My Surrogacy Journey: A much needed update

So I stopped updating and I feel bad about it. With my computer screen cracking, starting to be exhausted, and just life I ended up ignoring the blog and i'm sorry to those who asked about updates.

So things continued to go really well with the pregnancy. By 30 weeks I started having sporadic contractions which by now i'm totally use to and expecting. Because of this I started weekly appointments and was normally checked each week. By 33 weeks I was 3cm and then a week later was at 4.

By then I started getting pretty anxious wondering what day it was going to be. Tuesday, Feb 26th I ended up in labor and delivery with contractions 3-4 minutes apart. I really thought that it was going to be the day I had him, but I was making no changes so I ended up going home. My OB was going out of town that weekend so I was glad when the time passed and I was still pregnant.

That weekend I started to get the feeling i've gotten with both of my girls. Like things were seriously about to change. I bought groceries for that week, washed clothing for all of us and made sure I had outfits for the girls, and made sure things were all lined up. The next few days I ended up not feeling that great and was resting as much as I could.

The morning of my 36 week almost 37 week appointment was March 6th. I still wasn't feeling good, but I was ready to find out if I had made any progress. During the check I started feeling some contractions and my OB informed me baby had moved his head down and I was now 5cm and 60% effaced. He didn't feel comfortable with me being there and having the possibility of going into labor and living 30 minutes from the hospital so he told me to come back in a few hours and I was going to be admitted. It was so exciting! I picked up the girls, called dh to let him know he needed to head home, got groceries and lunch for the girls, and then headed home.

Once we were home I was trying to seriously hurry. My deliveries with both girls started with me having contractions, going to the hospital, then getting admitted so i've never had a situation like this before where I could choose when to go up to L&D. I picked out something more comfortable to wear, dh changed, and I fed the girls their lunch while making sure I had everything I was going to need. I was just so anxious, excited, and nervous.

After being unsure at first of where to go I finally went up to L&D and got settled in triage while I waited for a room to open up. I had my cousin and a friend come up and hang out with me while I waited which laying on those beds is so uncomfortable. I also was having contractions every once in awhile, but they weren't as painful as they had been the week before. Finally around 6pm I got my room. 5016. It's normally a room for those who have c-sections so it was a different part of the floor. The room was still really nice and cozy.

Eventually my cousin had to leave and another one of my friends showed up and was the one to stay with me during the whole birth. I'm so grateful for her being there and she was one of the best people to have up there with me when dh couldn't be there. She also took some kick ass pictures!

I was still at 5cm at that point and after waiting awhile I finally got bloodwork done and had my epidural put it. It actually hurt a little bit more than it had the other times, but it still wasn't bad at all. Once I got settled my doctor went ahead and broke my water. That's always such a weird experience, but thankfully everything was clear. Within the minute of him doing that I went from 5cm to 8cm. No wonder I wasn't progressing!

After that I was so relaxed and I stayed that way the whole time. For the first time in a birthing experience I probably could have taken a nap, but I was having too much fun talking to my friend about what I had on tv.

I'm a little fuzzy on what time everything happened next but eventually I got to 9 and then after being asked a few times if I was feeling any pressure I finally started to feel some, but not a lot. We started practice pushing and then got everything ready to go. Within a little bit of the pushing I finally started having some pain. With both of my girls when I had pressure it was a really painful pressure that would go down my side before even pushing so it was really weird. I wasn't even sure I was pushing right but had wonderful support from everyone in the room. Within 20 minutes (or so i'm told) baby piki was born. I'm not entirely sure if it was 2:37am or 2:42am but it was early morning.

He was just so handsome and I was so happy. I got to cut the cord which is a first and man that was tough! I was scared I was going to hurt him. He got moved over to the warming table and was washed off. I only got to see him for a few seconds before he had to go to the nicu to be checked out further.

I was able to get some rest that morning throughout the nurses checking on me and some other visitors. I was pretty anxious though because I was wanting to know how he was doing as he was still in the nicu. Finally mid morning he got to go to my room. For a baby who wasn't mine I felt very protective over him. I guess because his parents weren't here yet and I knew my job wasn't done just yet. It was so nice though getting newborn snuggles in and I forgot how tiny and precious they are.

Throughout the day I had more visitors, but there were 2 people I was still patiently waiting on and was keeping contact with. By 11pm they finally arrived and let me tell you that was an incredibly heart warming moment. The look on their faces when they saw him will be something I will always remember.

We all were discharged on Saturday and i've gotten to visit a few times. It's been really weird for me as we're transitioning back into our regular lives again. While I still have absolutely no desire to be the one taking care of Adam, i'll admit it feels a little lonely not having those kicks and movements going on inside. I'm also so ready to be past the 6 week mark where I can start exercising and hopefully have a rockin' body come summer time. As well i'm hoping by the end of this year/beginning of next year I might be able to start a second surrogacy journey which I would hopefully keep better track of.

In closing of this super long post I will say this has been an amazing experience. I had waited so long for this opportunity and I could never regret any second of it. D&J and baby Piki are so special to me and i'm glad they are in my life and hopefully will continue to be for a very long time.

Now for pictures!!