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!