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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...

Wednesday, October 28, 2015

"Smooth seas don't make good sailors"

After our trip to Denver, we came back home to await the results...to be honest I wasn't concerned that anything would come back "abnormal" because I've always had good lab results. 
On Tuesday, the nurse from CCRM began emailing me my lab results and all was well until she emailed me my Vitamin D results and told me it was a bit low. They look for the "number" to be over 30 and mine was 18. Bummer to hear, but it wasn't a huge concern because they said I just needed to begin taking a daily OTC vitamin D supplement, along with a once weekly Rx for vitamin D, then in a few weeks they would recheck my levels. 
Later that afternoon, I got another email that said my liver enzymes were "elevated" and that they would not move forward with scheduling a transfer until I discussed the results with my doctor, here in Texas, and got a clearance letter from him stating he's okay with me carrying another pregnancy. I have to say, this was very alarming to me...what the hell does "elevated liver enzymes" mean and what can I do about it?? 
With those questions in mind, what do you think I did? What any other paranoid, semi-informed person would do, of course! I went to trusty ol' Google Search and WebMD. Maybe not the best idea, in hindsight. Google will have you thinking you're on your last leg and should start drafting your will asap. So of course, I worried myself sick about all the possibilities of what elevated liver enzymes could mean for me, but I managed to put aside my hypochondriac moment for a few seconds so that I could call my OB's office and schedule an appointment to go over my results. Thankfully they could get me in relatively quickly. I went to the appointment yesterday and my Dr wasn't even remotely concerned! He said that my levels were only a few points over the "norm" and that could be for any number of reasons; the only time he would become concerned is if the levels were in the triple digits (mine weren't even close). After he told me that, all I wanted to say was "can I get my $40 copay back", I mean, damn. I waited there for an hour and met with him for about 2 minutes just for him to kinda chuckle at the fact that CCRM is so strict. Seriously though, I was relieved that it was nothing, and I'd pay 100 copays to have good news like that, any day. His exact words were "you are the ideal patient to carry a pregnancy"...ah, music to my ears! 😊 
So, we're still on track and all I'm waiting on is for his staff to email me the clearance letter. In the meantime, the IPs are getting our contract drafted and we're getting this show on the road!! 
What I've learned is that no matter how much I *think* I know about this process and all of the hurdles that can come your way, I don't know everything and I'm not immune to the occasional curveball either. If everything always went perfectly, you'd never know how to overcome adversity!

Tuesday, October 20, 2015

"People seldom treat me badly on purpose"


The last time I blogged I told you about the couple I matched with in CA...well, let's just say that some things fell through with that and I found myself "back on the market", so to speak. It's funny, this whole world of surrogacy, you never really know what's ahead of you, try as you might. But I'm a firm believer that all things happen for a reason, so no love loss there.

So after the "break up" with the CA couple, a few weeks later one of my surro sisters contacted me saying that she had a couple in mind that she thought I'd like (at this point I was like "yea whatever") but I gave it a shot. I reached out to the IM via Facebook ( isn't social media awesome?!) and we chatted back and forth a few times then decided that we liked each other enough to talk on the phone. Thankfully neither of us deemed each other bat shit crazy and then we did a Skype call. She was soooo sweet and extremely down to earth, easy to talk to. We decided that we both wanted to move forward and got the ball rolling with the clinic (CCRM) and attorneys.

Sunday, Kevin and I flew to Denver (as well as the IPs) so that we could have our "one day work up" done. CCRM is extremely strict and thorough and run you through a shitload of test.  I mean, seriously, I'm surprised I didnt have to give them our 1st born.
We kinda like our 1st born

Anyway, Sunday night we got to meet the IPs in person for the first time and they were just as sweet as they were on the phone!! It's always nerve wracking to meet IPs for the 1st time, it's like a 1st date. Do you tell a joke? Will they get it? Do you bring flowers? Do you just nod and smile and agree with everything? There are just so many random questions that pop into your mind, but it was actually very easy to talk to them and be ourselves, thank god!
So yesterday was our 'one day work up' and I had 6 appointments today (see, thorough!). Appointments started at 10am and the last one was at 2pm. I have to admit, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be and it ran quite smoothly.
Here's what the schedule looked like:
10:00am
Baseline
Ultrasound + Doppler
10:30am
Nurse Consultation

11:30am
Standard or Extended  Workup Labs, Communicable Disease, Genetic Screening Blood Tests
12:00pm
Hysteroscopy, Annual & Regroup
1:00pm
Psychologist Consult
2:00pm
PAI

Fun. :\ 

I knew everything would be okay though because it was October 19th ("Baby L's" 4th bday!) AND on the way to the appointment we saw a double rainbow! Both those things have to be good luck, right? ☺

Everything went very smoothly and the dreaded hysteroscopy wasn't bad; the ultrasound was actually worse because the tech kept pushing my stomach in (and I wanted to kick her!). 
No issues with the labs drawn either...(if you've read any of my blogs before, you know those don't usually go well!) 
What a good hubby :)

Oh and they were nice enough to prep the stirrups for me...
Ready for baby baking?? At least they were my favorite color...

Pink paper clothing...look for it on the Spring 2016 runways
I got the preliminary "all clear" from my ultrasound and hysteroscopy and then Kevin and I met with the psychologist. I think we fooled her into thinking we are sane. (Kidding!!...maybe) 😜
After that, I took the PAI, Personality Assessment Something...it's a 300+ (ridiculous) question assessment. Seriously, if you don't pass this test then you seriously are not the sharpest tool in the shed. 
I was literally laughing out loud at most of the questions, so then I decided to take a pic of some of the ridiculousness because I knew some people wouldn't believe me. 
What?? I'm not even sure how to answer this so that they don't think I'm a lunatic.
Quite possible, but what does that mean about me, exactly?
Now, this question confused me by the way it was worded...maybe I'm a little slow.
Yes, Yes, I do. Problem?
Aren't we all though?
And WHY is this relevant?
All I can say is, the PAI was entertaining, but I was glad to get it over with. 

So after everything was complete, we headed back to the airport with the IPs (they are from Seattle), we said our "see ya laters" and flew back home. 

Now we await the official results from the clinic and then we will finalize contracts, yay!! Hoping for a transfer by December at the latest.

Keep your fingers crossed for us and I'll keep you posted!! 

And happy 4th birthday to my 1st surrobabe "Baby L", who's not such a baby anymore! ❤️