B N K ♥ BLOG

LOVE + GESTATIONAL SURROGACY

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Ace is 3 months old & such an incredible, healthy, happy, little lovebug!!! For anyone interested in following our family adventures & seeing a BILLION photos of Ace, send us a request on Instagram to @thenaellakeatons  ♥ 

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He’s here. He made it. And we are over the mooooooooooon ♥ !!!!

Ace Wilson Born May 4th, 2015 6:23pm 7lbs 6oz 20.5" (full moon)

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And this, friends, is where ideals get challenged once again and an immense amount of gratitude for technological advances and modern medicine is felt.

For a long time, I was someone who idealized and worshiped the very concept of “natural”. I worked on organic farms, studied herbalism, and only wore clothing that was made of hemp (not kidding). I was that girl. And in some respects, I always will be. Never ever would I have imagined my path to motherhood looking anything like it has been. I always envisioned being a mom, and in this vision of mine I would conceive and bear children naturally, flawlessly, and birth without a hitch.    

But years of travel, seeing the world in all of its beauty and tragedy, has ultimately humbled me and tainted my blissful self-righteousness. And among the lessons I’ve embraced is that the greatest stories and life lessons often come from completely derailed agendas. And additionally, that human and technological evolution is also “natural” (though at times, problematic).

So here we were, at a crossroad once again. Agenda derailed, on our way to the ER, downright terrified. The whole experience once he came out was a whirlwind, and there were so many “cooks in the kitchen” at the birth with varying spiritual/medical views, it was both beautiful and challenging. But we were so thankful for our midwives’ professionalism and discretion in handling the situation and deciding to pull the transport trigger to save our son’s life.

After a couple of hours of ER care, he was breathing on his own and crying the sweetest cry. A chest x-ray showed he had aspirated a decent amount of fluid, and it seemed a bacterial infection had developed and spread to the amniotic fluid. We were moved to a room and stayed 3 days in the hospital with him receiving oxygen, a dose of antibiotics and IV support. He improved fast, and we were discharged on day 4. The pediatrician (Dr. Herr) and staff at Vernon Memorial Hospital in Viroqua were exceptional. And to our soul-deep delight, our little man pulled through!!!!

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Got "THE" phone call from Havvah on Sunday evening, May 3rd –   contractions were becoming steady, labor seemed to have officially begun!!!!  We had been staying in Madison, WI at Mariah's mom's house to be closer to Viroqua (where our home birth was planned to take place). We threw everything into our Jeep, and hit the road! Mom followed. It was a full moon, and driving through rural Wisconsin was surreal as a lightning storm filled the sky in front of us the whole way. Amish horse-drawn buggies scattered throughout. We both felt an intense mix of excitement & anxiety. We arrived to find Havvah outside walking in the warm rain with her partner, encouraging the labor to progress. What a feeling, our baby boy was ready to be born (!!!!!!) at just about 39 weeks gestational age  ♥♥♥

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All packed up and ready for our temporary relocation to Wisconsin! Considering the fact that Havvah’s son was born in just 2 hours, we decided it would be best to be closer (our son’s birth is planned to take place in Viroqua at Havvah’s home. From Chicago it’s about a 6 hour drive!). Might be in Wisconsin 1 week, might be there 5 weeks.... however it works out, we’re ready and on our way!

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Momma & baby packing list ♥  It was so bizarre and sweet packing a suitcase for our son!!! Life is about to drastically change in 5.....4.....3.....2.....

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The weekend of April 5th, Havvah and her boyfriend, Pete, drove down to stay with us in Chicago. I organized a team to do a photoshoot that Sunday, inspired to capture this late stage of the pregnancy (35 weeks). Havvah is an incredible beauty!

Photography: (me) Mariah Naella  | www.mariahnaella.com

Hair: Erin Graham | www.eringrahamhair.com

Makeup: Kat DeJesus | www.katdmakeup.com

Lovelace Bamboo Maxi by ZhenNymph

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Havvah sent us this video this morning (says he has been camera shy, so it took a while to get… But she finally got it!!!). Our baby boy is super active!! And our hearts are bursting with gratitude and excitement! Look at him in there!!!! 💗

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5 1/2 months pregnant; Havvah's sweet-strong belly!!!! With 250 miles between us, I am sooo grateful for Skype, exchanging smiles and voices with Havvah, Haven & Lucah (& hopefully my baby boy can hear me, too!).

Heading back to Wisconsin this weekend for another visit with our midwife, and to see Havvah and love on this belly!

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20 week ultrasound: Anomaly Scan & Sex Reveal  (from December 18th)

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With Havvah, our midwife, Lindsey Kroll and her sweet baby, Cora (George is behind the camera!) in front of the family practice in Lancaster, WI where we had our 20-week ultrasound. This place was fantastic. Our nurse had 14+ years experience and was able to talk us through everything we were seeing during the ultrasound (such a difference from common conventional clinics these days where the sonographer lacks the knowledge or is simply not "allowed" to speak about anything!). Our midwife recommended this clinic because of this, their down-to-earth approach to care and out-of-pocket pay option & discount, considering that we are having to pay for all of our baby & Havvah's prenatal care with no help from our insurance or hers (due to insurance "surrogacy exclusions": her body = so our insurance won't cover anything.... and our baby = so her insurance won't cover anything. It's NUTS. This will all be different in about 5 years when laws catch up to technology, but this is our timing.). This was Havvah's first late-pregnancy ultrasound ever, it was pretty wild for her to see what she is feeling; our baby boy wiggling and kicking and squirming around ♥ ♥ ♥ Just crazy cool!!!! He's looking good in there! All organs seem to be doing what they should be, spine looks good, no cleft palate, growth is on track. Our hearts are bursting.

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We did a fun family holiday photo shoot with the talented women of Vavoom Pinups, and sent them out as Holiday "update & thank you" cards and emails. 200+ cards went into the mail, to many different countries across the world! We are so grateful for each and every one of our Baby-Backers. What a year 2014 was for us. So excited to welcome our son into the world in 2015!!!!!

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Havvah and I were unintentional twins for our 17-week midwife appointment ♥ I grew up with all brothers, and I'm guessing this is what it feels like to have a [really awesome] sister.  Team BNK right here!

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17 weeks!!! 

We celebrated my 35th birthday in Chicago last Wednesday (11/26), and then drove up to Wisconsin for Thanksgiving with family, and some quality time with Havvah in Viroqua. Her belly has popped, and it is the sweetest little bump I've ever laid eyes on (yes, I'm clearly biased, but it really is!)!

On Sunday (11/30), George, Havvah and I had our second session with our amazing midwife, Lindsey. We decided to meet at the yoga studio that Havvah teaches in for the sake of convenience. Our baby's heartbeat sounds so strong (in the 150's) ♥ CHILLS! Almost to the halfway mark! It is amazing for us to be at this point in our journey. We are full of gratitude every single day for the love and support of our "Baby-Backers"!!! What an amazing and challenging year 2014 was. And how sweet and rewarding it is to hear the sound of this little heart beating now!!! Havvah says she feels "great", thankfully. We have always prayed in our ways that this pregnancy not be rough on her. Next appointment we find out if our little Baby Naella-Keaton (BNK) is a boy or girl!!! Ahhhhhhh!

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So, yeeeeahhhh.... our babe is inside this babe! Win.

Havvah dances samba, and this was her handmade costume from her last performance (pre-pregnancy.). She put it on for fun and gave us all a quick prego performance! SHE'S HOT.  And this is officially our 4-months pregnant photo!

♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥ ♥

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From Havvah: "Lucah 'listening' to the baby" 💗 Heart melt.

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On Sunday, November 2nd, 2014 (13 weeks) we got to hear our baby’s heartbeat for the first time ♥!!! And yes, I bawled.

George and I spent the weekend in Wisconsin (it was also my mom’s birthday on the 3rd). Sunday morning, we attended Havvah’s yoga class in Spring Green where we got to meet a few of her students who also happen to be Baby-Backers (one of them was even rocking her ‘Camp the Pigeon’ shirt!). There is so much love, generocity and goodness around the creation of our child – such a humbling and awe-inspiring experience. We are fully conscious every single day of our blessings in this department. Thank you all again and again for helping to give us this unique experience of creating and loving life.

We listened to this video over & over again the entire drive back to Chicago ♥. Chills. Our midwife [who also helped to deliver Havvah's son, Lucah] is Lindsey Kroll, CPM, LM in Avoca, WI. She is an incredible woman & so good at what she does! Warm and professional. Highly recommended.