Delivery & Post-Birth
Eventually, the big day came, and surrobaby was ready for induction at 40 weeks + 2 days. My own pregnancy went to 42 weeks, so I was very comfortable with the plan to induce, and I was very much ready for him to come out, as he was almost measuring 9lbs and I was extremely sleep deprived. Intended mom came to my house the afternoon that we were to get checked into the hospital. We had dinner together, hung out with her family, who also came up, and then we all made our way to get ready for the birth.
The Third Trimester
The third trimester was exhausting for me, and was by far much different compared to my own pregnancy, than the other two trimesters. With my daughter, I was a bit tired, but never felt exhausted, and I never felt like I just wanted her out already. However, with surrobaby, I was more than exhausted and pretty uncomfortable, especially during the end. He decided to sit very low for the entire trimester, and I think he had fun kicking my bladder all day and night. Although total opposite from my own, it was still a great feeling to be able to
The Second Trimester
The second trimester was probably the most enjoyable this pregnancy. We waited until around 12-14 week ultrasound scan to find out the gender of the embryo. Mom made the trip to come for that appointment, and when we saw that it was a boy, it really was a special moment. From then, our embryo was able to get a name, and talking about him hit a new and fun level. The nausea was cleared up during this trimester, and we just were able to go through the motions of feeling good and excited for what we were growing. Everyone at
The First Trimester
Our first trimester had some obstacles. Early on, an ultrasound technician told us that the embryo would miscarry, and that really crushed us. It felt like we were waiting around for the inevitable, but as each week past, our embryo kept growing and developing properly each week, and eventually hit a point where we felt confident it would stick around, and it did. After dealing with the odd medical “diagnosis”, the first trimester brought on a lot of nausea. I expected nausea, as I threw up once a night with my own pregnancy during the first trimester until around week
The Embryo Transfer Process
The embryo transfer process was probably the most difficult stage of our journey for me. I think it takes the most out of you emotionally. Our journey was successful on the second transfer. Transfer number 1 was at the end of April 2024. We did all of the things that everyone does- listen to the doctors, did the superstitions (McDonalds Fries and pineapples), but it just didn’t take and we had negative pregnancy tests. Although it did not work, looking back, I learned some tricks for the second transfer. When I was doing the progesterone injections, I was extremely sore
Medical and Psychological Screenings
The medical and psychological screenings were pretty easy for all of us involved. The medical screening was exciting because it was the first time we all got to meet in person. For that screening, we just took time to hang out and get to know each other more while we weren’t at the fertility clinic (which was only a short period of time). I enjoyed staying with our intended mom and getting to see where surrobaby would live and grow up. We got a nice feel for the neighborhood and the community mom has built around herself, and it made
Being Matched
The process of getting matched with parents was very exciting! A surrogate profile was created for me, and sent to a set of intended parents who NYSC thought would make a good match. I received a very detailed email about my potential match, and NYSC answered all the follow up questions I had about the match. We all accepted our potential match fairly quickly, and then we had a zoom call scheduled. The call could not have gone smoother, as NYSC was directing the conversations and made sure we all got to know each other a bit. The next day,
Starting The Process!
The agency pre-screening/application process went a lot smoother than I thought it would! Everyone who works at New York Surrogacy Center are informative, and quick to respond. When I first started the process to be a surrogate, I thought that the paperwork would be a real hassle, but everything was straight forward and user friendly. I’m the type of person that likes to get things done as soon as I can, and everyone who helped me through this phase stayed on the same pace as me, so this phase seemed to fly by for me.
Matching with Intended Parents
Waiting for Joe to send me profiles of Intended Parents felt like waiting for Christmas morning when I was a child. I got that email from Joe that said, “Potential Match” and I could not wait to open the email and look over the profile. Reading all about this amazing couple made me get even more excited about this potential journey. I quickly sent Joe an email stating yes, I 100% am open to scheduling a match meeting. Then we sent our availability, and we were set with a date 2 weeks in the future. The process of waiting to
The Journey to Medical Clearance
Many of the bumps we experienced were my fault but understanding the extra steps were needed to ensure the best outcome and safety. I feel like medical clearance was a journey itself but having the help NYSC made it easier. We were told by the clinic that it would still be awhile to be cleared medically and they weren't lying. We met with the clinic in January 2024 and became medical/psychological cleared November 2024. In between due to my past pregnancy, I had to be cleared by a high risk maternal doctor, and then a rheumatologist. Once I got cleared
