We've been rather quiet on the blogging front lately, mostly down to us making frantic preparations for India and also settling into our new life in Italy. We completely forgot how tiresome and hard work relocating can be, and pretty much 2 weeks after our return from Delhi, we all have to move permanently to Venice. The thought of all that reboxing and unboxing is hideous but it's a lovely thought that the next place we move to will be our family home for quite some time to come!
Italy seems an fascinatingly odd country, and I always question any place where a 250ml can of Coke Light can be EURO 2.5 and a 1500ml bottle of (really quite good) wine can be a mere EURO 2!!!!! The smallest tasks seem to take forever to do here, it seems to take an hour to buy a stamp at the chaotic postoffice, and always seems to involve a lot of shouting and possibly unnecessary complexity, but that is all made up by the fact that it really is quite a stunning place to live.
Festivities here seem to involve a lot of pride, history and passion, and we have tickets to watch 'Il Calcio", a notoriously violent football game that has been played in Florence since the 16th Century. Since we know very little about sport, I thought Wikipedia might help me better understand the rules of the game. I think the wikipedia entry "The modern version allows tactics such as head-butting, punching, elbowing, and choking, but forbids sucker punching and kicks to the head" definitely gives us a sense of what will be in store!!! Sounds like a true gentlemanly sport.
All our shipping arrived from Hong Kong on Friday, and it was truly wonderful to look through all the baby clothes and items we have bought and not seen for about 8 weeks. We recently bought our return tickets to Delhi, received our tourist visas, and finally secured some good quality accommodation in Delhi. The accommodation problem was no mean feat to resolve!!!! We have to stay 70 to 80 days to complete all the complex passport and UK citizenship red tape, so even cheap accommodation can add up in no time for that length of stay. Add the fact that, like most people, we have to keep our flat in Italy during this time, we've spent ages bashing calculators and making budgets to ensure that all goes to plan.
Fortunately my work means I can easily relocate to Delhi for 3 months and work from the apartment, but I do have a sneaky suspicion that the UK government make it as long winded and complex as possible to gain citizenship for children born through surrogacy as a preventative measure. Fortunately life (and a great employer!!!!) has allowed us to work through this to make it a reality that might be impossible for many UK IP's, so we feel blessed that our 3 months in Delhi is achievable.
And of course, if the UK government allowed it, we would like to return home with our baby as soon as possible. But we take great comfort and excitement in the fact that we get 3 months together in India to be a family. Sadly family and friends (and our beloved dogs) will not get to meet him/her until they are 3 months old, but at least we get 3 months of private time to privately be the family we have wanted to be for so long.
Saturday, 11 June 2011
Thursday, 12 May 2011
New Pics Inside and Outside the Belly!!!!!!!
What a great day, we've been sent some photo's of all the action taking place inside and outside the belly :)
Adam was thrilled to know that our lovely SM clearly shares his love of orange (which is especially Tuscan and wouldn't be out of place in our new living room!)
We also got sent a few 3D images, not sure if our baby is blowing outwards or just has ENORMOUS cheeks!!!!! Guesses on boy or girl are most welcome. We're still quite undecided. It's amazing how much he/she seems to have changed and developed from the previous 3D scan, although in the previous scans our baby seems to cover their face in a "leave me alone, no pictures please" kind of way so it was hard to tell quite what they look like anyway.
But all we can be grateful and happy for right now is that, after our SM's recent and unfortunate week in hospital, all is now better, she is perfectly healthy and recovered and our baby appears to be doing just fine! Add all this to the lovely sunny weather we have here today and life couldn't be much better!!!!
So it looks like the next time we see his/her face, they will be in our arms.
'La Dolce Vita' all round I say :)
Adam was thrilled to know that our lovely SM clearly shares his love of orange (which is especially Tuscan and wouldn't be out of place in our new living room!)
We also got sent a few 3D images, not sure if our baby is blowing outwards or just has ENORMOUS cheeks!!!!! Guesses on boy or girl are most welcome. We're still quite undecided. It's amazing how much he/she seems to have changed and developed from the previous 3D scan, although in the previous scans our baby seems to cover their face in a "leave me alone, no pictures please" kind of way so it was hard to tell quite what they look like anyway.
But all we can be grateful and happy for right now is that, after our SM's recent and unfortunate week in hospital, all is now better, she is perfectly healthy and recovered and our baby appears to be doing just fine! Add all this to the lovely sunny weather we have here today and life couldn't be much better!!!!
So it looks like the next time we see his/her face, they will be in our arms.
'La Dolce Vita' all round I say :)
Saturday, 7 May 2011
There's 'Tuscan' and there's 'Tat'...
We are nearly at the end of our first week in Italy. On arrival, our new landlords kindly gave us 2 free nights accommodation in an apartment in the same building as our's wasn't available until the 3rd. It did the job for a couple of nights until we got into the 'real one'. To be honest, the pics of the apartment on the internet we're actually a fair representation of the real thing (what a relief) and the actual bonus is that it appears much bigger in real life.
My only small gripe is that there is 'Tuscan' and then there's 'Tat' and there is a very fine line between the two!!!!! It's amazing that in a fairly sizable city like Florence, shops only sell food, clothes, shoes, wine and cigarettes, and you can't find boring but albeit essential things like clothes airers, washing bowls, cleaning utensils or anything useful for the home for blood nor money!!! I guess Italians prioritize being fed and looking good above all else!!!! Who would want to do anything so boring as mop a floor? So failing to find anything useful, we jumped straight in a taxi and in our best Italian asked the driver "Ikea per favore!!!!!!!!! (Note to self, avoid using taxis like the plague, it would probably be cheaper to charter a helicopter).
Being limited on the housing options, we opted for an open plan-ish loft apartment, so our baby will be sharing our room for the first few months until we know exactly where we want to put down some roots. Unfortunately that means we don't have all the fun of setting up a nursery, however we have spent the day buying exactly the same things for the baby 'zone'. Feels a shame not for them to have their own room, but we at least know we made the right decision, we could fit our old Hong Kong flat into our new apartment about 8 times, so the lack of dividing walls is a small price to pay for the most space we have had in years!!!!!! The dogs are freaked out by having so much space in comparison too. And they are loving the more scenic walks. Florence is surprisingly full of dog lovers, and they do seem to enjoy being the only Pekingese dogs we've seen here so far.
But the most amazing part of the week so far has been food!!!!!! Although quite obvious, all our favorite European treats (ham, cheeses, nice wine) were all imported in Hong Kong and outrageously priced (ie US$15 for a small block of imported cheese, parma ham was pretty much the same price as a second hand family saloon car, a decent bottle of wine possibly the same price as a year's school fees, I severely exaggerate but you catch my drift.... so we pretty much deprived ourselves of tasty European treats for 3 years), so by comparison, the supermarkets here are pretty much giving the food away for free!!!!!!
So our first week in Italy has been surprisingly relaxing, although it has mostly been spent in Ikea!!!! We just booked our flights to Delhi as we've been advised to plan to arrive around 37 weeks going into week 38. That in itself feels like a very proud and exciting moment!
So now it's time to open a bottle of wine, grab an alan key and start putting some furniture together.
Ciao!!!!!!!!!!!!
My only small gripe is that there is 'Tuscan' and then there's 'Tat' and there is a very fine line between the two!!!!! It's amazing that in a fairly sizable city like Florence, shops only sell food, clothes, shoes, wine and cigarettes, and you can't find boring but albeit essential things like clothes airers, washing bowls, cleaning utensils or anything useful for the home for blood nor money!!! I guess Italians prioritize being fed and looking good above all else!!!! Who would want to do anything so boring as mop a floor? So failing to find anything useful, we jumped straight in a taxi and in our best Italian asked the driver "Ikea per favore!!!!!!!!! (Note to self, avoid using taxis like the plague, it would probably be cheaper to charter a helicopter).
Being limited on the housing options, we opted for an open plan-ish loft apartment, so our baby will be sharing our room for the first few months until we know exactly where we want to put down some roots. Unfortunately that means we don't have all the fun of setting up a nursery, however we have spent the day buying exactly the same things for the baby 'zone'. Feels a shame not for them to have their own room, but we at least know we made the right decision, we could fit our old Hong Kong flat into our new apartment about 8 times, so the lack of dividing walls is a small price to pay for the most space we have had in years!!!!!! The dogs are freaked out by having so much space in comparison too. And they are loving the more scenic walks. Florence is surprisingly full of dog lovers, and they do seem to enjoy being the only Pekingese dogs we've seen here so far.
But the most amazing part of the week so far has been food!!!!!! Although quite obvious, all our favorite European treats (ham, cheeses, nice wine) were all imported in Hong Kong and outrageously priced (ie US$15 for a small block of imported cheese, parma ham was pretty much the same price as a second hand family saloon car, a decent bottle of wine possibly the same price as a year's school fees, I severely exaggerate but you catch my drift.... so we pretty much deprived ourselves of tasty European treats for 3 years), so by comparison, the supermarkets here are pretty much giving the food away for free!!!!!!
So our first week in Italy has been surprisingly relaxing, although it has mostly been spent in Ikea!!!! We just booked our flights to Delhi as we've been advised to plan to arrive around 37 weeks going into week 38. That in itself feels like a very proud and exciting moment!
So now it's time to open a bottle of wine, grab an alan key and start putting some furniture together.
Ciao!!!!!!!!!!!!
Friday, 29 April 2011
A bizarre week of mixed emotions
What a strange week! We don't know where to begin.
Some people say the three biggest stresses are getting married (done), moving house (doing) and having a baby (definitely doing!!!!!) in 24 hours, we will be sat on the plane, gin and tonic almost definitely in hand on our way to our new life in Italy.
This week has been full of worry and anxiety as our surrogate mum has been having mild but frequent contractions and has been closely monitored whilst staying in hospital for over a week now. Fingers excrutiatingly tightly crossed that she will be discharged from hospital in the next day or so. Of course, this is a horrible scenario for anyone, especially given we're not even 30 weeks, but Dr Shivani and her team of medical magicians have done all the possibly can to allow them to give us a much more positive 'we're nearly in the clear' update today which is hugely encouraging. Throughout all this, utrasounds have shown no real stress on our baby. We just hope and pray that they are perfectly happy where they are and have no desire to come any time soon!
We had our leaving party in Hong Kong last night which was an amazing evening. In honour of the Royal Wedding, our party was decorated in a thoroughly patriotic and achingly kitsch array of 'Britishness', union jacks, picture of the royal family (Liz, Phil, Charles, Camilla, Moody Margaret, a sorely missed Queen Mum, and Sarah Ferguson banished somewhere near the toilet doors). A less fitting addition was Bruno the stripper that Adam's colleague arranged, although the Union Jack G-String did at least fit the theme. I really can't give a full explaination that would be believed in a court of law of how 'mid lapdance' Adam managed to knock out a front tooth veneer. That's definitely one we won't be telling our children and grandchildren about!!!!! (although it was far more innocent and less sordid than it sounds).
By the end of the night there was pretty much a hour's free flow of tears, possibly enhanced by the very reasonably priced 4 hours 'all you can drink' included in the ticket price, but never the less a wonderful evening with some much loved friends. It was of course achingly sad to say goodbye to some wonderful people as we leave here after 3 years.
Our 'what a hangover but so worth it' morning was further enhanced by a much more positive update from Delhi that has allowed us to end an anxious, stressful and worry-filled week in a much more relaxed and happy state of mind.
And this post would not be complete without (forgive a little bit of British pride here) making mention of a magical royal wedding that we don't feel embarrassed to say has given us Brits (who as a nation haven't had much to smile about recently) revel in some self indulgent pomp and ceremony.
As we (nearly) breathe a huge sigh of relief that our baby and SM our healthy and safe, say a sad farewell to a frantic concrete jungle that at times drives us crazy but will always be held dearly in our hearts for giving us some much and allowed us to pursue our dream of parenthood, say goodbye to much loved friends, leave one of the many apartments we have lived in that actually did feel like home, we can end a week filled with highs and lows, laughter and tears with a determination to make a fantastic happy life and home for our baby, us and our dogs in Italy. We are filled with hope and optimism that our new life will be as magical as today's fairytale wedding!
Some people say the three biggest stresses are getting married (done), moving house (doing) and having a baby (definitely doing!!!!!) in 24 hours, we will be sat on the plane, gin and tonic almost definitely in hand on our way to our new life in Italy.
This week has been full of worry and anxiety as our surrogate mum has been having mild but frequent contractions and has been closely monitored whilst staying in hospital for over a week now. Fingers excrutiatingly tightly crossed that she will be discharged from hospital in the next day or so. Of course, this is a horrible scenario for anyone, especially given we're not even 30 weeks, but Dr Shivani and her team of medical magicians have done all the possibly can to allow them to give us a much more positive 'we're nearly in the clear' update today which is hugely encouraging. Throughout all this, utrasounds have shown no real stress on our baby. We just hope and pray that they are perfectly happy where they are and have no desire to come any time soon!
We had our leaving party in Hong Kong last night which was an amazing evening. In honour of the Royal Wedding, our party was decorated in a thoroughly patriotic and achingly kitsch array of 'Britishness', union jacks, picture of the royal family (Liz, Phil, Charles, Camilla, Moody Margaret, a sorely missed Queen Mum, and Sarah Ferguson banished somewhere near the toilet doors). A less fitting addition was Bruno the stripper that Adam's colleague arranged, although the Union Jack G-String did at least fit the theme. I really can't give a full explaination that would be believed in a court of law of how 'mid lapdance' Adam managed to knock out a front tooth veneer. That's definitely one we won't be telling our children and grandchildren about!!!!! (although it was far more innocent and less sordid than it sounds).
By the end of the night there was pretty much a hour's free flow of tears, possibly enhanced by the very reasonably priced 4 hours 'all you can drink' included in the ticket price, but never the less a wonderful evening with some much loved friends. It was of course achingly sad to say goodbye to some wonderful people as we leave here after 3 years.
Our 'what a hangover but so worth it' morning was further enhanced by a much more positive update from Delhi that has allowed us to end an anxious, stressful and worry-filled week in a much more relaxed and happy state of mind.
And this post would not be complete without (forgive a little bit of British pride here) making mention of a magical royal wedding that we don't feel embarrassed to say has given us Brits (who as a nation haven't had much to smile about recently) revel in some self indulgent pomp and ceremony.
As we (nearly) breathe a huge sigh of relief that our baby and SM our healthy and safe, say a sad farewell to a frantic concrete jungle that at times drives us crazy but will always be held dearly in our hearts for giving us some much and allowed us to pursue our dream of parenthood, say goodbye to much loved friends, leave one of the many apartments we have lived in that actually did feel like home, we can end a week filled with highs and lows, laughter and tears with a determination to make a fantastic happy life and home for our baby, us and our dogs in Italy. We are filled with hope and optimism that our new life will be as magical as today's fairytale wedding!
Saturday, 23 April 2011
Big Gay Wedding Dance
Whilst we are passing time, getting ready to move next Saturday, sorting out final bills, and a whole host of boring but unfortunately necessary things, here's our blast from the past wedding dance to entertain (if it can be called entertainment!!!!!) or horrify...
Monday, 18 April 2011
26th Week!
As the scan report that came through suggests, we are 25weeks and 6 days! However, by initial calculations we should be 25 weeks and a day, so not that far off....
No face shots on the ultrasound or images that make us go 'ahhhhhh', just a selection of 'I'm not quite sure what part we're looking at' pictures (very similar to the Rachel situation in 'Friends') that far more importantly help Dr Jolly tell us that our baby and SM are both doing very well and things are exactly how they should be. What more can we ask for!!!
It's such a wonderful update from Delhi in a week where we're so focused on (and impatient to be) leaving Hong Kong in a matter of days, knowing that we couldn't be asking for better news from Dr Shivani and Dr Jolly as we are about to make a bold leap into the unknown in preparing our new life in Italy for us and our baby.
Because us and our fellow Brits have to spend (by comparison) longer than most in Delhi due to citizenship laws and passport issues, at first the thought of three months in Delhi felt a little problematic on so many fronts. But now we are lucky enough to have found (through genuine support from one of our employers) a "live in Delhi, enjoy being parents and send a bit of work via email now and again' solution that lets us relax and really look forward to and embrace our time in India without the pressures of returning to work, losing salary and feeing under the pressure of time.
We're both so happy that after all the time our baby has spent with our wonderful SM in Delhi, we also get to enjoy spending three months in a country that we will forever be indebted to.
Who could ask for more?
No face shots on the ultrasound or images that make us go 'ahhhhhh', just a selection of 'I'm not quite sure what part we're looking at' pictures (very similar to the Rachel situation in 'Friends') that far more importantly help Dr Jolly tell us that our baby and SM are both doing very well and things are exactly how they should be. What more can we ask for!!!
It's such a wonderful update from Delhi in a week where we're so focused on (and impatient to be) leaving Hong Kong in a matter of days, knowing that we couldn't be asking for better news from Dr Shivani and Dr Jolly as we are about to make a bold leap into the unknown in preparing our new life in Italy for us and our baby.
Because us and our fellow Brits have to spend (by comparison) longer than most in Delhi due to citizenship laws and passport issues, at first the thought of three months in Delhi felt a little problematic on so many fronts. But now we are lucky enough to have found (through genuine support from one of our employers) a "live in Delhi, enjoy being parents and send a bit of work via email now and again' solution that lets us relax and really look forward to and embrace our time in India without the pressures of returning to work, losing salary and feeing under the pressure of time.
We're both so happy that after all the time our baby has spent with our wonderful SM in Delhi, we also get to enjoy spending three months in a country that we will forever be indebted to.
Who could ask for more?
Saturday, 9 April 2011
12 Year Anniversary
Yesterday was our 12 year anniversary since the day we met at 'One Pound a Pint Night' at our local nightclub (praise be that pound a pint nights don't really exist in Hong Kong, where 'happy hour' prices are still eye-warteringly expensive and hardly any cause to be happy!!!).
It's a lovely thought that we met in the Chinese Year of the Rabbit, and we will be having our baby in the Year of the Rabbit too! (Cue cheesey music: Lion King 'Circle of Life'). In Chinese Astrology, the Rabbit Year is one of the more home-centred gentle signs which sounds perfect to us.
When we tell people that we've been together 12 years, people are 'wow, that's ages' but to us, it's gone in a flash, we could write a massive list of all the great things we've done together, the highs and the not so highs, and the many times we spoke about how great it would be to have a baby and a family of our own, so it's a brilliant thought that all the talk is actually coming to realization!
3 weeks today we'll be leaving on our new adventure, wondering what the next 12 years might bring...
It's a lovely thought that we met in the Chinese Year of the Rabbit, and we will be having our baby in the Year of the Rabbit too! (Cue cheesey music: Lion King 'Circle of Life'). In Chinese Astrology, the Rabbit Year is one of the more home-centred gentle signs which sounds perfect to us.
When we tell people that we've been together 12 years, people are 'wow, that's ages' but to us, it's gone in a flash, we could write a massive list of all the great things we've done together, the highs and the not so highs, and the many times we spoke about how great it would be to have a baby and a family of our own, so it's a brilliant thought that all the talk is actually coming to realization!
3 weeks today we'll be leaving on our new adventure, wondering what the next 12 years might bring...
Sunday, 3 April 2011
A moment of calm (and boredom)
Feeling at a bit of a lose end today, yesterday our apartment in Hong Kong was emptied, all our shipping got packed and sent off for shipment to Italy. We don't leave Hong Kong until the end of this month, living with a bed, TV and a sofa and 2 suitcases of clothes. All our lovely baby clothes and accessories will be on the seas soon, so I can't go and take an occasional peek in the wardrobe and have a broody baby moment looking at all the things getting excited to think how fantastic it will be when our baby is actually in our arms. At the same time, all the kitchen accessories have gone so we have no alternative but to eat out for 4 weeks which is a joy!!!!
For both of us, work has gone from being stress-filled hectic mentalism (actually, a fantastic way to keep us occupied) and suddenly gone remarkably calm, making the counting of days much longer. Our 'to-do-list' to get ready for our move to Italy is getting much shorter and more manageable, and I have an awkward feeling that this month is really going to drag.
Our most exciting achievement was taking our dogs to the vets to get them vaccinated up to the eyeballs ready to take them with us to Italy. I kind of get the impression, as much as I tell them how wonderful it will be to have their walks in beautiful Florentine Piazzas rather than Hong Kong back streets, they're not really listening or appreciative of the impact of the move :)
More so, the rules on transporting dogs on Lufthansa mean the dog must be able to lie down flat, turn around, stretch out and not touch the sides of the container.... so I guess our dogs will really be travelling First Class, shame they don't apply the same rules to human cargo in Economy!!!!!!!!
Hoping to get the rest of our 3D scan pics in a couple of weeks so will post these then, in the meantime, back to boredom but the excitement of dreaming of our family together in Italy..........
For both of us, work has gone from being stress-filled hectic mentalism (actually, a fantastic way to keep us occupied) and suddenly gone remarkably calm, making the counting of days much longer. Our 'to-do-list' to get ready for our move to Italy is getting much shorter and more manageable, and I have an awkward feeling that this month is really going to drag.
Our most exciting achievement was taking our dogs to the vets to get them vaccinated up to the eyeballs ready to take them with us to Italy. I kind of get the impression, as much as I tell them how wonderful it will be to have their walks in beautiful Florentine Piazzas rather than Hong Kong back streets, they're not really listening or appreciative of the impact of the move :)
More so, the rules on transporting dogs on Lufthansa mean the dog must be able to lie down flat, turn around, stretch out and not touch the sides of the container.... so I guess our dogs will really be travelling First Class, shame they don't apply the same rules to human cargo in Economy!!!!!!!!
Hoping to get the rest of our 3D scan pics in a couple of weeks so will post these then, in the meantime, back to boredom but the excitement of dreaming of our family together in Italy..........
Thursday, 17 March 2011
Our Camera Shy Baby
We just got a couple of 3D scan images emailed from the clinic and we're loving this one that screams 'leave me alone, I'm happy where I am for the next 16 weeks!!!!!!!!' According to Dr Shivani, all results are good and within normal limits and number which is hugely good news. Baby and SM doing well, and us obviously thrilled too!
Can't wait to see the rest of the scan pics when they get posted.
So exciting to see our baby looking like a baby as crazy as that sounds. Taking the usual bets on boy or girl, not that we at all care but time to place your bets.....
Sunday, 6 March 2011
Triple marker test...
Well, firstly the triple marker test came back all ok...which is great! We know it doesn't 100% guarantee the outcome of these tests but were pretty happy with the results...so if you don't know what the triple marker test is, here is Dr. Google's blurb....
Between the 15th and 20th weeks of pregnancy, expectant mothers usually are offered a blood test called the multiple marker test. Sometimes called a triple screen or a quad screen, depending on the number of things measured, it also might be done in combination with blood tests and an ultrasound in the first trimester.
For the multiple marker screening, a sample of blood is drawn from the mother to measure the levels of:
hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin), which is made by the placenta
estriol, which is made by the placenta and the fetus
alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), which is made by the fetus
Sometimes the level of inhibin-A, which is made by the placenta, also is measured. The levels of these substances can help doctors identify a fetus at risk for certain birth defects, including neural tube defects (like spina bifida) and some chromosomal abnormalities (like Down syndrome).
We are now entering our 20th week based on our first dates given, so 19 full weeks passed so far! We're officially over half way! Hooray!!
I decided to change the blog design as been thinking about the Nationality of our child; although they will be half Indian, they will also be half British too but we will be living in Italy so all a bit confusing for the little tyke! All we know is that it will take us 10-12 weeks to get the british birth certificate and then the british passport and then we are free to live wherever we like to a degree, well as long as Michael's boss keeps him freelance!
So much is changing about Surrogacy in Hong Kong that we worry about returning, as many people are being investigated as it is still illegal to pay for surrogacy in Hong Kong, and only married straight couples can do it at the moment, we were advised to leave India, go to UK first then come back to Hong Kong, but they could still question the mother part on the birth certificate....so we are still aiming to leave in the next 6-8 weeks and set up home in Italy before picking up our baby in India. All a bit stressful and a lot to do in such little time!
Anyway...good news is BAM is fine and growing well and only about 4 more months to go :)
Between the 15th and 20th weeks of pregnancy, expectant mothers usually are offered a blood test called the multiple marker test. Sometimes called a triple screen or a quad screen, depending on the number of things measured, it also might be done in combination with blood tests and an ultrasound in the first trimester.
For the multiple marker screening, a sample of blood is drawn from the mother to measure the levels of:
hCG (human chorionic gonadotropin), which is made by the placenta
estriol, which is made by the placenta and the fetus
alpha-fetoprotein (AFP), which is made by the fetus
Sometimes the level of inhibin-A, which is made by the placenta, also is measured. The levels of these substances can help doctors identify a fetus at risk for certain birth defects, including neural tube defects (like spina bifida) and some chromosomal abnormalities (like Down syndrome).
We are now entering our 20th week based on our first dates given, so 19 full weeks passed so far! We're officially over half way! Hooray!!
I decided to change the blog design as been thinking about the Nationality of our child; although they will be half Indian, they will also be half British too but we will be living in Italy so all a bit confusing for the little tyke! All we know is that it will take us 10-12 weeks to get the british birth certificate and then the british passport and then we are free to live wherever we like to a degree, well as long as Michael's boss keeps him freelance!
So much is changing about Surrogacy in Hong Kong that we worry about returning, as many people are being investigated as it is still illegal to pay for surrogacy in Hong Kong, and only married straight couples can do it at the moment, we were advised to leave India, go to UK first then come back to Hong Kong, but they could still question the mother part on the birth certificate....so we are still aiming to leave in the next 6-8 weeks and set up home in Italy before picking up our baby in India. All a bit stressful and a lot to do in such little time!
Anyway...good news is BAM is fine and growing well and only about 4 more months to go :)
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