24 weeks

Today I am 24 weeks and 6 days pregnant. Baby Piki is the size of a cantaloupe and his skin is getting less opaque and more pink. We've also reached viability which is a big goal every pregnancy. While I need him baking as long as possible if he were to come into the world right now he would have anywhere from a 39-70% chance of survival depending on what website you look it up. It always makes me feel 100x's better seeing that statistic.


So what happened this past week? Here not very much. The main thing that I was working towards on Sunday where I was accepted into the Episcopal Church. Originally I was brought up in the Catholic Church, but I realized it just wasn't the right place for me to be in. Especially with this surrogacy journey i'm on i've become to feel more uncomfortable with attending because to them what i'm doing is wrong. Thankfully I am now in a Church that I not only feel comfortable in but just fully feels right.


Like most of the US and possibly the world i've also felt pretty upset over what happened in Newtown CT. As much as i've tried to just ignore the coverage and not focus on it it's hard not to. I guess it may have to do with now being a parent and realizing just how lucky I am to have two girls that I can cuddle,play,feed, and tuck in at night while 20 parents are not having that opportunity right now. While i'm not even sure who really reads this blog I ask that anyone who gets to this post tonight to just hug your loved ones and keep those families in your thoughts.

23 weeks

This week baby piki is the size of a grapefruit. He can now hear noises and voices and listens to my heartbeat. He's probably hearing a lot of screeching from my girls since starting this week began a phase of constantly yelling and having temper tantrums. The terrible two's is now in full force with D. On the 9th we had D's 2nd birthday party. I honestly couldn't think of a good theme so since there was a game we choose a Saints one. Unfortunately they lost to the Giants, but we had good food and cake! She also got a baby that was fought over with her sister. I ended up going to Walmart the next day and buying the same baby just so they would each have one.

22 weeks

This week baby Piki is the size of a papaya. He now is looking more like a newborn and has started a sleep cycle throughout the day. Everytime I would lay down I would be able to feel him moving around in there.

I had my 20 week ultrasound this week and again he was absolutely perfect. He was measuring for the most part a week ahead and moving around like crazy. Unfortunately I found out I have partial placenta previa (a low lying placenta) so it's something that is going to have to be monitored later on. The doctor who did the ultrasound wasn't too worried and said it would correct itself.

Here is one of the pictures of his sweet little face.

21 weeks

This week baby piki is the size of a pomegranate (and to be honest, I had no idea that's what one looked like). He's gulping amniotic fluid and is tasting what i'm eating. Like my last pregnancy I have a bit of a sweet tooth so he's enjoyed a cookie or two.


I've been so busy so I have to try to remember what happened this week. Thanksgiving was this week and instead of spending that Thursday with family we hung out at home. I did this 2 years ago when I was pregnant with Darcy and it was just so much fun. The next day I did some Christmas shopping and we set up our tree.

20 weeks

Today i'm 20 weeks and 6 days pregnant. Piki is the size of a banana and is working on tastes buds and now drinks the amniotic fluid.


This has been quite an interesting week. On Wednesday D wasn't feeling so good so I took her to the doctor. I'm pretty sure she was misdiagnosed but she's doing better now. Because she wasn't feeling well I was holding her throughout a lot of the day, most of it standing because she'd cry if I sat down. I think that and being out and not drinking water/eating caused my body to be wore out and dehydrated because later on that evening I had some bad braxton hicks and some back pain and went up to L&D. I was up there a total of 4 hours and got an IV with fluids, but started feeling better. Baby Piki was perfect and if anything got annoyed that monitors were invading his space. He would constantly kick them trying to move them out of the way. Other things that happened this week was getting to go to a family members birthday party and having Christmas pictures done of us and the girls. I can't wait to see how they turn out!!

I had a doctors appointment today. I'm not very happy with my weight gain, but everything looked great and we picked up the heart beat right away. I guess the nurses up in L&D were quite excited about someone working with a male couple because my doctor told me he heard about it last week. I think i'm probably going to be one of the first doing that which is cool. Thankfully I now have my 20 week ultrasound now scheduled for the 3rd even though i'll be almost 23 weeks then.

I also figured i'd share a picture from last week that I had forgotten to add. Such a cute profile!

It's a.....

I said I wasn't going to find out, but before I could fully make that decision it was made for me. I had been going back and forth and when talking to D&J about it they said they'd pick something either feminine or masculine and give to me later to find out. So we went to the ultrasound, got situated with everything, and started looking around. Within the first minute the tech told me to close my eyes and I did which she pointed out the gender to the guys. I don't remember how the comment was made but as I heard something along the lines of "Baby is showing the goods right away!" I knew immediately. Being a been there done that mom we know a few things about ultrasounds and the nature of those little people. 

    So without further ado.....

19 weeks

Today I am 19 weeks and 5 days pregnant. Baby Piki is the size of a mango and is about 6 inches long and 8.5 ounces (240.971 grams for those outside of the US) and is working on their senses. I'm sure soon Piki will be enjoying the foods i'm eating.


So currently D&J are out here. They got into TN Friday evening and stayed overnight and came to town that morning for the ultrasound. I'll post the results in another entry. I will say that there was so much excitement going on. After that we took them for bbq and that evening we had a Thanksgiving Dinner in their honor. My friend K came along with her daughter as well as my mom. K is like the best cook ever and I am in love with her cranberry sauce and the pecans she made. I've eaten them all already!

Then on Sunday we went to Memphis. We stopped at Graceland (Elvis Presley's home) first. While it's very interesting I definitely do not recommend it if you have children under 2. My time there was spent having D pull me around everywhere and getting wore out. It's a beautiful home though and even though i've been once before I liked getting to see his home and cars.

After that we went to get some food. My favorite burger place in Memphis is Kooky Canuck. Not only have they been on Man vs Food for their 7 1/2lb burger, but their regular sized ones are just amazing. I wish we had one here so I could go whenever. We also went to Beale street for a short period of time because at that moment it started pouring cold rain. Before it got bad D & D got to enjoy some live music.

Today so far all that's happened is breakfast here (and I feel like I need to be making this everyday) of ham,cheese, and egg croissants and fruit salad. We then went over to the hospital so they could see where they'll be going when Piki is born and get a tour of the room. They've updated it (I think because of a new one coming in) and i'm so looking forward to baby time! Labor and Delivery has always been my favorite part so it just hypes it up. As well I found out that babies 33 weeks and older can be born here unlike before where if it was 35 weeks or earlier I would fly to Little Rock. It gives a lot of peace of mind to me since being separated from my girls for a long time with a long distance scares me. I don't think i'll deliver that early, but I know anything can happen in a pregnancy.  Tonight i'm hoping we'll go out one last time before saying goodbye to D&J as they head back home. I'll miss having them here and I know the girls will too. D really warmed up to them and was having them read her books and play games with her.

18 weeks

Today I am 18 weeks and 5 days pregnant. Baby Piki is the size of a sweet potato and is making all sorts of movement in there. 

Week 18 started off with Halloween which is a special Holiday too us. Besides the fact that it's a lot of fun to dress the girls up and take them trick or treating (and then eating candy), it's also my 4th wedding anniversary. The two reasons that date was picked was because 1.It makes it a lot easier to remember because of the fact that it's also a Holiday and 2.to me October 31st feels like the last day of fall and November is more of a winter month even if the weather isn't cooperating this year.  

I picked out their outfits the beginning of October so I didn't have to worry about it later. D was little Red Riding Hood and R was an owl. 

 D wasn't feeling the costume at first, but by Halloween was happy to have it on. She also got into going door to door and would happily say "tweet tweet!" aka trick or treat to the home owners passing out candy.  We had a pretty good selection of candy and both girls went to bed happy.

Besides the braxton hicks this week has been decent. As the information giving about this week says baby starts really moving and doing stuff in there and I have seriously been feeling it! I've felt Piki move around for a few weeks now, but this week was the first time I was able to feel from the outside. It doesn't happen all the time, but it's been quite a bit especially in the  morning. D&J will be traveling out here  this weekend to see their baby and check out the area so I really hope Piki cooperates and lets his/her daddies feel the movement.

Week 17

This week baby Piki is the size of an onion and his/her bones are starting to harden. The umbilical cord is also getting thicker and stronger.

On the day I turned 17 weeks my baby R turned 1 years old. It's been amazing watching her grow this year and accomplishing things are at different pace than her sister. Besides walking like a pro she can say mama, dada, ju (our dog), bye bye, uh oh, cheese, and her name. She loves food and will eat almost anything you give her. She also loves giving me kisses and hugs.  While it's scary right now knowing I currently have 2 under 2 (yup, 2 1 year olds!) I really can't wait to see what she accomplishes this year.

There really wasn't much going on for the rest of the week. I'm still feeling pretty good except for the times each day I have get braxton hicks. For those who have no idea what that is it's basically a practice contraction. They're never painful, just annoying. I start getting a really tight feeling. With D I started getting them around 27 weeks, R was 23 weeks so I knew it would happen soon. Other than that though things were pretty good for the week!

16 weeks

Today I am 16 weeks 6 days pregnant. Baby Piki is the size of an avacado. This week s/he will be able to hear me talk. S/he is also growing hair,lashes, and eyebrows and forming taste buds.


So going into my 16th week I was starting to feel better. I think a lot of it may have had to do with the cotton being cut and put together near us. Unfortunately on Thursday I got some upsetting news that someone close to us passed away. This person has been to many events with us and is part of our family so it was really shocking to know they were gone. I continued to get things ready for R's party and on Saturday I went to the visitation to say goodbye before picking up the cake and heading home. The party went pretty well. R absolutely loved her cake.

Week 15

Today I am actually past 15 weeks pregnant. Baby piki that week was the size of a naval orange. S/he really starts to move around this week and may even start hiccuping.

 We were quite busy that week with different things we had to go to. R's first birthday party was coming up so I was trying to make sure I got everything I needed for it. Thankfully R was feeling better (and sporting a new front tooth finally) but unfortunately by the end of the week I started getting sick. I felt like my throat was on fire, chills, low fever, sinus issues.

Week 14

Today I am 14 weeks and 5 days pregnant. Baby Piki is the size of a lemon and can now suck his/her thumb and wiggle his/her toes. His/her kidneys,liver, and spleen are now working too.


Still tired, but doing good. The food aversions are not as bad as they were a few weeks ago which is pretty awesome. I've been working on getting things set up for R's 1st birthday in a few weeks. I can't believe in 16 days I will have a 1 and almost 2 year old!  


Unfortunately we've also had some sick little babies in our house. It started with D having some issues and a fever. Then on Saturday R started getting a runny nose, fever, cough, and is overall feeling like crap. I feel so bad for her.

Last week I also had a doctors appointment with R. She's definitely right on track and is now only a few pounds lighter than her sister which is pretty crazy because D was 4lbs lighter than her at that age. I've gained 4lbs so far in the past 14 weeks so that really isn't too bad.

13 weeks

Today I am actually 14 weeks (sorry!) and baby piki is the size of a peach. This week s/he is forming teeth and vocal cords. As well s/he is approaching normal proportions!


Still super sleepy but doing pretty good! My little R is perfecting the art of walking and starting taking more than just a few steps. D didn't start doing this until 14 months so this is very exciting to us. I know it has a lot to do with trying to catch up to her big sister. We also finally set up when D&J are going to come out! They'll be getting here on the 9th, ultrasound is on the 10th, and then they'll be going home on the 13th. Even though at one point I was going to try and plan a party I realize it might be a little hard to do so we won't be having that and I have decided to fully go team green this time. For those who may not know what that means while they will find out the gender I will not. I like to plan things and have everything ready for when baby gets here which is why I could never do this with my own kids no matter how much I may have wanted too.Since I won't be taking care of this baby I feel like I can really do it this time and i'm very excited about it.


That's about all for now. Week 14 will definitely be up before week 15, I promise!

12 weeks

Today I am 12 weeks and 6 days pregnant. Baby Piki is the size of a plum. This week s/he is developing reflexes and is opening closing fingers and curling toes.


Besides wanting to sleep a lot I haven't been feeling sick anymore. I'm contributing this to being so close into getting into the second trimester (which is tomorrow).  Last Wednesday when I became 12 weeks dh and I decided we were going to take a trip to see family in Chicago. Unfortunately there are no pictures because I forgot my SD card, but we had lots of fun. We went to a lot different places to eat that we really love, got to visit with family and let them meet R for the first time, and on Saturday went to a pumpkin/apple picking place. D really loves her apples and ate 3-4 of them while we were picking them. I'm pretty sure i've been feeling small movement lately which is always fun. I really can't wait to feel actual kicks and rolls.

11 weeks

Today i'm actually 12 week and 6 days pregnant and I wasn't able to post for 11 weeks. Baby Piki this week was the size of a lime and that week their fingers/toes were no longer webbed and they were tooth buds and hair follicles.


Overall I felt okay. I know the week before I had posted about all the issues with getting our new bed. Well after having to wait 2 hours past the time it was suppose to be there and being up until midnight putting it all together we finally had our new bed. It took me a few days to get use to it (since I felt like I was sleeping in a hotel bed) but I love it now. I look forward to bedtime every night. Here is a picture of it.

10 weeks

Today i'm 10 weeks and 6 days pregnant. Baby Piki is the size of a prune. This past week bones and cartilage start taking form and vital organs start to function.


I know this is pretty late in the week and tomorrow will start week 11. We've had internet problems...again. It's been really frustrating. As well we had issues with ordering a new bed. We bought a mattress/bed around labor day and they were suppose to be in this weekend. On Saturday when I called the place I found out that something happened to it and were offering to wrap up the store model. Uh..no. We got our refund and spent most of the day looking for a new bed which will be here tomorrow. Then the mattress never got delivered. I can't describe the level of pissed of pregnant lady that happened at 10:01 when the guy was still not there. So keep your fingers crossed I post about a nice new fluffy bed for my 11 week update.

I've been feeling a bit better, though I still really want a nap everyday. I've also been pretty sick a few times too. Just 1 more week of all of the pills and progesterone and then I can hopefully just relax and enjoy.  As well i've been messing with my doppler. As soon as I have a time without screaming kids I want to video it for you readers and of course for the IP's.


Other than that, it's about all that's going on. I did finally make my pregnancy FB official which was pretty fun. I never quite knew what i'd say but with one of my new favorite shows (The New Normal) that is about a girl being a surrogate for a gay couple, it seemed perfect.

9 weeks

Today I am 9 weeks and 6 days pregnant. I would have wrote this over the weekend, but with loss of internet, storms, and bed shopping I got side tracked. Baby piki is the size of an olive. S/he is now considered a fetus and is getting distinctive facial features and baby could possibly heard on a doppler. Since I couldn't find my doppler, I decided to buy one last week and it should be here by the end of the week along with our new bed frame and mattress.


This week i've come to realize some things. 1)Meat is not my friend. The foods I use to love both pregnant and not are becoming so gross and make me so sick to my stomach i've decided that at least for a month or two i'm going to try to go meat free until I can handle it again.

2)I am already popping and that's just crazy. With D I started around 16 weeks, the next year with R it was at 13 weeks. Since i'm almost 10 weeks I just cannot believe it's already looking the same as those two times in pregnancy even if it's just bloat.

8 weeks

Today I am 8 weeks and 2 days pregnant. Baby Piki is the size of a raspberry. This week s/he is developing taste buds and is starting to make little movements that I won't be feeling for another 10 weeks. I had my followup ultrasound on Tuesday. Unfortunately Baby B shrunk so i'm back to a singleton pregnancy. I will admit it was exciting knowing of the possibility of twins, but it's worked out for the best. The baby's heartrate was 178bpm (beats per minute) and was measuring 2 days ahead at 8 weeks 1 day (when i'm 7 weeks 6 days). I was also officially released from the fertility clinic.  Here is Piki's 8 week picture!

 Afterwards my mom, the kids, and I went shopping. There is only one actual maternity store near us and that's 1 1/2 hours away (20 minutes from the clinic) so we had lunch and spent some money! I spent some of the money I would have used for maternity clothes and have a lot of things to make cute outfits. I also got something i've been eyeing for awhile. The store that sells these in town didn't have them in stock, so I was so excited to see it in Memphis. Aren't they pretty?

So far this week the only symptom that's really getting to me is nausea. It comes and goes but it's determinately draining. I've also been able to still take naps everyday with my kids. I've also had some pretty crazy cravings. I'll go from wanting one thing to another not long later. I've also begun to not enjoy some foods I would have liked.

Even though this isn't pregnancy related i've had two really awesome things happen this week. One being the birth of my friends 2nd child but first girl. The second is today one of my great friends and another who i've known since I was a child got married today. I'm just so excited for all of them.

7 weeks

I'm 7 weeks 2 days pregnant today. Baby Piki is the size of a blueberry and is growing arm and leg buds this week. My nausea has still been pretty bad, but with the help of zofran i've actually been doing a little bit better. I've gotten quite a few naps in this week so I feel like i'm actually doing a lot better than I did in R's pregnancy. I was SO exhausted when I was pregnant with her.

On Tuesday (when I was 6 weeks 6 days) my friend Monica and I went to Memphis for my "official ultrasound". Thankfully it was at 10:30 instead of the 8:30 appointments I had before so we were all a lot more well rested and R was the only kid with us since D was visiting her grandma.  Anyways Piki was measuring right on track at around 7 weeks and had a heartbeat of 128.

 

But then there was a twist....

 Twins!!! The only thing is while baby A (the one with the heartbeat video) is doing great, Baby B only has a yolk sac and is measuring a few days behind Baby A. Either Baby B will make it or Baby B will shrink and eventually be reabsorbed back into my body. My next ultrasound is next Tuesday also at 10:30 and we should know the results.

My trip to San Diego

Even though I did share one, I realized I never shared some of the other pictures from the trip.

From Del Mar Beach

                                            Universal Studios.

  I know this may be weird but we went to Hollywood Forever to see celebrity graves.

And the Hollywood sign

And went to Moonlight Beach quite a few times.

 

  We got try a lot of different things while out there and had quite a few fun adventures. If I could ever afford to retire there, this would be the place. It was so easy and beautiful and I came home being more relaxed than i've ever been. I'm hoping in a few years we'll be able to do a family vacation to San Diego.

6 weeks

Today I am 6 weeks and 3 days. Baby Piki is the size of a sweet pea. S/he is starting to sprout a nose, eyes, ears, chin and cheeks.


This week has been pretty rough on me. The nausea is pretty intense every day. I have a hard time eating, which I feel horrible about but I know the baby is fine. I'm making sure to take all the medications and i've added a dha supplement to help with brain growth. For those who have been on prometrium before will probably know this, but I have been so dizzy most days. I knew it had a warning for it, and I was told not to eat with it or it may cause sleepiness/dizziness so I haven't been but whoa! I felt like crawling on the floor to get to places just to get around. Thankfully R took a nap in her crib, D sat next to me and watched tv until we both fell asleep.

I also had one day where I did not feel well at all so I ended up going to the doctor to get checked out. Everything was fine. I now am using 131.4 as my starting pregnancy weight and I got an ultrasound! Everything looked great and for now we only saw one little baby in there. This is how I was able to surprise D&J in an email.

My doctor suggested we set up another appointment in two weeks so we can get another look at the baby. He's so awesome like that.

That's it for now. Just a few more days and we'll be onto 7 weeks!

5 Weeks

Well today i'm 5 weeks 2 days pregnant. Baby Piki is the size of an apple seed. This week the heart is forming and should begin beating very soon.

As for me, right now i'm just trying to get through each day. If I can i've been taking naps in the afternoon with the girls. I've already had nausea that comes and goes throughout the day. The progesterone pills i've been taking has also made me really dizzy every morning when I wake up. I don't mind though as long as it keeps this baby (or babies) growing.

 I've been really into eating salads, pickles, and yogurt (though not at the same time). I have 11 days until my first ultrasound and I can't wait. I'm so anxious to know what's going on in there.

And the results are....

I'm pregnant! I've known this for sure since the 20th and was able to happily share this picture with my couple. It was so exciting to tell them their baby is on the way! Of course by now the lines are as dark as the control lines. As for my blood results.

On Wed the 25th 10dp5dt HCG:336 Progesterone: 48.3
   Friday the 27th 12dp5dt HCG:607 Progesterone: 116

It didn't double the way I had hoped it would, but it's still a great result and thankfully I have a lot of friends who also were able to reassure me and share their stories of how their doubling times resulted in healthy little babies. Now I just have to wait for the ultrasound which will be August 11th or later. I have a feeling it may be the 14th if I can arrange it and while i'm ready for it to be here i'm also so nervous.


But for today, i'm just going to try to enjoy the rest of my birthday and pretend this baby is enjoying the slice of cake i'm having as much as I am!

The newest updates

Yeah, I didn't really keep up again. It's been over a month again since my last post. I had thought of updating last week, but then I kept forgetting.

Anyways so last time I talked about my monitoring cycle. A month later our IVF cycle has been completed. I ventured out to California and on the way stopping in Salt Lake City to fly in with my very good friend and her adorable little girl. We got to visit many places, had relaxing days at the beach, did a crazy amount of shopping, but most importantly met with D & J and began the process of making a baby.

On the 10th their donor had her retrieval and had 12 eggs, with 11 mature. The next day all of them fertilized. A few nights later we went out to dinner with her and she is such a sweet girl and so pretty! This baby/babies are going to be gorgeous! We had the transfer set for late morning/early afternoon on Sunday the 15th. D&J took me out to dinner the night before and I had my alcoholic beverage, a glass of champagne with my meal. We were all really nervous, but it was an absolutely amazing procedure and very cool to see the embies be put in. In total two were transferred. One was absolutely perfect and the other was fair. The ones with the stars are the ones transferred. The bigger one being the higher grade one.

 Anyways my pregnancy test is set for three days from now. I promise as soon as I know the results I will be updating them.

News!

I've been a bad blogger, but then again I always kind of have when it came to posting about what's going. So I last left off  I had completed my screening and was moving on to estrogen pills. I started them on the 15th of May and had 2 appointments in Memphis (15th and 22nd) to do ultrasounds and check blood levels. I normally have someone else take me to these because I am scared as hell to drive in Memphis. It seems so fast paced. Well on the 22nd I decide it was time to get over my fear so I drove to my appointment and drove most of the way home. I was so proud of myself. For someone who didn't start driving until she was 20 because she was too scared it's a big accomplishment.

Anyways the next day I got word that I passed the monitoring cycle with flying colors and started provera. Now two weeks later i'm on birth control and in a few days will have the confirmed schedule for IVF. I can't wait! In a little over a month I will be going for it! It's weird, but i'm as excited as I was when ttc D (which was an IUI cycle). If we go with the schedule set up by the clinic I will travel out there the beginning of July and do the transfer close to the middle. It also means I start injections pretty soon. Fun stuff!

That's all for now. When the next exciting step happens i'll be sure to blog about it quicker then the last time. :)

From the beginning.

So this is where we start. The first time I thought about being a surrogate was when I was 18. The idea of being able to give one of the biggest gifts that could ever been given in your life to a family sounded like an incredible experience. I started reading everything I possibly could about it and even started looking at classifieds for couples searching for their surrogate.

I realized at this time that it was best to wait. Most surrogates have had at least one child before being one while I had zero. Later on dh ("darling husband" which he will be referred to) and I married and after some time created not one, but two beautiful little girls D and R.

All throughout this time I still thought and considered being a surrogate. Especially as we were trying for D I realized how precious this gift was to have a child as I watched so many of my friends suffer infertility, medical assistance, and miscarriage. 

Now 5 years later i'm going for it. One of the few things I have wanted to accomplish, but just haven't had the time to do yet.

In the beginning of March I began my goal. I contact an agency. Throughout the month I went through filling out information, printing and faxing, screening, and anxiously waiting for the next step. On March 22nd I was given the first profile for a couple. I was so excited about them and told a few friends about how excited I was. While I was waiting to hear back from them, unsure of if they would even choose me I was presented a second couple to look at. In those minutes of reading their profile I realized that they felt completely right. Even though I still had yet to hear back from couple #1 I went ahead and emailed the matchmaker to let her know I wanted to contact couple #2. As luck would have it couple #1 weren't interested, but couple #2 was. We skyped twice before we made the decision to work together. Since that time we've talked almost every week, worked on contracts and at the end of April signed them.  I went to the clinic in California with dh to get screened and learn the next steps. Currently i'm waiting to start estrogen pills and will be monitored to see how I do with them. After that is birth control to sync up with the donor until i'm ready to start a medication called lupron to fully put my body on hold while I wait for the transfer of those precious little babies. 

I'm just so excited. It's like waiting for Christmas to come. I hope ya'll continue to follow as the journey goes on.