20 mm and their heart rates were above 180 which they said was perfect!  

After this March 13th ultrasound, Jenna's care was transferred to her OB and it was time to plan our first trip out to Wisconsin for the first OB appointment at 12 weeks...

The Pregnancy Test

As you might imagine, it felt like the longest 10 days ever. All we could really do was keep ourselves busy. Fortunately, it was already scheduled to be a busy week. We were out almost every night of that waiting period, which was a helpful distraction. We also had Rachel's mom coming to visit for the weekend to celebrate Rachel's birthday, which was Monday.  We knew that it would either be a tough weekend with disappointing news...or a joyous weekend with amazing news. Either way, it would be good to have Rachel's mom with us!

During this waiting time, we received an email from our case manager, Tina, at The Surrogacy Experience which just helped the anticipation build.  Her subject was: "IS IT FRIDAY YET?!"  So comforting to know we had so many others who were waiting with anticipation as well.  Her email said "just sharing my excitement for the next appointment!"

Then, Friday February 10th arrived. We knew that Jenna's appointment was early in the morning (she graciously got the earliest possible appointment). We figured we should get a call sometime mid-morning. Since each of our experiences were different, we'll tell the story of that day from each of our perspectives.

Jon
I am typically off Fridays, which normally is great because I have long, leisurely quiet mornings. On this particular Friday, I had two errands to run - pick up some dog meds from the vet and then take the dogs to get their haircuts. I pretty much had my phone taped to my face so that I would not miss the call. I knew that Main Line Fertility would call Rachel, who would then call me and add me to the call. 9am, 10am, and 11am all rolled by with no call. Why hadn't they called yet? Of course, I was interpreting the delay as a bad sign. Finally, while I was driving the dogs to the groomer (and our one dog Mordecai was hyperventilating as he does in the car) my phone rang with Rachel on the caller ID.

With giant butterflies in my stomach, she connected me to the nurse from Main Line Fertility who greeted us. At first impression, I judged her tone to be a little too laid back or tentative to be delivering good news. But then she said, "I am pleased to tell you..." Did she just say "pleased"? That's pretty much all I heard. She relayed information like hormone levels and stuff like that, but seriously all I heard was it was a successful transfer.

We've had so many disappointments that it was such a strange feeling to feel pure and absolute joy. And man, was it refreshing. After trying to hold it together at Petco where I handed the dogs off to the staff, I returned to my car and just cried for a bit giving thanks to God.

Rachel
I was at work, trying to keep my mind occupied.  I kept my phone on me anywhere I went in the office.  Jenna and I were texting back and forth.  She had worn her trusty stork leggings and sent me a picture of her in them saying "just sitting around waiting and praying for the results."  As we continued to wait, she texted that she "was disappointed that my 6:30am effort hasn't seemed to pay off for earlier results!!!"  Finally around 11:45am I received the call, when I picked up she started saying "I am pleased.." and I said "WAIT!"  She asked if I knew the results and I said "no" but that I need to connect my husband onto the phone so I called Jon.  With Jon on the line, the nurse continued "I am please to tell you that Jenna had a positive pregnancy test." I feel like crying just typing that.  As Jon said, we had been so used to receiving negative news it was unbelievable to receive such incredible news.  I just put my head down on my desk and cried tears of joy.

After allowing time for the news to settle in a little bit, we began to message our families.  One of my favorite responses was from my cousin, Sara, who texted "AHHHHH!!!!!  CONGRATULATIONS! I'm seriously jumping up and down right now!!!  And now I'm crying.  I'm SO excited for you!!  I will pray regularly for your little ones."  We have been surrounded by so much love and prayer during this time.  My cousin, Laura, texts me regularly that she is praying and celebrating each new marker that we pass.

Our case manager emailed us with her excitement of the news:

Tina: I can’t even express how excited I am for you both. These were great first results!
Now I know we need to take each appointment as it comes but I can’t contain my joy at this point!
What a great way to start the weekend. 

Rachel: Thank you!  I don't think I breathed the whole morning.  It seemed to take FOREVER to get the results but we are ecstatic.  Trying to keep ourselves in check waiting for the blood work on Monday and then the ultrasound but MLF said the HCG levels were very strong which is very encouraging.  What a long process this has been.  My birthday is Monday so this is a fabulous birthday present!  Thank you for walking with us through this process!

On Monday the 13th, Jenna went for blood work to tell us what the hormone levels were. These levels tell us the probability of there still being two embryos and they looked high which normally would indicate twins.  Then we needed to wait until Thursday the 16th for Jenna's ultrasound appointment.  Jenna texted that she planned to wear her stork leggings again.  In Jenna's last surrogacy experience, she was allowed to take pictures and video of the ultrasounds but the technician did not want her to this time.  Jenna was able to convince the ultrasound tech to allow her to take one picture of the ultrasound but was very upset that she would not tell her if there was more than one baby.  This is the picture she sent:

This time we received a call from Dr. Glasner directly stating that there were two embryos!  He expressed how happy he was for us and he knows what a long difficult process this has been.

That evening Rachel received a package in the mail from Wisconsin...a pair of her own stork leggings!  Jenna had bought her a pair and mailed them to her.  What a special gift.  

The Transfer

So, Jenna and her friend did make it out to Philly late Sunday night on the original flight - just several hours later than expected. What's more - in a rare display of grace and mercy, American Airlines (with whom we had booked the backup emergency flight) issued us vouchers for the tickets we purchased but now had no use for. We picked them up from the airport, got them to the hotel, and the transfer could go forward as planned. Phew!!

If you've been following along, you know that we had never been to this point with any of our previous carriers so this was completely unchartered territory. It was definitely a milestone day full of emotions. After enjoying breakfast in Bryn Mawr we headed to Main Line Fertility for the appointment. Everyone at Main Line Fertility with whom we'd been journeying for so long was so hopeful and extended us best wishes on a successful transfer.

Jon, Rachel, Jenna, and then Regina and Terri from Main Line Fertility

If you look closely at the photos with Jenna, you can see the amazing stork leggings that she has worn to every appointment. We loved them! And here, for the first time, we'd like to introduce baby A and baby B. Well, embryos are not the most attractive thing in the world but it is pretty amazing how this all works, right??

Everything went smoothly with the transfer and Jenna was on bedrest for the rest of the day. After dropping them off at the hotel (and grabbing a quick photo) we had a few hours to just rest, relax, and let our heart rates return to normal. We had a nice evening of dinner and a movie at our home. The next day, after driving around a bit in the city, we dropped them back off at the airport to head back to Wisconsin. And now the wait....It would be 10 days until Jenna would go for a pregnancy test.

 Jon, Rachel, and Jenna at the Wayne Hotel