Wednesday, December 5, 2012

Snowballing

It's been nearly 2 months since the last blog update, so I figured it's overdue.  A lot has been going on!

Most importantly, things are going very smoothly with the baby now (finally!!).  The last scan came back with the awesome news that the brain cyst is no longer seen during the ultrasound. The triple marker results also came back favorably.  We also received plenty of pictures of the baby's brain and spine.  No cute profile pictures or fun 3D photos.  Who wants to snuggle a spine?  Seriously though, we're happy to know that SCI takes this stuff seriously and focuses on the important stuff.

Brent finally landed the job that he's been daydreaming about for the past year, even long before we actually even made the move to Seattle.  I'm glad he stuck it out and got what he wanted: a fancy schmancy office on the 38th floor of a building downtown complete with a view of the Space Needle in a position that pays him well doing work he can likely do while sleeping.  Our last house had acres of cows in the backyard, so this is a slightly different view.

Speaking of Seattle, since the last blog post, Washington State became one of the first US states to approve marriage equality by popular vote.  Being in a state that recognizes us as being in a legitimate relationship was important in laying the groundwork for becoming a family.  It's the main reason that we made the move of over 3,000 miles/5,000 km across the country.  It will help our children know that they're part of a normal family like just any other and it will help Brent and I to know that they're part of a protected family unit just like any other.  That election night, we watched people vote in our first black president for another four years.  Closer to home, it was the night we watched people vote in the first president to support marriage equality, announcing that support before he was facing re-election, not after.  25 years ago, gays and lesbians were treated badly here, in a country that has pushed for human rights in other countries.  Because today we're experiencing the actual shift in US citizen's opinions of us today, we have a greater appreciation for these new rights than even the gays and lesbians what will be coming out 25 more years from now, who don't face any discrimination.  I am so happy to be able to experience this change first hand.

Tomorrow is the first day that we can apply for a marriage license, with Sunday being the first day you can make it official, so we're heading to get the license tomorrow afternoon and are all booked for a ceremony on Sunday!  To celebrate the honeymoon, Brent will be going to work the following day and we will likely order pizza.  This will be my 2nd marriage this year (I feel like a Kardashian), but this one is actually legal!

In other news, we're smack down in the middle of the holidays.  We spent Thanksgiving together as just the two of us for the first time ever. We talked with friends and family over Skype & Facetime, but it was the first time we shared the Thanksgiving meal alone.  The idea was to just get a small turkey breast, but going to the store the night before Thanksgiving caused us to have to get their smallest 17 pound bird.  Add to that glazed carrots, bacon wrapped green beans, garlic mashed potatoes & gravy, fried oyster stuffing, spiced cranberry, loads of wine, and a lime cheesecake.  It was a feast.  Next year, we will be enjoying it with mashed peas  & mashed potatoes all over the place, all over us, & all over the baby, so we decided to go all out even if it were just the two of us.  Thankful!


Last weekend, we also took our last mini-vacation as just the two of us.  Here are some pictures from our Winter Wonderland.  Hope all is well for everyone else!!  Happy Holidays!

C&B



  


That is a snowball being hurled at me.





Tuesday, October 16, 2012

No Significance

Baby's first high five
We received the detailed ultrasound early this morning.  "No significance of isolated bilateral CP cyst" Woohoo!!  Everything else came back normal so the cyst is nothing to worry about.

I was surprised how detailed the scan was.  They measured just about everything you can imagine, even the baby's ears.  Since I experienced years of playground ridicule and was nick-named Dumbo in school, I was happy to read that the baby has average sized ears.  Later in life, I embraced my big ears and learned how to wiggle them to impress first-dates.  Brent is such a lucky guy.

The scan came in the early hours of the morning, so I was reading the details with one eye opened and half asleep.  Reading through the scan, I saw something that totally took me by surprise.  "Sex: Female".  I couldn't believe it!   Indian law says that you can't reveal the sex of a baby before it is born, but there it was - we're having a girl!  I laid there in bed for two hours, unable to sleep, thinking of our little girl and the life we're going to have with her.  Of course, we would love the baby just as much if it were a boy, but this news had me so excited!  After a couple of hours of day dreaming, I looked through the scan again and quickly realized that "Sex: Female" was noted about our surrogate - not the baby!  Oops.  :)

Not knowing the gender is kind of hard.  We're both big planners and not knowing if it's a boy or girl is kind of a big variable when it comes to baby clothes and nursery themes. There are only so many yellow & green onesies.   That being said, this baby already has 84 outfits for its first year.  I counted last weekend.  84.  That means it will wear each outfit about three times.  This baby is going to be so spoiled.

Since we've tempted fate and ignored all of the superstitions about buying baby things before the 2nd trimester and have been going all out since even before we signed the surrogacy contract, it makes total sense to put the nursery together 5 months before the baby will ever see it.  We decided on a nursery theme and have already started putting things together. We went with a bold contrast of monochrome & bright red.  A bit unconventional on nursery color, but it's coming together as a fun room, yet relaxing room.

The next scan is in a month, so hopefully it will be a very boring month for us!

Friday, October 12, 2012

18 Week Scan

We received our 18 week scan this morning.

The baby is growing right on track and we got the first 3D image of its little face.  Brent wondered if they accidentally sent us a picture of a baby monkey (he was kidding, I think).  The early 3D scans can be a little creepy.  Even still, I was so excited when I saw it! The 3D scan feels like a pretty big milestone and we're so happy that we've made it this far.  There have been so many bumps in the road, but here we are at 18 weeks.  This image makes it feel so much more real.  S/he looks so comfortable in there.

The only scary news was that the ultrasound revealed that a choroid plexus cyst has developed in its brain.  Parental instinct was to freak the hell out, but, for once, Dr Google actually brought a bit of comfort.  It turns out that, while it is a soft marker for chromosome abnormalities, specifically trisomy 18, studies indicate that there is only a 1/100 chance of it being any issue if there are no other markers (which there aren't).  Some studies even indicate that there is NO correlation between the appearance of this brain cyst and trisomy 18 or any other mental or physical development.  In fact, most of the parents of children that experienced this have indicated that their children are highly athletic and mentally gifted.  Probably coincidence, but we're really hoping this baby turns out to be a concert pianist & metaled olympian.  We want to retire young and the lottery hasn't worked so far.  That being said, and SCI being cautious, Dr. Shivani has decided to do a detailed USG scan of our awesome surrogate and also consult the Fetal Medicine Specialist.  Hopefully, we'll hear something soon.

This baby sure does like to make its parents worry.  I guess it's good preparation for when he or she learns to hang upside down on the park monkey bars or eventually starts dating.  There will always be something to worry about.

SCI scans weekly, then biweekly, then monthly until the delivery.  I wonder how many of these issues exist in other pregnancies, but simply go unnoticed since most pregnancies only have 3-4 ultrasounds within the 8 or so months (we're not even half way through, but have had more than twice as many).  I think the fact that a lot of these issues that end up resolving themselves is the only negative of having so many ultrasounds - unnecessary worry.  The flip-side is that because you're not  able to look down at your stomach or your spouse's and see a growing belly, feel the baby kick, etc. having the frequent scans helps the pregnancy feel real.

I was so happy to see this little one's face this morning.  I am already in love.  Brent, however, runs out of the room screaming when he sees it sitting on my desk.  

Monday, October 1, 2012

The Baby is Out of the Bag

We revealed the news to all of our friends and family in the past week.   Most of Brent's family already knew and have all been very supportive and excited for us.  Their first grand babies & neice/nephew!  We called or Skyped other friends scattered around the globe from Australia to Finland, again to much fanfare.  I told work with a lot of excitement and then we made it official - posted it to Facebook.  Once it's on the internet, it's true!


I've previously mentioned Brent's geekiness.  Fortunately, I think it's cute :)

I had not told any of my family members until that point because to say that I have a rocky relationship with my family is an understatement and I was incredibly nervous.  They're all very, very religious and they believe that my "choice" of "lifestyle" is a sin.  They also believe that associating with me is to associate with sin and is therefore against their religion to have an active part in my life.  We talk only once a year or so, though there isn't a day that goes by that I don't wish I could just pick up the phone and call or just drop by to say hi for no good reason.  I wasn't really sure how it'd go.  I guess it went as well as it could have.  They weren't negative and damning, but they weren't happy and excited either.  

Of course, they asked who the father was.  Brent and I decided early on that we weren't going to tell anyone who the genetic father is of either of our kids.  The main reason was because, with our goal to have two kids, one with genetics from each of us, I didn't want my parents to treat our kids differently based on DNA.  Of course, that DNA doesn't really matter to us, but I knew it would matter to them and I wouldn't be able to see them treat one differently than the other.  So we didn't give them the option.

That said, I don't think that they will be a part of our kids lives anyway.  It's sad because, other than their extreme religious beliefs, my family are the most amazing people and I feel like our kids are going to short changed for not having them in their lives.  I know how hard it is to not have them in mine.  Some of my most fond memories were with my grandparents and cousins and they won't have those memories from my side of the family.  The other part of me feels bad for my parents and sisters.  They've chosen to cut out not only their only son or brother, but now an innocent little baby.  Most people can't fathom that. I don't meant to insult anyone's religious beliefs here, but I have to say that since the beginning of man, religion has made some otherwise normal people do some crazy ass things.  It's also helped some people do the right thing.  This just isn't one of them.

Anyway, this wasn't meant to be a pity-post.  It's just part of our journey to becoming a family and it felt dishonest to edit this chapter out.  It's something that I've processed and dealt with and was able to start to come to terms way back when we first decided to start our family.  

We're very lucky to have Brent's family.  We also have amazingly close friends who have become "family" and are going to make great Aunts & Uncles.  These babies are going to be born into a family filled with love and are going to be spoiled rotten! I can't wait to drop them off at grandma's house, while Brent and I vacation in the islands for a week.  Ha! 

All in all, telling the world about this baby has really made it all feel so much more real.  We're so excited!!

Charlie & Brent

Sunday, September 9, 2012

Discharged!

While we were visiting the future Uncle Brandon and Aunt Emily last weekend in Tucson, AZ, we got the email we've been hoping to receive for the past three weeks - our awesome surrogate has been discharged!   There is no more bleeding or spotting and the baby has been developing on track.

We are very thankful for the team at SCI for providing daily updates on her care and for the reassurance when we needed it.  To be blunt, we are also very thankful for the exchange rate...three weeks of constant care in the hospital and our grand total was only 3k.  That is the average cost of medical expenses for a hospital stay PER NIGHT in the US.  The difference in medical costs is outstanding, while at the same time, the difference between the medical attention and care that our surrogate receives is likewise outstanding.  The daily ultrasounds and daily heartbeat scans of our little one are unheard of here.  The fact that she is in top of the line facilities and that the staff is focused on her every comfort is comforting to us as well.  We owe the future version of our family to this wonderful woman.  

For the first time in a long time, thoughts have been on things other than waiting for the next daily update, keeping fingers and toes and eyes crossed, hoping we don't get that phone call.  Things are starting to feel more and more real.  On Friday, I had to tell my boss that I had a conflict with a project I am currently leading because of a "personal issue".  The go-live weekend for this work project is the same weekend as our projected due date.  The "Dunn-McKeithen Project" go-live that occurs in 6 months takes priority over the client go-live.  Telling my boss that I was going to have to stop leading the project, no matter what, was the first time that I felt like I was in control of something during this surrogacy process.  It was the first time that I was able to do something parental for our future children.

It's weird how it doesn't feel very real in the beginning of this surrogacy journey.  Then you see the egg donor profiles and it feels a little more real, then you go to India and it feels pretty exciting.  Then you get a negative and restart the process.  Or you get a positive and you're more excited than you were when you first landed that night in India, with all of those initial hopes, more excited than you've ever been to start a family.  The rest is a roller-coaster, but as weeks pass and you receive each scan, whether good or bad, you're further along on your personal journey and you're closer to being a parent.

In the meantime, I am reading the silly things on babycenter.com and printing and framing pictures of each baby scan (don't judge) from SCI, and also taping a piece of paper to the picture frame that correlates to the baby's size (OK, you can judge for that one).  It's still feeling more and more real each day.

Eventually we're going to start putting together a nursery and we're going to start picturing a baby crawling around in these four walls.  Then we'll fly across the world to greet the little guy or girl that is going to be our first child.  Becoming a family.  So amazing.

C&B    


Tuesday, August 21, 2012

The liquor is adequate


Our surrogate is still in the hospital and there is still an area of subchorionic bleed covering 3/4 of the sac.  I guess we should just be happy that it hasn't gotten worse!

The good news is that the heartbeat is going strong at 167 BPM and the baby is measuring a week ahead of schedule.  Also, the nuchal lucency test came back normal and a nasal bone can be seen in the scan.  Woohoo!

With the bleed scare, the liquor has been adequate in calming me the eff down, but I am not sure how that relates to the baby's health?


We were looking forward to telling all friends and family next week that we're going to be parents, but, considering the past two scares and the fact that our surrogate is still in the hospital, we're probably going to wait a few weeks.

All in all, we're feeling pretty positive about how things are going.  As long as that little heartbeat keeps beating and the baby keeps growing, we're happy!  Knowing that our surrogate is under nearly constant observation helps.  I hope she isn't bored out of her mind.

In other news, Brent's dad came to visit us for a little mini-vacation.  He is currently living in Vietnam, so the last time that we saw him was at our wedding.  He brought us some cool baby clothes from Vietnam (he is one of the few people who knows).  We went to Vancouver for the weekend and had a great time.    Beautiful place!















Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Back in the hospital

What a rollercoaster surrogacy is.  I am sure I am preaching to the choir in most instances.

This morning we received our 10 week scan.  The baby is measuring at 10 weeks (right on track) and the heart rate is normal (150), but there is more subchorionic bleeding.  We've been through this last month and it cleared up quickly.  This time round has me a bit more worried because the bleed covers 3/4 of the sac, while last time it was only adjacent to the sac.  It just sounds more serious.  Dr. Google is no help.

Our surrogate is back in the hospital and on bed rest, so we should hopefully hear some better news the day after tomorrow (tomorrow is Independence Day in India).  In the meantime, I am trying to focus on the positive things to be thankful for:

1.  The baby's growth is on track
2.  These bleeds often clear up
3.  The surrogate isn't in pain.
4.  She is receiving excellent care

I need to lay off of the caffeine and google.  Brent, as usual, is as cool as a cucumber (I am thankful for that, too).  

Having said all of that, the awesome Bernadette has finally made it home after nearly 5 months in India, so maybe I should stop my complaining.  :)

Positive thoughts!

Charlie & Brent

Friday, August 3, 2012

7 Week Scan

We received a seven week scan this week, following the recommendation from the obstetrician & the bleed scare.  The scan was good and the little one is measuring at 7w6d, so we're at 8 weeks already.  Crazy!

The only bad news is that we're pretty sure that the baby is actually Chang from the television show, Community.



Monday, July 23, 2012

More Good News

Just a quick update - we got an email from Dr Shivani that the bleeding has totally stopped and our surrogate has been released from the hospital.  Champagne!  

Friday, July 20, 2012

The Good, the Bad, and the Baby

This morning we received our second ultrasound results (a day late).  They found a 15x14 mm area of subchorionic bleed adjacent to the sac.  The good news is that a heartbeat was detected at 138 beats per minute, which is a great solid number.  Also, the baby is measuring 6 weeks and 5 days, which is actually 4 days ahead of where it should be according to our transfer dates, so that's awesome news too.  The baby appears to be growing at full speed ahead!  Because of the bleeding, they're keeping the surrogate in the hospital to keep a close eye on her progress.  Our next scan isn't for another two weeks, so in the meantime, no news is good news.  Fingers crossed that this little one keeps growing!  




Tuesday, July 10, 2012

Adios! Ciao! Bye!

That's the extent of my foreign language skills.
Brent gave me this card on the morning we found out that
 we're  pregnant.  He wasn't kidding!
Brent and I have packed up the house and we're moving from our home in Florida for new adventures in Seattle, Washington.  You really can't have a more drastic move in the continental US.  We love Florida for many reasons, but we know that we don't want to raise our kids here. The country is evolving all over in many good ways, but Florida is still pretty backwards on a lot of social issues and we want to be in a place where our kids will feel "normal".  In my 20 years living in Florida, I have not seen even one set of gay dads.  Two guys walking through the mall with kids in tow would be like a shock to everyone here.  We'd rather be in a place where we can show up to our kids school together and not turn everyone's heads.  This was something that I initially struggled with because someone has got to pave the way for other future gay families, so why don't we pave the way.  In the end, if we can put our children in an environment where having two dads isn't an issue, we'll do it.  I don't expect Seattle to be all rainbows and unicorns, but Seattle has a much more welcoming attitude to families of all shapes.  So that's that.  

We've made a lot of friends here who have become our family.  Seriously like brothers & sisters.  Leaving them is going to be one of the hardest things we'll do in our lives.  Some that we will miss:


Me, John, Jason, Julie, Brent, Michelle, & Jenn.  They're going to make great Aunts & Uncles!


It's going to be weird living in a place without palm trees everywhere.  At the same time, it will be nice to experience four seasons, rather than summer, summer, summer, and summer.  We'll be happy to see the leaves change and even some snow.
This was from last Friday as we met Michelle & Jenn for Michelle's birthday dinner.  Jenn insisted (with a very evil eye) that they pay for half, even though it was meant to be our treat, so we're taking that money as the starting funds for our travel savings so that we can see them as much as possible.




 
This was also from last weekend.  Most of our weekends here were spent laying outside, reading, having some drinks, and just enjoying lazy Florida life.  We probably won't be having many frozen drinks in the backyard by the pool in Seattle because of the big temperature change.  The good news is that if we're lucky with this pregnancy, we won't be having much time for relaxing by a pool anyway!


A few more things that we'll miss:
Tropical flowers from the yard. 
The herb garden, including the rosemary that takes up a 4x4x4 area!
I wish we could take that beast with us!

Florida bugs. OK, we won't miss all of the nasty bugs that Florida has (lovebugs especially!!),
but this little critter cocooned last weekend and we will miss seeing his transformation
and butterlies dancing around the yard.

The wide open field behind the house. 
The silly cows and the Spring season that brings new calf. 
The beautiful sunsets.


Entertaining for our friends.

Brent's famous spicy rosemary cashews.  Granted, he can still make this even without
that moster rosemary plant, but since I posted my cupcakes from last weekend, I had to
post something of his.  :)  These things are addicting!

Our little lizard friends - eating spiders and chasing each other on the patio. 
Not many of these guys in cold, rainy Seattle!



One last sunset for good measure.

Seriously though, it was a really, really hard decision.  We're excited for all of the new adventures and experiences we will have in the Pacific Northwest, but not being able to pop over to see our friends for every little promotion, birthday, holiday, etc. is going to be the biggest adjustment for me.  I know that after a while, flying out a couple of times a year and hanging out on Skype or FaceTime a lot will be the new normal, but it will take some getting used to.  In the long run, it's the right thing to do for our evolving family.   

Goodbye, Tampa, for now. We'll be back again soon!

Friday, July 6, 2012

We are pregnant!

Boy, does it feel crazy good to be able to say that!  We got our beta results yesterday and the beta was 93.48.  At first I was worried that it was too low since we were 10 days past transfer with 5 day blastocysts, but was quickly reassured by Dr S, Meg, and Margarida that it's a good number.

We're so excited - it's nearly impossible to not tell everyone we know!  We've told Brent's immediate family and a couple of close friends who would have either figured it out quickly or needed to know in one way or another. Other than that, mum is the word.  Well, except for the whole world wide web...

I know we're not out of the woods yet and that this is probably still going to be a bumpy ride, but we are finally headed in the right direction and that feels amazing.

Woohoo!

Friday, June 29, 2012

Transfer & 2WW version 2.0



We got the report on Tuesday that they have completed the transfer of the embryos into our new surrogate.  All of the embryos survived the thaw and most of the embryos made it to blastocyst.  We would have been happy with just one "ok" blastocyst, so we're thrilled to have three!  One of them is a grade 4AA - really can't get any better than that!

The other good news is that this 2WW is a bit shorter than last time because the embryos have already developed so far.  The pregnancy test is on next Thursday (watch this space).  We've also been doing a fantastic job at keeping ourselves distracted during this attempt because our lives are being turned upside down in other areas (all good things) and we're feeling really positive this time around.

Hope all is well for everyone else out in blogville.

Charlie & Brent

Friday, June 15, 2012

Fathers Day

Happy Father's Day to all of the dads & "to-be" dads out there.  Even though Aussies celebrate in September, Happy Father's Day to you guys too!  (Fingers crossed that we'll be celebrating it slightly differently next year)


There isn't much going on over here - we're just waiting to transfer again, which will be in a couple of weeks, so I guess we're kind of in a 4WW.

If you're bored, check out this article written by a great dad:  A Father, a Son, and a Fighting Chance  He's the father of one of the guys who has directly helped push Proposition 8 in the direction of the Supreme Court.  It's a great story.

Wishing everyone out there good luck on their journeys!

C&B

Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Round 2

Following our negative result last week, we've transferred a large chuck of change over to SCI for round 2.  We didn't want to waste anytime trying again.  Getting the ball rolling again really helped us have something to look forward to, rather than dwelling on the failed attempt.

This time around, they are going to take 4 of the frozen 2 day old embryos and let them try to develop into 5 day embryos.  If any develop that far, they will use a laser to assist in hatching to improve our chances.  SCI says that they have a 60% success rate with this process, so fingers crossed.

Since only some of embryos survive the thaw and even fewer develop to blastocyst, we're likely looking at having one good embryo.  As long as we don't have zero, we're happy.  If anyone has experience with this, we're curious to know how many you thawed vs. how many made it to blastocyst.

We are scheduled to transfer again near the end of next month.  In the meantime, we just wait!

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Negative

We received the beta report from SCI this morning and the value was less than two.  Blah.

The fact that we can read all of positive outcomes here in blog-land, even after parents had several failed attempts, makes it much easier to get past a negative result.  We know we will have a positive result.  It's just a game of patience and faith.

This was only our first attempt and we have 10 more frozen embryos.  We're staying positive.  Just waiting to hear back from SCI regarding when we can try again.

C&B


Thursday, May 17, 2012

1WW

One more week until we receive the pregnancy test results.  EEK!

I've gone from having a funny feeling that we going to have a really high beta to having a feeling that it will be a negative result.  Now I am just trying to tell myself that this pregnancy test result doesn't mean that much.  If it's negative, we have 10 more frozen embryos.  If it's positive, it's way too early to celebrate anyway.  I think that's been the hardest thing so far - trying to balance the absolute excitement of possibility with the fear of heartbreak.

When do you break out the champagne?  When you get the donor you wanted?  When you have a good egg collection?  When the test is positive?  The first ultrasound?  Heartbeat?  2nd trimester?  The self-preservation part of me says to be cautious.  But the hopeful majority of me says "all of the above!"

To get some professional advice, I downloaded a magic 8 ball app for my iPhone.  According to it, we will test positive, it will be twins, we will not miscarry, and they will both be boys.  Although we wanted at least one girl, we obviously have nothing to worry about - if the iPhone says it, it has to be true.

Speaking of the iPhone, I might have to take a sleeping pill to get through next Tuesday night without checking it every three minutes for the pregnancy test results.  I toss and turn at night thinking about it already - I can only imagine what that night will be like.

I am trying to downplay it and just not think about it, but I am doing a terrible job so far.  Brent however, is totally Zen.

Thursday, May 10, 2012

Egg collection & start of the 2WW

We made it back from India in one piece.  I can see why people love India and our one regret is that we weren't able to explore as much as we wanted to.  

When we landed back in the states, we received an email from Dr Shivani that 18 eggs were collected and 16 were mature.  The donor had only 8 eggs collected the last time she donated to a previous couple, so we were really excited to hear 16!  Of the 16 mature, 15 fertilized.  Of the 15, 14 survived the following days.  Of the 14, all 14 were grade I!  Of the 14, 10 were frozen.  We're very, very happy with the results! This means we have enough for 3 1/2 tries.  I was so worried that we'd only have enough for this first round!

Four of the eggs made their way into our lovely surrogate yesterday, so we're officially in the two week wait!  We're very excited to be at this point of the journey into parenthood - it's surreal that we're already here!  Let the nervous anticipation begin (er, continue).

While in India, we had the chance to meet our surrogate.  When asked if we wanted to meet her, I almost hesitated, but I'm so glad that we said yes.  She didn't speak any English, but we had a translator help us just say the basic things like "thank you so much for doing this for us", "we're very excited", etc.  It all happened in what seems like two seconds, but I will forever remember her using her sari to cover up her beautiful, nervous smile while we were meeting.  It was an incredible experience.

Right before we started aggressively pursuing surrogacy, I had a dream that we had a two year old son.  I was sitting down on the floor and he was climbing all over me and hugging my neck.  In the dream, there was a song playing.  This really stood out to me because my dreams never have soundtracks.  The dream was so vivid and felt so real and I woke up knowing that I was ready to be a father.  On our last night in India, the night before the egg collection, Brent and I were sitting in the lobby at the hotel day dreaming about our future as a family and that song started playing.  The singer, Jonsi, is a pretty obscure artist from Iceland, the song is a couple of years old, and I've never heard his music on the radio.  That link to my dream and the fact the it played at that exact moment really felt like the universe was sending us a message.

I can't believe we're here already. 

A few quick photos from the trip:






Egg collection day - so excited!