So... you, um... wanna, I don't know... Get up to DATE with me? =)

So I'm a little bit behind but I am going to cut and paste the notes I have been taking on my phone thus far...

5/26
Massive cramping for the past 2 days. My butt hurts at each injection sites and I try to use my microwaveable rice bag whenever I remember; it’s hard to remember if this happened last time. Manuel said I complained about this last surrogacy but I think he's lying! He also mentions that I complain just about anything! It's just crappy to be uncomfortable and today is only day 4 of the progesterone. 3 months of this is going to be wonderful.

Not taking my focus meds hasn't been too difficult but I do notice that I haven't been as productive as I was while taking them. Back to my wandering brain!

My mom and dad are still in the dark about this 2nd surrogacy because I know they will not be thrilled. My mom was ok with me being a surro for the first time but I felt that she was embarrassed for me. "I didn't tell your uncles because I never thought you would do something like this!" is what she said. I was only embarrassed for her being embarrassed for me... Like I did something so bad that it couldn't be shared with family... Yeah, I'm a pill popper! I smoke meth! Thanks mom!!! It's ridiculous!

5/28/13
Couldn't sleep yesterday. My butt is sore around the injection points and very tender & swollen. I had to put a warm compress on one side last night but it still made it difficult to lie on either side of my body.
Went to bed at about 3:30. I waited to see how long it would take me to fall asleep, while playing candy crush on my phone... 1 & a half hours. Not TOO bad!  I'm a bit sleepy right now at 5:15 because I need to get the kids up and ready for school. Uhh. Oh well, my Valium from the Doc visit should hopefully put me to sleep. Goodbye just me… here we go merrily along to implant a Roo into my Kanga pocket!

6/1/13
For the past 3 days it has been difficult to sit, wear clothes, drive the car... Just about anything that involves sitting down and my bottom pressed up against anything. I remember some stuff but wish I could remember more about the first surrogacy. I just don't recall any of this! The muscles from my butt all the way up my back and into my armpits are sore. It's just ridiculous. When sleeping, I can't lay on either side for long because it’s just so sensitive and my injection areas are SOOO swollen. My cheeks are starting to itch a bit, as well, which make it difficult to scratch because they're so lumpy and hard.

Yesterday was field day at school and I had been on bed rest for 3 days after the transfer. Saying it was a rough day would be an understatement! I tried hard to not do too much and to be off my feet but it was very difficult. I enjoy interacting and playing with my kids but it’s hard NOT doing that. It is also difficult when you don't have support from others around. I wish someone said, "take it easy... Sit down..." ANYTHING! They would say sit but no how, who would replace me, watch my kiddos?  It just sucked because I do not like asking for help or looking as if I can't handle something. I just hope to have not done anything to jeopardize the implantation.

My baby's mamma is funny. During the transfer, she had a picture of the embryo and had made the joke of not being able to guess the baby's sex! It's great to interact with her because feel we are similar in many ways and how in a short period of time I feel as if I have known her for longer.

I HATE HATE HATE all the weight I have gained in just the last 3 weeks. I had done well losing weight after the first surrogacy but, coming off of my medicine, then moving into all these hormones have made everything crazy! I have gained about 12 pounds. I don't even know if I'm pregnant yet and I'm eating like a cow, irritable, tired, and (TMI) a bit horny! I know… that's weird to read, imagine writing it! 2 weeks before and 2 weeks after, sex is prohibited. I feel horrible denying Manuel but I do not want even the smallest inkling that this could end up being my baby.

Bed rest is fun... NOT! Oh my gosh, this had to be the time that I realize I have nothing to watch on TV/DVR, no one to talk to because they're working, stuck doing nothing because you can't do anything... I will say that I have enjoyed all the time for naps. I love me some naps.

6/3/13
Ever felt like your butt was going to combust or magically go up in flames?

Last night Manuel had woken up because he was sleeping next to a portable heater! I had a bad fever. My injections are so bad and inflamed to I believe it's affecting everything else. I called the nurse at the doctor's office and I have to go see them tomorrow to make sure that I'm placing it in the correct spot. If I'm not, there aren't many other places to shoot. The area of my butt that I have allotted has pretty much been tapped out! If I was drilling for oil, I'd say all bets are off.

If my breasts hold the truth to pregnancy, then I think this one little munchkin made it. Yesterday, I leaned up against the garden fense posts and my breast hurt. I took my bra off for a shower-they hurt. I wrapped myself after the shower-they hurt. So... What I'm trying to say is I could be pregnant.

Also, after visiting the nurse, I found out I was putting my injections in the right spot and she proceeded to draw a good area for me to use… Um, the area I had ALREADY been using and that was already sore. It was about the size of two quarters. Yeah, if you want to see my butt, it’s swollen on both sides the size of 5 or 6 quarters. Thanks for your assistance nurse lady! [she was nice though]

6/9/13
Late tonight I took an old pregnancy test that I used when I found out I was pregnant with Dude. Initially, I didn’t look at the date, I didn’t even know there was on one on the wrapper. I just thought, since this is a digital test, if it doesn’t light up then it’s old. It worked. I waited patiently on the toilet and watched the hourglass flash. Tick, tick, tick, Pregnant. I got so excited that I sent my IPs a text. Then sat for about 15 minutes, texting back and forth with such ecstatic people that I just made parents, or… did I? I started feeling guilty. “What if the test was broken?” I finally ran to get a new, not expired, test and it, thankfully, came back with a positive response. I felt so much relief!

6/10/13
Yesterday and the day before (SAT & SUN), I could have gone most of the day without eating. I wasn't hungry and didn't have the urge to eat. Saturday’s first meal was Chili’s with Kirah around 4 PM and I forced down salad and soup. Sunday, was about the same. So... thus lead me to believe I was pregnant! I, of course, had several other signs but this was different. Since I dropped my other meds for my ADD, my appetite has definitely increased. I was also yawning all day and in a horrible mood. Either I’m pregnant or my true personality is really starting to SHINE! =)

6/11/12
Blood work was done and later today I found out that the previous signs were right.

Pee Test didn’t lie.

Breasts didn’t lie.

Appetite didn’t lie.

Cramping baby maker didn’t lie.

One egg! One cycle! I am finally good at something! Thank you uterus!

6/12/13
I can't help my exhaustion! (I used that exclamation mark but I don't even know if I physically own one of those right now).
I can normally sleep a lot but his is getting crazy. I am falling asleep everywhere, in the car, at dinner, mid conversation. It's just sad... I’m narcoleptic again!
My appetite is still a bit off. Not getting hungry right away but my portion size has grown. I can eat a lot when I do eat.
My butt is still sore but not as bad as it has been.
I sometimes get pinching/fluttering feelings in my right side and also have tingling sensation in my nipples. Awesome!

6/18/13
So, it's a hot and humid summer in Houston. As for my scalp, it is currently dry and snowing! My head is itching like hell. My butt checks itch like hell. It's hot as hell outside and every night I dread getting it from behind. =) I needles are too long so they are shipping me out 1" needles instead of the friendly 1 1/2" ones. Yesterday, I went in for my first ultrasound and I have a little poached egg in there. A bubble filled with an egg sack... Too small to see the heart beat but I'm 5 weeks and 5 days along, as of today.

6/20/13 or 6/21/13 because it’s 12:51AM!
Yay… I finally started my blog today/yesterday. This makes us current and I finally completed a full task. I still need to upload videos of my first injection and the wonderful transfer. That will be fun. I describe that in more detail when I add the video. I need to go shoot up… I mean give my shot and hit the hay. Bye!

 Day of the Transfer 5/28/13

 My little booties!



















The Accurate, Yet EXPIRED, pregnancy test.

Bubble Baby 6/17/2013

Massively behind... Here it goes!

Hello Friends and Family,

I know this is long overdue and I have been trying to keep with my thoughts and many symptoms. To get you all caught up on the low down...

Back in November, Manuel went to the orthodontist. I had previously talked with the ladies at the orthodontist and they had known about my surrogacy journey. They told me, "oh, we just hired a lady that was a surrogate as well!" We’re like unicorns and dragons... "What... another surrogate exists in Houston? Woah" I thought. So, I got in contact with her and it was really nice sharing our experiences and knowing that I was not alone. As great of a thing I had done, it is hard to talk about it because people think, "wow, you are so giving... amazing... etc." "I could never do that." and I just feel as if that was what I was supposed to do; nothing special. It was just nice. SO... She informs me of a family that lives in Houston and she is unable to help them because he just gave birth to surro twins in August. Keep in mind; I just gave birth to my surro baby girl on October 5th. It was really soon to consider surrogacy again. Well, I spoke with the attorney and decided I would meet with them, under the condition that we may have to wait a bit for me to recover from the last delivery...

I met the parents (I may refer to them as the IP's - Intended Parents [learn the lingo YO]). But I really did like them and I love how I could help them. We had good conversations and, I know, meeting anyone for the first time is always stressful. Manuel and I talked a good bit about doing this again but he was very sweet and was supportive. He left it up to me if I wanted to go through this again. Here are some reasons for my decision to do this again.

*I love the idea of surrogacy and being able to make a difference in someone's life.

*Being able to go on appointments and have the parents with me, versus being shoed in and out because I was not the mother and it wasn’t important to me (I guess).

*The IM - Intended Mother - had cancer and is unable to have children and many of you know how difficult it was for me to finally conceive Evil Emilio.

*With that, the decision was made even clearer when my mother came down with uterine cancer in December. She had her hysterectomy the day after Christmas, one day before my 30^th birthday. THEN, she was found to have breast cancer in January and had a mastectomy. It has been rough for me because I can’t run back to San Diego to help her. Then, more issues have some up with my mother and it’s just stressful, especially from a distance.

 

In a sense, everything that has occurred  have lead me to know that helping create this family for my new IP’s is the right thing to do. It was destiny.

 

Wow, that was hard to write and I skipped many difficult details.

 

Here are the date low downs…

 

Around mid-April THROUGH mid-May

We started the legal contract. If anyone knows me, paperwork can be a fiasco because I can be a bit absentminded. There are tons of things to consider because my last contract was pretty much set in stone. I didn’t have as much play in what I could put in to it. But stuff like monthly expenses, lost wages, when you are considered “full-term” to go into labor, who can be in the room, bed rest, etc. Even things that someone may see as common sense MUST be listed in the contract, no drugs and alcohol, no electronics while driving, restricted salt/caffeine/artificial sweetener intake. Sex is cut off for entire month, 2 weeks before and after [don’t want to give my own kid away!].

 

May 4 - Stopped taking birth control

May 8 – Begin estrace 3x a day & one Vivelle Dot patch every 3 days

May 23 or 24 – Begin the awesome Progesterone in Oil (PIO) Shot (I will attach my awkward video of that day soon).

May 28 – 1 embryo transferred & 3 days of bed rest

 

My transfer date changed several times because the doctor has to monitor how fluffy and awesome my womb is becoming. First I was set for May 24, then May 30, then May 27 but it was Memorial Day, so we were set for the 28^th! Being flexible comes in very handy.

 

June 9 – took a digital pee test. It said I was pregnant BUT… it was expired - 3 years old – so I freaked out because I wasn’t sure if I could get a false positive, even with it being expired. Mainly, they reason I was so worried was, I already sent a picture of the positive stick to the parents and all I could think about was what a horrible person I was, if the darn thing was broken. So, I ran to the local WallyWorld to get another test. Thank goodness… I was still knocked up!

 

June 11 – blood work proved I was pregnant

June 14 – blood work good

June 17 – ultrasound and blood work – I was 5 weeks 4 days along and all you are able to see is a little bubble (love that word by the way, “bubble!”) within another bubble.

June 24 – another ultrasound will be done and I SHOULD see the little flicker of the heartbeat.

 

As an IVF patient, I get to visit the doctor weekly until I am release to my OBGYN at 11 or 12 weeks. I also continue all of my lovely medications until then as well. All the medications help trick my body into preparing for pregnancy at the right time, while putting my own body into a menopaused state so I do not produce my own eggs, and then to keep my body thinking “yes, yes, your pregnant.”

 

That should be enough info for now. I’m going to attached the notes and thoughts I had been tracking on my phone on the next post. That way I can be caught up to date soon!