A Little Sign from Above...

Happy Hump Day!

I figured I'd share a lighthearted post to give you all a break from the icky scientific portion of this process.

George and I began dabbling into the world of gestational surrogacy ages ago.  I'd say it was at least two to three years ago - probably more like three.

At that time, support of a possible gestational surrogacy was pretty low amongst our family and friends.  We've heard everything from fears that Ashley will steal our baby to the accusation that it is wrong to do this when so many children are available for adoption.

Now, one of our greatest supporters was my mother, Susan.  She never once questioned our judgement - she didn't care what it took - she just wanted George and I to share the journey of a new baby together, and, she was just full of joy that, despite an emergency hysterctomy at the age of 29, medicine offered me the opportunity to have another baby (thank God I saved those ovaries!).  Simply put, my mother was an amazing woman with the biggest heart you could imagine, and, it saddens me that to think that she will never meet my child.

This is the last photo that was taken of my mother and me together.

With that said, when my mother suddenly and tragically passed away in January 2010, George and I put our surrogacy plans on hold.  Understandably, I was just not in any condition to begin such a huge process as I was recovering from such a devastating loss.  Then, out of the blue, a message from heaven arrived right on my front step.  It was a package from one of my designers, and, I was baffled as I had not placed an order to be delivered to my home.

Now, to give you a little inside information, the instant George and I agreed we would pursue gestational surrogacy, we chose the name, "Hope" should we have a baby girl.  I think the reasoning behind this is obvious.  Which leads us back to that mysterious package.  I opened it, and almost fell over when the package contained four wooden wall letters: H-O-P-E.  I contacted the designer to see where they were meant to ship to as I was certain it was a mistake, and, they had no record of such an order in their system.  So, George and I took that as a sign from above that my mother was giving us a little nudge from heaven; we interpreted it to be her way of giving us a kick in the tush to have our baby.  It also gave me an overwhelming sense of peace that everything would work out okay.

So, thank you Mother for giving us the courage to proceed - really, I know she wouldn't have it any other way.  And if we do in fact have a baby girl, we have been able to creatively modify the name, "Hope" to flow beautifully with her middle name, and, I'm sure you can guess whom a baby girl's name would be in honor of.  :)

Love and Peace!