6 Weeks, Discharged, and Good Bye

This post really should be divided into two parts. Here's the first part: Happy six weeks, Brady and Cohen! 

It's been a very busy day for the boys. After a rocky weekend, medically speaking, Cohen has finally been sprung from the hospital! 

Now that Cohen is discharged from the hospital, we took the opportunity to visit the agency and many of the people who helped us all. Many of the people Brad, Rodney, and I have worked with these past 13 + months were there today to meet the boys and wish them luck with their family and their travels. 

With Cohen's discharge from the hospital, Brad and Rodney decided that it was time to go back home. That being said, they decided to purchase tickets and just fly home instead of drive. This would get them home faster and hopefully be less hassle with two small babies. And this is where the sucky part comes in. Forgive me for the extremely unedited, emotional second half of this entry. 

Ugh, this really sucks. Now that I've stopped crying I can see enough to write, I said goodbye to the guys tonight. The morons who insist that surrogacy is purely a business transaction, i.e. "renting my uterus," or think that the only reason I did any of this was for money have absolutely no flipping clue about what happened today or the emotional part of surrogacy. The fact that I had to say goodbye to two dear friends and their miraculous babies is proof that this was way more than baby trafficking or "the baby business."

Yes, I know we all will see each other again. Shawn and I will hopefully go down to see them in their home sometime late summer/early fall. I hope that I will be able to be there for the babies' first birthday in 10 1/2 months. If everything continues to fall in place, I hope they all can come up next year when I direct my first show and they all can see Jesus Christ Superstar (in the works for next April). See, I do know that we will see each other again.

Please don't misunderstand me. I am so glad that I was able to be a help with their family. Rodney and Brad are wonderful parents to Brady and Cohen. The smiles on their faces are so big and have been amazing to see... to know that I played a part in their joy, in helping them know the blessings of having children of their own is wonderful to me. 

I am so proud of all that I've done: that I was able to give myself a freaking huge daily injection for months on end, that my body was able to handle a bevy of different medications, and then safely carry two babies for 32 weeks and bring them safely into this world. Seriously, I'm pretty much in awe of all of that. 

I really enjoyed the whole process and the past 10 months in particular. I'm not a huge fan of all of the paperwork but I'm so glad it was there for all of us. I loved the time being pregnant with all of its ups and downs, loved most of the reactions from people, and loved being able to tell people that I was a surrogate carrying for another couple. It's been amazing to see the babies with their very different personalities outside of me, and honestly, the best part has been watching Brad and Rodney with their sons. I really have loved this journey.

After all of that has been said, I know there are people who still think the reason this is tough on me is because I "gave up" the children. That isn't the case at all. They never were mine to give up. My children are right where they are supposed to be, upstairs in their beds in my home. Brady and Cohen are right where they are supposed to be, too. I am guessing that right now they are meeting their dogs and cats and getting a tour of their home before being put to sleep in their new cribs. This is how its supposed to be. 

Even though this is how its supposed to be, it doesn't mean I'm not allowed to miss them. I'm going to miss their friendship and company. I'm going to miss snuggles with the tiny boys. I'm going to miss seeing them every couple of days. I'm going to miss seeing them play with my girls. It's their friendship I'm going to miss. 

So, all of that said, this really is the final page to this journey. I'm still pumping milk for the boys (oops, I forgot to ship it tonight! I guess it will have to go tomorrow.) Tomorrow is my last official OB appointment of this pregnancy and I am sure everything will be fine. This chapter of my surrogacy journey will end and other chapters will begin. 

My advocating for surrogacy legislation is still in full swing (I am going to the Minnesota Capitol tomorrow to talk with a couple of Representatives), and in a year or so, I may be talking with the Agency about another surrogacy journey. We will see!

I'm so excited for their family and all of their new adventures they are going to have. I feel so blessed to have been a part of a miracle or two.