Getting started

Yesterday, Chris and I flew down to Houston to really get things started. A month or so ago, Shiva found us the perfect couple. And I mean perfect. The first time we talked on the phone, it felt like we had been friends forever. In my heart, I just knew they were couple! In the surrogate world they are called Intended Parents, or IP's, but I'll be calling them A & D. A and I had been texting before the trip, both of us anxious to meet, but more I think to get everything started! Once you get matched with someone, it's usually around 3 months before you can expect to do the embryo transfer, (the getting pregnant part). I'm a gestational carrier, which means it's an egg from the mom and sperm from the dad (or donor for either), unlike traditional surrogacy, which means the surrogate is biologically the mother. Depending on what type of eggs the IP's are using changes the surrogates process. For mine, A & D, are having testing done on the embryos before the transfer so we don't have to have our cycles synched or anything like that. Once it gets closer to having her eggs harvested, I'll start daily injections of progesterone. NOT looking forward to that. And, the doctor told me yesterday that I'll have to take them for 2-3 months after I get pregnant too. To me, that seems like worst part of the entire process! I'm not a fan of needles, and Chris isn't either so I'll either give them to myself or have my mom or MIL shoot me :)  I'll explain more once we get to that point, that's about as much as I know. BUT, back to yesterday. Our flight left DFW at 6:05. IN THE MORNING. If you know me, you know I'm not a morning person. My boys normally wake up around 9, and I get grumpy if it's earlier than that! We got up at 3:45, (I think I finally went to sleep a little after 1), and left the house by 4:15. After we landed we got our rental car and headed to our first stop, which was to a psychiatrist. When you're first matched you get a general, you can't be mentally unstable/just doing it for the money/take off after you're pregnant, kind of talk, but you and your IP's meet with a specialist to go over the process and make sure you understand what's going. I went first and took a 567 question, true/false test about my personality and history. Then, she spoke with Chris and I about our together-history, and how we would handle different scenarios. After that, she spoke with A & D, then brought us all together so we could go over what we each talked about and to make sure everyone was on the same page. You decide everything from how many embryos to transfer, to how you want to communicate with each other, to contact after the baby's born. It was pretty amazing how we all had the same plan. More reason we were a perfect match! We left there with about 20 minutes to get to our second stop, (with a quick drive-thru for lunch), which was the infertility institute. I think the majority of IP's use a surrogate because the mom can't get pregnant herself, but in our situation, it's just not healthy for A to carry, so we are blessed she doesn't have the heart-breaking stories that most do. She will be on medication to be able to retrieve lots of eggs, then they'll have them tested and use the two healthiest ones. It's very common to have twins instead of just one that sticks, possible that one will split so you'd have triplets, and very rare for both to split and have quads. BUT, yes, there is the possibility of me carrying quads. I already have a feeling I'll have twin boys (there it is again), but I think I'd be ok with being wrong and just having one :) We'll see! At my appointment I had blood taken, a urine sample, and a sonogram checking out my uterus and ovaries and making sure all is well. Which, it is!! So, now it's just a waiting game for me, until the eggs are ready to be transferred!

How I got here...

I grew up a tomboy. I wanted to play football and baseball. (Quarterback or pitcher only. I didn't want to get hurt, but I did have a pretty good arm.) My friends were mostly boys, I wore baggy shirts and shorts, and my hair was always in a ponytail. I would've DIED if anyone of them had known I had a secret stash of Littlest Pet Shop and Quints toys that I played with every afternoon. The only part of being a girl that I really wanted any part of was to be a mom. I remember always volunteering to watch little kids, and knew that whatever I did as an adult would be something with children. I don't remember exactly when I knew I wanted to be a surrogate, but it was sometime in high school when I learned about infertility and what it meant. I used to have nightmares even before I got married of not being able to have kids of my own, and I constantly prayed that one day God would bless me with two boys. (I was an only child and hated it, and there was no way I would voluntarily raise a mini-me, so they were big issues for me.) I was beyond thankful when we found out our first child was a boy. We had a gender reveal party for our second, and when I cut into that blue-filled cake, I couldn't not believe God actually answered my prayers and blessed me with another boy. I was in shock for a few days after! After each birth I remember staring in their eyes and being overwhelmed with knowing I was their mother. Their momma. Both times I also cried because I knew there were so many women that couldn't have this and it broke my heart. I have close friends that have had devastating fertility issues and I just knew I wanted to help someone else have that moment. I had researched a little after my oldest was born, and about 6 months after my youngest, I got serious. My pregnancies were very easy, and besides some irritating back pain towards the end of both, I was one of those annoying women that LOVED being pregnant. So, for me this was the greatest idea ever. I could be pregnant, but then be able to SLEEP???!!!! Yes please!! It didn't take long to find an agency I liked. My second call was to Shiva Landry at Shared Conceptions, and after just a few minutes of talking to her, I knew I found the right place. As I'm sure you'll see as this whole thing comes along, I'm a big go-with-my-gut kind of person. Most of the time, I just know. And most of the time, I can't explain why. I just know. Pretty soon, I'd gotten my profile together, and was waiting to be matched with a couple!