On Monday, November 5, at 5:30PM (EST), as I was walking to the train station from work, I received a call from Alicia. She sounded really nervous, and told me that despite Dr. G's predictions that Celeste will not come for a little while longer, she's just not sure how long she can hold off! The contractions were strong, and Alicia didn't know what to make of them. I asked her to please go back to the doc, and have him check her. In the mean time, I hurried home, and told Mike that we need to change our travel plans. Mike must have been shocked at the prospect of becoming a father earlier than anticipated, and asked me what I feel, is the silliest question of all: "How likely is Alicia to give birth before Thursday"? (we were due to fly in on Thursday night). I requested that he call Alicia right away, and ask that very same question, as I was dying to hear her response!
Without wasting time, we drove on over to the airport, found a supervisor at the Continental Airlines desk, and explained the whole story to him, begging him to change our tickets, which he did, and the following morning, at 8:40AM, we took off for San Diego! My only thoughts were: "hang on Celeste!!!". When we landed, Alicia was still very much pregnant (whew!).
I will not duplicate Alicia's description of our numerous walks at Balboa Park, or running through the hospital grounds, in order to evict Celeste, I will just post a few photos.
Driving up to the hospital for the last time!
As we were getting admitted into the hospital, we were all talking about how cool it would be to have Celeste be born today. Besides the obvious excitement of finally seeing our little princess's face, there was the added neatness of the date, especially when written in military form: 07Nov07! The admitting doctor was less optimistic than we were though, that the baby would come on that day.
Skipping down to the labor... Even though I was not the one experiencing the contractions, I could tell that they were excruciatingly painful. Alicia was shaking all over, not finding a comfortable place, attempting to bounce, fidget, shifting weight from one leg to another. At her request, I was rubbing her lower back hard, until my palms felt like they were on fire! Still, all through the checks, Alica was not dilated 10 centimeters. With each check I was devastated, as I was really hoping to get this over with as soon as possible, and alleviate all the pain Alicia was experiencing. Finally, at about 11:30PM, Alicia felt the need to push! All I remember, is our nurse running out to get the doctor, and saying "don't push!!!". Next thing I know, a doctor came into our room (all the instruments were already set up), and as he was fumbling to put a delivery robe on (which needed to be tied in the back, but wasn't, as there was simply no time!) he got into position to catch Celeste. Before I knew it, I saw the head come out, and a few seconds later, the body was out as well! Throughout the delivery I was holding Alicia's right hand, and after Celeste was out, I could still feel Alicia shake -- the nurses explained to me that this was normal, and was caused by the extreme adrenaline and other hormones, but it still alarmed me. Alicia kept on shaking for a while.
The next 3 weeks were wonderful. We stayed with Alicia and her family, in their home, and everybody helped out with Celeste, even the boys, who hugged and kissed her from head to toe, every chance they got! Alicia's mom seemed to have been awake and eager to help at every hour of the night, and even encouraged us to go out, while she babysat for us. I am eternally grateful for the amount of help, advice and support we received from everyone!
It was really difficult for us to leave San Diego, but finally November 30th came around, and we got on the plane, to return to New Jersey. Less than one year passed since the day we first laid eyes on a photo of Alicia, Felix and the boys, but how our lives have changed! The "surrogacy journey" was completed, but as any meaningful experience in life, it opened a number of new doors: We made amazing friends for life; we shared an unforgettable Thanksgiving holiday with the F's; and of course, we became parents!
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