I am beginning to know what the other surrogates were talking about when they said surrogacy is a big game of hurry up and wait. There really has not been anything to report over the last month. I am still waiting to do the last of the blood work. We are waiting for me to start my cycle to do that. The plan is to start me on the meds at the beginning of my cycle. I usually don't complain about my long cycles but when you are looking forward to starting for a change it seems like a very long wait. I should be making a call to the clinic for my appointment tomorrow morning. More than you all care to know right? Lol.
I am ready to finally get the ball rolling. Sounds silly but I am looking forward to starting the meds. Not that I am anxious to pump my body full of hormones but I know that this mean we are one step closer to making this happen. I can only imagine the anticipation the family is feeling. I remember how I felt when trying to conceive my babies. Even if it did not happen right away at least I felt like we were doing something. With every try we were moving closer to our goal. How must that feel to have it all completely out of your control? All the more reason I want to get going. I don't want this to be any harder on them than it has to be.
I did receive word from the surrogacy attorney today. She said the IPs have the contract and were reviewing it over the weekend. I should have it by this time next week. With this we will be yet another step closer. Baby steps seems to be the appropriate term.
I apologize if all of this is getting confusing. If it is coming across as confusing to you it is because it is confusing for me. The plans have changed so many times(appts, protocol, etc). Just when I think we are really moving along I find myself sitting around wondering what is going to happen next, and when! Baby steps. I will try to update as I can when I actually have something to update about. Hopefully soon!
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Saturday, May 2, 2009
RE appt
The appointment with the RE was short and sweet. IM met me at the clinic. It was nice to get to talk to her for awhile before being called back. I enjoyed hearing her talk about herself, IF and their kids. I can tell they are a close, loving family. I am thrilled to have a hand in adding to this wonderful family. God willing!
Back to the RE, this is the same doctor IM used to get pregnant with her twins. I’m not sure if I mentioned they have a set of twins through IVF. IM’s pregnancy was great. The complications arose after the delivery. As a result she is unable to carry another pregnancy. I won’t say too much because I want to protect their privacy. I at least want to let you know what made them turn to surrogacy. The embryos we will be using are from the same batch as the twins. The RE mentioned that they were all of great quality. He seems very confident that we will get pregnant. I was happy to hear that. He did say that implanting two embryos should be sufficient. When the IPs and I discussed the number of embryos to implant previously we agreed to three. IF did some research and said that because it is a frozen transfer the chances of the pregnancy taking are of a lower percentage. I did some research as well and found several articles that supported this theory. I also read that the frozen transfer is just as successful as a fresh transfer. Some doctors even suggested frozen were more successful. This is one of the reasons I was anxious to talk to the RE. I wanted his opinion on the matter. IM is happy to do only two embryos. I am going to let her discuss it with IF. I will be seeing them both soon so I will bring it up then and see what they decided.
The RE ordered an ultrasound while I was there. I was aware that I would need one at some point but I was not quite prepared to have it done that day. I was told this appointment was only a consultation and that the ultrasound appointment would probably be the following week. The plan was to have Bill take off the day of the ultrasound appointment so he could drive me. I heard it can be painful so I wanted him there as a backup in case I was too uncomfortable to drive home. Fortunately this ultrasound was not as invasive as the one they originally said they were going to do. Still, not my idea of a good time. The tech was making me laugh. She checked my uterus and then my ovaries. Everything looked good. No unwanted masses, etc, etc. She kept going back to my ovaries. She was fascinated by them. She commented on how fertile I must be. I laughed and told her I had four kids. She said, “I believe it!” LOL. She was cracking me up! At one point she was trying to count the follicles! She seriously acted like this was the highlight of her day!
Now that we have the all clear from the RE all we need to do is some blood work and then we can finally move on to the contract phase. In TX we have to get the court to approve the arrangement. The process could take 2-4wks. As soon as we get the court approval I will start on BCPs. I will be given a shot of Lupron at some point to start my cycle. Then I will start estrogen patches. Before the transfer I will start the PIO(progesterone in oil). This is a shot I will have to give myself daily. Once the pregnancy is confirmed I will hopefully get to switch to a different form of progesterone. I will need to continue that through the first 10wks of the pregnancy. After that I will be released from the REs care to my regular OB.
I will be doing the blood work on the 17th. We plan to meet with the IPs for lunch and then head to the clinic. We are able to do the tests at IF’s office so that allows us to be flexible with the time and date. I’m looking forward to getting our families together for the afternoon. They only got to meet K and M the last time. I think they are looking forward to meeting the rest of my crew. I have already told them so much about the kids. What can I say, I am a proud mama. I am hoping to get to know their little ones better as well. :-) They seem like great kids.
Back to the RE, this is the same doctor IM used to get pregnant with her twins. I’m not sure if I mentioned they have a set of twins through IVF. IM’s pregnancy was great. The complications arose after the delivery. As a result she is unable to carry another pregnancy. I won’t say too much because I want to protect their privacy. I at least want to let you know what made them turn to surrogacy. The embryos we will be using are from the same batch as the twins. The RE mentioned that they were all of great quality. He seems very confident that we will get pregnant. I was happy to hear that. He did say that implanting two embryos should be sufficient. When the IPs and I discussed the number of embryos to implant previously we agreed to three. IF did some research and said that because it is a frozen transfer the chances of the pregnancy taking are of a lower percentage. I did some research as well and found several articles that supported this theory. I also read that the frozen transfer is just as successful as a fresh transfer. Some doctors even suggested frozen were more successful. This is one of the reasons I was anxious to talk to the RE. I wanted his opinion on the matter. IM is happy to do only two embryos. I am going to let her discuss it with IF. I will be seeing them both soon so I will bring it up then and see what they decided.
The RE ordered an ultrasound while I was there. I was aware that I would need one at some point but I was not quite prepared to have it done that day. I was told this appointment was only a consultation and that the ultrasound appointment would probably be the following week. The plan was to have Bill take off the day of the ultrasound appointment so he could drive me. I heard it can be painful so I wanted him there as a backup in case I was too uncomfortable to drive home. Fortunately this ultrasound was not as invasive as the one they originally said they were going to do. Still, not my idea of a good time. The tech was making me laugh. She checked my uterus and then my ovaries. Everything looked good. No unwanted masses, etc, etc. She kept going back to my ovaries. She was fascinated by them. She commented on how fertile I must be. I laughed and told her I had four kids. She said, “I believe it!” LOL. She was cracking me up! At one point she was trying to count the follicles! She seriously acted like this was the highlight of her day!
Now that we have the all clear from the RE all we need to do is some blood work and then we can finally move on to the contract phase. In TX we have to get the court to approve the arrangement. The process could take 2-4wks. As soon as we get the court approval I will start on BCPs. I will be given a shot of Lupron at some point to start my cycle. Then I will start estrogen patches. Before the transfer I will start the PIO(progesterone in oil). This is a shot I will have to give myself daily. Once the pregnancy is confirmed I will hopefully get to switch to a different form of progesterone. I will need to continue that through the first 10wks of the pregnancy. After that I will be released from the REs care to my regular OB.
I will be doing the blood work on the 17th. We plan to meet with the IPs for lunch and then head to the clinic. We are able to do the tests at IF’s office so that allows us to be flexible with the time and date. I’m looking forward to getting our families together for the afternoon. They only got to meet K and M the last time. I think they are looking forward to meeting the rest of my crew. I have already told them so much about the kids. What can I say, I am a proud mama. I am hoping to get to know their little ones better as well. :-) They seem like great kids.
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