Contracts ALMOST done!

Well not much has happened since my last post. It's actually nice not having my email be full and having to respond to 4 different people every day. At the same time it feels weird having more time on my hands.

I'm not complaining.

Let's see what's new:
I received my new med calendar Friday. The calendar shows me when meds start, but it just tells me when to start the Lupron; in what dose and when to change it, and it tells me when to stop my BCPs.
It also tells me when I need to have my blood work and lining checked. Sometime this week I will be receiving my actual med schedule which will tell me when to take each medication.

George and I's flight for the transfer has been booked. Our hotel has been booked. Just this evening I made reservations for parking while we are gone. So we are all set! The weather BETTER be kind this time!!!

The contract is almost done. Almost.

I just wish this thing would be done already! UGH!! *sigh*

Ok I feel better.
The final draft is done. Doug and Charles have their copy. They have reviewed it.
I'm still waiting on mine...my attorney who is usually way on the ball with everything is kind of slacking tonight.

I'm so anxious, the contract is the final key piece. 15 days left before I can start meds, and the contract has to be done. There MAY be one thing that has to be changed...again, which very well could take 15 days with basing it on how things have gone so far.

I'm staying positive. Trying to be patient. I'm soooo not a patient person. I like to get things DONE! :)

The next couple of weeks should be pretty quiet. Once the contract is signed, we just wait till med start date.

Waiting, waiting, waiting.

Meds Have Arrived!!!

Soooo...my box of meds arrived this past Thursday (12/27). I did not start them on Saturday like it was originally planned.
I FINALLY got major medical insurance! Get this...through my University! I didn't even know Universities offered medical insurance to their students! Pretty cool, huh? I thought so.

The downfall to that was it doesn't go in effect until Jan. 1, and Illinois state law is that meds cannot start until the insurance is in effect...bleh. Yeah, 3 whole days!
Go figure.

So contracts will be completed this week and I will begin meds sometime around Jan. 20th. I will receive my new med schedule tomorrow. Making the transfer take place on February 22nd.

"That's ok!!"
...was my exact thought once I pulled out all of my meds!!!

Look at all of that!!!


Ok, so I'm going to give you a run down on what everything is and how it all works. I have had questions about this from very inquiring minds. ;)

(From left to right)
The two white boxes are Lupron. Those will be the first meds I take, one shot daily.
Yup, I said SHOT.
I have to put medicine. In a syringe. And stab myself. Eek.
Now for this I get to use an insulin, comfort needle. So it shouldn't be too bad (so I have heard). The injection will go in my belly.
Lupron basically shuts down my pituitary gland = no hormone production = no cycling. My cycle will be controlled by the meds (how much of what hormone when).

See? Insulin syringes...not so bad.


The next set of boxes are a form of estrogen in patch form that I will start taking a couple of weeks after starting Lupron. I will change 2 patches every other day, working my way to 4 patches (yes, at one time), along with the Lupron. This begins introducing hormones much like my body would do on its own. I continue this for a couple of weeks.

Then I will stop Lupron. Begin a Z-pak (not sure why; haven't got to ask yet)(box under patches), continue estrogen patches (4 by this time), begin progesterone in oil injections (the big bag next to the patches, brown bag under it, and little bag under that), and begin my other form of estrogen (big, pink box) in the form of a vaginal suppository. Yeah I know...gross. 3 x day. Aren't you jealous of all the fun I get to have?? lol. I will also have to start chewing one baby aspirin daily (3rd left bottle to the right). I *would* also begin taking the first bottle on the left...prenatals w/DHA, but I have already been taking my own prenatals and DHA.

Anyway, yes, I said another SHOT. The progesterone in oil. This hormone is what supports a pregnancy. This causes the uterine lining to become thick and fluffy, a nice comfy bed for any fertilized egg to attach to. Or two, if they are both so inclined.
These shots are not as easy as the Lupron. These are IM injections...or intramuscular. Yes, In. The. Muscle. Do you know how far down your muscle is??? Do you realize how long a needle has to be to get there??? Yeah...oooooouuuuuuch!! :-/

Look at that!!!!! 18 gauge needles!! For those that do not know...that is big! Any volunteers to stick me with that everyday?! I don't think I can do it to myself! (Don't worry, I will suck it up and do it...I have weeks to prepare)


I guess I should tell you...I don't have to be stuck with that needle. I didn't realize that at first. Mini stroke. hehe I only have to draw the med in that needle.

The brown bag...the vials of the hormone. The bag under that, are just needles. 1 1/2in long, 25 gauge needles. Once I draw up the med, I will change the needle to the 25 gauge...for those that do not know...that is MUCH smaller than the other one. :) This makes me happy. Still rather long...but not as big around, which is comfort.

As you can see...smaller. Awesome!
Any volunteers????? Didn't think so. *sigh*


I will continue the patches, IM injections, and suppositories until after my pregnancy test. If I am pregnant, I will continue with the progesterone for the first trimester, (the other two meds, I'm not sure if I will continue at that point).
If I am not pregnant, I stop all meds, take a few weeks break, and start all over.

(oh, the other random bag I didn't mention...is just alcohol swabs. The very last bottle I didn't mention is a Valium, for the day of the transfer. I guess some women have some anxiety and it helps keep them calm)

So there ya have it! A gestational surrogate's meds! Who wants to take them with me?? :)

I may have mini freak outs and make jokes about being terrified of those huge needles and complain about the oh so yuck vaginal suppositories, but in reality,(I AM terrified of sticking myself with those loooong needles) I am so thrilled I have this box of meds in my house. Sitting in eye sight everyday. They are a daily visual for me that my journey is here. It is happening. I no longer desire to be a surrogate.
I am no longer aspiring to be one.
I am actually becoming one.
I'm doing it.
I am only weeks away from helping an incredibly deserving couple have a baby...
I couldn't feel more honored at this moment.

Well, for the next few weeks, not much will be happening. I will get my new med schedule for our February transfer, complete the contract, and wait for med start date.
I will have little updates for you along the way. See you in a few days!

Contracts and Insurance...enough said

I tell ya, I have had people tell me, "The contract phase and finding insurance is the most stressful part of this journey."

They were not kidding.

It has been back and forth on whether or not I will be able to start medications this coming Saturday (12/29) or not.

My flight to Chicago for my appointment with the RE was cancelled due to whether...the first snow of the season. Go figure.

The contract has actually not been that bad. We agree on basically everything, it has just mostly been a matter of the wording.

The insurance has been the biggest hurdle. Now I tell ya, I have some amazingly wonderful IPs for taking on a surrogate with no insurance for surrogacy that lives in Missouri. (it is dang near impossible to find surrogacy insurance in this state)

We have been able to get a policy through a company that is specifically for surrogacy. It's rather expensive, but gets the job done, and it's what my guys want to use. New Life is the name. Doug & Charles are again wonderful; they purchased the best policy that New Life offers to make sure I had the best coverage, and so that I have what I need to begin meds this Saturday.

*Side note: For the state of Illinois, a surrogate must have insurance in place to cover the cycle (meds, transfer, pregnancy) and any complications resulting from the cycle to be able to begin meds and not void the contract.*

The New Life policy Doug and Charles got for me covers all of this. But both of our attorneys still seem to have some question about if I need to have a major medical plan in place in time for the meds to begin or if it just has to be in place before the transfer takes place.
It's so confusing.

I don't even understand why I need a major medical plan at all. The coverage I need is for the meds, complications from the meds, the transfer, complications from it, the pregnancy, complications from it, and some postpartum coverage. I have that with my New Life policy. My IPs are not responsible for anything that is not related to the surrogacy....so I don't understand the need to have this non-pregnancy coverage.

Nevertheless, we are being told I have to have it. But now the issue is whether or not I have to have in place in order to be able to start the medications. THIS Saturday.

Right now, the contract states that I will have major medical in place before meds and maternity coverage before transfer. Can't we just flip that? We thought so...at first. Now we aren't so sure. We aren't sure about much right now, we are just keeping the faith that our attorneys really are good at what they do, and they will get it all figured out in time.

So as of right now, according to our clinic, I can start my medications on Saturday as long as our contract is finished. My attorney is reviewing the policy I have and the ILL. statute to see if this is good enough in accordance with the law for me to start medications. I will know more on Wednesday afternoon about all of this. My attorney is calling me then after she has time to review everything, and speak with Doug & Charles' attorney.

The end of this complicated process is almost near. Once we have our contract finished and know exactly when I can start medications...it will be so much better.

I do have to say though, my attorney seems really great, and so does theirs, because mine has been working this weekend before Christmas to get things done, and theirs is taking time out of her vacation to speak to my attorney and work on our contract to get it done by the "deadline."

And Doug & Charles have been even more great!! They are so supportive of me, especially when this stressful process has really gotten to me and brought me down. They have been right there to boost me back up, and remind of me of the positive sides of this. They don't think badly of me just because I get down about it. They don't wallow in the negative of the situation. They "keep their eyes on the prize" and push through. They understand this is just a part of the process and never forget that this will all be worth it in the end. They really are a great match for me. Amazing people. Amazing.

I will update again after I hear from my attorney on Wednesday.

In the meantime, Merry Christmas! Have a wonderful holiday and be safe!

Update & Trip to the RE!!

I'm so sorry I have not updated in a while! I will be more on top of it as things progress, I promise.

Well, everything with my test went fine. Not after some serious stressing because we found out that I have a unicornate uterus. Yes, my uterus is "unicorn" shaped. Weird huh? After much research, I learned that it is a birth "defect," it is not very common and the vast majority of women that have it either have fertility issues, have preterm labor and/or breech babies.

I have had none of the above.

It is common for women with this type of uterus to USE surrogate...
I AM the surrogate. :)

That did cause some worry. Lots. Of worry.
But by the RN's report, the RE was not concerned at all with my uterus since I have had 3 great *normal* pregnancies and deliveries. He said obviously I did not have any problems in my past so I will be fine. :) Yay for health!


Next, we made appointments. One on December 21st for the visit with the RE to thoroughly discuss the process I will be going through and fertility medications and one on January 31st for the transfer. :-D


To preserve our January transfer date, George and I did our blood work at our local lab instead of waiting for our appointment with the RE.
That caused more stress.

My TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone) was elevated and a few of my other levels were slightly out of range. The most concerning was the TSH, but still they told me it wasn't alarming. But that didn't deter my worry.
I had to have them redone and see my PCP to be medically cleared again.
Everything went fine! More yay for health!

Add in a lot more bumps with the agency as a result of them not following through as they promise as a company (we will just leave it at that) and it's been a ride so far, but still a good experience overall.



The best part of what has happened lately...Doug and Charles came down yesterday!!!!
They spent most of Saturday with us. We showed them our new house where we are going to be moving, and hung out here at home talking, getting to know everyone better. Made chocolate chip cookies, swapped gifts, talked some more. It was really great. We went to our appointment with my Midwife so that Doug and Charles could meet her and talk with her about my prenatal care and such. We went out to eat, and went our separate ways for the night. We enjoyed having them here so much!
Them coming here just reenforced that this is the best match for me! They really are awesome people and I am so incredibly happy and honored that I get to be a part of extending them as a family.

Doug is on the left, Charles is on the right.


So now, we just need to finish the contract, which will hopefully be done this week. George and I are leaving Thursday evening for our appointment in Chicago on Friday and then on the 29th I will start my fertility meds!!!!



I make it sound so easy and not all that stressful, but I choose to leave out all the legal and procedural details that cause the stress for us. I don't that to be the focus of our journey. Or deter anyone that may be interested in embarking on a surrogacy journey of their own.

Have there been down times? Yes. Have there been stressful times? Yes. Will there be more? Yes. Have the good and exciting, happy things outweighed the bad? Absolutely!!

With every step we take, it becomes more and more real for me that this journey really is well underway and here very soon, I will be waiting to that positive pregnancy test!! I will update more after our trip and our appointment this Friday!!

So now, we are almost through with the contract phase! Hopefully that will be done this week.

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!

MATCHED!!!

Holy moly mother of Jesus I have matched!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

There just was no other way to start this post! It deserves every last ounce of excitement that I am feeling!!! I just want to jump up and down around my living room!

I can only imagine how my IPs feel right now!

MY IPs...pure awesomeness right there.

Ok, so. I honestly don't remember right now if I already mentioned this or not, but I have joined up with an agency to try to enhance my chances of matching.

Well, it worked!

I signed up with Family Source Consultants in Chicago, Ill. I received an email today letting me know after reviewing my medical records, I have been approved to move forward with a couple they were trying to match me with!!!!

My IPs (love the sound of that) are Doug and Charles. They are amazing people!! Truly. We have exchanged I don't even know how many emails and I just got a great vibe from them. After reviewing their profile, I KNEW this was the right match for me. I was so worried that the clinic would say no to working with me, and I wouldn't be able to work with these amazing people!

They have such huge hearts, filled with so much love and compassion, not only for each other, but for people and life in general. They are truly each others "other half." I definitely picked that up when reading their profile. They are so excited to become parents and have great plans of how to raise their future children. I am excited to be joining this journey with them!

We have scheduled to Skype (to "meet" face to face) on Sunday evening. Very excited for that. Then after that, we will continue to make appointments for testings and screenings and contracts...so much a head!!!

Things can still turn to where it doesn't work out of course. I am very aware of that. But I'm not going to dwell on that. I'm thinking positive and looking forward to the future and the amazing journey a head.

It's still very surreal for me to think that this is finally, actually happening for me. :):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):):)

I really am so very very excited!!!! Plus, I can't wait to be pregnant again. :) Go ahead, call me crazy, I miss it.