We’d been planning to go to Portland for the 20-week A/S ultrasound, and were so excited to have an opportunity to spend time with our surrogate and her family, see our baby, and explore Portland.

We arrived on Saturday afternoon, and after getting settled we met up with some of our friends who showed us the city. I’m not kidding when I say that I literally ate my way through Portland, but everything was so good. Fortunately, we did a ton of walking, so I’m hoping that justifies some of what was eaten. I think we hit all of the touristy foods including Voodoo Doughnuts, Salt & Straw Ice Cream, and even sampled the food trucks. By the way, I’ve never seen so many food trucks in my life. We got coffee one day from a truck and the barista made me a Pine Latte, which was made with simple syrup that he created with pine needles from a tree in his yard. Talk about daring dining!


Exploring With My Pine Latte

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On Sunday night, we met up with Aimee and were able to spend time with her entire family at dinner. They are truly such amazing people. Her four boys are polite, well-behaved, and have incredible senses of humor and adventure. We had a great time joking around with her husband, and just had the best time with all of them. I was so thankful to be able to spend time with them and really felt like we were all part of a huge, happy family. It’s so important to have the support of your family while you go through surrogacy, and it’s truly a blessing to be connected to this them.

We met at the hospital on Monday for the A/S appointment. I had no idea before going into the appointment that it would be done by a tech and not a doctor, and was really surprised when I asked how everything looked that she wasn’t able to tell me. I completely understand that she didn’t want to give me any wrong information, but when someone has gone through as much as my husband and I have to finally make it to this point and have someone scanning our baby’s brain, I was really just hoping for a thumbs up or a smile to reassure me. The ultrasound is very in-depth and we were able to spend about an hour looking at our little guy and watching him move around.


Hello World!

After the ultrasound, we were able to take a tour of the hospital and the labor and delivery floor. It’s crazy to think that we’ll be there in just a few short months! Everyone was so nice and patient with us, and very understanding about surrogacy. If they have enough room, they’ll even let the intended parents have their own room that the baby can sleep in overnight with them. I get excited just thinking about having our baby just an arm’s length away from me, getting ready to come home with us.


Me and Aimee at the Hospital

Aimee and I said our goodbyes, and Otter Pop and I headed for the airport, where we’d spend the next 6 hours while waiting for our delayed flight. After getting back, I got a text that the ultrasound tech wasn’t able to get all of the photos needed of his heart, and Aimee had to go back again for a repeat ultrasound. Turns out that he’s a stubborn guy and wouldn’t get into a good position, which is common during the A/S ultrasound. For me, this was an excuse to freak out. I waited nervously until this week to find out that everything was A-OK, and Aidan is actually almost a full pound! I’m so relieved to find out that he’s doing well.

We truly had an amazing time in Portland and I can’t wait to go back soon to spend more time with Aimee and continue getting excited that our little one will be here before we know it!