A visit with the boys...

Can I take a moment to brag on my little surro-boys?? :) They are SERIOUSLY cute and growing so fast! We went for a visit this past week and they are just a month old. In the picture of Ann and me holding both of them, I have Liam (on the left) and she has Luke (on the right). The shy boy with his hand to the camera is Luke - it's so funny because in all of the ultrasounds he always had his hand up to his face, as if to say he wants to be left alone :) And in the bottom picture I'm holding Luke. They are doing so wonderfully - they are both almost at 5 pounds, taking bottles, and I believe in the past couple of days since seeing them they have had their nose-buds (that give them extra oxygen) taken out, and also their supplemental feeding tubes removed as they are taking bottles like champs :) I am so proud of how great they are doing - I am really hopeful for them that they will make their way home within a couple weeks! And even with his surgery, little Liam is keeping up with Luke in weight and all of his milestones.

This visit was the first time I got to hold them, so of course it was very exciting!! It is really difficult to go through a pregnancy and deliver babies and not be able to hold them - and that is coming from a surrogate's point of view. I can't imagine how hard that would be to be the parent and not get to hold your child immediately. Something so simple, yet so easily taken for granted when you have had full term babies. But all of this waiting and patience will pay off - it will just be that much more exciting when they get to go home! It's amazing how simply holding a tiny baby can make you feel so at peace. They are so very precious - you can't help but not want to put them down. I can't believe it has already been a month since I was carrying them around, but yet it seems like they have been here forever all at the same time.

As for me, my incision is *finally* fully healed, so I feel fantastic. It was really bothering me having all of those problems. I have a pound or two to go to get back to pre-pregnancy, and am already back in all my old clothes (yay for that!!). It's amazing what not having a newborn to take care of can do for recovery - lol! Pumping is going much better. It's not nearly as painful anymore and I feel like I have gotten the hang of it. I can't quite produce enough to cover both of the boys feedings, but definitely the majority so I feel good about that. I really have no idea how moms out there pump for months and months (who have trouble nursing) AND have to then feed their babies what they pump. That would be utterly exhausting... I have a newfound appreciation for these women for sure! Really I have a new appreciation for ALL of the people that are involved with pregnancy and babies. I have met some amazing doctors, nurses, and hospital staff throughout this journey - such caring and genuine people who truly just want to help. It takes someone with a special heart to be able to so deeply care for the tiniest of patients and give them the best chance at life possible! It restores a lot of my faith in people in general that I had temporarily lost with my first journey. And because of these wonderful people, hopefully my next post will be that the boys are home!! :)