Tomorrow...or today; though I prefer to call it tomorrow, as for me, today isn't over until I go to sleep.
Tomorrow, I have my first official medical appointment on my journey as a surrogate.

It's a rather simple test. No lab required. Just me, my dr, a nurse, dye and an ultrasound machine. It's a complicated name. I won't bother you with it. They are looking for any blockage in my fallopian tubes because of an infection I had in my left one when I was a teenager.

As it was told to me, if there is a blockage, there is fluid that builds up. This fluid is deadly to an embryo/fetus. The fluid, should it leak into my uterus will prevent any embryos from implanting. Should a pregnancy take place, any leakage will kill the baby. Any blockage found needs to be removed before transfer takes place. This mostly likely would require removal of the blocked fallopian tube or at the very least, the blocked portion.

Scary huh?
It is.

They will be inserting a dye...well...ya know where...the Dr can see where the dye goes with the ultrasound, if it goes all the way through my tubes...we are good. If not...well something needs to be fixed.
I have also learned that the blockage is not the only thing they can see that could cause a problem with me continuing as a surrogate.
A laceration on my uterus would put me out of the running completely. I don't know what causes them to be present. But I have also learned that they can make it difficult to become pregnant.

Needless to say, I'm a little nervous. Not that I actually have any reason to be. My OB has told me that I more than likely do not have any of those things present. I have had 3 beautiful pregnancies, births, and never had any problems becoming pregnant. If I had any of these things, he is sure he would have noticed SOMETHING in all of the ultrasounds I have had, or I would have had some problems with my fertility before now. Plus, I had a pregnancy a year and a half ago and had no medical issues since that time...so I should be good to go.

Should.
I hate that word.

I wish I already KNEW that I had nothing to worry about.
But then, there would be no reason for this test.

Again, it's not that I actually have a need to think something negative will show on this test. It's that, this journey has really kicked off, after all the time and effort I have put into just matching alone. The match I have is amazing. Doug and Charles are awesome. Truly awesome men. Even the smallest thing can end our journey together in an instant. It's a fragile journey. So I'm nervous about anything that can show that tiniest thing that could end our journey together...not to mention give Doug and Charles more disappointment. They deserve to be parents.

7:30am comes awfully early, especially when it's 1:00am and you are still unable to go to sleep.

I have some herbal sleepy time tea to try to help relax me and help me sleep.

Here's to a few hours sleep and good news from the test tomorrow.

Things just keep rolling forward...birth control started!

I know..."birth control? Aren't you wanting to get pregnant?"

Yes. And birth control is the first step in the process. For my journey.
But I will get to that in a minute.

Not much time has went by. The beginning of October, the 12th to be exact my IPs contacted me right after being accepted by the agency. And now...wow, November 12!
Now as of November 12th, all the foot work stuff is done and we are moving on to the bigger things, the ACTUAL journey. In just one month. It was went so fast, but I'm totally ok with it.

This is what I wanted, so begin right away, and we did. It just happens like that when you have the right match. :)

George and I have had our psych evals done, all the paper work is done, (loads of paper work), all of the other little details. My cycle finally started and I was able to schedule the Hysterosalpingogram.

Hysterosalpingogram? What? You don't know what that is? Ok yeah, I had no clue either. I will be given a dye that will make my uterus and fallopian tubes all very clear on an ultrasound type of device. They are basically just checking for any blockage in my fallopian tubes that would need to be corrected before a transfer.

In preparation for this and a few other reasons, I have had to begin birth control pills. One, to prevent pregnancy. George has a vasectomy, but that is not always fool proof and we want to MAKE SURE Doug and Charles are not disappointed again by something we can control. Two, for purposes of the test, the pill keeps my uterine lining from becoming to thick for the OB to see what he needs to see. Three, the RE (reproductive endocrinologist) will need my cycle to be controlled. So that's how birth control pills fit in to getting pregnant. :)

This Friday, the 16th I have to go in for a pregnancy test, just to make sure we are clear for the test. Then the following Tuesday, the 20th I go in for the hysterosalpingogram. Hopefully by the end of that week the OB will have the report sent to the RE so that I can schedule my appointment with FCI (the fertility clinic) and I will be able to plan my trip to Chicago!! To meet the RE and get the plan laid out for meds and transfer but also to finally meet Doug and Charles face to face!!!

I'm so excited for that! We have exchanged soooo many emails, chat on facebook...I want to meet them!

We have had our share of bumps in this previous busy month, but it has not been enough to set us back. I will continue to keep the faith and moving forward, hoping things keep going as they have been and soon after Christmas we will be planning a transfer!