Saturday, June 1, 2013

I left my heart in New Delhi

 
This month we leave for India...
This month we may get to meet our baby...
 
The time went so fast. It seems like yesterday I was undergoing egg retrieval, and meeting our surrogate mother. Celebrating the end of the first trimester, viability, and then 32 weeks.
 
This is such an exciting adventure. It will be my husband's first time in India, and more important we get to meet our baby.
 
 
Now we begin Operation Exit.
 
Our exit manual is underway. We printed out  the forms that we could in advance and filled them out, and are simply waiting to fill in names, birth dates, etc. We decided to go sans lawyer and do the paperwork ourselves. Having a binder where (most) of the forms are printed (so no worries about power outages, computers stalling, printing problems, etc.)  has gone a looooong way in helping us relax about the process. As in anything you do in life, starting is the hardest part.
 
Filling it out early gave us time to gather the info and ask the embassy our questions. For the most part, the Department of State forms are pretty straightforward. The U.S. Consular Report of Birth Abroad ("CRBA") asks you to document all time spent in the United States, which was a little difficult for me because I spent a great deal of my youth living out of the U.S., but couldn't find my childhood passports so documenting vacations spent visiting granny in the States was hard to nail down. But once we figured it all out (thanks Mom!), the rest of the paperwork seemed rather straightforward. And it was much less painful than I expected.
 
The manual also includes instructions from FRRO and U.S. embassy, as well as printed blog post from fellow bloggers:
 
First FRRO visit (Thanks Andy from Dancing in the Rain)
Second FRRO visit (Thanks John and Michael from Our Gemini Dragons)
US embassy visit (Thanks Aaron and Eddy from Starting our family)
 
Huge thanks to all the bloggers. Every tip and insight has helped us so much.
 
 
I feel now that I have a game plan for exit.
 
 And a coach to help call the plays
80's costume party? Or just how we roll on Saturday night?

 
 
 
 

8 comments:

  1. Congratulations! I know you are full of excitement.

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    1. Thanks Fred! We really are full of excitement, and joy.

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  2. It's going to be really smooth Critty and Coach, lot's of luck. India takes a lot of time, but in the end all ends well. Try and stay nice and cool, it'll be hot in Delhi.

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  3. So very excited for you! Lucky baby to be joining a beautiful and "fun" family with a clear sense of humor. Best of luck to you all. b

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  4. Wow..time flies! I m so excited for you! You two will be a pair of super cool parents ;-) may the force be with you during your operation exit!

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  5. Awwwww!!! YaY!!! I'm soooo glad everyone is as it should be in your world!! A beautiful baby for a beautiful couple! Xxx I'm glad that all info was helpful too ;)

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  6. so excited for you two! congrats! We have twins due in Nov and can't wait. your blog has been super helpful.

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