What a difference a YEAR makes!

Wow, how time flies when you are having fun!

The babes are now a year and it has been an amazing ride so far (bday pics below).

Babes are pretty amazing! Zora is about 4 pounds heavier than Ravi and has developed faster than he has, as girls tend to do.

She was walking at 10 months and Ravi just started walking at 12 months.

What have I learned:

I’ve learned that I can’t control everything.

I’ve learned that I (and everyone else on this planet) is capable of more than we could ever know

I’ve learned that love conquers all

Next Chapter:

I’ve decided to move to Salt Lake City, Utah for a great career and family opportunity.

I will miss California (its weather and chill, tolerant vibe and people) as well as my friends here, but I’m excited to raise my kids in a slower, more wholesome and family-friendly environment.

I’m so grateful  to SCI and all the family and friends who have sacrificed so much to make sure that my babes are happy and healthy babies. Not sure how often I will keep this blog up, but I thought I would give a quick update.

-A

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!

I would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year!


Holiday Shoot
My good friend Erickson did me a big favor and did a holiday photoshoot with me, Cece, and the babes. It gave me great pleasure to send my family holiday cards this season. It was a very stark realization that I have a family now. Here are some of my favs from the shoot!

Gaydadswag.com
There is this new website called Gaydadswag.com and they gave me and the babes a quick shout out on their website, so I wanted to give them a shoutout as well. It is a cute site that celebrates and brings together gay dads all around the world.

Back to Work
Thursday 1/2/14 was my first day at work and it went well. I was surprised that I still had a lot of energy after work. I guess taking care of twins full time for 4 months was a lot more intense than a 8-5pm executive job. =)
We will see how the rest of the first month back goes.
I know many parents have separation anxiety going back to work but I didn't necessarily have that. I guess my mentality is that I have to work to provide for them so I'm a little less emotional about it all.

DayCare Search
The daycare search is pretty much over. I was working with an agency and finally settled on an amazing provider who lives less than 3 minutes from me and is on my way to work. That was a big stress and weight taken off of my shoulders.

Happy Thanksgiving @ 3months!

Baby Update (3months)
The babes are now 3 months and much more active and cognizant of everything around them. I don't know what it was but when 3 months hit, the colicky crying and so just stopped. I'm definitely very thankful for that! They are amazing me everyday, to there incessant fascination with art around my house to their physical abilities to stand on their own and turn their heads with complete ease. Life with them has been just great! They are sleeping through the night have been doing so for the past month. Again, I recommend 12 hours in 12 weeks for anyone  who has worries about their kids potentially not sleeping through the night. The kids are currently sleeping from 830pm-730am every night, with two naps (morning and afternoon at 1.5/2 hours each). They are also very happy babies. They smile almost all the time which also makes me feel good as a parent. Ravi is starting to really do a lot of baby talk and Zora can't stop smiling.


Extension
I was suppose to return to work today but I have extended my paternity leave for another month and will be returning to work on the 2nd of January. I am super excited about this because I am definitely not ready to leave the babes, which is probably why I have been dragging my feet with the nanny search. My sister will be looking after them for the first two weeks of January so that I can leisurely find someone suitable to watch the babes.



Ambition
Ya know, I thought having children would make me less ambitious as it pertains to my careers but I have actually become more ambitious! I want more, not just for me, but for my family. This is why I have began looking for more lucrative opportunities as well as potentially looking for places to live that are a bit less expensive and safer than the Bay Area.

Thanksgiving
Although Thanksgiving was like a week ago, I wasn't feeling up to creating a post on here. But I am so thankful for my children (and their excellent health), my family and my friends, who have been so ultimately supportive!

 New Man
In the last month, I have met someone who I actually really really like. Not going to go into too many details on here, but wanted to mention it, as it has become a significant part of my life. He is a nice German guy, who is sweet and caring. We have a lot in common and I look forward to what will come of it.

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween to all!

-From Elephant, Lion, and Zookeeper

My Baby Love, My Baby Love...

Ohhhh how much I love Paternity leave. It has been amazing just to be home with the babes. They surprise me and teach me something about myself everyday. I am super grateful to have them.

Back Home:
The flight back from India was pretty uneventful. My Mom and I were super surprised the babes traveled so well. It was a 20 hour flight and they slept for 90% of the time. I attribute it to the voodoo called Baby Bjorn and the white noise of the planes. All in all, I was a very proud papa! We had a slight stop in London where Mom and I met up with Jerry again and he was able to meet and hold the babes. All he could say in his thick british accent was... Anwar, my word, am I holding them right?" =)

Once in SF, Cyncere picked us up from the airport. By this time, I'm complete out of it. I will say that Virgin Atlantic was a dream to fly, especially with the babes. They really took care of us and always made sure we had everything we need, including an entire row to ourselves. We never wanted for anything.

The Babes:
Gotta love their big eyes...

Babes have acclimated nicely to Bay Area living. They are health nuts and love walking everyday. Of course they are superstars where ever they go.. aka the twin phenomenon. They are gaining weight like monsters and their first pediatrician appt and Ravi's circumcision went all well. I have their 2-month visit next Thursday, where we are to receive all of the vaccinations. I'm a bit nervous but looking forward to their supreme health  after the vaccinations.

I was easily able to put them on my insurance and received their social security cards in the mail a couple of weeks ago. It is funny what people will do for a 'single dad with twins'... let's just say I'm milking it for all its worth.

I have been following the sleep training strategy of the book 12 hours in 12 weeks and it seems to be going really well.  The real training has started last Friday and I have already seen great progress in their night sleeping. I put them down at 8pm, after their bath. They wake up at 1am and 5am although I can already see us phasing out that 5am feeding, since they barely drink any milk during that feeding.

Halloween is right around the corner and we excited over here. Ravi will be an Elephant and Zora will be a Lion (their spirit animals). I, of course, will be the zookeeper! Pics soon to follow.

Friends
My Bay Area friends have been so amazing. They are coming over and visiting and meeting the babes. They have been so supportive and helpful already with all of the check-ins and food delivery they have been doing. It has been really amazing. Below are some pics of them in action...

GMA
GMA is here looking after the babes with me. Her visit has been a god-send. She has been so helpful in all aspects of our daily routine. I especially love the daily walks we take. It means a lot to me that my children were able to experience her love and presence (even if at a very young age).

On the second day here, she told me I was an awesome parent and that really melted my heart. It is something I will never forget. I especially like discussing all the new parenting opinions/thoughts/mentality vs. her old-school methods. It has been eye-opening for us both. She leaves on Sunday and she will be sorely missed. Because of her, I was able to go out and see friends without worrying about the babes.

Until the next feeding,
A

As a Chapter Closes... Another Chapter begins!

Wow! These last two weeks have been a blur, but a very good blur! The babes are just so much fun!
The Process was fairly straight forward:

1)Birth Certificates - I finalized these on my first day and picked them up the next day (5000 Rps each)

2)Passport Photos - Photographer came and took pics of the babes. Ravi was fine with this but Zora did not enjoy having her hands held down to get a good shot but we finally got usable ones. I paid 1000 Rps and received about 20 photos each as well as electronic copies (which were very useful for the FRRO online application.

 

Zora Jacinda

 

Ravi Sadat

3)Pay Final SCI Bill and receive Documents - I had SCI make 2 physical copies (1 for the US embassy and 1 for FRRO) and an electronic copy. SCI was a huge help in making sure all the documentation was correct and copied appropriately.

4) Passport Application/DNA Test at US Embassy - Passport App was about $205 each and the DNA sample cost 1600Rps each (Bank draft was not necessary, but preferable). Total time took about 2 hours.

5) Pick Up Passports at US Embassy - After 4 business days I got the confirmation that I am the fathe rof these children. Whew! You never know, ya know. It was a big relief, because I knew once I got their passports we would be close to the end. US Embassy gave me emergency passports good for 1 year.

6)FRRO - I came here right after picking up the passports. It is advisable to make your appointment ASAP as they let you in based on your appt time allotted, although they will let everyone in after 1:30 as thats when things die down. They first told me they wanted to re-verify my application (I think it was slight harassment for being single and assumed as LGBT). They threatened that it would take 10 days even though my flight was leaving 3 days from the date. After begging and pleading and letting them know I was "on the list", they told me to come back the next day. I went to SCI and they let me know that everything would be fine. I went to the FRRO the next day and got the exit visas without a problem. I was dealing with the same people but the treatment was like night and day. I just wanted to let singles and LGBT people know to be careful as the FRRO might mess with you, but as long as you are on 'the list' you should be fine.

Overall the process went well and smoothly. I am happy and grateful that SCI had prepared me well.

The Babes are just lovely. I am still in amazement that they are here and real. I was trying to explain that 'this surrogacy process' kinda consumes you for such a long time, it becomes a part if not all of you. It is weird to know that 'the process' is over, and parenthood begins.

I am so grateful to have them. Twins are really unbelievable. We try to keep them together because surprisingly enough, they tend to soothe each other.

As you can see, Ravi has very long arms (just like his father). They both have 'mama' second toes longer than their 'papa' big toe, just like me as well. They definitely have my bigger lips and Ravi has my huge eyes. It is fascinating to see the similarities.


As I leave India...I must thank:
SCI for partnering with me to help create my two miracles Zora and Ravi
The blog family for their hope, inspiration, and abundance of information
My family and friends for their undying love and support

I think it is safe to say that life has gotten super busy and I probably won't be posting every week, but will try to get on here at least once a month to give updates. I hope this blog has helped others and I thank you for following me on this journey. Until the next feeding...

-Anwar

Journey of a Lifetime (Beginning)

Wow, what a crazy last 48 hours it has been.
Before I left, I had some of my friends stop by and wish me well. Below you will find a pic of my friend Jeff getting me some matching outfits for the babes.

That next day Mom and I set off for the "Adventure of a Lifetime". Here is a pic as we set off from the San Francisco Airport.

We flew Virgin Atlantic and stopped in London. We had about 5-6 hours to spare so I decided to show my Mom around the town. My Mom had never been to London (or even Europe for that matter), so it was great to experience London with her. She had a ball. Here's us in front of the London Bridge (completely sleep deprived).

From there we headed off to Delhi. I could not sleep at all on the plane because I was so excited. As we got through customs, we saw one of Rahul's driver awaiting us. This is a huge difference from last year when I came into Delhi and 1am and my driver from the hotel was not there and I had to argue with a driver to take me all the way to the neighborhood GK-2. The smoothness of this trip has been a blessing. We got into our hotel room, I went and picked up fresh Aquafina water, and then we headed to the hospital to pick up the babes. When we got to the hospital, we could see that they were sleeping next to each other (swaddled down), which was great.

There was a little drama at the hospital as there was a slight miscommunication as to when we would arrive and be ready to pick up the babies, but it was all cleared up and the process took an hour. Here's a pic of me first holding my girl Zora Jacinda:

Fellow SCI blogger and friend Fred asked me what was I thinking when I first laid eyes on them.
I guess I would say
1) WOW!
2) Beautiful!
3) OMG, what do I do now!

As I held them my arms shook. It was finally real and it was amazing. Being so removed from the process is a bit difficult, but makes this first moment so special. It is truly unbelievable.

While at the hospital, I met a couple from San Francisco who were picking up their twins. This was the second time they had used SCI (they had a 2 year-old daughter already). We exchanged information and wished each other well. I expect many play dates in the future with them.

Below are some pics from the ride 'home' to the hotel:

I will say that I am so glad my Mom is with me for obvious reasons. But it became super apparent to me how amazing she is. Once we got to the hotel, the babes started crying in unison and I was a bit frozen; the dreaded twins double team! Mom jumped right into action and worked it all out! Amazing! The first couple of days has been a really great mini-Mom boot camp. I have learned a lot.

About the Babes, just some tidbts:
They are strong and healthy. I am surprised how alert and active they are. They both loving having their arms free
They are both very social and their eyes follow my voice and look right at me. I was surprised to see that they are both trying to hold their heads up.

Zora is more vocal while Ravi is more chill.
Ravi pees every time he is getting his diaper changed. =)

That is it for now. Oh yeah...the paperwork process is going smoothly.

I love being a parent,
A