And with that...

The last time I blogged was for the transfer of little embie back in August. Because there's so much uncertainty I didn't want to say anything until we knew for sure. So, here's a run down since then...

I started doing home pregnancy tests 3 days post transfer. I got faint positives, but wanted to get a positive digital before telling my IFs. On day 5 I got to see that magical word, "pregnant". I squealed and then took a picture and sent it to them. 

After that I didn't do anymore tests and waited for beta. Our first beta came back positive. Two days later I had beta drawn again and it doubled! (You're looking for the number to double every 48-72 hours) Our clinic had us do a third beta a week later and the doubling time was less than 48 hours. That was a really good sign that everything was going as it should. But this isn't my first time and I know the other shoe can always drop. We waited for our first sono with guarded optimism.

 

At the first sono we couldn't see much, but what we did see was a little blur on the screen with a flickering heartbeat. I was so happy that the dads were able to skype and see their baby for the first time!

6.4 weeks

We were definitely pregnant!!! Of course, that didn't stop me from worrying. Although, the constant exhaustion and nausea did give me some hope that the little bean was growing and healthy. Then we went for our second sonogram and once again saw a bigger, more formed blur with a perfect heartbeat! This time we could hear it. 159 beats per minute. Dads got to Skype again to see their baby bean growing. 

7.4 weeks

Third sono dads weren't able to skype, so I recorded the sono. Probably a good thing because baby was either napping or being super anti-social. Either way, we got a kick out of it. He kept his back to the probe, so all we could really see was a perfect little spine. No matter how hard the nurse tried, he was resolved in that we were not seeing his little face that morning. We did, however, hear his heartbeat and it was 179. 

8.6 weeks

I continued feeling tired all the time and completely turned off by food and the smell of pretty much everything. I was fairly certain things were going perfectly. We had our fourth sono a week later and dads were able to skype again..

9.5 weeks 

This time baby was...a baby! He finally looked like a baby! Little legs, little arms up by his sweet face. And he was excited!! He was moving around so much it was hard for the nurse to get a good picture of him! 

My final two injections

And with that, we were officially released from the RE to our midwife. 98 injections. 3 additional meds. 3 blood draws. 4 sonograms. Lots of food adversions and even more naps. My family and friends have been so supportive and loving. My IFs have been amazing. I'm looking forward to second trimester, no meds, and a continued healthy pregnancy. ❤️

I've been meaning to write....

I feel like I should rename my blog, "I've been meaning to write", because I always start out with that. It's been so long I'm not even sure where to begin!! 

So, when I last blogged I had recently matched with super awesome Intended Fathers in Spain. SO much has happened since then. So much, y'all. I'll be brief. ish.... 

So, we went through psych eval and the counselor said I was incredibly normal. I'm certain she meant boring, but I'll take it! From there we had our medical screening and I chose to see the RE we used for my last journey, Dr. E, because I love him so! It was great to see him and he said my uterus looked "beauitful". I celebrated with a margarita. I had to have tons of labs run and had to run some on my hubby. He passed out when I drew his blood. Shhhh...don't tell him I told you. It was a little funny. Maybe a lot funny, but I'll never tell. 

At my med screening with Dr E

My beautiful uterus celebratory margarita

Anyway, we both are super healthy and we were officially cleared in early June for journey number TWO!! Surrogacy is a whole lot of hurry and a whole lot of wait. So we waited on lots of things. But finally we got to schedule the transfer!!! 

August 18th!! That was the day!! I started birth control right before the med screening in June and was on that for about three months. I then started Lupron injections and did 27 of those. I think. I wrote it down, but now can't remember where...

Then I moved on to estrogen injections and finally added in progesterone. I'm still on both of those... 

This is what estrogen and progesterone injections look like. Good times. 

I had three uterine lining checks the three weeks before transfer. I needed at least a thickness above 8mm for transfer and my final measurement was a whopping 12.9mm. And I felt it. My uterus was heavy and crampy, but so much fluff for that little embie to snuggle into, I was happy to take the bloat! 

So, I had to fly to Chicago for transfer and decided to bring along one of my fave friends, my preceptor, my midwife, (That's one whole person) Amanda. She went with me and we made it a girls trip. We had an amazing time there and it was definitely a very relaxing trip, perfect for harboring a peaceful environment for my soon-to-be roomie. 

Here are some of my fave pictures from Chicago... 

We did so much there and absolutely loved Chicago!! 

Day of transfer we took the train to Highland Park, about an hour north of the city...

On the train before we realized we were supposed to have tickets to ride and our metro card did not count. Oops! 

And then this 6AA embryo was transferred into my big, fluffy uterus! Our clinic nurse had my IFs on skype, so they got to see the whole thing. It was incredible. And crazy fast. They sent me on my way immediately after the transfer and we opted for an uber back to our hotel. We stayed another day and a half before heading back to Texas! 

I decided to wait to give any results on the transfer, but I will say we had our second beta this morning. Guess you'll have to stay posted to find out if that sweet little embie got cozy and comfy and decided to take up a temporary residence in my uterus! 

Until I remember to blog again.... 

Matched!

I've been meaning to blog about my match and then life keeps happening...

After a lot of discussions and talking with  potential IPs, Chris and I decided that sticking with our agency for a match was the best route for us, for this journey. Once we came to that conclusion in March I emailed my agency owner and told her we were ready to move forward with them 100% and I gave a few specifics for what I wanted in IPs. She emailed back that day and attached a profile. I read through it, looked at their pictures, and emailed right back with, "YES! I love them!!" She then sent them my profile and later that day emailed and said they too loved my profile! 

It all happened pretty quickly from there. We scheduled a Skype call two days later and had a great hour long conversation with them. Chris was his usual reserved and quiet self, but told me after the call that he thought they would be a great match and we'd have a really good journey together. We brought our littles in at the end of the call, since they were literally hanging from the window just to the right of us, hoping to catch a glimpse of who we were talking to, lol. The call went great! By the end of the call we all knew we wanted to move forward.

Since then my agency has assigned us with a coordinator, confirmed I have surrogate friendly insurance, sent me for a psych evaluation, set me up with life insurance for the pregnancy, and sent my records to the reproductive endocrinologist we'll be working with. 

Because of my on call schedule, we have small windows when I can travel to Chicago, where there clinic is. Hopefully the clinic will get me approved to fly out at the end of this month for my medical screening and then we're hoping for an early July transfer! 

Hopefully I'll be able to give more specifics about my IPs down the road, but for now I will tell you that they live in Spain (both speak English fluently), they will be using an egg donor, and they are the funniest and sweetest guys you'd ever meet! Doing a journey with two Intended Fathers I think will be such a different experience from my last journey.

Hopefully my next update will be that I've been medically cleared to move forward!

Here's to an another amazing journey and to growing babies for ALL families! ❤️ 

A second journey

Yeah! Wait, what? Another journey? Yes, I'm going to do it again! After a lot of soul searching and endless hours of talking to my husband and friends I decided I do want to do one more journey before retiring my trusty uterus who has grown five perfect babies. 

Matching. I forgot how hard this part of the journey is. Really, there are lots of hard times with surrogacy. The good outweighs the bad by a million, but it's certainly an emotional roller coaster. 

It's hard matching with potential IPs. You hear their story and many times become emotionally attached. You want to be the one to help them have their long wished for baby. And then when it doesn't become a match because of timing or birth preferences or whatever, it's hard. 

The truth is, I wish I could have a baby for every person who wants a baby. You know, Oprah style. You get a baby! You get a baby! You get a baby! But, alas, I cannot. 

So, I try to stay true to myself, my beliefs. I hold on to the few requirements that my heart would never let me give in on. Along the way I get to meet amazing IPs who all want the same thing; a healthy baby. I feel truly blessed to get to walk this journey with another families and make friends along the way. Cheer on other surros, cross my fingers for the IPs. Hope with everything that they all get exactly what they want out of their journeys. 

I'm excited about a second journey. I'm hoping for a Spring transfer of one healthy embryo and planning another homebirth. Stay posted...hopefully the next blog will be telling y'all about a MATCH! ❤️