A Thankful Ass!

Today Im 10 weeks pregnant with the amazing boys' twins! :) Time is flying by. Seems like it was yesterday instead of almost a year ago when I realized it was time to start searching for an agency to be a surrogate. Its funny how the decision was such a big one, but also was one of the easiest decisions of my life. I have a ways to go with this journey, but I cant wait to begin another. I saw that one of the women that works for the agency posted that there are 40+ families waiting to be matched with a surrogate. How heart breaking it must be for those people to wait for months, even years just so they can have the gift of their own children. The gift that tons of people take for granite.
On that note, Ill be the first person to stand up and say Im proud of what Im doing. My friends and family are proud of me as well. Ive had people wrinkle up their noses that I am doing this surrogacy. Those are close-minded, ignorant people that probably never had to dream of having a family. Never had to deal with infertility or the fact that it would be impossible to conceive children. And it also upsets me to no end that there are still women today that are going to abortion clinics just because they might not know the father or cant afford the baby. Thats why there are adoption agencies. Tons of people/couples would love to adopt a newborn. I feel as if when women make that decision, it takes away everything that Im striving to do. Its the exact contradiction of my journey. They decide to end an innocent life and I decide to help bring new ones to very much deserving people. I never knew that I would have so many different emotions when I started all of this.
So, enough of that for now. My pregnancy has been wonderful so far. I havent had too many cravings. Hot wings, pizza with A1 sauce, pickels (thats an all-the-time fav though :) )...Thats about it. Oh, and salads as of lately. Ive been tired a lot of the time and its hard for me to stay up past 9pm. Twins def strectch the stomach out faster than a singleton. My belly is usually sore from the little babies constantly growing and making room. As far as morning sickness, Ive only been getting an upset stomach at night (same as when I was pregnant with my son) and it has been nothing bad that has sent me running to the bathroom. So Ive been very lucky in that area once again! :) Im finally done at my monitoring clinic in Baltimore so I may see my own OB in York. And the really good news?! I get to stop my hormone shots!!!! I have a very thankful ass!! :)

Seeing Double :D

Today was my first ultrasound during this surrogacy journey. It was confirmation of heartbeat/s and to see how many babies there were. The day definitely started out quite frustrating. The clinic that I usually go to said that they had called my fertility clinic weeks ago and made them aware that they didnt do the type of ultrasound I needed done and no one made me or my IF's aware of this. So we all came to find that no appointment was ever remade. Needless to say, hours later we finally got a copy of my ultrasound order and were able to squeeze in an appointment today just shy of noon.
I was very nervous during the ultrasound. The technician wasnt really saying too much and she left the room to grab another technician. I started to worry, wondering if she couldnt find any heartbeats. But finally she told me and my IF's that there was two sacks and that it was twins with strong heartbeats! I about cried, I was so happy for the fathers! I know that they both were hoping for twins and I couldnt feel more blessed then to be able to give them their wish of that! I go back in one week for a followup ultrasound just to make sure the babies are growing like they should be.

Post-Transfer

Its been a week and one day since my transfer out in Oregon. I flew out on Tuesday of last week with my friend Danielle and we came home on Friday. The procedure took place around 1:30pm on Wednesday the 13th. It was painless and very quick. The only discomfort was having to have a full bladder. After it was done, we went back to the hotel to start my bedrest until we left on friday. It was very relaxing but I missed my son and couldnt wait to get home to him!
On Monday I took an at-home pregnancy test. I was actually shocked when the results came up positive so soon! I took another one yesterday and it was positive as well. I shared the news with my IF's and they were very excited! I go for bloodwork tomorrow to officially confirm, but Im already experiencing pregnancy symptoms so Im sure it will be good news tomorrow afternoon. And if it is, that means Im just shy of 6wks pregnant and the due date for the baby/s would be around mid-December...Merry Christmas to my IF's!! :)

Almost to the Beginning...

After more than 7 months since I started this surrogacy journey (and much longer Im sure, for my IF's), we are almost to the "beginning". The pregnancy! :)
I started my Lupron injection yesterday. I was completely calm and cool about doing the self-injections until the morning of. Im not afraid of needles at all but it was a little scary having to stick them in your own skin! lol But after I willed myself to do it, repeatedly coaching myself that I had been through childbirth and that a little needle was a piece of cake, I realized that the needle didnt hurt one bit. The only discomfort was the slight itching afterward, like a bug bite. And a tiny bit of tenderness at the site. But other than that, it was a breeze.
I was so anxious to start the injections because now I know it is a little over a month til the transfer of embryos...pregnancy! :) And the Lupron is doing its job already. I have experienced slight headaches and tenderness is certain areas of my body and a few other possible side effects.
So let the countdown to the beginning begin!

Patches and Needles and Meds, Oh My!

Meds have arrived!! :D
So, I waited all day for my package to come yesterday. Something went wrong with the shipping so it arrived early this morning.
Mind you, I was expecting a bunch of stuff. But nothing prepared me for when I actually got to open the box and see it all at one time! Must say, I was a little overwhelmed for a minute. And the whole order hasnt even been shipped. Im waiting on a ton more boxes of hormone patches yet that are on back order.
All in all, I am more excited then anything! Receiving this package just shows how close my IP's and I are into entering the pregnancy part of our journey. Needles and meds? BRING IT ON!!! :D

Ending the day with great news!

What a wonderful way to end a very long day!
I just received a message from my IF's that the test results came back what we were praying for! So Im hoping that I get a new cycle calendar by Monday at the latest. Possibly looking at a transfer the first week of April at the latest maybe? So exciting! My IF's have to fly out to Oregon tomorrow so that they can give their sample, just to be on the safe side so we dont get this whole journey put on hold again.
Im very anxious to start my hormone shots and be done with the birth control. My body has always hated BC. It gives me nothing but pain and cramps. So a big smile of relief when that can stop. :D

Turkey Baster?!

Really? A turkey baster?!
My boyfriend was watching The Steve Wilkos show yesterday and it just so happened that he was doing a show about a 16 yr old surrogate mother who supposedly "stole" a couples baby. We recorded it on the DVR and watched it last night. It was nothing like I thought it would be...
First off, a 16 yr old surrogate mother? I knew something didnt sound right. It turned out that the young surrogate was homeless with her 2 yr old son. A woman and her husband took her in with the stipulations of her having the couples baby. Now heres where it gets even more disgusting...
Not only did the couple prey on this young girl that was in need. They had her have sex with the husband in order to conceive the child. There was talk of wanting to use a turkey baster (wow...i thought people just joked about that!), but the husband, of course, jumped at the chance to sleep with a young girl. The couple never asked the girl for ID, medical records, or anything. Nor did they take her to one doctors checkup.
In the end, the young girl moved out to live with her very mature boyfriend. She apparently was having sex with him at the same time and when she had the baby, she said it was his and not the couples baby.
It was hard as hell to finish watching the show. It made me sick...the couple reminded me of nothing but 100% pure white trailer trash. And the whole situation, i felt, made surrogacy look so unglorified! Being a surrogate mother should be something to be looked up to and should be one of the most rewarding, unselfish things a woman ever does in her lifetime. Not something that was made so disgusting and dirty...
Ok, enough of that. Just thought id share that. I heard some good news from my IF's yesterday morning. It looks like ill be receiving a tenative schedule for my shots and transfer by the end of next week! So hopefully (fingers crossed!), the transfer will only be put back a few weeks at the most! :) Im so excited and praying for everything to go wonderfully!