Call Me When There’s a Baby…
One year ago today, our rainbow baby arrived.
After losing a stillborn and, just seven months later, being diagnosed with breast cancer, I was told I’d never be able to carry again.
Finding the right surrogate is… complicated, to say the least. It’s a very unique kind of matchmaking. We were fortunate to connect with an incredible agency, though the journey wasn’t without bumps—our first surrogate fell through literally the night before transfer. Then, as fate would have it, we were introduced to the perfect match.
When you’re choosing a surrogate, you can outline every detail—how you want it done, what you expect, the when and where. My only request? “Just call me when there’s a baby.” My husband, of course, had a much longer list. 😊
Months of paperwork, doctor appointments, and conference calls followed. Then COVID hit, and our transfer was delayed three months. Finally, we transferred our only embryo into our surrogate.
We decided to keep it a secret. After the loss of our daughter, fear never really leaves you. I also wanted to protect my oldest—she had carried so much grief, and I needed to shield her as best I could.
Around five months in, we learned our surrogate’s amniotic fluid was low. The pregnancy became high-risk and closely monitored. Doctors decided on a C-section four weeks early (Feb 26) just to be safe.
But, as life often reminds us, things rarely go according to plan. On February 3rd, during routine monitoring, doctors said she couldn’t go home. At 4 a.m. on February 4th, we got the call: “Your baby is here.” After tears and shock, my first question: “Is it a boy or a girl?”
Our sweet little girl, Lulu, was born seven weeks early, weighing just 2 lbs. 13 oz.—tiny, but fierce. We drove seven hours to Pittsburgh, where I spent the next 31 days by her side in the NICU.
The NICU is its own universe. The nurses were nothing short of angels. Our days revolved around questions no parent imagines asking: How many episodes did she have? How many “Brady’s” (when the heart rate drops)? Did she gain weight? How much? Every beep of a monitor sent our hearts racing.
I will be forever grateful to the NICU team and to the families we met during those weeks. They carried us, taught us, and reminded us daily that love and resilience can bloom in the most fragile beginnings.