Pregnancy: Month 7
I am 31 weeks pregnant. OB appointments are now biweekly, just checking BP, weight, fundal height, and heartrate of baby, although at the last appointment we had a growth scan. I facetimed the dads and learned that the baby is weighing in at 4.5lbs already! I am taking that with a grain of salt because weights determined by ultrasound can be inaccurate, but if it is accurate, then we are 1-2 weeks ahead of average. The intended fathers are already placing bets that she needs to come out a week earlier than currently scheduled! We also learned she has quite
Pregnancy: Month 1
It was as early as 5 days post embryo transfer (5dpt) that I started testing at home and received a positive. I took 2 more home tests and they were all positive. The excitement was starting to set ALL the way in and I felt so much better knowing before our scheduled Beta test. I had been told that it was very possible to get positive home pregnancy tests and HCG levels reveal negative. March 21st came around, I went in for my HCG test at 8am and by noon they were calling me with POSITIVE news. My Beta numbers were super
Failed Transfer & Transfer #2
I'm not sure that I was really prepared for the tears, sadness and heartbreak that followed our 1st transfer that failed. It was honestly quite an emotional rollercoaster after waiting all day for news we were so hopeful would be positive. Everything about our first transfer was so perfect. As mentioned in my transfer blog, we didn't plan on taking home tests and waited 10 days for our HCG Beta test. There was no black and white reason for why our transfer failed. My lining was great, the embryo was perfect and hatching, and my uterus was receptive. She just didn’t implant
Pregnancy: Month 6
At 6, almost 7 months along, this girl is really moving! Sometimes I imagine she is doing calisthenics at 5am when I am not yet ready to wake up. Related, the aches and pains of the third trimester are starting, and so I’m doing weekly prenatal yoga and nightly hip stretches. I think this is helping, because on the nights I forget to stretch, my hips have something to say about it. The pre-birth order process is underway, with my IPs’ lawyer submitting the necessary paperwork. With the CPSA being so new, this is the first time my county’s court
Pregnancy: Month 5
It’s been a busy few weeks! At 21 weeks I went in for my anatomy scan. Since again the IFs were not allowed to attend, I decided to book them a Sneak Peek ultrasound, one of those third-party non-medical ultrasound places. So that weekend they drove to my town, finally met my husband and daughter at brunch, and then we headed to the ultrasound. The session was about 15 minutes long, and we got 2- and 3-D views of the baby, as well as listened to the heartbeat. The dads also got a recording of the heartbeat to take home.
Pregnancy: Month 4
At 16 weeks, I’m pretty sure I’m feeling little flutters, the very beginning of feeling the baby move! I still don’t quite look pregnant yet, but I definitely feel it. I’ve used some of my maternity clothing budget to get some second-hand goodies off Facebook marketplace as well as a few new items from StitchFix maternity. I don’t fit into my usual clothes anymore. I will probably also get a wedge pillow so that I can safely sleep on my back. I had my 16-week checkup and was able to again FaceTime with the intended fathers so that they could
Transfer Day ?
My oh my, where do I even begin with the magic that unfolded on Transfer day? First of all, it's truly amazing to be this far in my surrogacy journey. I have dreamt of this for many years and the fact that I have been successfully matched with THE MOST perfect couple and working with THE BEST agency is literally what makes this experience so amazing. Once we were clear on the legal end, all the fun stuff could start happening. My Intended Parents asked that I undergo an ERA first. This ERA (Endometrial Receptivity Assay) would allow the fertility
Pregnancy: Month 3
In surrogacy, there’s a whole lot going on in the beginning: matching, contracts, appointments, ultrasounds, blood draws, medications. But as you reach months 2 and 3, things start to slow down. I have really felt this lately! I’m now under the care of my OB. At around 10 weeks, I had a blood draw to check for chromosomal abnormalities. All came back normal, but as the embryos were tested beforehand, this was what we expected. This test also reveals the sex of the fetus, but I already knew since the clinic told me earlier. The intended fathers don’t want to
Pregnancy: Month 2
Once the fertility clinic got my HCG results and were happy with them, they had me schedule my first ultrasound. Since I never have any first trimester symptoms when I’m pregnant, I find ultrasounds to be very assuring. Otherwise, I have no idea what’s going on in my body. I attended the ultrasound alone and I had been told I would not be able to FaceTime or take video during the appointment. But at the last minute, the ultrasound tech did let me take video. So, it was a great surprise for the intended fathers when I sent them a
Pregnancy: Month 1
As I mentioned in my blog post about the transfer, the clinic waits 14 days to have patients get a blood draw to test HCG levels. That’s a long wait! Knowing that if the transfer were successful, I could get a positive on a home test as soon as five days post transfer, the intended fathers and I agreed that we would get on FaceTime early the morning of day 5 and I’d reveal the test “live.” I was so nervous, mostly because I wasn’t sure how we’d handle the disappointment if the test came out negative. But at 6:25am,
