Beautiful bundle due in 3 wks

[SunnyB]

Hey everyone - nice to read all about you here! I have stumbled across this fabulous forum a bit too late I think...my partner (of five years) Tracey is due on February 23 and it would have been great to have met you all a little earlier in our pregnancy.
We were extremely blessed and so, so lucky to get pregant first go through IVF with unknown donor sperm from America - we were told there's a shortage in Aust. We must have some brilliant guardian angles watching over us because our good fortune has continued to allow Trace a smooth pregnancy with no dramas at all. We are having a boy (well, we think - can't be 100% certain until the day!) and we want to call him Jay.
Interesting to read about some of the negative stuff some of you have come up against - has been similar for us to an extent, with Trace's family (her Dad hasn't spoken to her for a few years since the news...)
But we are just concentrating on being happy and trying to get prepared for this major hurricane of change that's about to whirl into our lives!
We too are looking at parenting orders and getting our wills sorted properly, so any more info out there about that would be appreciated. As far as I have found out, it costs about $180 to lodge the parenting orders w the Family Court and then another $180 for the bio mother to "accept" them (we are in Qld). And apparently, if you are going with an anonymous donor, and can prove such to the court, then the "father" does not have to be tracked down and notified about the orders - that's a relatively new law apparently.
Anyway, nice to meet you all and we look forward to hearing more of your stories!
Good luck, hang in there and stay positive!

[Spring Angel]

Welcome to BB. This is a fantastic supportive place.

Good luck for the impending arrival of your bub.

Spring xx

[bettyboop]

Hi there and welcome to BB, looking forward to the news of your new arrival.

[Liz185]

Welcome to BB! I'm new too, looking forward to sharing baby stories when your bundle comes along! That is if I can remember LOL they grow up so fast!!

[DrGirl72]

Congratulations Sunny and Tracey, hope the rest of your journey is smooth also

[Indadhanu]

Hi Sunny and Tracey,

Congrats on the pregnancy, hope it has all gone smoothly, and the birth does too.

We are in Beerwah, and currently pregnant... 14 weeks... where abouts on Sunshine Coast are you?

[SunnyB]

Hey there, we are in Currimundi - just down the road from you! Cyberspace can be such a small world sometimes, can't it??

I see you are due in August - very impressed that you will be having a Leo baby - it is by far and away the best star sign. Only a Leo would say that, can you tell I am one too? And I love that you call your little one "bubble"...we struck upon "bubbalina" out of nowhere and even tho we've picked out the name Jay, I don't think we'll call him that too often when he comes out! Not long now, Trace is still doing really well and just wrapping up work now, the trooper! The suspense is just killing us at the moment...it's like being a kid at Christmas, only 10,000 times worse!

So how did you guys get pregnant? (Sorry if you've gone into this already - I've read that many posts I get everyone mixed up!) And how's it all been going?

Hope you're all happy and well.

[SunnyB]

And thanks to everyone for your warm welcome! should've said that in the above reply - put it down to my baby brain...yes, even "co"-mothers have them, in sympathy for their partners!

[Indadhanu]

Small world!

We went to Coastal IVF at Maroochydore, they have a sperm donor program that we went through. We were going to do the import thing to, as we didn't think there would be any sperm donors but luckily they had a few.

It's been pretty good... well, I lie, I felt like a zombie the first 12 weeks... I am feeling more human now and the m/s is becoming a horrible memory lol (during that time I wondered why ANYONE would have a second LOL!).

There are a few lesbian parents groups around, one newly started in Brisbane. email me if you want the details allie0986@hotmail.com

[The[cookie]Doctor]

Hi Sunny and Tracey welcome to BB!
I'm sure you'll find there's a fantastic support network here for you!
Just noticed by your thread name that you'd be in this bellybuddies group - not long to go now, but feel free to join us if you'd like.

[TwoMums]

Hi Sunny and Tracey,

Welcome to BB and congrats on your little one!! You are an inspiration to us all!! Success on first IVF!! Hopefully we will be following in your footsteps soon!

[SunnyB]

Absolutely TwoMums - go for it, you can do it!! But even if it doesn't happen first go, perseverance and positivity will make sure it eventually does. I plan to get pregnant myself in a few years, and Trace has certainly set a very high standard - a very hard act to follow!! NOt that it's a competition or anything...haha.
Thanks Leasha...we tried Coastal IVF at first too (it would have saved eventual mind-numbing dawn trips to Brisbane!), but were told they couldn't help us, so they referred us to QFG in Brissy. They were great...was tricky finding a specialist doc tho. I had been warned by lady from QFG that some docs weren't quite as "tolerant" to same sex couples as others, so advised me to ring around. Glad I did, most of them basically refused to take us on outright because we weren't technically infertile and that we weren't eligible for Medicare rebate blah blah blah...anyway, found Gordon Kilvert, whose secretary said that was discrimination (d'uh) and we happily went with him.

[SunnyB]

Hey everyone - Jay Alex is here!! Woo hoo!
He arrived last Friday after just six hours - not bad for a first pregnancy hey? And, what's more, Trace had him on nothing but a Panadol...all natural - she's my hero! He weighed 3.11kg (just under 7pd) and has a full head of dark brown hair.
What an indescribable feeling this is...awesome, breath-taking, frightening, joyous, wonderful, precious, intense, wow...well, maybe not so indescribable after all! Speaking from a partner's perspective, when it comes time for the birth, just be prepared to be heartbroken, impressed and blown away by the strength of your partners during this experience. Honestly, I should have had more faith, but I didn't know she had this in her. She is amazing.
We brought him home today and took him for his first pram ride around the block too - was good to get some fresh air on his face after all that air-conditioning. He's feeding and sleeping really well and is generally just a joy. Yes, we are both feeling the lack of sleep and just starting to come down from a five-day euphoria I think, where it's all catching up with us. But we have been getting some sleep, so it's not all bad and we really cannot complain.
I will now see if I can pop some photos in here. Hope you're all really well and that you will soon be feeling the incredible happiness that we are feeling right now!

[dayna14]

Hi Sunny & Tracey

Wishing you both congratulations on the amazing news.

Just going through the process of trying to get pregnant myself... so hopefully we'll be able to share the same experience in the year to come.

Enjoy

[Arimeh]

Congratulations on the arrival of your beautiful bundle of joy!!!!!!

[Starfish]

Congratulations! Glad to hear that you're all doing well.

[Indadhanu]

YAY! Congratulations!!!! I am proud of Tracey too, I am hoping to do it naturally! I'll also show Shel what you wrote about partners during the birth (I am the tummy mummy).

Hope you get some sleep

Welcome to Jay!