Their Pea, My Pod: My Journey Through Surrogacy

I look over at Xavi 1 and ask, “Can I touch her?” He nods his head through his tears and replies, “Yes.” Moments like this remind me what a precious gift I have given them.

Labor Day weekend of 2012, Jeramy and I had finally come to a decision that we had been tossing around for quite some time about surrogacy. We decided to move forward with it. I filled out the almost 20-page application forms required of Family Source Consultants, a surrogacy agency based in Chicago and sent them in electronically. I was not expecting a response as fast as I got one considering it was Labor Day weekend, but Zara called me the next business day! She wanted to know when I would be available to travel to Chicago to sit down and meet with her. She said she already had a couple in mind for me. It was decided that I would meet with her the following week. All of this was moving fast!

Jeramy surprised me by taking the day off to go to Chicago with me and the girls. I was nervous about meeting with Zara. What if I got there, did everything that was asked of me, and was then told that I was not going to make a suitable surrogate? Once I sat down with Zara and talked to her about the whole process, my mind was at ease. She gave me two Intended Parent profiles to review and I knew immediately after reading Xavi and Xavi’s profile that they were my couple.

I called Zara on our way home, and with tears in my eyes, told her that I would love to be a surrogate for Xavi and Xavi. Their profile tugged at my heartstrings and I felt like I already knew them. They held the same values that Jeramy and I did, which made the decision to say yes easy. When Zara called and told me they accepted, my heart was filled with joy; actually, it was overfilled with joy. We scheduled a time to do a conference Skype to “meet” for the first time.

I didn’t know what to expect during that first meeting. Xavi and Xavi live in Barcelona, Spain, so I knew there would be a language barrier. Having taken Spanish in high school, I was hoping some of that would come back and I’d be able to communicate with them some. We did have a translator for that first meeting, so that was helpful. After the Skype meeting, I asked Zara for Xavi and Xavi’s email and asked that she pass mine on to them. I was gushing with excitement and wanted to email them right away to tell them I couldn’t wait to start our journey together.

The next step in the process was the longest wait that we had. It wasn’t until November 30^th that Jeramy and I traveled to Chicago for my medical screening and our psychological evaluation. I do have to admit that I was nervous about these. I wasn’t exactly sure what the expectations of the fertility clinic were and if I would meet those expectations. The medical screening was pretty straight forward; just some lab work, blood draw and an ultrasound to check out my uterus. The psychological evaluation for Jeramy was a piece of cake, all he had to do was talk to the psychologist. For me, on the other hand, I had to fill out the 500 and some questionnaire, which basically asked you the same questions over and over again in different ways! Needless to say, both Jeramy and I passed our psychological evaluations and I passed my medical screening. We were given the green light.

Meeting with the lawyer was the next big step. This was the not so fun part. This is when I had to put a price on everything, including my reproductive organs. How does one decide what price to put on something irreplaceable? Luckily my lawyer was there to guide me through this part and tell me what most surrogates request. Once this step was done, we could get down to business and start the process of preparing for the transfer.

I remember looking over the numerous pages my nurse Caryl from the fertility clinic sent me on the transfer process and the medications that I would be on to prepare myself for the transfer. It was a daunting schedule of medications that I would have to keep! To top it all off, I would have to either give myself injections in my back side or have Jeramy give them to me with a 1½ inch needle. This is what worried me the most. I printed out my schedule of what medications to take when, and hung it on the inside of my mirror in my bathroom. I would mark off each pill I took and injection I gave before crossing off the day signifying the completion of that day. I wanted to make sure that I did everything by the book and didn’t miss a beat. I wanted to have a successful outcome. As it turned out, the injections weren’t as bad as I thought they would be. I even found it easier to give them to myself than to have Jeramy do it. I think Jeramy was just a little too excited about inflicting pain on me!

All the while, the Xavis and I kept in contact through email and Skype. There wasn’t a week that went by that we didn’t exchange emails. They were becoming part of our family. Both girls would get very excited when it was Skype day with Xavi and Xavi. The guys became like uncles to the girls. It was as if we had found family members we never knew about.

Tuesday, January 29^th was the day of the transfer. Jeramy and I had to be at the fertility clinic in Chicago at 8:10am, which meant we had to leave our house around 4am. My nurse Carrie had called the day before to confirm the time and to remind me to bring my valium and a BIG bottle of water with me. When we arrived at the clinic, I was instructed to drink my water to ensure I had a full bladder when Dr. Kaplan did the transfer. I did as I was told, and finished my 24 oz. bottle of water in about 10 minutes. Then I had to wait. The lab tech came in, asked if I had taken my valium to which I replied that I would rather not take it. He said it was fine if I didn’t take it, that I seemed very calm anyway. Then we did all of the necessary paperwork and he said it was going to be a little while, that they were running just a little behind that morning. No big deal, I could wait; or so I thought. After a while, I made Jeramy find a nurse to see how much longer it was going to be, because my bladder was about to explode! The nurse said I could use the restroom, and then just drink some more water. Well, I had to do that twice before they were ready for me!

Finally, they were ready for me. They walked me back to the room that the ultrasound tech called “the hurry up and wait” room. The first thing they did was get the ultrasound ready so Dr. Kaplan could see what he was doing. At this time, they were also preparing the embryos to be transferred. We agreed to transfer two embryos, one from each father. I distinctly remember Dr. Kaplan telling me, “When we are all done, you will say to me ‘Kaplan, that’s all you do?’” I laughed. Right before we started, the lab tech showed me the embryos on a large monitor before handing them off to Dr. Kaplan to transfer to my uterus. It took all of five minutes for the transfer to be completed. That was it. Dr. Kaplan was right, I did think to myself, “That’s it?” Who knew it would be so simple! As Dr. Kaplan put it, I did all the hard work before that, he had the easy part.

February 8^th was the next big day; it was the day of my blood draw to check my hCG levels. They look for the level to be 25; mine was 79. The transfer was a success! I Skyped with Xavi and Xavi to tell them the news. It was the one thing I knew I could say in Spanish, “Estoy embarazada!” They were thrilled. Coming into this, they were a little apprehensive. They had already been through 3 transfers with another surrogate, none of which took. I had told them from the beginning, that I felt such a strong connection to them, that I knew this time would work for them. Thankfully, I was right. I had two more blood draws to check to make sure my hCG levels continued to go up before having an ultrasound done to see what’s going on in there.

Just one, sólo uno. That is what we found out on February 21^st during my first ultrasound. It was still too early to detect a heartbeat, so I would have to come back on February 28^th to hear that. I had another ultrasound on March 7^th to check on the progress. Both times, there was a good, strong heartbeat. I couldn’t help but smile while listening to it. There was a miracle growing inside of me!

From here on out, it was just like a normal pregnancy. I was cleared to start seeing my regular OB. I did have to find a new OB since I had been going to the midwives on the Iowa side and now needed to be seen on the Illinois side. That was one of the terms of our contract, that I would deliver the baby in Illinois so we wouldn’t have to go through the adoption process. Iowa is not a surrogate friendly state, but Illinois is. In Illinois, the Intended Parents go directly on the birth certificate, while in Iowa, my name would be on the birth certificate as mother. Then we would have to go to court to have my name removed from the birth certificate and the other Intended Parent added.

With the halfway mark approaching, Xavi and Xavi asked if I had a feeling either way if we were having a boy or a girl. They told me that my intuition had been right about everything so far, so they trusted it. At first, I really didn’t have a feeling, but each time I heard the heart rate I became a little more certain that we were having a girl. At my 21 week ultrasound, with both of my girls there, it was confirmed that we were having a girl! The crazy part of all of this was JoLee pointing things out on the ultrasound, like telling us “There’s her head, and there’s her leg.” I think I may have a future medical professional in my midst!

When I Skyped with the guys that evening to tell them the news, they had tears of happiness! They told me that my intuition was right again. They reiterated the fact that they would trust my judgment when it came to pregnancy since I had done it before. I had asked them if they had names picked out for the baby, and now we knew that her name would be Bruguers. They sent me an email that told why they chose that name and where it came from. I really appreciated the information they gave me. It made me feel even closer to them.

As my belly continued to grow, so did the bond between the Steineckes and Xavis. Like I told them from the beginning, I found family members that I never knew existed. I took weekly pictures of my growing belly and posted them to Facebook for all to see. I wanted to include my friends and family and their friends and family in our journey.

At 32 weeks I started twice a week non-stress tests. This was a new experience for me. I had never had one when I was pregnant with my girls. The technician explained to me what they look for during the test and how long it would take. I was okay with having the opportunity to listen Bruguers’s heartbeat for 30 minutes to an hour twice a week. I also had an ultrasound every 2 weeks to monitor her growth.

My girls affectionately started calling Bruguers, Bru. They would both talk to her all the time. Bea grew very close to her. She would lay her head on my belly and sing to Bru almost on a daily basis. I began to really think about how this all would work itself out once I gave birth. Would JoLee wonder why Bru wasn’t coming home with us? Would Bea understand what happened to my belly? How would I be emotionally after I gave birth? I knew this experience would be different than my previous pregnancies because I knew the baby growing in my belly wasn’t mine. I told both of the girls from the beginning that I would be growing a baby in my belly, but the baby would go home with Xavi and Xavi, and not with us.

After each appointment, I would email the Xavis to fill them in on all the details of the appointment. Most of the time it was just a short email that said the NST was fine and what the average heart rate was. We also started counting down the days until they would travel to the states for the birth of their daughter. I was beginning to feel excited and anxious, and I know the Xavis were feeling the same way. I couldn’t believe how fast the time had gone!

October 8^th was the day the Xavis arrived in Chicago. They planned to get settled in their apartment, get familiar with the places they would need to go once they had Bru there with them, and take care of whatever paper work they could before her arrival. They made their trip to the Quad Cities on Sunday morning, October 13^th. I had planned a brunch with my mom’s side of the family so the Xavis could meet my supporters, and theirs. It was great to have my family meet my new family members.

Now that the Xavis were here in the Quad Cities, they went to my appointments the week of my due date. It was very touching to see how emotional they were at the first NST. The next appointment they would attend was a full one that included an ultrasound, NST and an appointment with my OB. Before we went to that appointment, I started having some contractions and I thought I could possibly be leaking some amniotic fluid. I had Jeramy come home from work at 9am on Wednesday, October 16^th to take me to the hospital. I didn’t call the Xavis because I didn’t want to have them come up to the hospital if they were just going to send me home. That is exactly what happened, I was in the hospital on the monitors for 2 hours, just to be sent home.

At my appointment the next morning, on my due date, Dr. May said the magic word, induce. The ultrasound tech found that my amniotic fluid was low, but not so low that I needed to go directly to the hospital. Dr. May scheduled the induction for Saturday morning, but I told her I wouldn’t make it until then. Bru was going to come on her own now that Dr. May said she was going to induce me. I told this to the Xavis too. They reminded me that my intuition has been right this whole pregnancy, so they were sure I would be right this time.

My intuition didn’t fail me. Thursday, October 17^th at 10pm, I started having contractions that were continuing to increase in frequency and intensity. I tried to get some sleep, but when I could no longer sleep through the contractions, or fall back to sleep after them, I decided to call Dr. May. She said to head to the hospital, which I figured she would. I called my mom and dad to come out to be with my girls since they were already asleep. Then I sent Xavi and Xavi a message on WhatsApp to let them know I was heading to the hospital. They asked if they should head that way as well, and I said yes.

Jeramy and I arrived at the hospital at 1:30am and were joined shortly by Xavi, Xavi and a translator. I knew things were going to progress fast, so I was glad when my nurse told me that Dr. May was on her way. Xavi 1 told me that he and Xavi 2 were going to stay quiet and just keep in the background until they were needed. The nurses were asking them questions about the important things for after the delivery, like who was going to cut the cord, if it was okay to give Bru medications and likewise. I’m glad the translator was there to facilitate those questions and answers so we had everything straight. Dr. May asked me where I wanted Bru to be placed after she delivered her, and we agreed that she would be placed on my belly.

The monitors were not picking up any of my contractions, so my nurse said she would rely on my intuition as to when to start pushing. I had to laugh on the inside, because I knew if the Xavis had heard this, they would have made a comment about how my intuition had been right all through this pregnancy. It wasn’t long after the comment was made that I was ready to push.

I started pushing and Bru just wasn’t coming down. My nurse said Bru was probably in a funky position because she saw my belly shift, and then Bru was out! Dr. May put Bru on my belly, and that’s when I looked over at Xavi 1 and asked if I could touch her. I began stroking her back and talking to her and then Dr. May asked Xavi 2 to cut the umbilical cord. You could feel the emotion in the room, and it was amazing!

Xavi 2 keeps reminding us that this isn’t the end; it is just the beginning of something wonderful. This little family fills a part of my heart that I never knew was empty. I look forward to experiencing everything that is yet to come with them.

I look over at Xavi 1 and ask, “Can I touch her?” He nods his head through his tears and replies, “Yes.” Moments like this remind me what a precious gift I have given them.

Labor Day weekend of 2012, Jeramy and I had finally come to a decision that we had been tossing around for quite some time about surrogacy. We decided to move forward with it. I filled out the almost 20-page application forms required of Family Source Consultants, a surrogacy agency based in Chicago and sent them in electronically. I was not expecting a response as fast as I got one considering it was Labor Day weekend, but Zara called me the next business day! She wanted to know when I would be available to travel to Chicago to sit down and meet with her. She said she already had a couple in mind for me. It was decided that I would meet with her the following week. All of this was moving fast!

Jeramy surprised me by taking the day off to go to Chicago with me and the girls. I was nervous about meeting with Zara. What if I got there, did everything that was asked of me, and was then told that I was not going to make a suitable surrogate? Once I sat down with Zara and talked to her about the whole process, my mind was at ease. She gave me two Intended Parent profiles to review and I knew immediately after reading Xavi and Xavi’s profile that they were my couple.

I called Zara on our way home, and with tears in my eyes, told her that I would love to be a surrogate for Xavi and Xavi. Their profile tugged at my heartstrings and I felt like I already knew them. They held the same values that Jeramy and I did, which made the decision to say yes easy. When Zara called and told me they accepted, my heart was filled with joy; actually, it was overfilled with joy. We scheduled a time to do a conference Skype to “meet” for the first time.

I didn’t know what to expect during that first meeting. Xavi and Xavi live in Barcelona, Spain, so I knew there would be a language barrier. Having taken Spanish in high school, I was hoping some of that would come back and I’d be able to communicate with them some. We did have a translator for that first meeting, so that was helpful. After the Skype meeting, I asked Zara for Xavi and Xavi’s email and asked that she pass mine on to them. I was gushing with excitement and wanted to email them right away to tell them I couldn’t wait to start our journey together.

The next step in the process was the longest wait that we had. It wasn’t until November 30^th that Jeramy and I traveled to Chicago for my medical screening and our psychological evaluation. I do have to admit that I was nervous about these. I wasn’t exactly sure what the expectations of the fertility clinic were and if I would meet those expectations. The medical screening was pretty straight forward; just some lab work, blood draw and an ultrasound to check out my uterus. The psychological evaluation for Jeramy was a piece of cake, all he had to do was talk to the psychologist. For me, on the other hand, I had to fill out the 500 and some questionnaire, which basically asked you the same questions over and over again in different ways! Needless to say, both Jeramy and I passed our psychological evaluations and I passed my medical screening. We were given the green light.

Meeting with the lawyer was the next big step. This was the not so fun part. This is when I had to put a price on everything, including my reproductive organs. How does one decide what price to put on something irreplaceable? Luckily my lawyer was there to guide me through this part and tell me what most surrogates request. Once this step was done, we could get down to business and start the process of preparing for the transfer.

I remember looking over the numerous pages my nurse Caryl from the fertility clinic sent me on the transfer process and the medications that I would be on to prepare myself for the transfer. It was a daunting schedule of medications that I would have to keep! To top it all off, I would have to either give myself injections in my back side or have Jeramy give them to me with a 1½ inch needle. This is what worried me the most. I printed out my schedule of what medications to take when, and hung it on the inside of my mirror in my bathroom. I would mark off each pill I took and injection I gave before crossing off the day signifying the completion of that day. I wanted to make sure that I did everything by the book and didn’t miss a beat. I wanted to have a successful outcome. As it turned out, the injections weren’t as bad as I thought they would be. I even found it easier to give them to myself than to have Jeramy do it. I think Jeramy was just a little too excited about inflicting pain on me!

All the while, the Xavis and I kept in contact through email and Skype. There wasn’t a week that went by that we didn’t exchange emails. They were becoming part of our family. Both girls would get very excited when it was Skype day with Xavi and Xavi. The guys became like uncles to the girls. It was as if we had found family members we never knew about.

Tuesday, January 29^th was the day of the transfer. Jeramy and I had to be at the fertility clinic in Chicago at 8:10am, which meant we had to leave our house around 4am. My nurse Carrie had called the day before to confirm the time and to remind me to bring my valium and a BIG bottle of water with me. When we arrived at the clinic, I was instructed to drink my water to ensure I had a full bladder when Dr. Kaplan did the transfer. I did as I was told, and finished my 24 oz. bottle of water in about 10 minutes. Then I had to wait. The lab tech came in, asked if I had taken my valium to which I replied that I would rather not take it. He said it was fine if I didn’t take it, that I seemed very calm anyway. Then we did all of the necessary paperwork and he said it was going to be a little while, that they were running just a little behind that morning. No big deal, I could wait; or so I thought. After a while, I made Jeramy find a nurse to see how much longer it was going to be, because my bladder was about to explode! The nurse said I could use the restroom, and then just drink some more water. Well, I had to do that twice before they were ready for me!

Finally, they were ready for me. They walked me back to the room that the ultrasound tech called “the hurry up and wait” room. The first thing they did was get the ultrasound ready so Dr. Kaplan could see what he was doing. At this time, they were also preparing the embryos to be transferred. We agreed to transfer two embryos, one from each father. I distinctly remember Dr. Kaplan telling me, “When we are all done, you will say to me ‘Kaplan, that’s all you do?’” I laughed. Right before we started, the lab tech showed me the embryos on a large monitor before handing them off to Dr. Kaplan to transfer to my uterus. It took all of five minutes for the transfer to be completed. That was it. Dr. Kaplan was right, I did think to myself, “That’s it?” Who knew it would be so simple! As Dr. Kaplan put it, I did all the hard work before that, he had the easy part.

February 8^th was the next big day; it was the day of my blood draw to check my hCG levels. They look for the level to be 25; mine was 79. The transfer was a success! I Skyped with Xavi and Xavi to tell them the news. It was the one thing I knew I could say in Spanish, “Estoy embarazada!” They were thrilled. Coming into this, they were a little apprehensive. They had already been through 3 transfers with another surrogate, none of which took. I had told them from the beginning, that I felt such a strong connection to them, that I knew this time would work for them. Thankfully, I was right. I had two more blood draws to check to make sure my hCG levels continued to go up before having an ultrasound done to see what’s going on in there.

Just one, sólo uno. That is what we found out on February 21^st during my first ultrasound. It was still too early to detect a heartbeat, so I would have to come back on February 28^th to hear that. I had another ultrasound on March 7^th to check on the progress. Both times, there was a good, strong heartbeat. I couldn’t help but smile while listening to it. There was a miracle growing inside of me!

From here on out, it was just like a normal pregnancy. I was cleared to start seeing my regular OB. I did have to find a new OB since I had been going to the midwives on the Iowa side and now needed to be seen on the Illinois side. That was one of the terms of our contract, that I would deliver the baby in Illinois so we wouldn’t have to go through the adoption process. Iowa is not a surrogate friendly state, but Illinois is. In Illinois, the Intended Parents go directly on the birth certificate, while in Iowa, my name would be on the birth certificate as mother. Then we would have to go to court to have my name removed from the birth certificate and the other Intended Parent added.

With the halfway mark approaching, Xavi and Xavi asked if I had a feeling either way if we were having a boy or a girl. They told me that my intuition had been right about everything so far, so they trusted it. At first, I really didn’t have a feeling, but each time I heard the heart rate I became a little more certain that we were having a girl. At my 21 week ultrasound, with both of my girls there, it was confirmed that we were having a girl! The crazy part of all of this was JoLee pointing things out on the ultrasound, like telling us “There’s her head, and there’s her leg.” I think I may have a future medical professional in my midst!

When I Skyped with the guys that evening to tell them the news, they had tears of happiness! They told me that my intuition was right again. They reiterated the fact that they would trust my judgment when it came to pregnancy since I had done it before. I had asked them if they had names picked out for the baby, and now we knew that her name would be Bruguers. They sent me an email that told why they chose that name and where it came from. I really appreciated the information they gave me. It made me feel even closer to them.

As my belly continued to grow, so did the bond between the Steineckes and Xavis. Like I told them from the beginning, I found family members that I never knew existed. I took weekly pictures of my growing belly and posted them to Facebook for all to see. I wanted to include my friends and family and their friends and family in our journey.

At 32 weeks I started twice a week non-stress tests. This was a new experience for me. I had never had one when I was pregnant with my girls. The technician explained to me what they look for during the test and how long it would take. I was okay with having the opportunity to listen Bruguers’s heartbeat for 30 minutes to an hour twice a week. I also had an ultrasound every 2 weeks to monitor her growth.

My girls affectionately started calling Bruguers, Bru. They would both talk to her all the time. Bea grew very close to her. She would lay her head on my belly and sing to Bru almost on a daily basis. I began to really think about how this all would work itself out once I gave birth. Would JoLee wonder why Bru wasn’t coming home with us? Would Bea understand what happened to my belly? How would I be emotionally after I gave birth? I knew this experience would be different than my previous pregnancies because I knew the baby growing in my belly wasn’t mine. I told both of the girls from the beginning that I would be growing a baby in my belly, but the baby would go home with Xavi and Xavi, and not with us.

After each appointment, I would email the Xavis to fill them in on all the details of the appointment. Most of the time it was just a short email that said the NST was fine and what the average heart rate was. We also started counting down the days until they would travel to the states for the birth of their daughter. I was beginning to feel excited and anxious, and I know the Xavis were feeling the same way. I couldn’t believe how fast the time had gone!

October 8^th was the day the Xavis arrived in Chicago. They planned to get settled in their apartment, get familiar with the places they would need to go once they had Bru there with them, and take care of whatever paper work they could before her arrival. They made their trip to the Quad Cities on Sunday morning, October 13^th. I had planned a brunch with my mom’s side of the family so the Xavis could meet my supporters, and theirs. It was great to have my family meet my new family members.

Now that the Xavis were here in the Quad Cities, they went to my appointments the week of my due date. It was very touching to see how emotional they were at the first NST. The next appointment they would attend was a full one that included an ultrasound, NST and an appointment with my OB. Before we went to that appointment, I started having some contractions and I thought I could possibly be leaking some amniotic fluid. I had Jeramy come home from work at 9am on Wednesday, October 16^th to take me to the hospital. I didn’t call the Xavis because I didn’t want to have them come up to the hospital if they were just going to send me home. That is exactly what happened, I was in the hospital on the monitors for 2 hours, just to be sent home.

At my appointment the next morning, on my due date, Dr. May said the magic word, induce. The ultrasound tech found that my amniotic fluid was low, but not so low that I needed to go directly to the hospital. Dr. May scheduled the induction for Saturday morning, but I told her I wouldn’t make it until then. Bru was going to come on her own now that Dr. May said she was going to induce me. I told this to the Xavis too. They reminded me that my intuition has been right this whole pregnancy, so they were sure I would be right this time.

My intuition didn’t fail me. Thursday, October 17^th at 10pm, I started having contractions that were continuing to increase in frequency and intensity. I tried to get some sleep, but when I could no longer sleep through the contractions, or fall back to sleep after them, I decided to call Dr. May. She said to head to the hospital, which I figured she would. I called my mom and dad to come out to be with my girls since they were already asleep. Then I sent Xavi and Xavi a message on WhatsApp to let them know I was heading to the hospital. They asked if they should head that way as well, and I said yes.

Jeramy and I arrived at the hospital at 1:30am and were joined shortly by Xavi, Xavi and a translator. I knew things were going to progress fast, so I was glad when my nurse told me that Dr. May was on her way. Xavi 1 told me that he and Xavi 2 were going to stay quiet and just keep in the background until they were needed. The nurses were asking them questions about the important things for after the delivery, like who was going to cut the cord, if it was okay to give Bru medications and likewise. I’m glad the translator was there to facilitate those questions and answers so we had everything straight. Dr. May asked me where I wanted Bru to be placed after she delivered her, and we agreed that she would be placed on my belly.

The monitors were not picking up any of my contractions, so my nurse said she would rely on my intuition as to when to start pushing. I had to laugh on the inside, because I knew if the Xavis had heard this, they would have made a comment about how my intuition had been right all through this pregnancy. It wasn’t long after the comment was made that I was ready to push.

I started pushing and Bru just wasn’t coming down. My nurse said Bru was probably in a funky position because she saw my belly shift, and then Bru was out! Dr. May put Bru on my belly, and that’s when I looked over at Xavi 1 and asked if I could touch her. I began stroking her back and talking to her and then Dr. May asked Xavi 2 to cut the umbilical cord. You could feel the emotion in the room, and it was amazing!

Xavi 2 keeps reminding us that this isn’t the end; it is just the beginning of something wonderful. This little family fills a part of my heart that I never knew was empty. I look forward to experiencing everything that is yet to come with them.