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 30th 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 28th! 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!
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