Babysitting - A Little O.J.T.

We babysat a seven-month-old this weekend, which was good on-the-job training for me. His parents are neighbors and friends of ours. They haven’t been out together sans-baby much at all since the birth, so they got a break and I learned a little about what it feels like to be responsible for a live baby. While changing a poopy diaper, all I could think was, “I’m going to have to do this for more than two years?” He just laughed and giggled, as if this were something funny! We enjoyed taking care of him and he seemed to like the attention.

We had a man come to measure for closet organizers, our fist step toward preparing the home for twins. We’ve decided not to prepare too much until we’re into the second trimester, which will be next month. Our surrogate will be visiting sometime around Christmas, so we may begin the nursery prior to her arrival.

From what I’ve read about surrogates, even though they aren’t biologically bonded to the baby, they do tend to feel a bond and have a concern for the child beyond birth. We’ve agreed that we’ll send our surrogate updates on the babies after they’re born and maintain contact with her. Some couples and surrogates I’ve read about became great friends for years. Our surrogate wanted to come see where they’ll live, which makes sense to me. Having our surrogate so far away, we feel like we’re missing the experience of the actual pregnancy. This will give us a chance to bond more with our surrogate and feel what it’s like to have our babies alive and kicking in our home. Hopefully the visit will give our surrogate a sense of comfort with us and the home we’ll provide for our children.