HEARTBEATS:)

I received the scan results last week and both of the twin-singletons are doing very well.  Heartbeats have been confirmed at 110 Bpm and 112 Bpm.  I am very happy and excited to say the least.

I know that it's only the first trimester.  Believe me when I say that I have been reminded of this too many times.  I have to say that people (including those who truly love you) should stop and think about what they are saying before they say it.  The fact is that sometimes the best thing one can do is to just be happy!!!

Twin 1:           

Dear Craig,

Congratulations...!!!  

We hope you are doing fine.

We would like to inform you that as per our schedule we have done USG scan for Munni to check the heartbeat.

Kindly find the enclosed report for the same.

We are very happy to inform you that a single heartbeat has been seen during the scan.

Dr. Shivani has reviewed the reports and found everything fine with her scan report.

In view of the same her next scan will be done within two weeks.

We will keep you updated with further progress & new status.

With Best Regards,

Yogita

SCI Healthcare

Dr. Jolly's report says that there is a well-defined gestational sack containing a single live embryo.  The CRL measures 2mm which corresponds to five weeks and five days.  The heart rate is 110 beats per minute.  The Yolk sack is normal and no free fluid is seen.  

You can't see much in the ultrasound yet except that the pregnancy sac is getting larger.  However, judging by what I've seen on other peoples blogs, I'm looking forward to seeing a lot more of twin #1 in the next scan. 

Twin 2:

Dear Craig, 

Congratulations...!!!

We hope you are doing fine.

We would like to inform you that as per our schedule we have done USG scan for Neha to check the heartbeat.

Kindly find the enclosed report for the same.

We are very happy to inform you that a single heartbeat has been seen during the scan.

Dr. Shivani has reviewed the reports and found everything fine with her scan report.

Heartbeat scan is a big milestone in this journey and we are happy to note that Neha has passed the same.

In view of the same her next scan will be done within two weeks.

We will keep you updated with further progress & new status.

With Best Regards,

Yogita

SCI Healthcare

Dr. Jolly's report again says that there is a well-defined gestational sack containing a single live embryo.  The CRL measures 5mm which corresponds to five weeks and six days. The heart rate for twin two is 112 beats per minute.  The Yolk sack is normal and no free fluid is seen.   

Again, I know that you can't see much yet in the scan, but I think I'll be able to see more of twin #2 in the next scan as well - so I'm excited.

I received both ultrasounds eight days ago so I'll be getting the new scan results in less than a week.  I know... lazy blogger:)  Actually last weekend I was working on getting all of my students interim grades completed because it is already the middle of the first marking period!  And the further along the 2012 -2013 school year goes, the further along the pregnancies are - so it's all good:) 

And finally, I read a fantastic article that is posted on the Heffernan's blog (ourfamilymiracleinindia.blogspot.com.au/2012/09/our surrogate-mothers), as well as on the SCI blog  (drshivanisachdevgourdelhi.blogspot.com).   

The article, A Surrogates Perspective - Giving Priceless Happiness "shows the other side of surrogacy, from the surrogate's perspective."
 
After I read the article I immediately starting thinking about the two amazing women who are carrying my children.  For some time I have referred to them as "M" and "N"  because I thought that it was the proper thing to do.  After reading the article I knew that I wanted to find out how Munni and Neha felt so I contacted Dr. Shivani.  It turns out that when the subject was discussed with them, both surrogate mothers were happy for me to use their names.  

I know (being a public blog) it's only a first name, but I think that calling Munni and Neha by their name (instead of a letter) is meaningful.

PREGNANT!!!

I got some awesome news from SCI.   Pregnant X2...  WOOHOO!!!

The clinic continues to be very well organized with excellent communication skills, which is highly appreciated on this end:)  The first e-mail was fantastic, and by the time I finished reading the second e-mail I was overjoyed.  I am one happy guy!

Dear Craig,

Greetings from SCI Healthcare!!!!

We hope you are doing fine.

We would like to inform you that as per our schedule we have done USG scan for "N" to check the pregnancy sac.

Kindly find the enclosed report for the same.

We are happy to inform you that a pregnancy sac has been seen during her scan.

Dr. Shivani has reviewed the report and found everything within normal limit.

In view of the same, her next scan will be done in one week to check the heartbeats.

We will keep you updated with the further progress and new status.

With Best Regards,

Yogita

SCI Healthcare

 And then!

Dear Craig,

Greetings from SCI Healthcare..!!!

We hope you are doing fine.

We are happy to inform you that as per our schedule we have done "M's" USG scan to check the number of pregnancy sac.

We would like to congratulate you once again as Dr. Jolly has noted a single pregnancy sacs during her scan.

Dr. Shivani has reviewed the reports & found everything within normal limit.

Kindly note that her next scan will be done to check heartbeat and this scan will take place within one week.

Once it will be done, we will get back to you with reports immediately.

We will keep you up to date.

With Best Regards,

Yogita

SCI Healthcare

The ultrasounds were done four weeks after egg fertilization.  Dr. Jolly's report said that the ultrasound for "N" showed a well-defined gestational sac that measured 7mm, which corresponds to 4 weeks and 3 days.  The doctors ultrasound report for "M" showed a well-defined gestational sac that measured 3mm which corresponds to 4 weeks and 1 day.  

"M's" pregnancy sac is smaller, but Dr. Shivani reported everything to be within normal limits for both women.  I've come to realize that every pregnancy is not going to be exactly the same and both women are in good health and are doing great.

It's hard to believe that a part of me is growing inside of two remarkable women in India.  I've looked at the ultrasounds over and over again.  And I keep thinking to myself wow, what a miracle.   

Back Home

I got back from India almost a month ago.  I'm enjoying life as usual and with school back in session I'm keeping myself busy.  But it seems that no matter how busy I am, India is never far from my thoughts.  Whenever I have some down time I begin to think and hope and dream about the future.

I'm sure what everyone wants to know is what happened!  The two week wait ended some time ago.  

First, egg collection went very well.  Twenty-nine eggs were collected, twenty-four were completely mature and twenty one eggs fertilized.  On August 20th, 2012 four grade-one embryos (four and six cells) were successfully transferred into each beautiful surrogate and the two week wait began.  What were the results?    
    
After following quite a few surrogacy blogs over the past few years I had some definite expectations on what to expect at the end of my two week wait.  Basically I thought that I would get a message congratulating me because of a successful pregnancy/ beta HCG test, or consoling me because the test showed that there was no pregnancy.  Because there are two surrogates I knew there could be different variations of the e-mail.  Both surrogates could be pregnant, one could be pregnant, or the results could be a double negative with no pregnancy for either of the lovely surrogates.  

All in all I was hoping for at least one positive result.  SCI has a signature way of congratulating intended parents after they (the surrogate) first becomes pregnant.  They usually send a warm, happy and quite colorful e-mail congratulating the intended parent or parents when the beta HCG value indicates the beginning of a pregnancy. 

Well I didn't get one of those e-mails, but I didn't get a message consoling me for a negative pregnancy either.  And I am lucky to now be at the tail end of the new extended version of the two week wait:) 

Let me explain, starting with the following e-mail that I received at the end of my two week wait.

Dear Craig,

We hope you are doing fine.

We would like to inform you that as per our schedule we have done pregnancy tests for "M" & "N". 
 

Please find the attached reports for the same.

We would like to inform you that their beta HCG values are 42.61 & 41.54 respectively, which is weak positive.

In view of the same, we will repeat their beta HCG test within 48 hours.

As soon as we receive the reports, we will let you know immediately.

We wish you all the best for their repeated pregnancy test.

With Best Regards,

Lalit

SCI Healthcare
A-28, Kailash Colony
New Delhi- 110048
Ph: 91 11 41034631

      91 11 29232075


After I got that e-mail I did not feel the way I was supposed to.  I wasn't euphoric or sad.  My first thought was to get in touch with Dr. Shivani.  I decided first to surf the web and educate myself a little about repeated pregnancy tests, low beta HCG numbers and the chance of pregnancy.  I found that low numbers mean that that there may or may not be a pregnancy.  Also, one single low HCG value does not tell you much about the viability of a pregnancy.  Some normal pregnancies have low beta HCG numbers and still progress.  The most important thing, at this point, was for the low numbers to double by the time the test was repeated in 48 hours. 

After I finished reading I realized that there was no need to contact Dr. Shivani or the clinic.  The reason that they were repeating the test in 48 hours was clear.  I waited and hoped the numbers would rise.  I prepared myself for the worst, but hoped for the best.  Forty-eight hours later I got these results.


Dear Craig,

Greetings from SCI Healthcare !!!

We hope this e-mail finds you well.

We would like to inform you that as per our schedule we have repeated the pregnancy tests for "M" & "N".

Please find attached herewith the report for the same.

We would like to inform you that their Beta HCG values have raised and reached to "M"- 93.40" & "N"-115.02 ".

In view of the same, we will now do their USG scans within 10 days to check the number of pregnancy sacs.

We will get back to you soon with further updates.

With Best Regards,

Lalit

SCI Healthcare
A-28, Kailash Colony
New Delhi- 110048
Ph: 91 11 41034631

      91 11 29232075

Needless to say I was very happy when I received the updated pregnancy tests.  Even though the numbers are still low, "M's" beta HCG value more than doubled and "N's" number almost tripled!  Dr. Shivani got in touch and said that the results were good because both had doubled.  She told me not to worry.  She said both surrogates were well, with a little nausea.  There was no bleeding or any other problems and basically that we should keep our fingers crossed.  

So even though I still don't have a confirmed pregnancy I am hopeful!  I'll find out if there is a pregnancy from the USG scans any time now.  If anyone out there has had a similar experience with a positive outcome please don't hesitate to drop me a line.