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I'm a wife, mom, and gestational surrogate. I've been blessed to be able to have 2 beautiful daughters of my own and 2 cute little surro babes for IPs. With the support of my WONDERFUL family and friends, I'm doing it again!! Follow me on my journey...

Thursday, May 22, 2014

She's here!!!!!

Well Miss B decided to make her debut on Saturday, May 10th, about 30 minutes shy of Mother's Day! (And she proved me wrong by arriving 3 days before her due date)

Here are her stats:
Born May 10 (her grandparent's anniversary!) 
11:32pm
8lbs2oz
20 in

She is absolutely adorable and the parents are so in love with her. ♥

So here's the birth story: (this will be long...I want to remember all of this in the future ☺ )

At my Dr. appt on Friday the 9th I was still dilated 2-3cm, which was a little disappointing. I was hoping all the contractions I had been having were making some kind of progress. My BP was also elevated so the Dr decided to send me to L&D to be monitored. They kept me for about an hour, ran labs,  everything came back normal and BP went back down, so they sent me home. 

The next day, Saturday, May 10th around 10:30am I went to the nail spa with my mom, grandma and oldest daughter. Very relaxing ☺ We went to lunch afterward and then I got back home around 2:30pm. Kevin, the girls and I started watching a movie and I was having the usual contractions, nothing major. Then I felt a 'pop' in my abdominal area and had a really long, semi-painful contraction. It went away and I kept watching the movie until about 10 minutes later (3:30p) when I felt a trickle "down there". I hopped up, ran to the bathroom and wasn't quite sure if my water broke or if I peed on myself lol. I stood there for a few minutes and the mystery liquid kept coming out so I was pretty sure my water had broken :-) 
I told Kevin it was time, he turned the movie off and got the girls packed up and into the car. Then I called my IPs (you could hear the excitement in my IM's voice!) and my mom (the girls were going to her house). We dropped the girls off and then we were off to the hospital. At that point I started having regular contractions (about every 3 mins)...I noticed Kevin was on the phone and I didn't know who he was talking to, but I soon figured it out....he was talking to my step dad AKA our escort to the hospital. I looked up and saw my dad's car in front of us with his emergency lights flashing "clearing the way" through traffic for us. Omg....let's not talk about how quickly we got to the hospital. Thankfully I was too distracted by all the contractions to look at the speedometer...we made it there safely and without any tickets so I guess that's what matters :)
I got checked in to L&D triage (4:45p) and they confirmed that my water broke so they moved me to a room. I was having contractions every 2 mins now, but not too painful. Nurse checked my cervix and I was dilated to 4cm. Got my IV put in and then my IPs arrived.
I started getting nauseous and then I puked...nice!

Seriously??
The contractions were getting stronger and then, thankfully, the anesthesiologist arrived. They only allow 1 person in the room while getting the epidural so I asked Kevin to stay...why did I do that? If you recall, last time Kevin passed out when I got the epidural. Smh. I figured it was a one time thing. Not so much. The Dr was merely telling me about the procedure and Kevin started getting lightheaded. We sent him out and asked IM to come in lol.
Guess he had to have a snack break after that ordeal.
So IM was there with me while I got the epidural. I'm glad she was too. She was very calming. 
That was around 6:30pm and after the epi was done, I was a happy camper ☺
The nurse told us that our Dr wasn't the Dr on call that weekend so his associate would be the one to deliver. Bummer. Then she came back and said our Dr had put a note on my chart specifically asking to be called if I came in because he wanted to be the one to deliver. How cool is that?! Dr. B was great to us throughout the entire pregnancy and it was really nice to know that he cared enough to come in on his day off. 
My mom, the girls and my grandma arrived and kept me company for a while too.
My entourage ☺
My girls were so supportive ♥
Around 8p I was still having contractions every 2 mins, but was only dilated to 5cm, so they started Pitocin to help make the contractions stronger and dilate me more. Thank goodness for the epi! ☺
My friend Elice arrived around 8:30-9; she was the designated photographer. She did fix my hair, but we didn't set off any smoke alarms this time! 
It was really calm in the room, we were just watching tv and waiting for Miss B to make some progress.
The nurse was writing her birthday time/weight guess on our board. (She won for time, I won for weight) ☺
The Dr came in at 11pm, checked me and said I was at 10 and ready to push. Everyone got ready, M&P were on each side of me and I started pushing! 30 mins later Miss B arrived! 
It was one of the most calm births ever! They placed her on my tummy to clean her off and she let out that beautiful cry we all wanted to hear.

IM was crying and IF was smiling from ear to ear! IF got to cut the cord and IM did skin-to-skin with Miss B. It was so amazing! No words can truly describe those 1st moments.
 
The new parents got to help with giving B her 1st bath and putting on her diaper (which was upside down at first lol!) 
She passed all of her tests and was given her 1st set of vaccines as well. 
Bath time
I immediately started pumping for her, but her appetite was bigger than I could produce, right off, so they supplemented with formula. 
IM got to celebrate her 1st Mother's Day the next day (so cool!) and we all went home on Monday. 
The best part of it all? When IPs said that B will call me Aunt Krystal! I totally started crying. What a privilege! I feel so incredibly blessed to have been able to help another couple become parents and love the fact that they consider me part of their family. I definitely don't take it for granted. There are so many other surrogates that don't even get pictures afterward. I'm a lucky woman! 
The girls instantly loved her!♥


As for me, I'm feeling good. I have been pumping for Miss B, which is tiring, but surprisingly rewarding. It feels like an accomplishment after each time I pump and I look in the freezer to see all the milk I've produced. ☺
I started light exercise yesterday (just walking the dogs) and will slowly work my way back up to Zumba and soccer. 

So, that's it! Miss B is here, healthy and happy! She's very alert and a sweet, calm baby. Couldn't ask for anything better! 
I'm a happy surro and I'm sure my family is happy to have their "normal" mom/wife back.

Leaving the hospital


3.5 days old
11 days old
Toodles for now! 

PS. Will I do it again? 
It's not out of the question..... ;)

Wednesday, May 7, 2014

39 weeks!!!


Week 39 baby fetus size watermelon
Fetus Size
Baby is about the size of a watermelon during week 39.

LENGTH: 20.31 in
WEIGHT: 7.78 lb
Let's just start off with this little statistic...Most babies, about 95%, don't arrive on their due date. Of the 95%, 25% come early and 70% come late.
 
Umm...HELL NO! No, seriously....like...NO! Late is not an option. I've been having (according to the nurse at the Dr's office) Braxton Hick's contractions since Monday. They are not painful, but they sure as hell aren't pleasant either. And it's not fun to have these false alarms. I feel like the boy who cried wolf; no one's gonna believe when I actually do go into labor b/c I think I'm going into labor about every 20 minutes :\ Whatevs.
Miss B has 6 days until her "projected due date".... please cooperate, Miss B!
 
My appointment last Friday went well. Baby's heart rate was good, my belly is still huge (Dr doesn't even tell me what it measures at this point) prob for the best...and I'm dilated 2-3cm! Dr. was very surprised at how much I was dilated and didn't seem to think I'll make it to our due date. I'm skeptical. I think I'll make it and even go past the damn date! Oh well, I'm going to do my best to cherish these last few days of pregnancy, no matter how uncomfortable I might be. *Try*
 
Next appointment is on Friday the 9th (if we make it). I'll let cha know how it goes.

Love from Miss B's #1 fan...and Zeus decided to join in for once :)