More updates :)

Fun times are being had and we are all so very ready! I am LOVING my new IP's - they are so awesome and I feel so very grateful to God that He blessed me with another wonderful friend!

First, Friday's appointments went well. I was told that my uterus is beautiful and that my ovaries were "perfect", so I was given the official "all clear" by the doctor! Praise the Lord!! Then Michael & I and M&A were told that the 4 of us were definitely compatible and the psychologist saw no reason to keep us from moving forward - Praise the Lord - AGAIN!!!

So now we are finalizing contracts and looking forward to the start of meds, thinking it could happen within just this next week! Wow!!! I won't be able to begin taking anything until the attorney sends a notice to the IVF clinic stating we are official, but I am really excited about starting those shots :) Yep, I think the psychologist missed something in my interview, don't you?!? Ha!!!

So, let me introduce you to M. She is my new IM and from the very beginning, we felt an instant connection. We met for lunch today (and took the picture after we ate which is why I have no lips!) and were laughing and talking about how we probably would have met, one way or another! Its along story, but suffice it to say that we initially met after they contacted the surrogacy attorney we all used for our last journeys (mine with D&A, them with another surrogate). But, when I was initially contacted by K (the attorney) and was telling my surro friend Jenni about them (even tho I knew almost nothing!), she started wondering if she knew them - turns out she works with their previous surrogate and had met them briefly before. Anyway, M was saying today that she had thought about asking Jenni if she knew of any surrogates looking to begin a journey, and Jenni would have referred them to me! So regardless of how it happened, it was obviously meant to be - we were destined to meet sooner or later!! I mean, what are the odds that I know a surrogate that knows their previous surrogate? God is so awesome!!!

So, we are in that hurry up & wait mode, but let me officially say "Let the Baby Makin' Begin"!!

Oh, and I've invited M to post so you may get the chance to officially meet her :)

First Appointments :)

So, thought I would quickly update - tomorrow (Fri) I will go in for my psych eval (required by the state of Texas) and the hysteroscopy. The first 30-45 mins of the appointment will be just me by myself, then the psychologist will call Michael for a phone interview, after which M&A will join us for a "group" eval to be sure we are all compatible & OK'd to work together :) Really, a formality since we've all been through this before, but still a requirement. Then I get to have a hysteroscopy to check my uterus for scar tissue or anything that would deem me an unsuitable candidate for IVF - don't expect to see anything since my delivery of Emma was vaginal and I shouldn't have any scars :)

So, same song, different dance, and yet I am nervous as all-get-out! Uugghh...I hate tests :( Always have.... sigh....

It's Official!

Just letting everyone know that I have officially "matched" with a local couple. This will be a sibling project for them, as they already have 1 little girl via surrogate. So, we are slowly moving forward with the IVF clinic to begin the uterine checks, blood work, etc. And our contract will be in place sooner than later since they used the attorney I previously used with Doug & Allison to put everything together. They have "several" frozen embryos, so we can plot & plan the time we want to transfer, which is really cool. Right now we are looking at January :)

God is so good!!

Stay tuned....its gonna be a fun ride!!!

I'm back!

Just wanted to update to say that the ball is rolling and I am on my way to being officially "matched" with a wonderful local couple :) I can't wait to share their information and to begin this new journey!!!

Guilt

Ok, so knowing what I know about the emotional roller coaster we all call surrogacy, why do I feel so guilty? Why is it that when you meet someone that has a sad story (because let's face it people, everyone looking for a surrogate has one!), but they either don't fit the "mold" of who you would like to help, or you just don't feel a connection, you feel guilty for saying no? I know it feels personal, but it truly isn't supposed to be personal! Simply agreeing to meet a couple to see if you have a connection shouldn't mean that you are saying YES, right? It means that you are meeting to see if you have a connection. And if you don't, then you should have the freedom to say "I'm sorry, but we don't have a connection".

So why the guilt???

A new beginning, perhaps?

I'm not sure that we still have any followers, but I thought I would quickly post to say that I am in the process of beginning yet another journey! I am not currently matched with anyone right now, but am slowly beginning the process of finding another couple/family to work with.

My last journey with D&A was such a remarkable experience that I am excited about the prospect of doing it all over again :)

I will post something a bit later, when I have some news to report. But for now, keep me in your thoughts & prayers as I am prayerfully stepping into a new beginning!

Emma's birth as I recall it.......

This is Allison~

This is a long overdue post. I've been meaning to do it for weeks, but am just now getting around to doing it. Time as I previously knew it is no more, lol. But I wouldn't change a single thing.

Ok, I'm going to try to recall as much about the birth as I can, seeing as how it's been almost 10 weeks, bear with me. :) (10 WEEKS? Holy crap!)

The night before the scheduled induction I slept pretty light. I just kept thinking, what if the alarm doesn't go off or something. The plan was for Jenn to call the hospital around 4am to see if they still had a room for us. She texted me around 4am and said we were still on track to be at the hospital at 5:30. So, Doug and I got up around 6 and got to the hospital at 8am. When we walked in, there was someone in the room that I didn't recognize. Jenn said, surprise! She had arranged for one of her friends, Kelley, to photograph pictures for us of the birth. What a wonderful surprise. I never even thought to do something like that. Thankfully Jenn thinks for the both of us sometimes, lol.

I can't remember exactly when Jenn started on the pitocin. It may have been before we got there, I'm thinking she was hooked up by the time we got there, but not positive. I'm thinking she got her epidural around 9:45 and then they broke her water right after that. She was still at a 1 or 2 at this point. Jenn started getting nauseous at one point, so they gave her one of the anti-nausea drugs (cannot think of the name). I think this is what made her sleepy. She was in and out for hours. We all just hung out, walked around, went to the cafeteria, etc. Kelley was having a party at her house that evening and we were starting to get worried that she may have to leave and miss the birth.

I think around 4pm things started progressing and quickly. Things started happening so fast. I guess sometime after 5 or so, several people came in and were getting things set up. So Doug and I took our places. Doug was on one side of the bed behind Jenn and I was right in front of him. Karole (our nurse) was on the other side of the bed getting things prepared. Then Dr R came in and sat down on the bed. It all seemed so relaxed and surreal. Then, Karole said, grab that leg and just follow what I do. I was like, what? I had no idea I was going to be doing that, but was glad to help out any way I could. Before we got started Jenn looked up and me and we were holding hands tightly and she started crying and closed her eyes. Of course that made me cry as well. Then she started pushing. She did such a wonderful job. I think she may have pushed a total of 3 times and little Emma came out. It brings tears to my eyes right now thinking of it. Our little tiny dream was finally born. I couldn't hardly believe it even though I was there witnessing it. It's just such an odd feeling that we had gone through this whole process for about 2 yrs and now we were seeing the final prize, our precious little baby girl. They laid Emma on Jenn's tummy and what came next shocked me to pieces. Let me give a little background on what I'm fixing to go into. Jenn had been telling Doug and I that Dr R makes the daddy cut the cord. Well, Doug was having nothing to do with that. He felt he was doing all of his part by just being in the room. Well, as we got closer to the birth, Jenn mentioned it again and he said no, I'm not doing it. Doug left the room a little later and Jenn and I talked about it and she said she would suggest he and I both cut it together, just for pictures. He came back in and she asked and he said, ok, I can do that. Ok, so back to the birth........while Emma was on Jenn's tummy, Dr R was handing me the scissors and Doug almost pushed me out of the way and said, here, let me do it. I couldn't believe it. I burst into tears right there and hugged him when he finished. It touched me so much that he would do it since he had been so very adament earlier that he didn't want to.

After that, they took Emma to clean her up while Doug and I moved over to the other side of the room next to her to watch everything. I was in total awe and crying. It was just unbelievable that our little girl was finally here after two years of waiting. Then all of a sudden, Dr R turned around and said, are you ready? I had no idea what he was talking about. Then he started singing and everyone else chimed in, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Emma, Happy Birthday to you! I was in tears I couldn't even sing. It was just an amazing moment. Once they finished cleaning Emma up, they swaddled her and handed her to me. Then I gave her to Doug. I loved seeing him hold her, it just melted my heart.

Our plan was for me to stay in the hospital with Emma and Jenn until Emma was released. I loved that time with both Jenn and Emma. I went out and got late meals for Jenn and I when we were hungry late in the evening. Fun times. :)

I cannot begin to thank Jenn enough for what she has done for my family. It's an amazing miracle and I will always be in awe.

What started out as a dream, became a reality. Thank you Jenn from the bottom of my heart. You are so very dear to me.