A year ago this week, and some pictures

I am sitting here thinking about how fast this pregnancy and surrogacy journey has really gone. I realize that with a singleton pregnancy, the baby might not come for another 8 weeks, but turning 33 weeks this coming Sunday with twins means really something could happen at any time. It doesn't seem sudden, but it does seem amazing to me that it has gone by this fast. That is funny to say at this point, because there was a time between 16-20 weeks where I was having a melt down because I felt like we couldn't possibly ever get to the delivery because time was moving so slowly. But really, after 24 weeks it has just been like lightening. Out of curiosity I looked at my email from a year ago this week - we had just found out that J's insurance would cover the surrogacy! That was a HUGE turning point because I don't think we would have been able to go down this past otherwise; it just would have been cost prohibitive. The doors of possibility were opened just one year ago this week, and here we are now a few weeks out from having two babies. I know there are some people reading this blog who are just starting their surrogacy journies, so I hope that inspires you!

I wanted to share a couple of pictures from our picture session (I have J's permission :).

I really love the following picture because it captures so much of the emotion and spirit of this pregnancy. J looks incredibly peaceful, just as she always does. She has the most gentle and confident spirit as a person and she just exudes that in this picture. She also looks so open with her body language, and that has been a major positive aspect of all this. She has treated the pregnancy all along as though it is completely ours and has never kept it a private thing. No matter how many appointments you go to and how many ultrasounds you see, though, as an "intended mother" you are still "looking on" as I am in this picture. It was actually a little bitter sweet taking this picture at the time because I felt like a forced extension to what was beautiful alone. Looking at the resulting image, though, it is now my favorite one. I think it is a wonderful picture of surrogacy and the surrogate-intended mother relationship!



I love this picture because it shows all of us involved, and at the same time, the focus is on the babies. Oh what work four people can do for that one precious pregnant belly!



Lastly, I love this picture of us with J smooshed in the middle because she is truly the center of the journey. And that heart is not just for the babies, it is for her too. We love J and her family more than words can express.