The Big Transfer!

This is a post that tracks our trip to California last week.

On Wednesday October 26th Richie and I flew out to California for the transfer of one
 embryo. And to meet Q&A in person for the first time .

California here we come!

We have arrived and got in our rental car to tackle the LA traffic


Once in LA Rich and I decided to get away and relax before the big day to come  the following day. so we wet to Santa Monica Pier.  we spent some time walking around, watching people fish, and eating dinner. We then went to our hotel and settled down for the night since we had an early morning the next day.

On Thursday morning we got up bright and early and I started drinking a TON of water (dr's  orders)  we drove to the clinic after circling around looking for parking we arrived at the clinic. At that point my phone was ringing and it was the Dr calling asking where I was and why I was late.... I was told to arrive at 730 and transfer at 8an. Rich and I are always early and arrived at 710.
Once there they rushed me back to a small room with basic equipment.  (for sone reason I was expecting more) the Dr checked my bladder and told me to drink more water.  So I started chugging away. We told them we would not let them transfer until the Intended mother was there (the babies Dad was in New York and would arrive later that day). Once  "A"  arrived things moved quickly. ((t was a nice surprise for her since she didn't think she could be in the room for the actual transfer) Dr Winkler found the right spot to put the embryo ,  and a lady from the lab came in very quickly with a small catheter ,  Dr Winkler did her thing and the lab lady left the room, a few seconds you could hear someone shout "it's  all clear" referring to the embryo being out of the catheter.  At that point both Dr's said it went smoothly, and showed us a small white spot on the screen and said that was it.

After this I went to the hotel for bedrest and took a couple naps. RIch  got me In n out. and we relaxed. that evening Q&A came over to our hotel. we talked and got to know each other, after all I am going to carry a baby for them. :)

The following day Q&A came over with lunch and we continued to develop our rleationship. it is amazing how natural the conversation  is. that evening we all went out to dinner and we ate at a  Persian restaurant, something new to Rich and I, it was so delicious. not to mention we used Uber for the first time :)

The following day Q&A left to go home and Rich and I enjoyed a relaxing day going to the beach and walking around Universial  City Walk.

Sunday was time to come home. it was a bumpy ride, but we were so glad to see our kids. they seemed to miss us.

Catheter used for transfer 

Baby girl!

Waiting for transfer

 

After every storm comes a rainbow (seen from our flight on the way home

Our girls were so excited they fell asleep

NOW THE TRUE WAIT BEGINS UNTIL WE FIND OUT IF THIS WORKED AND A BABY GIRL..wILL BE ARRIVING IN 9 MONTHS.

A SPECIAL SHOUT OUT TO  RICHIE'Sister PARENTS FOR WATCHING OUR GIRLS AND MY SISTER AND BROTHER FOR WATCHING OUR DOG.

Monitoring continues

On Wednesday I had another ultrasound to check the lining.  I was told we are at an 8.1. I continued the medication and had another ultrasound yesterday along with blood work.  The ultrasound tech seemed concerned and kept looking back in my chart, naturally making me a little nervous.  Once she finished she said the "Dr would be right in" again raising a red flag since the Dr never came into the room since they just do the monitoring.

One of the Dr's  came in and asked when the transfer was planned, I told her next Thursday. She responded "good! If you were my patient I would be very happy with this uterus." She continued to say that the shape and structure were perfect. "Triple striped " and the thickness was perfect at 11.8.

Once I heard this I sent an enail to Q&A letting them know. (I usually try to email as soon as i know something) Now I had to sit around and wait for the phone call from the Dr in California.  Around 530 pm I got the call I had been waiting for. Everything looked great and I can continue on with the next step of meds.... shots! Richie is kinda nervous about helping with this. I gave him a quick lesson last night. So hopefully he youtubed it and will be a problem by tonight's first shot.

Next step... packing for Rich, the girls (who will stay with Grandma and Papa)  and myself to go to CA and finally meet Q&A in person and hopefully get pregnant.

Ready, Set, Meds.....

Monday I had the repeat ultrasound for my baseline lining. As soon as the image appeared on the screen the nurse said "I'm sure they will be very happy with this" my lining was at 3.8. Later that afternoon I got a call saying I could start meds. That day I got a new calendar showing the medication schedule with a planned transfer on Oct 27th if all goes well

Tuesday morning I started medication. Didn't notice any side effects.

Lining check.... not what we wanted

So yesterday 10/7 I had an ultrasound to check my lining so I could start the meds. Well my lining was to thick at 7.1. So the Fertility Dr office called and said I couldn't start meds until my lining was thinner. So now I have to have another ultrasound Monday. In a scramble to find someone to work for me I found someone so I could make the 2+ hour round trip drive for an ultrasound in hopes of a thinner lining.

Why is my lining so thick?
I was on birth control pills for a few weeks  so we could pick the days to start meds. I was told to take my last pill Tuesday the 4th for hopes of me starting my period on Thursday. I had a gut feeling this would not happen, and I was right.

So now we wait.....
Hopefully Monday my lining will be good and we get the thumbs up to move forward.
I just feel bad we may be delayed a few days since my body didn't do what it was "supposed to do"

The LONG matching process

In July 2015 I started putting in applications with agencies. Each application took 1-2 hours to fill out. I found some agencies that agreed to work with me and some who didn't want to work with me. I came across Fertility Miracles and the fit seemed right. Fast forward several months and tons of paperwork later (background check, medical records, Dr med clearance, ect) I was finally cleared for my surrogate profile to be opened to potential intended parents (IP's). After this I got profile after profile of parents who had interest in me, but none gave me a "these are the parents" I wanted to work with.  I started to get worried I wouldn't find anyone who met my standards,  and started to think maybe my "gut instinct" wasn't as good in my personal life vs my nursing life.  I thought my dream of helping someone have a baby to complete their family wouldn't come true. But on May 23rd I got an email of another profile of IP's  who wanted to meet me, after a quick glance of their story and pictures I got the feeling I had been waiting for, I wanted to talk to them more. So I sent several emails back to the agency and asked several questions and agreed to skype
.
On May 26th, I had my first interaction with Q&A. Of course Skype was not working right so we were able to talk to each other but they couldn't see me. We talked about the surrogacy process, and what the expected and I expected. And then started talking about other stuff besides surrogacy. The conversation seemed natural. That night I talked to Rich about it and he basically said if it felt right to me he would support my decision.

On June 3rd we Skype again and this time we could see each other. Again we talked about our questions and concerns. Conversation seemed natural and we agreed on all the "big" topics. We all agreed that we want contact before, during, and after pregnancy. Agreed that we want an open relationship, only wanted one embryo transfered, and want to be comfortable with each other. After our 2nd Skype I told Rich these were the people. That evening I emailed the agency and told them I definitely wanted to be Q&A's surrogate. I anxiously waited for a response from Karen and when I got the reply I couldn't be more excited. Q&A agreed they wanted to work with us too! They had to do paperwork and on June 16th I got the email saying  that we were officially matched!

The Background Story

So many people ask me why I want to do this, some assume it is for money, others because I'm crazy.

Becoming a surrogate is something I've always wanted to do. When Rich and I started dating we were driving home one day and talking about having a family and started to talk about our family and friends who have struggled with getting pregnant. On that car ride 8ish years ago I told him I was going to be a surrogate some day.  If my memory serves me right I think he laughed and just agreed to make me happy.
 Fast forward a few years...... we decided it was time for us to have a baby of our own, but it wasn't as easy as we thought. We tried for a year with no luck, so we went to our Dr and had a bunch of tests done and we're told to just keep trying, so we did. Another year passed and still I wasn't pregnant, so back to the Dr we went. A few more tests were done and again told nothing was wrong and to start tracking ovulation with the sticks that you pee on. So I did... I soon discovered I wasn't ovulating every month. Month after month of heart break and sadness. Dr Growney started me on medication to help regulate my ovulation and told me if I wasn't pregnant in 3 months he was sending me to a Fertility specialist.
 Month one... not pregnant
Month two... not pregnant
Month three.... I was finally pregnant after almost 3 years of trying. 3 years of heartbreak and sadness. 7 weeks into the pregnancy we discovered we were having Twins and couldn't be more excited... after 3 years of trying for a baby we were blessed with two.

Shortly after having the girls the surrogacy though popped into my head again. In July of 2015 I decided to move forward and research more. It was definitely something I wanted/ needed to do. So I started the process.
We both also know several people in different aspects of or lives that haven't been ale to have children on their own and have turned to adoption, foster care, or decided to not have children at all. What ever the case is, families come in all different ways. (natural, foster care, adoption, surrogacy, ect). Our girls will be privileged to know that this is the case, and will be able to see that no matter how children are brought into our lives, all that matters is that they are loved and accepted as family.