21 weeks!

Baby's now the size of a banana!


Baby's digestive system is busy creating meconium (a tarry black substance made of swallowed amniotic fluid, digestive secretion, and dead cells), which will fill the first diaper after birth. (Eww!) You may soon feel like he's practicing martial arts as his initial fluttering movements turn into full-fledged kicks and nudges. You may also discover a pattern to his activity as you get to know him better. In other developments, your baby's eyebrows and lids are present now.

On my end, nothing to report, which, I suppose, is a good thing. My OB's office called the other day and said that we would need to reschedule our appointment that was set for the 5th because the Dr wouldn't be in the office. Umm..then why did you allow me to schedule an appointment for that day? Whatever. It's normally no biggie to reschedule, but for this appointment my IPs had taken off work and were driving down and we also had the L&D tour scheduled. It sucks when you have to rearrange plans! Thankfully, we got it figured out though and we will be having the anatomy scan on Friday the 8th and then a tour after that.

Unless something super exciting happens in the meantime, I'll "see" ya next Wednesday! Have a safe and happy 4th of July! 

Happy Birthday, Princess!

* Not surrogacy related, but wanted to share* ☺

My not-so-little Princess turns 9 today!! I can't believe she's NINE already! Where does the time go?
We had her {spa} party yesterday and it was super fun! Even the adults enjoyed themselves, which is always good.

Here's a few pics from the party

The set up for facials

Nothing better than a cucumber facial and hot towel ☺

Pedis & manis!

Serious business picking out colors



Being SERVED fruit, cheese, & crackers. The girls weren't quite sure how to handle this, lol.



Then they headed to the makeup station (not the best pic, I know, but you get the idea ☺)

Glamour Girls!

Make a wish...

Party's over...nice and relaxed!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY! You're never too old to be my Princess!♥♥

Halfway there!!

Well, we're 20 weeks now! (Which also means, we're halfway through the 2nd trimester!) It seems like it's taken forever to get here, but then again it feels like time is flying too. The "official" due date is November 9th, but my Dr is willing to induce @ 39 weeks so there won't be any surprises and my IPs can make it to the birth. Historically, once I've gone into labor, there's a baby about 5 hours later, so that doesn't leave much time for my IPs to make it here if I did go into labor! So we'll all be hoping this little boy can stay put until 39 weeks! ☺
Baby's definitely growing:

I'm still in my PJs on this pic

This one is after I got dressed...see, I'm tellin' ya, the belly looks different depending on what you wear.


Baby's now the size of a cantaloupe!

Baby weighs about 10 1/2 ounces now. He's also around 6 1/2 inches long from head to bottom and about 10 inches from head to heel — the length of a banana. He gulps down several ounces of amniotic fluid every day, both for nutrition and to practice swallowing and digesting. And, these days, those taste buds actually work! Studies show that after birth, babies respond best to tastes they've already had via amniotic fluid. Meaning, think about what you'd like your future child to eat as you prepare your own lunch.

*Side note: M&M, guess you'll have to get ready for your kiddo to love him some enchiladas...and baked potatoes...and chicken pot pie, lol! (Yep, apparently I love carbs. Don't judge me.) ☺

Let's see...nothing much to report on my end. I'm feeling fine, although I've been a little more tired than normal lately. But my dear Snoogle helps me with staying comfy while I sleep. Kevin actually tried to jack me for it the other night. "Ooo, it's so comfortable", yea, I know. Get your own!

'Til next time, I'll leave you with another collage of weeks 17-20.


Click to enlarge










And just because, I also did one with all belly shots taken from week 8 until today's at week 20. Enjoy!


Also, click to enlarge ☺



Did you REALLY just say that???

Have you ever gotten a question or comment so preposterous that you were in utter disbelief that a person could even fix their mouth to make those words come out?
Well normally I don't get these types of comments/questions, but here lately it seems that people, whether I know them or not, have some type of input about me being a surrogate or just surrogacy in general.
I typically let it roll off my back and don't even give dumb ass comments the time of day. But I thought I'd share some of these rather odd quotes with you.
*Don't get mad at me, I'm simply conveying to you the ignorance and/or sheer stupidity of some people*

I'll give you 10 that I can think of right off the bat, in no particular order.

10. "So, how do you think you will handle giving up your baby?"
Uhhh...listen up, it's not MY baby. And even if it were and I decided to give it up for adoption, what business is it of yours??
9. "What if the parents change their mind and don't want the baby anymore? Do you have to keep it?"
Do I REALLY need to acknowledge this? I mean really. Do you actually think that a person would go through all the trouble of finding a carrier, signing contracts, paying a crap-load of money, etc, just to say "eh, nevermind"?
8. "Dang! You must be gettin' PAAAAIIIIDDDD!"
You already know how I feel about this dumb ass comment...
7. "The parents must be rich. Are they celebrities?"
Yea, because only rich people can afford to have babies.
6. Co-worker: "Hey, Krystal, we're all going out after work for drinks, wanna come?"
    Me: "Well I can't drink, but I'd be glad to get a Sprite or something"
    Co-Worker: "Aw c'mon, a little alcohol won't hurt the baby. Besides, it's not yours anyway."
ARE YOU FU*KING KIDDING ME RIGHT NOW?! And, I'm 99% sure that this person was as serious as a heart attack with their comment.
5. (Same co-worker as #6) "I knew this lady that smoked cigarettes and drank sometimes while she was pregnant, baby was just fine. It's ok in moderation."
Ok, dude, seriously you must be on crack. I can't even listen to you at this point.
4. "So, uh, how dey do dat? You know, get da eggs in ya 'n stuff? Dey juss shoot 'em up dur and den you get pregnant?" "Shoo' I might needa do dat, cuz I ain't gone find me no woman no time soon."
Say what?! I'm sorry, were you just speaking English?
3. "Do you know the people you are carrying for?"
Nope, sure don't. I just went to the doctor and said "get me pregnant with a random person's baby, please and thank you."
2. "Are the parents excited?"
Of course not, they were actually hoping that none of the transfers worked and that all of their time and money went down the toilet. But now their style is gonna be cramped by having to tote a baby around everywhere.
1. "You must be a really nice person, gaining all that weight just for somebody else."
Hmmm....thanks?

I'm sure there's more off the wall things that have been said to me, but these are the ones that have stuck in my mind so far. I guess tact is an acquired trait...

19 weeks!

Baby's now the size of a mango!
Baby's sensory development is exploding! His brain is designating specialized areas for smell, taste, hearing, vision, and touch.
He weighs about 8 1/2 ounces and measures 6 inches, head to bottom. His arms and legs are in the right proportions to each other and the rest of his body now. His kidneys continue to make urine and the hair on his scalp is sprouting. A waxy protective coating called the vernix caseosa is forming on his skin to prevent it from pickling in the amniotic fluid.

I'm feeling good these days. I got my Snoogle in and it's Heaven sent!!!!! I'm not kidding, I think I'm in love with it. Thank you to the ladies that suggested it. My back hasn't hurt since the day I got it and now I'm able to actually get some sleep...well, minus having to get up to go to the bathroom all the time! If the Snoogle could fix that part, I might marry it.
Anywho, got some fun news today; my IP's picked a name for the baby!! Yay! But in the blogosphere, we'll call him "Baby L" ☺. My IM and I are starting to talk about a birth plan, so that's exciting! I'm curious to know how "delivery day" went for some of you other experienced surros/IPs. Leave me a comment to let me know.
I caught a glimpse of myself today as I was walking past a window and I thought "wow, when did that happen?!" I wasn't aware of how much my tummy has grown over the weeks, I guess I just got used to looking at it. But I can definitely tell a difference from a few weeks ago.
I'll let you be the judge.

I took this one in a cami so there would be no camouflaging the bump!


 
 

 

 

 
 

 

  Then I took this one a few hours later (in my poorly decorated, dim lit work bathroom) after I put my shirt on

 

 ...see, clothes can be deceiving...
 
 
 












TTYL!
 

I Love DC

If you know my husband, then you know that he doesn't necessarily care what other people think of him. He minds his own business and if you don't like what he's doing or saying, well, you're just gonna have to ignore him.
Friday was no different.
Kevin's job is a pretty fun place; they always have some type of "employee morale" event going on. Friday was "tacky tourist" day, to kick off the start of summer.
I'm just gonna say...he must really love me to let me dress him like this...

...that's right, he has on MY shirt and his 8 year old daughter's hat...Lord help him.

And to top things off, he even ran different errands throughout the day, in said outfit...



Here he is at Sherwin Williams picking up some paint for the house; needless to say the guy at the counter was a little perplexed



Sending off some mail at the Post Office





Gettin' some lunch @ In-N-Out Burger...his coworker bet him $2 that he wouldn't go in looking like this. I guess you know who won.



@ Money Gram pickin' up some $$ from yet another bet he won!
















Most people were probably left wondering where the rest of the people from the parade went...Gotta love him, he's a good sport.

18 weeks!

Baby's now the size of a sweet potato!


← Isn't that the ugliest picture, I mean they could have chosen something else!

 Baby's become amazingly mobile, passing the hours yawning, hiccupping, rolling, twisting, kicking, punching, sucking, and swallowing. And baby is finally big enough that you'll soon be able to feel his movements.

I feel little flutters here and there, but nothing that someone might be able to feel from the outside yet. I can't wait for that time, then M&M will be able to feel their little one moving too!

I ordered a new pregnancy pillow a few days ago and it should be delivered by tomorrow. I'm anxiously awaiting its arrival; my back kills me at night! I really hope I like it, it came highly recommended by Whitney and had good reviews online...we shall see! It's a Snoogle, pronounced like 'Google' with an S, of course. I looks like it takes up a lot of room, but I don't care, I just wanna be comfy! Sorry Kevin! ☺

In other news, we will be having our big anatomy scan on July 5th! It's basically a very detailed ultrasound that measures all of the baby's, well, anatomy. Lol. I'm excited for numerous reasons; 1. my IPs will be coming down for the appointment (always love to see them!) 2. This particular u/s can take up to 45 minutes, which means we get to see the little one for FORTY-FIVE whole minutes! ♥ I don't know about you, but ultrasounds never get old, it's always fun to be able to peek in and check on the little one. 3. We will be touring L&D (Labor & Delivery) before the u/s appointment. Super cool! It will be a fun day, I'm sure.

Other than that, nothing else to report. As always, I'll leave ya with my weekly belly pic! TTYL.

17 weeks!

I don't think that I've fully soaked in the fact that I'm pregnant. Seriously. As I was typing '17 weeks', I was like "wow, I can't believe it"...it seems like just a few days ago we were at the transfer and were in the dreadful "two week wait". Then we'd set milestone markers...6 wk u/s...8 wks...12wks, etc. Now here we are, almost halfway through! I know I sound like a broken record, but I am just beyond excited for my IPs!! I can't wait for them to meet their little guy!
Anywho, here's the scoop on the baby this week:

Baby's now the size of an onion!
Baby's skeleton is hardening, changing from rubbery cartilage to bone, and fat is finally accumulating around it. His umbilical cord is getting thicker and stronger, and those little fingers and toes now feature one-of-a-kind prints.

Speaking of "baby", we had some testing done a few weeks ago and got the results back on Tuesday that all is well with baby boy! Yay!! So now my IPs can focus on nursery colors and baby showers, the fun stuff! ☺

 As for me, guess what?! I FINALLY got over "morning aka all day sickness"!!! I've actually been quease-free since about 15 weeks, but was making sure it was indeed "gone" before I posted about it and jinxed myself, lol. Lemme tell ya, life is much better when you're not yackin' everyday, 5 times a day!
Now I just need to find a really good pregnancy pillow because it's getting uncomfortable to sleep these days. My back kills me every night! I got a 'Boppy Total Body Pillow', but I took it back after I tried it, it sucked! Didn't support a darn thing. Anyone have suggestions?
Also, I hadn't been posting about this because, well, it's just boring and redundant, but I was having to go e-v-e-r-y week to get blood drawn, from the time we had our 1st beta in March until this Tuesday. Why, you ask? The RE wanted to keep checking my progesterone level to make sure it was going up properly, but it kept fluctuating, up and down, as progesterone levels do. So I guess to be "better safe than sorry", they had me keep going back week after week...I swear if people looked at my arms they would have thought I was some crackhead, hooker pregnant weirdo. I could have started my own blood bank with all the blood they took from me over 2 months! But, this week I got the call I've been waiting for...I don't have to go to the lab anymore!! I know I'll get "stuck" plenty more times during this pregnancy, but at least it's not every week! WOOHOO!!

I'll leave you with my 17 week belly pic:

TTYL!