Happy Birthday, Max!!

My little Max is 3 years old (yesterday, so I'm a day late)!!  I really cannot believe how fast the last 3 years have gone and it is very sad to think that I no longer have a baby or a toddler in the house =(.  No more diapers, bottles, pacifiers, baby gates, or sleepless nights; just 2 big boys who have become so independent.  Seeing my youngest turn another year older really makes that urge to have another baby so much stronger!!  I know I can't wait for our tentative conception date (which is 7 loooonnnnggg months away), but it will be here before we know it and hopefully around January 2013 I will have my last little bundle of joy and my family will be complete.

Maxwell, happy birthday my little monkey.  Having you was one of the best yet craziest decisions me and your daddy have made; having 2 boys just 14 months apart has been quite the challenge but so amazing!!  Your laughter and sense of humor always makes me smile.  You have the most kissable cheeks, and although you are just like your mommy and aren't the overly affectionate type, everyone enjoys stealing hugs and kisses from you whenever they get the chance.  Even though you follow in your brothers shadows the majority of the time, you really are one-of-a-kind and have changed our lives so much!!  Love you, Max!!

 Wow!!  Me, 9 months preggo, getting ready for delivery.

LOVE  scheduled c-section!!

Meeting Maxwell Grant for the first time.

Jackson meeting his little "Brober"!

LOVE this picture!!

He was just the chunkiest, cutest thing!!

My BIG boys today

I'm 3!!

Love his smile =)

Mommy and daddy love him soooo much!!

  

1st Birthday Party!

The girls' birthday party this past Saturday was a blast!!  I was so happy to see all 3 of them and my IP's.  I think it has been over 3 months since I saw them all last so the girls definitely grew!!!  They are BIG healthy one year olds... I guess at their last high risk appointment their doctor told them that by their health, you would never know they were triplets delivered at 32 weeks.  They are much bigger then your average healthy singleton one year old and that is soooo awesome!!!  The girls are definitely ready to walk and I bet their parents will be chasing them around very soon.  It is so weird how their personalities haven't changed since birth; Eve is so serious and stares at you with these amazing huge eyes.  May is the fighter and just wants to explore and be put down.  Lily is just so content and takes in everything around her.  Although they are so much alike, they have so much different personalities.

With my family (husband, 2 boys, mom, and sister) in tow, we all headed to the birthday party.  Besides the girls and my IP's, there were some familiar faces.  One of my biggest supports through my pregnancy, my head nurse/coordinator, was there!!!  I hadn't seen her since my postpartum visit.  Without her, I don't think I could have survived and it was so awesome to talk with her again.  The girls' NICU nurse was also there with her family.  Even a baby that was neighbors to the girls in the NICU joined us with her mommy!! Oh, and I finally got to meet fellow bloggers and expected daddies of triplets, Our Journey to Fatherhood!!  It was soooo much fun!!

Anyway, I bet you really want to see some pics, so here they are:

Me and Eve, who had no problem jumping right into my arms

Lily

May

My oldest, Jackson

My youngest, Max

Eve

My sister with Lily and me with Eve

The boys watching Lily walk

Lily loved my mom

And she loved blowing kisses!!

She gave me lots of kisses!!

Lily

Max guarding the presents

Music time! Lily

Eve

May

My kids LOVE cake!!

Yummy!!

Pool was a little too tempting =)

Wow!!  I just can't believe it has been over a year.  The girls are growing up so fast and I can't wait to watch every year that passes.  My IP said a very warming thing at the party when he introduced me to one of their friends, "This is our surrogate."  I replied, "Well I WAS your surrogate."  They then replied, "To us, you will always be our surrogate."  That just meant a lot to me because even after all this time, I still mean a lot to them.  I didn't know if time was going to naturally drift us apart, but I am happy to say that it has only had the opposite effect.  I am very lucky =)

It was honor to attend this big day.  Every day that passes makes me feel more and more proud of the thing I did for this family.  I cannot imagine life without my surrogacy journey.  It really is an overwhelmingly, awesome feeling!!!

Happy Birthday, Eve, May, and Lily!!

I dug up some pics of the girls shortly after birth, and a year has definitely made some changes:

Eve (Baby A- Identical to May)

Eve, 1 year old!

May (Baby B- the smallest, identical to Eve)

May, 1 year old!

Lily (Baby C- first to go home)

Lily, 1 year old

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Eve, May, and Lily!!!!!

My surro triplets are ONE year old today!!

Wow!!!  Can you all believe it has been a year???  I sure can't.  It seems like just a few months ago I was miserably preggo with triplets in the dead heat of summer.  I remember their birth day like it was yesterday... what an indescribably amazing moment. I never knew how I would feel towards these girls a year from delivery before I had them.  Would I miss them?  Would I worry about them?  Would I want to leave them alone to live their own lives?  This was all a new experience for me so I was just hoping for the best, emotionally.  But, I've gotta tell you that how I felt about them the moment they were born hasn't changed a bit and I can't be more thankful for them in my life.  I am so proud to have been given the opportunity to be their surrogate mother.  I am so proud of myself for getting through one of the toughest challenges of my life.  I am so proud to have had the honor of making my IP's parents.  I wouldn't change a thing.

Just a little while ago I received a delivery.  My IP's and the girls sent me flowers, thanking me for giving them the most amazing gift one year ago.  I could not believe this!!  It honestly brought tears to my eyes knowing how much they think about me and continue to appreciate what I did for them.  Every time we see each other, talk, or they send me pictures, I am constantly reminded of how fortunate I am to be apart of their lives.  It is a relationship that has worked out perfectly for all of us and that I will never take for granted.  I have so much to be thankful for.

Thanks so much, A and M!!!!

This was the last belly pic

9/02/10 About to deliver!!

A year later...

VERY happy =)

 

 

I can't wait to see the girls at their birthday party in a couple weeks.  My boys have never met the triplets and only have seen them through the pics I have framed in our house.  They have gotten their names down, so I am looking forward to them all seeing each other face to face.  I will definitely have lots of pics to share with all of you.  It will be lots of fun!!