Half-way There and Gender Update!!!

Whoo! 20 weeks and 1 day, we are half way there!!!
I actually have a feeling we hit our half-way mark a few weeks ago, but for the purpose of calculation... :)

How have things been this last month? Pretty great!!
Sickness is COOOMPLEEEETELY gone! Not even a little here or there. So happy about that.
I feel more energetic, but do get fatigued easily if I don't watch myself. The only thing I have to really complain about, is that my appetite hasn't come back yet. Not really sure what that is about. I'm not *worried* yet, but I would like to have a normal pregnant appetite, so I can make sure I gain the amount of weight I need. I'm gaining, just very slowly. Midwife isn't worried, we still have about 20 weeks to go. Plenty of time to gain what I need, but...I would like to WANT to eat.

Other than that, everything is pretty boring around here. Which is a great thing as far as pregnancy is concerned! This has been the best pregnancy I have had. When carrying my children, each pregnancy I had something happen to cause a scare at one point or another. Everything always turned out ok, but there were scares along the way. There hasn't been any of that with this one, and I'm not complaining one bit! haha

I have been able to feel little bean moving around for a little while, but it was never hard enough to feel on the outside. Not quite a week ago, I started to be able to feel little "bumps" on the outside. :) Go figure it would start when the guys weren't here. :-/ But it's pretty cool the little bean can be felt on the outside now!

So far, this journey has been so amazing. I really consider us to be very lucky. We haven't heard of a lot of first time surrogacy journeys going as great and smooth as ours. Now we have had our bumps along the way, but they haven't been major and they haven't been among each other. I'm just so continually grateful for matching with Doug and Charles, and for them being as great as they are. This journey wouldn't be the same with another couple. I'm a lucky surrogate!!

Speaking of those wonderful dads-to-be. We had our ultrasound on the 17th of this month. They came down and stayed for a few days so we all could spend some time together. It really was a wonderful visit!!

The ultrasound itself was fantastic!! I wish I would have known about this option a long time ago! We went to a private practice Sonographer that my Midwife recommended. It was such a different experience than having them with ultrasound techs at the Dr office or hospital. She didn't rush at all, we were there for almost an hour! She was so incredibly sweet and patient. She kept encouraging the guys to ask whatever questions they had, and she explained everything we were looking at, very thoroughly. You could tell she cared. Plus, she not only gave us a FULL report of how everything looked, she even SHOWED the guys the report! I have never seen that happen before. It always has to be reviewed by the care provider, then the care provider will give the report to the patient, leaving parents to wait and wonder how their baby is doing. If I every have to have ultrasounds again in the future...I will be going there! OH! AND she put the entire thing on DVD for them, and gave them a TON of pictures!! I mean a ton! The room was huge, with several chairs, and two large flat screen TV's; it was pretty cool! My husband and our 3 children all went, so there was plenty room for all of us. My kids (especially) my daughter, are very interested in pregnancy and how the baby grows, so I was very glad they got to attend, and the Sonographer was so great; they got to really get a good understanding of what was going on in my belly. It was a great experience for all of us.

Later after the ultrasound, we met up with both of my doulas. This was the guys first meeting with them. That was a fantastic meeting. Full of many laughs and lots of great info and learning. You could really tell the guys were really interested in the labor process and what the doulas could do for all of us, including once the baby is born. Of course, this being a surrogacy, things will be slightly different than with traditional couples at birth. So we had discussions about how everything would be handled with baby at birth; ex: where baby would be placed immediately straight from the womb, immediate skin-to-skin, how THEY could bond with baby right after birth with skin-to-skin, nursing/immediate nursing after birth, etc. The doulas were so great at providing them with evidence based info about the options and we all were talking openly about what we all thought was best for baby and myself for recovery after birth. Conversations like that are so great. (just another reason I'm so lucky to have these guys for IPs)

This baby is going to have such a great start at a great life! We have so many wonderful people supporting all of us and we all have great communication!

So blessed.

Doug and Q hanging out waiting for time to meet the doulas.

Buddies!



Ok, moving on to what I know lots of people are so anxious to hear. (Many of you that are close with us have already heard)
We had planned to find out what the guys were having. At the beginning of the ultrasound, the Sonographer told us she was going to start at the head and work down the body, checking out everything she needed to check and what we were interested in. Well, this little bean was just making it way too hard to wait for the gender reveal! lol. I believe the Sonographer's words were, "Well I was going to wait, but he's just making it too easy!" haha!!

That's right, Doug and Charles are having a BOY!!!!!!!!! Let me tell you what, this little boy was very proud to show it too! I saw his little penis before she announced it! She was trying to go around it, but he just wasn't having it! haha I think he wanted his daddies to know they are having a boy. :)

I'm so excited for them!!!

Such a sweet little profile.

His little arm rest on his head.

His little legs. He was sitting with his ankles crossed and his hands behind his head, like he was reclined back relaxing. It was so cute!!!! (she couldn't get the whole thing on the picture)

A boy. Doug and Charles are having a boy. A son! Aaaaaaaaaah!!! :-D

So for the rest of our weekend, we had an appointment with my Midwife, they got to hear the heart beat and talk to her about what they had on their minds. We went out to dinner...Charles mentioned wanting Red Lobster...that was music to this pregnant lady's ears!! I had been wanting crab so bad for the past month! haha I definitely had an appetite then! I stuffed myself on a pound of snow crab...man was I miserable afterwards...but it was worth it! Thanks for that Charles!!! :) A preggo and her food = pure happiness. ;)

Then Saturday we all went and spent a day at Worlds and Oceans of fun on Saturday! It was a blast!! Doug really wanted to visit Planet Snoopy (he loves Peanuts). It was really neat!! They had a little boutique and the guys did their first bit of baby shopping! LOL Oh that was funny! Charles came out of there carrying 5 big bags of cool Peanut baby stuff! haha They got a great start! I love seeing their excitement, and I'm so glad we get to be a part of it. :)

This is where Doug and Charles bought the baby stuff.

Snoopy's #1 fan!

Had to get one of the hubby...he always tries to hide from the camera. :)

Doug, Charles, hubby, and the two oldest kiddos getting wet!

All in all, it was a fabulous time, I'm glad they were able to stay for a few days.
They will be down again in August. I'm already excited for that visit!! We will be doing the maternity shoot at that visit also.
By then, they will be able to feel the baby move! I can't wait for them to feel their son kicking around. Every little thing they can experience, helps it be more real to them, and helps them be more of a part of their son growing and developing. It is so important to me they get as much of that as they can. So much exciting stuff coming up!!!

2nd Trimester is here!

16 week belly!

The second trimester is finally here!
Well, it's been here for a few weeks, but I'm just now able to be happy about it since the sickness is *finally* going away.

Uterus is getting bigger and baby is moving up farther in my belly. I'm looking more and more deformed every morning when I wake up. haha
Baby likes to ride high, just under my belly button and kick. Those little kicks are quite obvious the last few days. Today, I was holding my 2 year old son (whom I might add is quite big for his age), he had wrapped his legs around me quite tightly, right about where baby was, and he must have made baby uncomfortable, because that little bean starting going crazy in there! If felt very cool! Those movements cannot be felt on the outside yet, still too early for that. But my midwife says here in a few weeks, we should start to be able to feel them from the outside.
I'm hoping we can feel them by the time Doug and Charles come down for the ultrasound in June! So they can feel their wee one kick!

So I'm finally feeling like me again. I missed feeling like me! The only sickness I have now is a little in the morning shortly after I get up. Then after I eat, about mid-morning it goes away.
I have more energy now, which is really coming in handy chasing around my 2 year old and all the gardening I have been doing. :)
(We have a HUGE garden and lots of flower beds) Without my energy returning, I wouldn't be able to keep up with it all! My other 2 children and the hubby are pretty helpful when I'm feeling tired. Which is ALWAYS great!

I finally went out and got some clothes that actually fit comfortably. :)
Let me tell ya...I have NEVER bought maternity clothes this soon before! lol. I have heard a lot, that I'm "so small!" But I think for only being in the very beginning of the second trimester...I should be smaller! haha
I'm not really complaining though, that just means I get to enjoy the pregnancy belly a little longer. And that, I'm totally ok with. :)
But it feels mighty nice to wear clothes that fit like they are supposed to!

I also had an appointment with my midwife on Friday. Charles got to cam in! It was good, and pretty boring. haha. But for pregnancy, boring is a good thing! My midwife told me I'm boring because I don't have anything for her to figure out! hahaha! I'm sure I will give her something before this pregnancy is over. ;)
That's your warning, just in case you are reading this. hehe

Guesses on if it's a girl or a boy????

Midwife says boy; she has 5 of them, so it's a pretty good guess for her. :)
George and I think girl. We have 2 boys, 1 girl. When I was pregnant with my daughter, I craved sour stuff a lot. As a matter of fact, I kept Kool-aid sour cubes in the freezer from the second trimester, until she was born!
Weeeeell...I'm having that craving again! I made the sour cubes yesterday. :) They work very well at satisfying my sour cravings! Not they healthiest thing I can eat, I know, but I like to think I'm making up for it from everything in my garden. haha. That counts....right???
So anyway, girl is our guess!!!
What's yours????


June 13 is our ultrasound! It will be in 3D. We are all so very excited!!! June 14 we will visit with our midwife again. I want the next few weeks to by quickly!!!

hmmm....I think that's all I have for ya fine people thus far. Things are great! I feel great! I'm rocking a nice baby bump, feeling movement and just a few short weeks, get to see the wonderful future daddies to this little bean and find out what they are having! It's going to be a great summer!!

Way Overdue

Shame on me!!! I have not updated for a while! Please forgive me.

We have some newcomers here recently, and I would like to thank you all for reading and following our journey of surrogacy. It's so great to have so much support and so many people interested! I'm sure Doug and Charles really appreciate the support as well. They really are awesome guys! Can't wait to see them holding their little bean!

Well let's see here...where to start...

I finished my meds! That was so great! It's so nice not having to take my injection supplies with me whenever we go anywhere in the evenings or worry about having to do it before bed. I just....go to bed. :) I don't miss having the sore hips either. :)

I had my first Midwife appointment. It was pretty short and sweet. Baby's heart rate was in the 160's. The little bean is hard to tract down, that's for sure! haha Midwife has to search and search, and pin it down when she finds it! It usually hides behind my heart beat, which makes it sound so much more amazing when we hear it.

So everything is going great so far. Belly is definitely getting bigger, pants getting tighter.


This is what I woke up to a couple mornings ago. :)
Little baby bean saying hello! As I was waking, in my sleepy stuper, I couldn't figure out what that bump was...I moved my covers, and looked down and instantly realized and actually said, "Well hey there!" lol. The picture really doesn't do the bump justice, I stood up and looked all kinds of weird! haha
But baby must have moved because shortly after I started walking around, the hard protrusion of my belly went away. For a while anyway.

Those are the little moments, I wish I could share with the guys. I hate they have to miss that. :(

Oh such great news!!!! The sickness has pretty much gone completely away!! Woo hoo!! I know, I know, not the greatest of great news you were expecting, I'm sure. But let me tell you folks that have never had to experience the "joyous" pregnancy sickness...when it finally goes away, that is something to celebrate! haha

My children are really beginning to get excited. Even my newly two year old little Q responds well. I have little talks with him about there being a baby in mommy's belly. He will come up to me out of the blue, life my shirt and poke my belly saying, "baby." But then, he wants to SEE the baby. haha. I'm curious to see how he will respond to mommy having a big 'ol belly!
The biggest challenge I am having right now, is protecting my belly from Q when he wants to climb on mommy's lap. Lol. He isn't so gentle about it anymore, and he likes to rough house...soooo, I'm constantly holding something over my belly to shield it from his surprisingly strong little jabs of the elbow, knee, or whatever other body part it may be. Yesterday he did a headbutt to my belly. Ouch. I kind of yelled out, "be careful! The baby!" His sweet response was, "Oh...! Sorry baby." Oh sweet boys....

No worries, he hasn't done anything with enough force to cause any harm. :)

Our next Midwife appointment is on May 20. Then our ultrasound is on June 13. It will be in 3D! How awesome is that?! I have never had a 3D ultrasound before, so I'm pretty darn excited! We will be finding out the gender as well. :) I figured if the guys didn't want to know, I still would! I just get too antsy with that kind of info! haha

That's all I got for ya for now! I will continue to update and back on a regular basis again. Sorry again for it being so long since my last one! I have just been a busy, busy lady! I have been getting ready for finals (coming next week!), being at a client's birth, and celebrating my Q's 2nd birthday...not much rest for the weary!

I will be taking pictures every week. I probably won't post EVERY picture. Maybe I will. Eh, don't know yet. haha

Thanks for following our journey! See you all very soon!

10 week 2 day belly!

Here is the first belly pouch picture!

(please ignore the box and any other random thing that may be noticeable, I'm in my basement haha)






Here we are at 10wk 2dys!!!
Now I know that may not look like a baby pouch to some of you. That was previously a very flat tummy. :)
Not to mention, my pants are now so snug they are becoming uncomfortable. I feel the rubber band usage will commence very soon.

I think this is one of the most exciting parts of the journey. (Well aside from their little bean coming earth side to me his/her daddies of course!)
Being able to share with Doug and Charles, the growth of their little miracle. I just wish they could be here every day to personally watch it grow. But pictures will have to do....there will be a lot more to come!

Time with the RE is ALMOST over!!!!!

Ok, so I'm a little behind this week. :-/
I have been so busy I just haven't had the energy to sit and update lately.

So, last Wednesday (April 3) I had my initial appointment with my Midwife. It was no big deal, just giving her some info and such.
Then Thursday I had my 3rd and final ultrasound. It showed the little bean is still growing just as it should be! With a strong little heart beat in the 190s!! Holy batman that's fast!

After the ultrasound, I was informed by my RE's nurse that when I am 11 weeks, I can stop all medications!! Woot woot!
Not gonna lie....excited about that! I'm sure that will still be an adjustment, since I'm so used to taking them....I'm gonna feel like I'm forgetting something every day! haha

At that point, I will be completely released from my RE and fully under my Midwife's care. :)
I have my actual prenatal appointment with her on the 18th! Excited!!
Doug and Charles will hopefully be Skyping in so they can still "be there" and ask questions as we go along, and keep up with how their little bean is doing. :)

Oh! TOMORROW I have my first doula appointment! I'm super excited about that!! For once, I'm on the other side of that arrangement. ;) Add in the bonus of having 2 AMAZING doulas (one of which I had the honor of training under) and that calls for some SUPER DUPER EXCITEMENT!!!!!

Yes, I said "super duper" don't judge me. ;)

Things are definitely starting to slow down overall.
Pregnancy sickness (I don't call it morning sickness, let's face it, that's total false advertising) is mostly gone (mostly). I have good days and bad days now. One day recently was a baaaaaaad day, but they are far and few between.

Still tired. I don't really think that ever actually goes anywhere.
Pregnancy brain is kicking my hiney bad! Ok, ok, for those that know me personally, I know right now they are thinking, "you are spacey all the time anyway!" Yes. This is true. BUT, it is so much worse now! lol!!!

I tell ya, some days....I just am not sure I know where I am and what I am doing! haha.

Yes, pregnancy brain is real.
No it is not just a silly excuse for pregnant women to get away with being spacey. (well, most of us).
Men, if you don't believe us...

:-P

That's all I got cause you will never be able to know what it's like to make another human inside your body. It's hard work man!
:)

So that's about it for me at the moment. Pretty boring I know. Sorry nothing super fun is happening right now. Pregnancy does have some boring times about it. It can't all be super exciting! We women wouldn't have ANY energy left! ;)

But right now, I AM craving some yummy pinwheels I tried over the weekend, and pizza. Cheese pizza. hmmm......

Speechless.....

Two posts in one day....whoa, I don't really know what's happening! haha

I just have to share with everyone.

**WARNING** I am about to get all gushy, mushy, and very personal. So if this isn't your thing, don't read any further. If it is your thing, grab a tissue.

For those that do not already know, I am a labor doula.
I was just interviewing with a potential client when in the middle of conversation, she realizes I'm the surrogate she has been following in a parenting group on Facebook we are both a part of.

This was her reaction:
"Oh my God, you're THE Kimberly?! You're like a legend! I can't believe I'm talking to you right now! I'm kind of like...starstruck! LOL"

I can't even tell you how that made me feel!!!!!!!
Not in a big-headed, stuck-up way, more of a heart swelling, teary eyed, deeply touched, I can't believe someone just said that about me, way!

That just made my whole year!!!!!

To know I am making THAT kind of mark on people with my surrogacy journey...there are no words. I am doing things in my life I never thought I would....making a difference for people, being their inspiration....growing up how I did, I never thought it was possible I could be that person.

You have to understand. I did not grow up in a life that raised me to be this person. By statistics, I should be living the exact opposite. I was not treated very well by the man that took part in raising me. I don't usually talk about this much, but to really grasp where I am right now in response to that potential client's reaction...a nutshell explanation is necessary.

I was told as a child I would grow up to be no good. Becoming a mother at 16, I was told my life was going nowhere, I would never amount to anything, etc.

And here I am, being told things like I'm "like a legend" and being referred to as "THE Kimberly" in a positive way, because of the choices I have made and things I have decided to do with my life....I just can't even put into appropriate words what that does to me emotionally. What it does to my heart. (All in good ways of course!!)

I have spent much of my life, including my adult life, looking at people who inspire others, who have inspired me, listened to people rave about others that do such amazing things with their lives and touch so many people; I see them, in complete "awe" wishing I could be like that one day. That one day, people may see me as I see them. But always thinking that would never be me. I can't ever be like that. Not in a celebrity type of way, but in positive light, to be seen as a positive person that makes a difference in the world.

I just had that day. That moment. If that person was in front of me right now, I'm pretty sure I would be strangling her with a hug. Such a sweet woman to say amazingly sweet things to me; to see me as she does....

To know I AM amounting to something. I AM making a difference. I AM touching people and inspiring them. To be heard. Respected in that way....

I never felt I was that person before now. Never. I still don't really FEEL it, but just to know that someone sees me like that...is such an amazing feeling.

Thank you, to the woman that said those things to me. You know who you are. You didn't know it, you didn't even try, but you have made a huge mark on me by your words. A mark so big and important to me, I will always remember it. Thank you so much for your kind heart.

I'm on a teary cloud nine right now!!!!!!!!!

Much love xoxo

FREEDOM!!!!!!!! almost.

I had my second ultrasound yesterday. Everything looked great. Baby is measuring right on track and has a super strong heart beat. Yesterday it was in the 170s!
The monitoring clinic didn't send my RE clinic the report until this morning, so I had to wait to find out if/when I get to come off of my meds.

I am so happy to report that as of today, I go down to 2 patches every other day instead of 4 and I'm no longer taking the progesterone suppositories!!! Thank God for THAT! They let ME choose which form of progesterone to stop. I wasted no time in blurting out, "No more suppositories!" The nurse laughed and said that was a common answer. :)

So now I'm just taking the progesterone injection, which I'm ok with.
To my surprise, I have to have a 3rd ultrasound next week. No one ever said anything about that before until today. But the nurse says our RE likes to have 3. No big deal. She said at that time, I will have an exact date at when I will be released to my Midwife. :) Just a few more weeks!!! 4 at the very most. I'm getting so excited!!!!



How am I feeling?
Nauseous. Nauseous. Nauseous. BUT those Queasy beads I got REALLY do the trick at making it go away!! Love it. I have been playing around with them just to see. I usually get really nauseous if I don't eat AND right after I eat, even if I'm not nauseous before eating. Yes, frustrating. So, I wait for the ickiness to set in and I feel horrible. Put on my beads...20 minutes later, just peachy. I have taken them off shortly after the ickiness goes away...about 10 minutes later, icky again. I have put them on first thing in the morning and worn them aaaaaaaaaall day and did not feel icky at all. :)

Yup. They work.

I'm even getting a tiny little pooch already! Although it cannot been seen unless I'm in my birthday suit. But it's there! (Not bragging) but I was very FLAT in my abdominal area...now there is this little bump there. I'm HOPING I'm not shopping for maternity clothes in the next 4 weeks. hehe *nervous giggle*

Other than that...I don't feel much different. Ok I lie, I DO get tired more easily. If I nap, I wake up feeling refreshed instead of groggy (I typically wake up groggy like I slept too much).

Ok, other than THAT, I don't feel much different. Just like myself...walking around with a little surro bean in my belly.

I talk to my Q about the baby and how this baby was made specially for Doug and Charles. He points to my belly saying "baby" and that he wants to "see baby" with a very confused look on his face. I show him the ultrasound pictures (not that I actually expect him to understand what he is looking at) and tell him, that's Doug and Charles' baby and he tells me, "That no baby!"

Just looks at me like I'm nuts, because that definitely doesn't look like a baby mom! :)

More to come in the next week. See you soon.