After the Birth

After the Birth

After I got back from the operating room I got to see Sara, Jon and the babies again. I felt so relieved, like I had been holding my breath for 9 months and I could breathe again...I could pass the baton on to Sara and Jonathan.

Once I warmed up I got to hold the babies, they were absolutely perfect! My family came to visit and meet Celeste and Asher.

After this we gave Sara and Jon some alone time with Asher and Celeste. I'd had the babies all to myself for quite some time and it was now time for their parents to get that chance.

In the next couple of days Jon's parents came from Chicago to meet their grandchildren and a photographer friend of mine came to do a hospital photo shoot. I soaked up as many cuddles as I could, knowing that the twins would be leaving Iowa soon to go home to New York. Sara and Jonathan were so wonderful about letting me hold the babies as much as I wanted to.

 Johnny brought our kids to meet the twins, this was very important to me, I needed them to have closure too.

Two days after Asher and Celeste were born we were all ready to go home. It was a bittersweet goodbye, I was so proud to have helped Jon, Sara and the babies become a family but it was hard to let them all go. I wasn't sure how I would feel at this point, I was sad that they were leaving and I knew I would miss them but there was a peace about it all. I was ready to go home to my own babies and give them 100% of me again.

I said my goodbyes to the babies, there were tears for sure. 

Then the 4 of us (Sara, Jon, Johnny and I) hugged, we were all in tears in the entrance of the hospital. (Crying again as I type.) It was such a powerful moment for without any one of us, these little ones would not be here right now.

The Unsung Hero

It is obvious that it took Jonathan, Sara and myself to bring these babies into this world, however, there is one man that deserves A LOT of credit. When I first brought the idea of being a carrier up to Johnny he was against it, not for selfish reasons as he very well should have been. He wasn't afraid of picking up the slack at home or of his wife being hormonal, gaining weight and going through all the changes that pregnancy brings. He told me that he didn't want to see me go through labor again and that he was worried for my mental and physical well-being. He knows how emotional the births of our children were and he thought it would be too hard to give the baby up in the end.

After meeting with another couple that had carried and reading lots of articles he trusted that I knew what I was doing. From that moment on, he was all in, his support never wavered. Johnny flew to New Jersey with me, helped give me shots, carried every load of laundry up and down the stairs, picked up kids when I had appointments, this is a fraction of what he did. Most of all, he stood by my side while I went through childbirth once again. There are no words that can describe how much I love this man and how much I know he must love me. This is not a flattering picture of myself but it's the only picture I have of Johnny before the birth.

Being Home

In the past few days after going home I have steadily felt better and better. It is strange to recover without a newborn baby. I get texts from Sara and Jon all the time, pictures of the babies and asking me how I am. I do miss them greatly, but we plan to see them sometime this summer. By then they will be smiling and cooing and I really can't wait to see how much they will have grown. We are Aunt Des and Uncle Johnny, we are family.


A few more thank-yous.

I have to thank a few more people, of course my family, friends, coworkers and community for their support and encouragement, your thoughts, prayers and well-wishes were amazingly overwhelming. My mother-in-law, she helped so much with the kids. A big thank you to my nurse, Julie, and midwife, Pam...they were simply amazing. I literally don't think they left my room! Every single nurse and doctor at Genesis, they handled our unique situation with such professionalism, and understanding and were so accommodating to the babies' parents. JBD, the hospital social worker, she was behind the scenes making sure everything went as planned, there are so many pieces to this puzzle that were seamless because of her. Tina, at our surrogacy agency, she helped me make the decision to become a surrogate and was there for me throughout the entire process, she's an angel. There are specific thank yous that I will give in person but please know that it truly does take a village and I am so happy that so many of you chose to take this journey with us.