Injection Series #3

The dreaded Progesterone!

Here we are! Our final injection series before the big day! (Five days now that the date was changed) Today I began Progesterone. This medication is also an intramuscular injection like the Estrogen, which means it is in my back side. Ouch! My amazing husband Timothy has been giving me these shots and I couldn't ask for a better "nurse." A great explanation of the use of Progesterone in this part of the process is "Progesterone makes the uterus receptive by inducing it to produce the proper nutrients to support the embryo." I will continue the Progesterone, every day, until at least week 10 of pregnancy. Ouchhhh! The progesterone is in oil so it is very thick. Before you prep the syringe, you roll the bottle in the palms of your hands to thin it out a bit and heat up the medication. It makes it easier to inject. After it is injected (very, very slowly!) you have to massage the area for a few minutes and then sit on a heating pad for about 10 minutes. It may not seem like you need to, but I swear it will help later on.

 Today I also began Doxycycline and Prednisone - two antibiotics to help the transfer go smoothly. I will only take these for the next 4 days. I can't wait for this part of this journey to be over but I would take injections every day of the pregnancy if I had to for the baby to survive :)

My next post will be on Transfer Day! I can't believe it!!!

Womp Womp..

Transfer date has been pushed back to Monday! This is why they call it an official(ish) date after all. Everything happens for a reason, right?! SEVEN days (take two)!!!

{{ONE WEEK}} until the big day!!

How did we get here already?! 

I know, I know, it seems as though this process has been going on forever, but these past two weeks have just crept up on me! Skyping with S & B tomorrow and I'm sure it will be a conversation of anxious excitement and sheer panic that we are only SEVEN days away!! On Monday I have to go to the lab before 11am to have my blood drawn so my results will be ready by the time I have my final ultrasound and lining check at 1pm. I should get the final appointment time of my transfer and progesterone start date :) Yesterday I threw my mother a successful 50th birthday party, so that had been keeping me busy the last few weeks. Now I'm starting to panic since the transfer is my only priority coming up! Eeeeek!!!

Ultrasound and Lab

Yesterday I went in for my second to last ultrasound and lab before the transfer. We are now only 11 days away!! The tech said that everything looks "textbook" so that is a good sign, right? They are keeping all of my current medications at the same dosage since everything is where it should be. I have a follow up appointment on Monday, which will be my final blood work and ultrasound before the transfer!! I have so much going on right now with school, family, and work that it is keeping me 100% distracted from getting nervous.

Surrogate Retreat

 Maria (Owner of ISC) & Myself

The ladies at dinner :)

Last weekend I was invited by my agency to attend a surrogate retreat overnight at Glen Ivy Spa. I had met most of the other surrogates from the agency, but had not had the chance to really get to know them. I was beyond excited and nervous to go since I had never been away from my children and husband at the same time overnight before. I didn't know what to expect, but was blown away at how much fun I had. I waited until Saturday morning to pack and had to be at the agency at 8am. Tim practically had to force me to get ready. Normally when you go to a girls weekend, you have friends that you can count down the days with and get hyped up about the trip. This trip, I didn't know many of them going so the excitement only hit me about an hour before I had to leave. I love the agency I am with. The staff is all so sweet and have the surrogates best interest in mind. They really do take care of us and make us feel important. They don't have to treat us to a spa weekend, but they do and they went all out. Each of us received one spa treatment and a day pass to the pools, mineral baths, mud baths, etc. It was amazing. I had my first facial while the majority of the ladies had a massage. We all laughed, shared our surrogate journeys and experiences, talked about our children, and just enjoyed having a relaxing girl time. I never knew how beneficial it would be to have contact with other surrogates during this journey, but it really makes me feel like this is where I belong. This is what I was meant to do. They are the sweetest women, and have the best attitude about what we do. Even though the retreat was only 26 hours long, it was a weekend that I will never forget! 

Enjoying the mud baths!

((If you live in Southern California and want to look into being a surrogate or need to find a surrogate, definitely check into International Surrogacy Center http://www.internationalsurrogacycenter.com/))

Injection Series #2

Today I began my second series of injections -- Estrogen. Patch and injection form. I was very excited to start today, because as always, that means transfer day is just one step closer!!

This morning started off with putting my patches on. Funny story about these patches -- my mother had a full hysterectomy when she was 27 after fighting cancer, so for as long as I can remember she wore these exact patches. She changes them every 3 weeks, and if she goes too long before changing them, we can tell. If you know what I mean ;) It's her version of pms-ing. Love you mom!! So when I told her that I would be wearing two, and changing them every other day, she immediately apologized to my husband. Hahaha. Like I said, I will be wearing these two at a time and changing them every other day until they tell me otherwise. No big deal :)

I am still on Lupron (from Injection Series #1), however the dosage has been cut in half. I administered my injection this morning as usual and will continue to do so until the week before the transfer.

This needle goes ALL the way in!! Ahh!!

This evening is when s*** got real. I started my Delestrogen (Estrogen). I found this great explanation for its use --"Estradiol/Delestrogen/Estrogen is a medication that is used to thicken the endometrial lining to prepare for the implantation process. This medication is administered twice weekly beginning approximately two to three weeks prior to embryo transfer and is continued for approximately 10 weeks after embryo transfer." Luckily my husband Tim doesn't get queasy from needles and has volunteered to administer my intramuscular injections. This means I receive the injections in my back side. Oh yeah, super fun!

All of my fellow surromamas have been amazing and gave me tips on how to make these injections as painless as possible. I first began by icing the injection site in order to numb it. I did this while I prepped the syringe so it was about 5 minutes. When administering Delestrogen, you retrieve it out of the vial with an 18gauge needle, but inject it into your body with a 22gauge needle (the higher the number, the smaller). This made me feel better since the 18gauge is scary, but soon realized that I would be using the 18gauge for my Injection Series #3. Ahhhh!! So now, the syringe is ready and my backside is numb. I, of course, begin to lose my nerves like usual. I bat Timothy off for a good 5 minutes flailing like a demon child. Finally, I bury my face in my pillow and begin shaking like crazy. I felt the tiniest little prick and like that he was slowly pushing the thick liquid in. It was nothing!! I psyched myself up for nothing, AGAIN!

So happy I listened to everyone and iced my behind beforehand :) I am not looking forward to the next part and you will see why when I write that post...

Crisis Averted Part 3 (and hopefully the last)

I have been holding off writing this post because of the sensitivity of the matter. Remember how I mentioned that S & B would be going to the US Embassy in France to have their contract notarized? Well, when they went on April 1st, they were DENIED! We were all shocked. We were under the impression that they would for sure be able to have the surrogacy documents notarized at the Embassy since it is on "US territory." Apparently not. That day was a nightmare. We were all in a panic. Luckily, from their legal guidance, they were able to make an appointment in London to attempt to have the documents notarized there. I was much more relaxed as I woke up this morning, thinking that everything was going to be just fine. And luckily, it was! S & B were able to get the contract submitted :) They sent me the cutest text.
Now we really can breathe a sigh of relief knowing that there is nothing in the way of our transfer in 21 days! I put my first Estrogen patches on today, lowered my dosage of my Lupron injection, and am prepping for my first Estrogen injection tonight! Time is starting to fly by!

We Have an Official(ish) Transfer Date!

It is time to begin the countdown! Ohhhh buddy!! The official(ish) transfer date is...       May 3rd!

We are only 25 days away, eeeeeek! Yes, I say eek a lot. I am usually calm and collected on the outside, yet a 12 year old girl at a Justin Timberlake concert, on the inside. The reason I say official(ish) is for the fact that they can bump my transfer up sooner if I progress faster than they expect. Most likely though, it will be on Saturday, May 3rd.

A few details of the transfer that I am aware of and can share are that we will be transferring two embryos. One boy and one girl. Yes, the genders have already been determined through testing, and thankfully both embys are healthy! I am very excited and optimistic for both to stick. I will be on bed rest for 72 hours following the transfer. You don't have to tell me twice to not get out of bed. That is my dream to spend three days in bed sleeping, eating, and reading... all alone. Yes, please!

I start my Estrogen patches and injections (you read that right, estrogen patches and estrogen injections... sorry Timothy!) on Friday so I will update my injection series post :)

Injection Series #1

Today is day six of my first round of injection medications. Throughout the next month or two, I will be taking three different medications via injections and many more in pill or patch form. Some of the other surrogacy blogs that I have read skim over the med process, but I want to break it down for you just a bit over my next few posts.

As of right now, I take a baby aspirin and prenatal every day. I also give myself a daily injection of Lupron. I found this great explanation of the use of Lupron in gestational surrogacy -- "Lupron is a subcutaneous (just under the skin) injection to shut down the bodies normal hormone production so the doctors can control your cycle and be sure the surrogate's uterus is ready to receive the embryos at the exact time for the best chance of success." Although the needle is tiny, it is still very intimidating. I have learned quickly the do's and don't's of the Lupron shots.

1st injection 3/28 - I completely psyched myself out. It took me a good two minutes of pinching my skin and trying to calmly get myself together. Finally, I mustered up the courage and went so ridiculously slow that I could feel the needle puncture the skin. I freaked myself out by doing that. At least I got through it!

The result of my 2nd injection, oops!

2nd injection 3/29 - For some reason I decided that laying down on my bed would help. Well, it didn't. Again, psyched myself out but went much quicker with the jab this time, but a little too fast. I practically punctured my skin so quickly and hard that the needle almost bounced back out. I slowly pushed the meds in like I was told and as I pulled the needle out, blood followed. Whoops, I hit a blood vessel. The next day I woke up to a horrendous bruise that has only gotten uglier with time.
3rd injection and on - much better! I have not had any issues. I load my syringe, pop it in quick, and done within a few seconds.

I know this is just the tip of the iceberg, as you will see when I begin my Estrogen and Progesterone injections. The needles are intense. I will of course update when I begin my next stage :))