New Scan

Suprisingly, I received a new scan today.  I expected to receive it tomorrow.  I am happy to report that everything is looking good.  Currently, I am at 27 weeks but the twins' gestational ages are 29 Weeks (Twin I) and 28.4 weeks (Twin II). According to Babycenter.com, they should be almost 2lbs. Twin I weights 1204grams (2.65lbs) and Twin II weights 1272grams (2.80lbs).  Seems that they are growing ahead of schedule.  Perhaps that's a good thing since there's no indication that there's gestational diabeties or any negative reason to explain why the twins are growing ahead of schedule so I'm happy.  I looked at the USG report from my last scan and it seems that the twins doubled in size.  Here is the latest scan.  I also attached the two reports so you can see how much they have grown; its amazing.  I hope everything enjoys their weekend.

Update

Hey everyone:

 

This month has been riddled with so many emotions; I guess that’s to be expected going through this journey. Unfortunately, my surrogate is still in the hospital and I think about her and the twins every day. She has been in the hospital for quite some time.  On the positive side, I am pleased to say it looks like the cerclage is still working.  There hasn’t been any issues with my surrogate and twins and the bottom line is that we want everyone to make it through this journey safe, well taken care of, and healthy.   I am thankful that SCI is taking great care of my surrogate and seeing to it that she receives the utmost care.  I can’t ask for more.

 

I can’t wait for my surrogate’s next scan.  She will have her scan with Dr. Jolly on June 1^st so I should have new sonogram images for you soon. 

 

I’m happy to say that I’ve hit a couple of milestones this month which feels great.  Currently, my surrogate is 27 weeks.  This means the twins have reached viability which is great.  In addition, we are entering the 3^rd trimester which is also good news.  They expect that my surrogate will be discharged around 28 weeks which begins on Wednesday.  I am hoping that she makes it to 37 weeks.

 

My good friend told me she was unable to accompany me to India to help with baby pick up due to the federal government furloughs that took place; I completely understand how that feels.  Thankfully, another good friend will be able to meet me there and fly with me and babies. 

 

Lastly I booked my airline ticket today YAY!!!!!!!  I am flying United airlines out of Newark, NJ.  Those of you who keep up with my blog know that this is the airline I’ve been looking into. The main reason why I’m flying this airline is because they have a direct flight from Newark to New Delhi.  I do not want to deal with lay overs flying back with twins.   So, I fly out August 4^th (Sunday) from Newark for a 14 hour flight directly to New Delhi.  I will return August 23^rd (Friday) for 14hr flight directly back to Newark.  I will have someone pick us up from Newark’s airport and drive us to DC.  I’d much rather do a 3hr drive then deal with layovers overseas.  I am excited that I am one step closer to bringing home babies.  I can’t believe this is happening. 

 

I hope everyone is doing well and we will chat soon. 

 

Fred

 

No News Is Good News...

No news is good news during this journey.  As you already know, my surrogated needed a cervical cerclage because her cervix was mildly dilated.  This was detected during a normal USG scan and not due to an emergency that landed my surrogate in the hospital. Dr. Shivani ordered a cervical cerclage which will stitch her cervix closed and ideally will allow her to carry to term.  My research shows that this is a very successful procedure and I hope the same proves true here.  As an update, the cerclage was done on Thursday May 2nd.  When your surrogate is in the hospital, you receive daily emails (except Sunday).  So far, I have not received any alarming news (i.e. your surrogate went into labor).  The emails mainly state that my surrogate is on complete bed rest and is following the obstertrician's advice, that she is taking her meds, etc.  I keep waiting for the email to say that my surrogate is fine but it doesn't say that.  However, I think the lack of alarming news is good.  Nothing saying that the cerclage was unsuccessful, no signs of contractions or other pre-term labor signs.  Her cervix is closed and things should be boring from here on out.  Dr. Shivani says that she expects her to be in the hospital for a least two weeks which I'm sure is tough for her but we have to do what we have to do to avoid a too early delivery.  Everyday is a mildstone to me.  Every 24 hours is 24 hours worth of development for the twins.  I am thankful that SCI does monthly USG scans because it allows them the opportunity to catch issues in (hopefully) enough time.  I will keep you all updated on this issues.

Emotional Roller Coaster

Staying true to form...we have another drop in this emotional roller coaster better known as My Journey to Indian Surrogacy...

Today, I received my monthly scan as expected; however, there was something different.  Gourav Rathi (SCI Accounts) was attached to the email.  "That's strange" I thought to myself.  "The only time accounts is attached to the email is when my surrogate is in the hospital.  She shouldn't be in the hospital...everything is going well...the pregnancy is pretty boring."  These are the thoughts racing through my mind as a result of just seeing Gourav cc'd on the email. 

I continue to read the email.

"We hope you are doing well."  -Yes I'm fine...why is Gourav attached to this email? (I'm thinking as I race to the next line).

"We would like to inform you that as per our schedule we have done a USG scan for S." - Yes, I know that.  Why is Gourav attached to this email??

Usually the next line says something like everything is fine and in normal limits.  I don't see that line anywhere and I'm starting to get worried.

"Please find attached herewith reports of the same."

And then I look and see bold letters:

"We would like to inform you that our obstetrician and Dr. Shivani has reviewed the reports & noted that the "Cervical length - 28mm. internal os is patulous and cervical canal mildly dilated at time of scan." - My heart is beating and my honest thought is "what the fuck does that mean? This doesn't sound good at all. I know enough to know that she shouldn't be dilated at 23 weeks.

"With respect to the same, our medical team has admitted her in the hospital" - Shit!

"Kindly note that we will need to do a Cervical Cerclage procedure for her which will be done tomorrow" - Oh shit...what is going on.What is a Cervical Cerclage.  Heart drops. Feeling sick. Want to cry.  Sitting in court waiting for my case to be called.  Something is very wrong.  I promptly forward the email to my friend and client liason Kim which leads to a lengthy, comforting telephone conversation about what is going on.

The rest of the email just says that she's in the hospital undergoing necessary medical treatment, etc. 

So...I'm sitting in court, trying to type things into google when my case is called.  As soon as my case is done, I leave and go straight home and get online. 

In a nutshell, I've learned that sometimes, the cervix will become slightly opened.  When this happens, there is a risk of miscarriage because the cervix needs to remain closed during the pregnancy.  With an open cervix, the mother can go into preterm labor which would not be good in this situation. When the cervix becomes open, the doctors will perform the cervical cerclage which is a procedure in which a stitch is used to close the cervix.  It is done with a strong suture that remains for the rest of the pregnancy until around 37 weeks.  I am thankful that my surrogate is only mildly dilated.  Based off of my research, it seems that the key is to catch this issue in enough time to close the cervix.  This procedure can be done as a preventative measure.  This is for women who may have had a previous miscarriage due to this issue; therefore, knowing that the same issue can arise again.  This procedure can also be done as a rescue measure, where the cervix is already open and the doctors are able to close it to give the fetus are few more weeks to bake in the oven.  Both ways had approximately at 95% success rate which is good. I did see that many women had miscarriages where this procedure was not perform, likely because the issue wasn't detected on time. 

I've been reading numerous messages boards.  A vast majority of women said that their cerclage saved their pregnancy.  At minimum, this procedure can be used to get the baby closer to a viable stage. 

This new issue has shaken me to my core - it takes a lot to do that.  Thanks to Kim, my sister, my dad, mom, and Dr. Google, I have calmed down some.  SCI has amazing doctors and I know they will take great care of Santosh and my little ones.  I am thankful that they noticed this issue while she was "mildly dilated" during a schedule scan.  I would be even more worried if she went to the hospital due to an emergency/pre-term labor symptoms.  I don't know how I would cope if I was to lose my little ones.  I didn't know you could love someone you never met so much who is so far away but you can.  If anyone has any information or insight, I would really appreciate your thoughts.  I promise to keep everyone up-to-date during this portion of the roller coaster ride. 

Fred