The results are in amigo....

and it looks good!! R said he got a call today from RBA and we're pregnant. Gotta go back in on Thursday just to make sure things are still good, but all looks great so far. I kept telling R I had a REALLY good feeling we were just fine. I was pretty sure when the other day at work Gary my coworker stop the door short and I spilled hot chocolate down my shirt ....and I cried....yeah, I was pretty sure then that I was pregnant. So are you ready for the longest 9 months of your life is the email I sent my manager. :D I do believe that she has a bet going on how cranky (being nice) I'm going to get. I think I'll be good........well maybe ;9

Beam me up Scotty....

said the embryo. We now have transfer. So it is complete, we went on Wednesday and it was Sci-fi for sure. Not that I could concentrate on anything other than not peeing my pants. So here's the thing you have to empty your bladder then an hour before the procedure drink 40 oz. of water to fill it full and then hold it (crossing legs now out of reflex). I guess the thing is that it puts you uterus in the right position for the transfer, then after transfer you have to hold it for 5 minutes. Well that didn't happen I think my bladder was so full the nurse was worried I might cause my uterus to contract which would have been a problem, so she let me go early. Chris said it was really cool to watch. R didn't get to watch because he was wearing cologne which they asked us not to do. I am glad it's over, I go on Monday to get blood work for Beta. They didn't really explain what that is so as soon as I get a definition I'll let you know. I think that when it's high it's good, real blood pregnancy test on the 28th.

So about our trip to Atlanta, BORING!! We were pretty much stuck in a hotel the whole time. The first day we took a cab to a mall close by and walked the whole thing then up the street to a Borders. We spent as much time as humanly possible in Borders and then we went to a place called Twist. First let me tell you I was almost run over by an SUV whose driver was on the phone, lovely. I didn't even know he was about to hit me untill his brakes squealed and he was inches from my thigh. So about Twist, it was great we had awesome service and the food was brilliant. I got Tempura battered shrimp and ham and cheese croquettes. Chris got Shrimp with cheesy grits and charizo. After that the only other trip out was we went to a restaurant with R called Parish SO GOOD!! I found it because it's owned by the same people who own Two Urban Licks. Chris and I both had the buttermilk fried chicken with grits and maple glazed brussels YUM! Then we went out to Arbys after the transfer, exquisite, roast beef with cheese amazing, just kidding.

The only other thing eventful was the hotel where we stayed had someone smoking next door to us. UGGGGGH all night long breathing that made me want to barf, not to mention it triggered my allergies so bad. Speaking of now I swear it's early to say pregnant but I swear to god every smell is intensified by a thousand and bothering the shit out of me. I swear it took 4 hours for me to get R's cologne out of my nose just from the trip to the airport. I'm a little sensitive anyway but wow.

At any rate back home now and ready for Christmas. I love Christmas. I'll have Beta news tomorrow, till then...live long and prosper.

It's on....

Here we go packing up and heading to Atlanta. Wish us luck! Like my Dr. said come back and see me pregnant. That's the plan......We leave at 5:04 and should arrive around 5:30. Implant day is either tomorrow or Wednesday. Let's do this thang......

Dear Endo Lining.....

Sorry for the harsh note from before, but thank you so much for complying. I am happy to say that we will be heading to Atlanta. I am not happy to say that the shot Chris gave me was quite dramatic. That need is as big as my pinkie.....

painfully yours,
Me!

Stupid endo lining

Dear Endo Lining,

WTF?? Seriously time to get thick already. When I go back to the Dr.'s on Thursday you better be at an 8 or your fired!! I know it's a challenge coming up from 3 that quickly but I know you can do it. Now team spirit we can show Dr. R how it's done. We have a transfer lined up for next week I mean seriously it's go time! It's time to shape up or ship out............well don't really ship out.......just shape up.

Sincerely,
Me ; D

Dates are set....seriously I swear..

So hopefully this will be the last time. We are on again for the 13-16 of December. Not exactly the best time but it works. I am hoping that this means Chris can come with me, he's checking with work hope we hear soon. Set up endo lining check well R did. I was in NYC so he set it up. He also said he really likes this new doc already he said his nurse was extremely helpful and very informed. So I guess so far so good. I wish I had just gone with him in the first place, funny looking back I second guessed myself for not going with him and of course I need to just go with my gut.

New Doc..

So I met with my new Dr. on the 5th and he is awesome!! I briefly told him about why we had decided to switch. I explained that we were looking for someone who had a little more experience with surrogacy and that we had a problem with our last person doing the wrong test and he knew right away the mistake that was made and said the same thing RBI did which is that he didn't understand why in the world they would have done that unless she thought I was a infertility patient. I told him that no I definitely reiterated the procedure I was there for. At any rate just glad to have someone that we can trust. So moving on shots started again and a fresh start.

Just like staring over....

oh yeah we are. I'm now on meds to wait for my period. So now that this little fiasco is out of the way it will be smooth sailing I'm positive. So meeting with a new Ob on Nov. 5th hopeful that I will like him.

I am really pissed

I went to my Dr here in Cbus today for an endo lining check. Well I'm no Dr but when I booked it I was under the impression it was a no pain simple procedure. Well I show up for the appt. and the nurse finally came to get me 20 minutes after my appt. then takes me back and another 20 minutes goes by and she tells me Oh the Dr wants you to take a pregnancy test???? I told her it's not even possible that I'm pregnant unless of course it's immaculate conception, but she was insistent. Fine but I tell her I have to get to work we are running late. Finally the Dr comes in and sits down she says so we're doing an Endo lining check today correct I said yes and lining check. We are planning to implant next week.... Well she does the procedure which is so painful that I almost punch the wall, and I think to myself I have done this before when I was in Atlanta and it was not this bad!! I think maybe she was pissed because I was in a hurry. So I leave and Russ texts me and asks how it went I told him I don't know she said the lab would have to check and let them know, he says I thought we should find out today. I texted back I thought so too I wonder if she did the right thing,? Well long story short she did do the wrong test and it has screwed up everything!!! I have to now push everythng back because she did a biopsy instead of a check I HATE HER!!!!! I am looking for new doc asap. This is no the first time they have screwed up they are not cooperative with RBA and don't forward anything to them, I am so ticked off I can't even stand it!!

Dates are set..... for real this time

So we had to move some plans around a little but as of now it's official I will be heading to Atlanta on Oct. 14th for implant dates October 15 or 17th.

In other news i just got the boatload of other meds and my new needles for Progesterone.......awwwwe Holy crap BIG NEEDLES. I thought I was worried about Lupron shots hunh? well these needles are insane. Needless to say not a big fan of needles. Trying not to think about it though still have some time before I start them. Started taking Estrace 1tab for now. So far no real side effects from the meds, getting hot flashes occasionally but thats all.

So theres other news too. R texted me that he has been dating a guy from his church and I get to meet him when i come down. I am really excited about meeting him. It's funny I told R that I had a feeling this would happen it always does when you are focused on other things. When you least expect it and aren't looking for it is when the right one comes along. You are the most yourself then too which means that the person you meet will see the real you. At any rate excited to meet him when I go down.

Dates are set

So we have dates set,... On Oct. 5 I am set for my endo lining check, then the transfer dates are Oct. 14-16. Hooray! Sounds like the food and wine festival can include wine, it will be a nice vacation before the transfer. That's all for now.

Sorry for the delay....

but my computer took a dump. So here's the update, I started taking Lupron shots on 9/1. It's funny the first morning my husband woke me up before he went to work. I kinda forgot that it was going to happen and as he woke me up it surprised me. I was like what the hell why are you trying to wake me up then I got it, Haha. At any rate it has been working out really well doing it early and going back to sleep for a couple more hours before I get up, plus I am not very happy about needles so it doesn't give me time to think about it. So at any rate I started my cycle early so I will have to start Estrace on the 15th. That's the next step. Hoping for second week in October implant.

The waiting game,..

I am waiting for the meds which should come today by mail, then I'm waiting till 9/1 to start taking my Lupron shots. I have no real idea what to expect and I like it that way. I don't want to know if I'm going to be sick if it makes you feel pregnant, ect. I purposly have avoided reading about it and checking into it.I don't want to fill my head with things because I know if I see it, it will happen. So here it is will keep you posted.

the 21st day of my cycle is when??

Ok so maybe I'm just slow because I have never had to count days of my cycle. I am scheduled to start my shots on the 21st day of my cycle. I ask when is that??? Well I got a very fantastic clean cut answer so I will share it with those who have not had to count days of their cycle.

Answer is:

Trust me, these are not dumb questions!

Day 1 is full flow before 5pm. If full flow occurs later in the evening, the next day is considered day 1 of her cycle. Day 21 is the 21st day of her cycle with day 1 being

full flow day

I had to leave in the little part that said "these are not dumb questions"!!

So we are moving along, R is getting the meds in line and going to send them up. Only worry at this point is that he is saying that we may try to transplant first week of Oct. Well if you've been reading along up to this point you will know that we are planning on being in Disney Sept. 27- Oct.4. Awww, so I sent R a text reminder. Hopefully we'll be able to do it maybe Oct 7-9. I have to go down for 3 days because the transfer has a period of 3 days that it may be best for the transfer.. Fascinating all the stuff you learn. Which I think was one of the reasons I wanted to blog this journey to teach as well as share my experience.

We're signed......

Well we signed the contract FINALLY. I feel like that it's taken forever I have been very lucky that it hasn't been because we have been quibbling about it. The hold up has been from the lawyers I feel. Well both party's apparently have been very busy. R and I on the other hand have been solely focused on our goal. It does look like maybe our timeline will be pushed back though. I still have to start shots at some point and R has to go "donor" shopping. So origianally we had set for August for possible transfer, but it may be as far out as September. I did plan a vacation in Disney for late September woo hooo food and wine festeval. It depends on the tranfer date but it could just be the food festival for me, here's hoping.

Sadness for Ivy

So we're going over our contracts once again so R can read over it and get them signed feels like this should have been done by now. Was reading Ivy's blog and was so sad to hear about what a terrible journey she went through, I learned two things from this though:

1st I'm not going to feel guilty about not lowering my fee to "help" out my IP. I have struggled with this idea over and over and have been back and forth with the idea of giving him a break. I always go back to this idea of what's the price of free. FREE. It sounds so callous maybe but you value something that you invest in.

2nd I am very blessed to be working with my IP. He may honestly get on my nerves sometimes because he is so cautious and over protective but better that than uncaring.

So that being said, for those of you who have followed Ivy, and if she is reading this I am very sorry for all that you went through and a lesson for us all. Thanks.

Hotlanta!!!..

Here we come .....well already went. So it's true we made our way to the dirty south ya'll. We flew in on Sunday and R took us to dinner at the coolest restaurant. It was called Two Urban Licks a very interesting warehouse restaurant that had amazing food! It had this fantastic view of the skyline and we went just as the sun was starting to set only adding to the great ambiance.... By the way R we already said yes. So then Monday was a whirlwind.....blood drawn,...ultra sound (to make sure lining was good),....to meet with Dr,...meet with nurse,.....lunch,...meet with crazy doc. My head is still spinning. All in all though all was good, we are a go and we are still waiting to sign a contract. Next step certainly, I think everyone (the attorneys) wanted us to go through this initial round of Dr visits before we signed . That's all for now on our end R has to finish his profile and start searching for an egg doner. Momma shopping good luck!!

Plans being made........

So I spoke with the doctor we are working with in Atlanta for the transfer. Well I almost missed that call ...well to be completely honest I DID miss the call. I had my phone turned down because I was at my sons play earlier and I turned my phone on silent. DumB... so the call I've been waiting for all week I blew. She left a message so I called back and was very apologetic. I'm sure behind all that nice southern charm she was like what kind of dingbat is R dealing with here. At any rate I felt like a total dufus. Well after we went through the routine "do you have any medical issues?", it looks like we are a go to meet in Atlanta. This will be our first visit to Atlanta to go over our plan to prepare for "THE TRANSFER". The meeting in which we find out how much pain my husband will get to inflict upon me because I'm pretty sure I am not going to be able to give myself shots. I'm not much one for pain, in case you hadn't picked up on that. It looks like June 1st is the date it's moving along.

It's all good in the hood....

Say's my new ObGyn who is awesome by the way. I met her yesterday for my first appointment and to go over my plans for surrogacy. My lawyer suggested that I let her know about working with a single gay man to make sure she was OK with it. I'm pretty sure I saw Dr. B roll her eyes at me when I asked, as if to say really?, why would I have a problem?. It should be known that I live in Columbus which has the 3rd highest gay population in the country and considered the gay capitol of the Midwest. I kinda figured that any doctor dealing with surrogacy in CBus would be ok with it so I almost felt silly asking, and apparently rightly so. At any rate I am in good shape and she thinks I should have no problems being a surro as I have had no problems getting pregnant in the past and have had no gynecological issues.

So it's off to the races, R sent me a "Honey Do" list of things we need to accomplish before we go to Atlanta for our initial visit with the clinic. By the way how sweet is my "baby daddy" he specifically searched out a highly qualified female physician to work with because I prefer to work with woman. I even told him it was not really necessary since I would only be dealing with them on a couple of occasions. It's not like I have a problem with male Dr's either it's really just about the fact that I like to support woman in their professional fields. He insisted though and has met with her and is really excited to be working with her. He seemed to be very impressed with the facility, their entire faculty and setup.

It's weird as I was projectile vomiting today because of my bad tuna lunch I had my first reality check of wow I am really going to be doing this,.... and I am so excited!! As the Joker said "Here we Go"!!

Hooray great weekend

So we met over this past weekend. The hubby and I met with our IP Friday for the first time. Very nice we all clicked right away after proper chastising for his being late of course. :D We had a great time he gets my humour so we're off to a good start. When dinner was over we decided to go get coffee and continue the night. If my kids hadn't been at my moms I think we could have chatted all night long.

Saturday we went to the zoo with the kids, I figure if he can survive the zoo on a Saturday he probably won't change his mind. We joked about the stroller wars and then I totally rammed some guy in the ankles ACCIDENT sorry dude....... Of course. By the way never go to zoo on first nice Saturday of the year. Speaking of nice, the weather was gorgeous all weekend long.

This morning we went to meet with a counselor and went over a lot of the details. The next step is to confirm a IVF clinic to deal with and I have an ObGyn appointment next Monday. Depending on where we do the IVF we have to do our blood tests and of course sign contracts. So exciting that this is really going to happen.

Oh and I love this guy I am the biggest chicken shit ever. Everyone keeps saying "you must really have loved being pregnant" well the answer to that is hell no. I had a crappy pregnancy and crappy not horrible but crappy labor. I always hear it gets better the second time so that keeps me going. One of the worst things about the labor was the IV's and the epidural, well he's an anesthesiologist nurse and he's so involved and I love that. I feel like I couldn't have picked a better person to surrogate for. At least he'll watch over me in MY most worrisome process. It puts my mind at ease.

Next time on SJ-DWINM..........The big G appointment next Monday! dunh, dunh, dunh...

And so we meet....

We have plans for this weekend dinner Friday night with me and the husband. Then if he is brave enough we go to the zoo with the family...Then if the kids don't scare him away then I think we are meeting with a counselor either Saturday evening or Sunday Morning. I'm really excited, but I think he may be more so and I'm not bragging here he just sounds real real jazzed! Happy Dance :D

He likes me he really likes me....

...and I really like him too.

So you guessed it we spoke on the phone finally. I'm not much of a phone person myself so I was worried a little bit about our first "meeting" being a phone call. I got the call while at work in the middle of doing interviews and so I couldn't answer it. I listened to the voice mail and got really excited, I liked the sound of him right away. So I psyched myself up for the big moment and dialed the number......ring.......ring.......ring.......VOICE MAIL?? Darn it I hate leaving messages maybe worse than just talking on the phone (you know the whole sound of my voice through a tin can thing). Well I didn't have to wait too long and he returned my phone call (clearly unafraid of robot voice) and he is really sweet with a southern accent, so funny I knew he lived in the south but I almost didn't expect it. It was funny though I realized as our conversation went on that he lost it a little. He is originally a Yankee and I think speaking to me he pulled it back out some.

Apparently he is excited to get things rolling and has decided to make a trip up to Columbus. He has some friends here already because how funny is this he used to live here at one point. Coincidence hmmm? I tell you things happen for a reason. Sounds like we have been moving on the same path he decided around the same time I did to pursue this. Excitint things are happening. This should be all going down in a couple of weeks. HAPPY DANCE!

Waiting.....

Still waiting to hear from our possible intended. In the mean time I have 3 months left on my birth control I am ready to get this show on the road. I spoke with the people I am working with and told them that I am holding out to meet with ObGyn's to see if he wants to do this together since he showed some interest in doing that with me (or his GC). I guess this all hinges on whether he picks us or not. I hate the waiting,... not sure if you noticed that about me. I am ready, ready, ready. Till next time....

The verdict is in....

I'm not crazy,.....well not mostly anyway. I guess not too crazy to carry someones baby. That's good news. So the crazy test said that I had problems in school, and that I have good self esteem. Both are true, guess it's good that I had problems in school.

So more fun news, drum roll please..... looks like we may have a match. I am being positive here, but it looks like we are moving on to a phone interview. Between me and you I think it was the long walks in the park I mentioned in my profile that got him. Guess we'll see soon. Cross your fingers.

Possibility

I think we may have a possible family. I have been given a bio for a single father in GA. It was not my original preference to work with a single parent any gender however his bio is impressive and I am finding myself really interested in meeting him. I still have questions that hopefully he will have ridiculously good answers for. Like he said he wants a college educated GS and while I do have some college under my belt I do not carry a degree. I wonder if a BFA would have been impressive. As it is I didn't think I wanted an Art degree as much as I knew I already loved doing hair. Guess we'll see what happens. I'm excited if nothing else.

Snore

I am still waiting for a family. Went to my family practice doctor for my annual check up and I am healthy and got an OB referral. I am putting the wheels in motion as much as possible, but I feel like I am pushing those wheel through molasses. I was told last week there were some possible families in Atlanta. I talked to my people and they said that those families were matched up already but there are a few more possibilities. They said they liked my profile though. I feel like I am dating through a service.., I like action movies and comedy and long walks in the park.....

So wish me luck hopefully I will have some news about some intended parents soon.

The Crazy SAT's

So seriously that was the test I took. About 600 questions one of my favourite questions was, "Do you often find yourself crossing the street to meet up with friends?"........ Really? How funny. The thing about looking at most of the other blogs I've read is that it seems they have only had to do interviews to make sure they weren't crazy. I did both, guess they just want to make absolute sure.

In other news, good stuff. The attorney and wife team that I am working with called me and told me they have a few couples for me to look at. They are all in Georgia, Atlanta area I think. Not exactly my idea of a dream local, oh well. Guess I was hoping for a nice place to go you know Cali. Lol. I don't know much about the couples except that one of the couples is a same sex couple two men. I am excited to check out all the profiles. Hopefully I will be able to pick up their info this week. Will keep all posted!

Am I Crazy??

We will find out the answer to this question on Monday. I am going to do a psyc. evaluation, which seem really funny to me. I asked the attorney's that I am working with if I walk in with my glasses cockeyed and a crazy face will they turn me away immediately? I have been checking out other surrogate blogs well glancing more so and there are so many things ahead of me. I feel like the process has taken so long already and it just began. I am so ready to get this thing rolling! It is nice to see other people doing this and blogging as well. I think it will help me to follow them and their concerns. To see how others deal with the process.

Well I'll answer this question for you soon enough I guess. Wish me Sane!

Contract

So today I met with the attorney to go over the contract. Chris got to come with me so we could go over all of the specifics. I'll tell you I really thought this would go quicker. I glad to be in good hands though. It's funny to look at all the things that could happen and what could go wrong. I am positive all will go according to planned. Not much more news than that.

The Decision

So I just took a Birth Control pill and I wonder to myself how long will I need to keep taking those. I am hoping not long. I've decided to blog this journey not just for myself but hopefully for the family I will be helping. I am hoping this will provide insight for them and keep them informed of the process and maybe this will be an inspiration to other women out there who could possibly help another family.

So I guess I'll start with the reasons why I would want to do such a crazy thing. Well I guess to me it's not all that crazy. I was adopted when I was 3 days old and I have always known what a blessing it was for my mother to have a child. She was never able to get pregnant and my dad said when I was handed over to my mom it was as though she just gave birth to me herself. I have a wonderfully close relationship with my mom and cannot imagine not being in each others lives. So to be honest to give that to someone else for me is just paying it forward. I have felt this urge to do this for some time, but I am turning 31 in April and I am not getting any younger so for me it has been now or never.

I think things happen for a reason and one of my client just so happens to help run a company called Adoption Circle in Columbus. I mentioned to her my story and we got to talking about the idea of surrogacy and how it was something I was interested in. She didn't really take me seriously at first I had to bring it up a few times and she told me that she had worked with a lawyer in the past to set these things up. She told me I would have to wait till the first of the year to pursue this if I was still interested. Well her January appointment came and before she could put those "roots" in my chair I was on her about when we could start the process.

So today was that first meeting I met her at her office and together we met with the attorney she works with on these matters.

What we went over in the meeting well there were a lot of things I didn't think about. I knew that I would be compensated for medical. What I forgot about were things like maternity clothes it's been 12 years since I was pregnant. Who knew I might be on bed rest and may need someone to help me clean my house take care of my kids, and pets I mean really I'm not dieing, of course speaking of...... life insurance oh my!!

So this is why you don't do this on myspace or Craigslist huh? I feel like I am in very capable hands though and am very excited about finding the family that I will be carrying for. Up next? I am fondly referring to this as family shpping. I think Chris is most excited about going through this process with me. What am I looking for persons with a great attitude and a sense of humour. I feel like I am looking to online date. Next meeting, next Monday.