April 16th was my final appointment with Texas Fertility before transfer. Of course, after hearing that you have an imperfect uterus it's hard not to obsessively worry that it could happen again. The doctor was running late but I was told she was on her way and to go ahead and undress. I took the time to over think and drive myself crazy. It actually didn't take long before she came in and really only took a few seconds for her to do the actual exam. She said, "Everything looks great!". By great she meant that my uterus lining was 13mm's thick. What does that mean? The clinic wanted to see 7mm... pretty sure that means my uterus was PERFECT! :)
Friday, April 26, 2013
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
Medication Administration Instructions
I thought I would post this for those of you that may be curious...
Day 1: Apply 2 patches (Estrogen)
Day 3: Apply 2 new patches
Day 5: Apply 2 new patches
Day 7: Apply 3 new patches
Day 9: Apply 3 new patches
Day 11: Apply 4 new patches
Day 13: Apply 4 new patches
Day 15: Apply 4 new patches and have ultrasound to check uterus lining.
If everything looks okay with my lining I will decrease the patches to 2 per day, changing every other day, and start injecting Progesterone Oil once daily.
As of right now we are looking at transfer taking place the week of April 22. So exciting!
Day 1: Apply 2 patches (Estrogen)
Day 3: Apply 2 new patches
Day 5: Apply 2 new patches
Day 7: Apply 3 new patches
Day 9: Apply 3 new patches
Day 11: Apply 4 new patches
Day 13: Apply 4 new patches
Day 15: Apply 4 new patches and have ultrasound to check uterus lining.
If everything looks okay with my lining I will decrease the patches to 2 per day, changing every other day, and start injecting Progesterone Oil once daily.
As of right now we are looking at transfer taking place the week of April 22. So exciting!
Ready... Set...GO!!!
Did I already say that things never seem to go as planned? A few weeks ago E and I had a conference call with the fertility clinic to discuss dates. They thought it would be a good idea for me to stop taking birth control a week early. The thought was that in doing so I would start my period early. Ha! Sure, in a perfect world.I was beginning to think that I would just skip the month all together. I must admit, it made me feel awful. I hated the thought of E having to wait another month when she had already been waiting for so long. I was thrilled, no seriously... thrilled!! when my period started on April Fools Day! Mother Nature is funny isn't she?!
I sent E a text letting her know and she contacted D Fertility to get things moving. Boy are they fast!
My first appointment was this morning to have my ovaries checked at Texas Fertility. Let me just say that having that done while on your period isn't fun, at all. The good news is that my ovaries were clear! No cysts!
After that I went to the lab to have blood work done. I didn't get to hear the results before D Fertility closed, but I'm hoping everything was fine.
I ended up making it home just in time to sign for my medication and ended the day with my final step... starting Estrogen patches.
Here we go again!!!
Sunday, February 17, 2013
Sign on the dotted line...
If I have learned anything during my surrogate journey, it's that none of this is easy and often things don't go as planned. I never imagined that it would take 7 months to go from my first meeting with E to getting our contract signed.
It wasn't long after the polyps incident that I found out our medical insurance was changing. Cigna decided not to renew with Google so we were forced to find another insurance company. During our research I called to double check on surrogacy coverage and none of the new plans available had it.
I dreaded that phone call to E. I was sure this was going to cause big problems for us. What we did have on our side was my good friend Krystal. During her surrogate pregnancy the intended parents provided her medical coverage. Armed with the company information in hand, I called E and gave her all the information. We were both worried that private insurance was going to be unaffordable. In the end, the insurance company ended up working out. We sent in all the necessary paperwork and coverage began on February first.
With the insurance changes came mega contract negotiations. E and I sat and watched as our lawyers picked through the insurance portion of the contract bit by bit. It was all about protecting both of us, but I think we were just ready to get things moving. It's hard to explain to a lawyer that when working with someone directly like we are, there is a level of trust that just exists. Nope, lawyers don't get that at all!
Finally, yesterday 4 copies of the 55 page contrat arrived in the mail! Of course, keeping the theme going... things can never be easy. Casey is out of town for the week so we have to wait for him to return to get all the copies signed, dated, and notarized. Once that is done we will make a copy and overnight it to Duke! After Duke has the copy we will start medication!
I haven't paid a lot of attention to the dates, but according to E if we start medication in the next week we can do the transfer in 5 weeks and have the baby right before Christmas! Sounds like perfect timing if you ask me <3
I dreaded that phone call to E. I was sure this was going to cause big problems for us. What we did have on our side was my good friend Krystal. During her surrogate pregnancy the intended parents provided her medical coverage. Armed with the company information in hand, I called E and gave her all the information. We were both worried that private insurance was going to be unaffordable. In the end, the insurance company ended up working out. We sent in all the necessary paperwork and coverage began on February first.
With the insurance changes came mega contract negotiations. E and I sat and watched as our lawyers picked through the insurance portion of the contract bit by bit. It was all about protecting both of us, but I think we were just ready to get things moving. It's hard to explain to a lawyer that when working with someone directly like we are, there is a level of trust that just exists. Nope, lawyers don't get that at all!
Finally, yesterday 4 copies of the 55 page contrat arrived in the mail! Of course, keeping the theme going... things can never be easy. Casey is out of town for the week so we have to wait for him to return to get all the copies signed, dated, and notarized. Once that is done we will make a copy and overnight it to Duke! After Duke has the copy we will start medication!
I haven't paid a lot of attention to the dates, but according to E if we start medication in the next week we can do the transfer in 5 weeks and have the baby right before Christmas! Sounds like perfect timing if you ask me <3
Thursday, January 24, 2013
Imperfect Uterus
Finding out about the polyps on my uterus was really hard for me. I had never had something like them before and not knowing exactly what was going on, was killing me. I tried not to worry about them, but I couldn't help it. Besides the fear of having uterine cancer I was scared to death of having surgery.
I trusted Dr Shah and his opinion but I also knew that I wasn't his number one priority. So, I made an appointment to see Dr. Campaigne when I returned home. I knew that she would be honest and tell me everything I needed to hear. I'm pretty sure if she had not become an OB, that she would have been a therapist! She's just so great at listening and offering advice.
I left there knowing that I didn't have to get the surgery if I didn't want to. It wasn't required for me to have another child of my own. She did suggest I keep my appointment with Texas Fertility just to see what they had to say.
A week later I had my first visit with Dr. Silverberg at Texas Fertility Center. He seemed to be a little more concerned about the polyps and talked me into having the hysterscopy. The surgery was pretty uneventful. I was in and out in a few hours with just some mild cramps.
I had to wait almost a month for the results. I called just about everyday for my results but no one returned my phone calls. When I finally went in for my post-op Dr. Silverberg realized that they never got my test results back. I waited over an hour while they called CPL but they never came. I'm assured that they must have been clear and was told not to worry. That isn't the easiest thing to do.
Dr. Silverberg sent his "findings" to Dr. Shah and we were approved to move on to the next step.
If only things were that easy...
I trusted Dr Shah and his opinion but I also knew that I wasn't his number one priority. So, I made an appointment to see Dr. Campaigne when I returned home. I knew that she would be honest and tell me everything I needed to hear. I'm pretty sure if she had not become an OB, that she would have been a therapist! She's just so great at listening and offering advice.
I left there knowing that I didn't have to get the surgery if I didn't want to. It wasn't required for me to have another child of my own. She did suggest I keep my appointment with Texas Fertility just to see what they had to say.
A week later I had my first visit with Dr. Silverberg at Texas Fertility Center. He seemed to be a little more concerned about the polyps and talked me into having the hysterscopy. The surgery was pretty uneventful. I was in and out in a few hours with just some mild cramps.
I had to wait almost a month for the results. I called just about everyday for my results but no one returned my phone calls. When I finally went in for my post-op Dr. Silverberg realized that they never got my test results back. I waited over an hour while they called CPL but they never came. I'm assured that they must have been clear and was told not to worry. That isn't the easiest thing to do.
Dr. Silverberg sent his "findings" to Dr. Shah and we were approved to move on to the next step.
If only things were that easy...
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
North Carolina Bound...
5am came quickly last Wednesday. I can't remember the last time I had to get up so early, for anything.
I sat in the terminal waiting to board an airplane to Memphis, the first stop on my journey to North Carolina to meet E. I had an appointment at Duke Fertility to make sure that I qualified to continue on with this process.
Before going I told some of my (famous) mom friends that I wasn't nervous. I realized as I tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep, that I was extremely nervous. I think I was just anxious to get this part of the process over and done with. It's the initial meet that freaks me out. What if E doesn't like me? What if my weight (which I'm still struggling with) is an issue? What if there is something else wrong with me that I don't know about? So many "what if's".
I found myself questioning the strength that I have to go through this all again. Do I want to put my body through all of this again? Can I really handle it? Will I regret it? Is it worth it?
Having a child is already a difficult decision. Having a child (or two) for someone else makes the decision that much harder.
In the end I decided that I could only be myself and hope that E would like me. I wished for everything to go well during our appointment and I felt confident in my decision to help C and E out.
I waited outside of the baggage claim for E to come and pick me up. I didn't mind the wait. It was a tad cold but I started reading this book, Secret Holocaust Diaries, and I couldn't put the book down. It didn't take very long for her to show up anyway. When she pulled up to the curb I felt nothing short of joy and excitement. It was really nice to see her in person.
She took me to lunch before our appointment at this really yummy Italian place. The pizzas that we ordered were extremely large for single servings and the salad dressing was so freaking good! It was really nice having a while to chat before we had to go to the clinic. I learned more about E's "condition" and reasons for needing a surrogate. I guess the easiest way to explain it is to say she has something similar to Lupus. She is really blessed to have her son and so lucky that they both came out of delivery okay. Sadly, it isn't something she can risk again.
The appointment went okay. The doctor and his staff were really nice. The saline transfer wasn't nearly as uncomfortable as the HSG I underwent before the twins. It was really pretty cool to watch how it worked.
After the procedure we met in a room and discussed the results, my health, and the transfer procedure. First things first. I have polyps. Two of them. They have be removed before the transfer can take place. Next, they "normally" wait 15 months between pregnancies which would move the transfer to May/June time frame. In the end he decided that I was an ideal candidate for a gestational surrogate and that we would double check on everything else and get back to us.
I left there with a bunch of information, no dates, some antibiotics, and orders to have my latest pap smear results sent to his clinic.
I talked to E and the Duke nurse yesterday. Dr. S has a "friend" here at Texas Fertility that he has discussed the polyps with. I have an appointment with this doctor on November 5th and should have the surgery pretty quickly.
One week after the surgery I can start the patches and other medicines required before transfer and we can go ahead with the transfer in December, we don't have to wait!
It's all coming together!
The next step right now is doing a couple of surveys online for Duke Fertility and to start taking prenatal pills along with some extra Folic Acid. Exciting!
I'm very happy that things are working out and that we weren't forced to wait until next year. The plus side? I get a couple of months to drop a little more weight!
I sat in the terminal waiting to board an airplane to Memphis, the first stop on my journey to North Carolina to meet E. I had an appointment at Duke Fertility to make sure that I qualified to continue on with this process.
Before going I told some of my (famous) mom friends that I wasn't nervous. I realized as I tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep, that I was extremely nervous. I think I was just anxious to get this part of the process over and done with. It's the initial meet that freaks me out. What if E doesn't like me? What if my weight (which I'm still struggling with) is an issue? What if there is something else wrong with me that I don't know about? So many "what if's".
I found myself questioning the strength that I have to go through this all again. Do I want to put my body through all of this again? Can I really handle it? Will I regret it? Is it worth it?
Having a child is already a difficult decision. Having a child (or two) for someone else makes the decision that much harder.
In the end I decided that I could only be myself and hope that E would like me. I wished for everything to go well during our appointment and I felt confident in my decision to help C and E out.
I waited outside of the baggage claim for E to come and pick me up. I didn't mind the wait. It was a tad cold but I started reading this book, Secret Holocaust Diaries, and I couldn't put the book down. It didn't take very long for her to show up anyway. When she pulled up to the curb I felt nothing short of joy and excitement. It was really nice to see her in person.
She took me to lunch before our appointment at this really yummy Italian place. The pizzas that we ordered were extremely large for single servings and the salad dressing was so freaking good! It was really nice having a while to chat before we had to go to the clinic. I learned more about E's "condition" and reasons for needing a surrogate. I guess the easiest way to explain it is to say she has something similar to Lupus. She is really blessed to have her son and so lucky that they both came out of delivery okay. Sadly, it isn't something she can risk again.
The appointment went okay. The doctor and his staff were really nice. The saline transfer wasn't nearly as uncomfortable as the HSG I underwent before the twins. It was really pretty cool to watch how it worked.
After the procedure we met in a room and discussed the results, my health, and the transfer procedure. First things first. I have polyps. Two of them. They have be removed before the transfer can take place. Next, they "normally" wait 15 months between pregnancies which would move the transfer to May/June time frame. In the end he decided that I was an ideal candidate for a gestational surrogate and that we would double check on everything else and get back to us.
I left there with a bunch of information, no dates, some antibiotics, and orders to have my latest pap smear results sent to his clinic.
I talked to E and the Duke nurse yesterday. Dr. S has a "friend" here at Texas Fertility that he has discussed the polyps with. I have an appointment with this doctor on November 5th and should have the surgery pretty quickly.
One week after the surgery I can start the patches and other medicines required before transfer and we can go ahead with the transfer in December, we don't have to wait!
It's all coming together!
The next step right now is doing a couple of surveys online for Duke Fertility and to start taking prenatal pills along with some extra Folic Acid. Exciting!
I'm very happy that things are working out and that we weren't forced to wait until next year. The plus side? I get a couple of months to drop a little more weight!
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
B Introduces Me To E...
On July 1st I got an text from B...
The next day I got a phone call from E. She was... amazing!! I felt that same instant connection with her that I felt the first time I talked to B on the phone.
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"Hey didn't know if you matched but I have a good friend looking for a gestational carrier. Wonderful couple."
The next day I got a phone call from E. She was... amazing!! I felt that same instant connection with her that I felt the first time I talked to B on the phone.
A few weeks later we set up a Skype chat so I could officially "meet" E and her husband, "C'. What a cute couple! They were so easy to talk to and both so sweet. We had a great conversation and in the end we all agreed that we wanted to move forward.
It took me until the first week in August to get all of my medical records together and mailed to the fertility clinic in North Carolina. It took the fertility clinic another couple of weeks to review all of the records and "okay" everything.
Once that was done we set up a psych consult with Dr P-D, the same doctor we saw when we worked with B and C. We got in with her the first week of September and got her okay to keep going with the process.
B was nice enough to let E use the same agreement we used which made things a lot easier. We even ended up using the same lawyers.
I had my phone consult with my lawyer today and there were only a few minor changes that need to be made before the contract can be finalized. Hopefully it's all done in the next couple of days. Once all the parties have signed we can schedule transfer 14 days later!
B was nice enough to let E use the same agreement we used which made things a lot easier. We even ended up using the same lawyers.
I had my phone consult with my lawyer today and there were only a few minor changes that need to be made before the contract can be finalized. Hopefully it's all done in the next couple of days. Once all the parties have signed we can schedule transfer 14 days later!
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I made an appointment with Liane at Nurture last week for my yearly check up and to get started on birth control. Today is my first day taking my pill. It's pretty exciting stuff. The first "real" step in all of this becoming a reality.
The next big step has me traveling to North Carolina for my physical evaluation and a sonohysterogram; That is where they pass a thin catheter through my cervix into the uterine cavity. They slowly inject saline into the cavity while a 3-D ultrasound of the uterus is performed. It's really similar to the HSG I had when I went through this with B but supposedly less painful.
I'm actually really excited to meet E in person!! I have high hopes that the evaluation and saline transfer go well and that we will be able to attempt transfer in November. I'm so thrilled to be able to do this again and look forward to sharing my new journey with all of you!
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