Its a ???????

We had the gender determination ultrasound yesturday and baby was very cooperative!!! A and D are having a baby....thats right a cute little baby. A baby what??? A baby
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GIRL!!!!!!


Yay!!!! She (it feels so good to be able to say that and know for sure) was sitting in a good position...the tech had to kind a move and press pretty hard to really get a good view to be sure and at one point said "Im pretty sure I know, but I just want to be certain" and then finally said "Its a girl" and then grabbed another tech to be certain...who immediately was like "Oh, yah...no doubt, thats a girl!" A and D are very excited and can now come up with names!! We were all very excited and headed out for breakfast afterwards and when I got out of my car and looked over at A getting out of her car, she was almost skipping lol I said she looked like a kid at Disneyland lol I didnt get any pics...A is SUPPOSED to email them to me after she scans them AHEM A if you are reading this lol Nudge nudge!!!

Support....love my fam damily!

 So I thought it was high time I made mention of the support and love Ive been getting through this journey. I am very fortunate that I have not had any ....NONE whatsoever, negative comments made about being a surrogate. My mom apparently had one person say that it was a selfish thing to do...why dont the IP's just adopt with so many kids who need adopting. But thats it. And thankfully that comment wasnt made to me because I would have torn a strip off that person :)

Pretty much everyone in my life has known from before the transfer that I was doing this. But I was amazed when last night, I was at a wedding, and all my "aunts and uncles" came up to me and said they thought it was wonderful what I was doing. I didnt even know they all knew lol
I should back up here a bit and tell you about my family. I have an older brother whos been supportive of my journey. My mom has a brother and sister....her brother lives far far away and has a few kids, who I have never met (have them on FB though and try to get to know my cousins through that). My aunt has 5 kids and for the most part, were somewhat close....some times are better then others lol. But we keep in touch with each other and have grown up with each other.
Now my dad is the youngest of 6 and most have kids but not all. They are all older then me by a fair amount (some of my cousins could probably be my parent lol) And some of them have kids who have kids. Some are close, some are not. We all live in different places but when we get together (which isnt often) its like we just saw each other. I havent talked to many of them, but my parents have and Im sure they all know about this and the ones that I know know, have showed their support too.
This brings me to my chosen family. My dad has worked for a bakery for many many MANY years (like 40). And through working there, he met a wonderful Dutch, Catholic family, the Kouwenhovens. Grandma and Grandpa had 9 kids and they all have 2 or 3 kids each. I call this, my "chosen family". At a young age, I basically barged my way into the family lol. While we already spent lots of time with them and felt a part of this great family, I made sure I was a part of it and asked if I could call Grandma and Grandpa, Grandma and Grandpa! At my wedding, at least 5 tables, were just of Kouwenhovens lol. They out numbered mine and Miles family put together lol. Being a very Catholic family, their religious views greatly differ from my parents and mine, but we have never been made to feel anything other then welcome and loved into the family. Being a surrogate, I didnt really know how they would feel about it...considering the Catholic views on procreation. But yesturday at my cousins wedding, I was so happy when people came up and said they thought it was wonderful what Im doing....it means a lot to have their support.

So in saying all that. Thanks to everyone....my blood family, my chosen family and my friends....for your support in this journey. It means a lot that you are all behind me in this. You dont know how much it means to feel the love and support through this. Im sure there will be a time where I will really need it....and I know you will be there for me!

I would like to share some pics from the wedding!!!  It was held at the Fort Langley Historical Site. An actual fort. Very cool venue. I imagine their photos will be amazing!! Thanks Bear and Andrea for having us at your special day!!! It was truly beautiful!!!

The Beautiful bride Andrea and Groom Jeremy

Carriage ride.

Thats right...this is what I ate lol and it was local
organic and free range....and delicious!!!

Beautiful flowers

My parents and us

My little family.

Waited all night for Black Betty....reliving air guitar from my wedding lol
Cousins Leah and Jeanine and uncle Paul gettin down lol

Not all the cousins made it in...but this is a good bunch of them!

Bride and groom having a dance.

Place setting and favour....homemade jam.
Had some in our PB&J sandwich for lunch today! Delish!

Yes...thats right. There was a fire pit!!! And there was S'mores!

Well...ultrasound went well today...but unfortunately the MOA who booked the appointment, was a total tool. I specifically said that we wanted to find out the gender and so we had to make an appointment for 20 weeks and she said "Oh no, we can tell you at 19 weeks" so, thats what I booked for. Well, yah, they wont tell you before 20 weeks. So, after all that, we still do not know the gender of the baby. Its very dissapointing. Looks like we will schedule a 4D privately instead.

Babe is measuring right on dates, and everything looks great. Brain development, heart, everything was great.

Here are some pictures...I took pictures of the pics lol on my phone. So the quality is crappy. The first one looks like The Scream painting LOL.  Face shot with he/she yawning lol

Kinda front...babe is looking down but head on

Little foot!

Ultrasound on wednesday....

....any predictions on the gender?!?!?!? Im thinking girl.

Picture

Ok...so I was asked to post a picture (which I did in the post previous to the 18 week one I just posted). But wondering if something was up with it because no one commented on it. So I changed some settings and wholla....I get a couple of comments. So here is another pic. Taken 5 minutes ago. No one is awake in the house, so I threw the cam on the tripod lol

18 Weeks and counting!

Its amazing how fast things are going!! Im getting a nice bump (its crazy how fast your belly sticks out when you're on your 4th pregnancy!!!). Some days I just feel fat, other days I feel pregnant lol. I feel the baby move more and more and often try to remind him/her that he/she needs to stop kicking my bladder! Im really looking forward to being able to feel the baby move from the outside so that A and D can feel it themselves.  
We had our midwife appointment last week and heard the heartbeat again which I know A really enjoys hearing. After, we enjoyed a nice dinner out, the 4 of us...the first time Miles has been able to hang out with D since first meeting them way back in October!


So...this week the baby is approximately 5.5inches/ 14.2 centimetres long from crown to rump (about the size of a bell pepper) and she weighs about 7 ounces/ 190 grams. Her chest moves up and down to mimic breathing but she's not taking in air, only amniotic fluid. Around this time, the baby becomes more sensitive to the outside world and shows her presence through powerful kicks and prods. The bones through which sound is passed to the inner ear have hardened and the parts of the brain that receives and processes nerve signals from the ears are developing. This means that the baby can hear now. She will get used to familiar sounds, such as your heart beating, familiar voices, blood rushing through the umbilical cord and other daily routine sounds and will become startled if she hears a loud sound. The fingernails are formed, taste buds are present and the gender is evident!

So next week we have the "big" ultrasound!!! Very excited!!! They want to know the gender and thats super exciting!! I think its a girl and apparently so does everyone else....which then make A think it must be a boy lol.  Funny though, over the weekend, my mom, kids and I went to RenFest and mom saw a psychic who said somthing about "Maybe this will be a boy...or a very fierce girl!" So...we will see I guess on the 10th!!!