Happy Friday!!

I decided to snap a little before pic so I can document my progress through pictures.  The DH snapped this one for me.  This pic uploader is not cooperating with me today.  I can't get the pic to turn even though it's saved correctly.  Sorry, guess you'll have to tilt your head ;)

 

 

 

Here's the ultrasound photo.  Some "been there done that" surrogates told me the prime thickness of the linings is somewhere between 8-13mm and mine are sitting around 6mm so they may be making a change to my meds.  I won't know until the RE office reviews the results.  They drew blood again...I wasn't expecting it, but you get used to being poked with needles as a surrogate.

 

Funny thing happened on my drive back home.  The clinic was about an hour and 20 minutes away and I was getting pretty hungry so I ran through a drive through for breakfast.  As I'm on the interstate eating my bacon, egg and cheese biscuit a semi starts passing me on the left.  I take a peek to see what sort of livestock he has in his load and at first glance it appears empty but then there it is...a tiny little pig snout pokes out.  He was hauling a semi full of tiny little piglets.  They were the cutest little things too!  So there I am admiring the little piglets, munching on a bacon biscuit :-p

Sonogram on Friday

After some last minute planning, I will be headed to receive a sonogram first thing tomorrow morning.  This is what they'll be looking for...

 

The uterine lining needs to be nice and thick.  This pic shows the lining so thick it is touching in the middle forming what appears to be a white line.  (I have no idea who this uterus belongs to, I googled and this is the pic I got.  It makes it a whole lot easier to explain with pics)  The clinic I'm headed to received last minute notice that I'll be headed their way so I'm being squeezed in between an already full schedule.  That means I'll be waiting a while.  Well worth the wait though.  Crossing my fingers and praying that everything looks great for the transfer next week.  I was informed yesterday that the transfer date has been moved up a couple days.  We're now looking at June 7th or 8th.  I look forward to no more shots in the stomach!  

Memorial Day Weekend

 

Not a lot to report on the surrogacy homefront.  The estradiol stopped the lupron headaches which I am so very thankful for.  You haven't had a real headache until you've had a lupron headache! 

 

We spent the weekend doing the things we love.  I worked on the garden a little.   It's been a real learning process for me.  We've had gardens before but the DH (darling hubby) did most of the work.  I've become very hands on with it this time and it's really given me a lot of pride in it as well.  Did you know radishes have to be 2 inches apart or they won't "fatten up"?  They'll grow all crowded together but you won't realize there's nothing going on under the dirt.  I've been working on thinning them out and I think I may finally have the right spacing because they're starting to head up and show themselves.  

 

 

DH finished up a little project he's been working on.  He cleaned up the overcrowded garage, built a large wall unit/storage cabinet and painted the garage a fresh lime green color.  It's amazing what a little bit of paint can do.

 

It was Faith and Family day at Royals stadium and the perfect opportunity to take in our first game of the season.  Too bad they didn't pull out the win.  After the game we had the pleasure of watching the Dave Crowder band perform.  The kids were getting pretty restless so we were only able to catch a couple songs but all in all it was a great day with our kiddos.

 

DH also managed to squeeze in a bike race on Sunday before we were off to a pool party.  It was so nice to have a local race that the kids and I could attend and cheer him on.  It had a pretty nice turn out and was a spectator friendly course. 

 

And this is how we finished off the weekend.  We're in the process of doing a little landscaping.  The yard is currently very plain and needs some color.

Adding a couple more meds...

 

 

We have dates!

Lots of great news today!  Tomorrow I will begin the Estradiol (estrogen) pills.  The nurse said these pills should counteract the headaches that the Lupron has been causing.  Yay to that!! :) They also want me to start taking 81 mg of baby aspirin daily as well.  This of course is in addition to the Lupron injections and prenatals.  After a week of these meds I am scheduled for an ultrasound to see how my uterus is respoding to the medications.  The egg retrieval is scheduled for June 5th and transfer should occur on June 10th.  The plan is to transfer two embryos (once the eggs are retrieved and fertilized they are referred to as embryos).  We're looking at a 50-60% chance of an embryo attaching and a 20% chance of both attaching resulting in twins.  And, if my calculations are correct this transfer date will give us an EDD of February 25th, 2014. 

Switching up this Blog

So I have a little (actually very big secret) that I can't quite share just yet.... About 2 years ago I was introduced to the world of Surrogacy.  I knew very little about it but it was placed upon my heart immediately thereafter.   After giving it a year of thought and research I make my first contact to a surrogacy agency.  I was matched with a great set of IP's (intended parents) and then the journey began.   I've decided to use this blog to document my journey and someday share with family, friends and possibly others interested in the surrogacy process and who knows, maybe a surro baby or two :)

Let me catch you up to date...

February 22, 2013
I had my first conference call with the IM (intended mother) and we spoke for about 30 minutes.  Lots of great details shared and the connection was clearly there so forward we go!

March 4, 2013
Spoke with my OBGYN about my desire to become a GS (gestational surrogate...this is where I only provide the uterus, IP's either provide their own egg/sperm or use a donor) and he gave me the green light

March 19, 2013
All surrogates must undergo a psychological evaluation to make certain you are mentally healthy and have the right reasons for participating in a surrogacy.  It began with a 567 question quesionnaire...yep, you read that right, 567 multiple choice questions.  Then, a pyschologist performed an over the phone evaluation of myself as well as the hubs.  We passed with flying colors.

April 24, 2013
I made the flight to the IP's hometown and had a saline ultrasound performed to make sure my uterus was up for the journey.  For those of you unfamiliar with a saline ultrasound it's an internal sonogram of the uterus.  It's invasive, slightly uncomfortable, but not painful at all.  They insert a small catheter into the uterus and load it up with saline then view it.  Simple enough.  They also drew plenty of blood and ran tests for any transmittable diseases.  We also went over all the medications I would be receiving in the mail and how to administer the self injections (sounds scary, and trust me I was a little, but actually turned out to be virtually painless)

May 6, 2013
A rather large box full of medications arrived a few days ago.  This is where things started to get a lot more real for me.  I began giving myself Lupron shots, in the belly, nightly.  I was warned that it's side effect is bad headaches.

 

May 9, 2013

Surrogacy contract signed, sealed and delivered!  The surrogacy process involves a lot of legal details therefore a contract is ALWAYS necessary.  I do NOT recommend this process without one.  So many decisions to be made, agreed upon and put into writing.  I won't got into details on this ( #1 I can't and #2 you can research this area very easily) but this is not my child and I must and will always respect the IP's beliefs and wishes....also why it's very important to carry for someone that is aligned with your beliefs.  

 

May 16 2013   

On day 10 of lupron injections, the ever elusive Lupron headaches began.  I'm telling you, these headaches are fierce!  Luckily, they are short lived.  When they come they typically last less than an hour and hydration is the key to sending them away quickly.   

 

 

So there you have it, you're up-to-date on my progress.  I'm still on the nightly injections and prenatals.  Not a long going on right now.  Just in a holding pattern for the next stage...