Here We Go!

AF came on Christmas day, so on Monday I called to get an appointment to see the RE, and was able to get in on Tuesday at noon. When I got there, the RE had me come back to his office & we went over my medical & OB history, and he made a cycle calendar for me. Then a nurse took me into a patient room and gave me two ibuprofen & an antibiotic pill and said I was having a hysterosonogram. I was really nervous because I'd heard that they were pretty uncomfortable. I had a mock transfer, which wasn't uncomfortable at all, and then the hysterosonogram- and it wasn't bad at all! The RE showed me my uterus on the screen & said that it looked perfect and that I was good to go, woooo hoooo!!!

He gave me a prescription for estradiol pills which I will take 2x a day, and Vivelle patches, which I will replace every 3 days. I'm also taking one baby aspirin per day. Then on Jan. 12th I'll have an ultrasound & check my E2 and if my levels are good and my lining is over 7mm, then I'll start prometrium & crinone, and we will transfer two frozen embies on Jan. 18th! I can't believe it's finally happening! So far I'm doing OK with the estrogen. I sort of feel like I have PMS, I've noticed that my temper was a little short today (Chris noticed too, ha!) but other than that, it's ok. I haven't turned into Psycho Crazy Lady yet. I say yet because I know it's inevitable, haha.

I did find out that I will need to stay the night in DFW after the transfer- I wasn't expecting to have to stay for bedrest, but no biggie! My friend Nina gets to go with me! Then we can have K come to the hotel room & we can all watch movies and eat popcorn and have some girly time!

The kids and I went to OKC today to meet K, J & little K for lunch at Charleston's. I'd never eaten there before, but I'm definitely going back- that burger was deeeeeelish! We also signed the contract- OMG! *happy dance* We are now 100% official. When we were leaving, K told me to come out to their car because they had something for us. There were two wrapped presents for the boys, and a gift bag for me with a Bass Pro gift card! When we got home the boys unwrapped their presents, and they each got a camo backpack with their names embroidered in hunter orange! They were so excited, and Major even asked if he could sleep with his, haha. I am so touched that they thought of us this Christmas, it means so much to me. I am so grateful to have such amazing IP's. And they're not just IP's to me anymore, they're friends. I'm so glad that we met & that I get to be a part of completing their family.

It's Finally Here!

I began a new cycle on Christmas day. Not just any cycle, but "the" cycle. This is the cycle we've been waiting for, and this is the cycle that hopefully (fingers crossed) results in a baby! I have been waiting for this moment for a very long time, and even though my cycle was a couple of days early, I was very excited! Monday morning I will call the RE's office and pray that they can squeeze me in that afternoon, and I will head that way. I'll have my testing done & then I get to start meds, woohoo! By my calculations, it looks like we should transfer around the 15th. Which reminds me, I have some questions for him regarding the transfer, and I think K did too, so we need to get together & make a list of questions for me to ask him on Monday!

We still do not have the flippin contract signed, but it's really not our fault. We've already agreed to it, it's typed up & printed out, just waiting for signatures. My lawyer is out of her office until the 30th, and K&J's lawyer won't let me sign without speaking to her first. So as soon as I talk to her, I'll sign, send it to K&J, they'll sign and then we will be 100% official!

I really don't like the idea of starting meds without it being signed, but- it's not like we're still negotiating terms or something like that. We just have to wait for my lawyer to give the official 'thumbs-up' that I can sign, which I am sure she will. I have said more than once that a surrogate should never start meds without a contract in place, so I feel like a total hypocrite right now. And I'm not doing injections, so that makes a difference- atleast to me. I'll only be on estradiol, which isn't really a big deal. (I'll have to come back & read this last sentence when I'm having hot flashes & crying over Huggies commercials next week, ha!)

Wednesday I'm meeting K&J in OKC for lunch. That's all the update I have for now, but hopefully Monday night I'll have a really good one!

Contract is almost ready!

I got the contract about a week ago, and went through it page by page. I only had a few things that I wanted to tweak, but everything else looked great. I sent the changes to K&J and they just sent the changes to their lawyer, so we should have a final draft early next week, I'm hoping! I would love to have this thing signed before Christmas, that would be an awesome present.

I'm on day 21 of a 30 day cycle, so I will be having my screening appointment with the RE in about 10 days or so, and then I will start medications!! I am so excited, I can't believe we are already here. This seemed so far away when I matched with K&J back in October, and now it's almost time to transfer! I'm crossing my fingers & toes that the first transfer works, and K&J take home a crying, pooping, beautiful little bundle of joy 9 months later!

Short Update

K & J got the contract yesterday! Yaaaay! They're looking it over & taking the silly stuff out, then after they send it back to their lawyer I'll get a copy. Once my lawyer & I look it over, I'll sign & we'll be ready to go! Woohoo!

I started a new cycle on 11/28, and when I start my next cycle on or about 12/28 I'll see the RE & start meds! Things are just moving right along :-)

I Have NO Patience

None. Not a bit. This waiting is killing me. We still haven't gotten the contract from the lawyer yet, and I highly doubt we get it until next week sometime, if that. I wonder if this lawyer understands that we need to have this contract signed & on the RE's desk by mid-December, since he has to have it 15 days before I start meds, which will be right around the first of January. I hope the lawyer can get the contract to my IP's next week sometime & that they don't have to make too many changes, and that I won't need to make many changes. I don't see me needing to make many changes though, so hopefully we can get this contract knocked out quickly. I doubt it takes us more than a couple of days to do our part, really. If that lawyer would just get it to us...

It just feels like nothing is happening right now. I'm ready to get this show on the road! I'm expecting my 'aunt' any time now, and once that cycle is over, we get to start our REAL CYCLE! How exciting! That is only 4 weeks away though, which is why I'm getting frustrated. If the contract takes more than 2-3 weeks, we have to delay until February.

I know this sounds like I am griping, but I'm not, I swear. I know this lawyer is busy, we are not her only clients, and it's almost Thanksgiving. I totally get it. But that doesn't stop me from being impatient. I'm just super excited, and I'm ready to get everything finalized so that we can stop worrying about that & move on to the fun stuff!

Awesome Day

Today was our appointment with our RE! I got up early this morning & headed out around 9 and picked up Nina on the way to Irving. We met K & J at Bennigan's for lunch, then went over to the RE's office. It was our understanding that I needed to come along to the appointment, but when the RE came in the room, he promptly kicked Nina & I out. We sat in the lobby & talked & thumbed through old issues of WebMD Magazine for an hour & a half. Boring, yet Nina made it fun :) I'm so glad she came, otherwise I would have been bored to DEATH!!

K & J met with the RE & had to get some bloodwork done, and they also got a cycle schedule! We've decided to skip my next cycle, and then the cycle after that will be "the" cycle. I've looked at my calendar, and it looks like AF should arrive next time around Dec.30- Jan.2, then I will go in on day 2 or 3 to the RE. I'll have a ton of bloodwork done, an ultrasound and a mock transfer. Approximately 21 days later, we'll have the real transfer. I got 3 pieces of good news today:

1. No needles. All meds will be taken via patches, creams, and pills.
2. No mock cycle.
3. No bedrest, so no overnight stay in DFW! I will, however, lay down in the car on the way home & plant my behind in my recliner as soon as I get here for a couple of days. I know the RE said no bedrest is needed, but it sure as heck can't hurt anything, and with so much riding on it... well, I'd feel better about it.
I know that this is really happening, but it just seems so surreal. I feel like all the bad things I went through with my previous match have been more than made up for with K & J. I know they are keeping up with my blog, and butt-kissing really isn't my thing so I almost feel like I shouldn't say all of this, but I have to! I've totally hit the IP jackpot! They are wonderful, and I feel truly, truly blessed to have met them & be in a position to help them complete their beautiful family. Hopefully, fingers crossed, I will get to help make a gorgeous little girl a big sister, and that's one of the most rewarding things about this surrogacy. I can't wait to see the look on her face the first time she meets her new baby brother or sister, and I especially can't wait to see K & J's faces when their child is born. I know to some people that might sound silly or strange, but you ask any surrogate what the *best* part of their journey was, and 9 out of 10 will tell you that it was seeing the IP's faces when they saw their child for the first time.
Ok, ok, I'll stop with the emotional stuff, haha! The next step is getting the contract, making any changes, and signing! Hopefully we'll have it ready to sign in the next couple of weeks!

A New Beginning!

Back in June, I had to put my dreams of becoming a surrogate on hold. I thought that I may never be a surrogate, and it was very hard to let go of that dream. I've wanted to be a surrogate since I first heard about it, and a year ago I poured myself into the surrogacy world. I've made some of the best friends I've ever had, I've learned so much about myself, and I'm a stronger & better person because of the friends I've made & the things I've learned. So when I had to put surrogacy on hold, it was devastating. But I never put the thought out of my mind...

About 2 months ago I decided I was ready, so I stepped back in, slowly. I sat down & made a list: qualities I wanted my Intended Parents to have, things that are important to me in a contract, which clinics I would like to work with, etc. Then I began looking for IP's who shared the same ideas & values that I did.

It took a few weeks, and few wacky e-mails from some less-than-ideal IP's, but then I got an e-mail from K. I knew in her first e-mail that I liked her, and the more we talked, the more I thought she might be a really good fit. We agreed on the number of embryos to transfer, we agreed on the selective reduction/termination issue (a big one for me) and we agreed that a surrogacy should not be rushed, and we wanted to take our time & get to know each other first. We've been e-mailing now for a little over a month, and last weekend I met K, her husband J, and their daughter for lunch. I knew then that they were the perfect IP's for me! K & J felt the same, and here we are, officially matched!

We have an appointment with an RE in the DFW area for November 19th, and we are trying to get an appointment made for psych evals. The forms for our criminal background checks have been mailed, and we're working on finding a good lawyer for our contract. We've even decided on which doctor to use for the pregnancy! Hopefully we can have a final draft of the contract ready to sign right after our appointment with the RE, so once he gives his official thumbs up we can sign. We're on the right track, and I am so, so excited. If everything goes as planned, it looks like we should be ready for a mid-late January transfer. K & J have three frozen embryos (or 'totsicles', as I like to call them!) left from their cycle that resulted in their daughter. We've decided to transfer just one embryo, since the thought of twins seems to scare them as much as it does me! Hopefully the transfer will result in a successful pregnancy, but if not, we'll do a fresh cycle.

My friend Nina has been searching for a long time for a match, and this past week she was officially matched with an IF! We were supposed to go out to dinner Friday night to celebrate, but my oldest son got a stomach virus so we had to postpone, so Tuesday we're going to have lunch to celebrate our matches. I don't know what the restaraunt is called, or what kind of food they serve, but I know that they have fried Snickers bars, and that is ALL I need to know. I'm so glad that I not only have my friends who are experienced surrogates to help me through this journey, but I will also have Nina to go through this with me as well. She's also a first time GS, and will be transferring around the same time as I do. I feel like I've hit the surrogacy lottery, haha!