More Good News!

To quote my OB, " . . . with every ultrasound, we keep getting better news . . . "

Last week we had our first appointment with the Sacramento Maternal-Fetal Medicine Medical Group. We were told we would get to know this group well since previous ultrasounds had shown only one placenta. On Thursday, we were there for the Nuchal Translucency Screening.Like most ultrasounds, I did have to drink 16 ounces of water an hour before my appointment (been there, done that). However, I've never had to wait so long for an appointment and have it take so incredibly long. I drank my water at 12:45 and was finally able to pee about 4:00! I was ready to bust (or cuss at someone).

We will find out later how the test turned out, but it looked pretty good to me. FYI- that doesn't mean much since I'm not trained in this area, but I did google a lot and saw pictures, and ours looked like the ones that were fine. If it turns out I'm right, perhaps I should open my own practice? My waiting room would at least have a fish tank :)

Durning the ultrasound they looked at the placenta more closely and reported to my OB that the pregnancy is Dichorionic (two placentas) not monochorionic (one placenta) which is what everyone previously thought. This is great news because there are possible complications with only one placenta and two fetus'. And the best news, that we've known for awhile is that they are diamniotic, which means each fetus has its own sac- which is great.

One Trimester Down, Two to Go!

Yeah! We've made it through the first trimester . . . only several more months to go.

Things are going well. The babies are healthy and measuring great. I'm feeling better finally . . . can stay up later than
9:00 PM again and only feeling nauseous when I take a prenatal vitamin on an empty stomach (which sadly is almost daily- why won't I remember!)

We met with Dr. Knight and were able to get a few questions answered. We also found out I'll be making a few more trips to Sacramento than usual. Needless to say, I'm learning firsthand that carrying twins is different than a singleton. Since the babies seem to be sharing one placenta, they'll really need to keep an eye on them to make sure that each baby is getting what they need (oxygen, food, etc)

I'm really excited the first trimester is over . . . although it's been different this time around. A lot of times couples will wait to tell people they're pregnant after the first trimester since chances of miscarriage go down dramatically. However, when all your friends and family know you're doing IVF/Surrogacy, it's a little hard not to fill them in immediately . . . especially when everyone is aware you're going down to LA to get pregnant.

Lastly, I've had several people want Belly pictures . . . well, even with twins I'm not really showing all that much. Actually, that's a little off . . . ever since my belly stretched with Ruby 7 years ago, I've always thought I've looked 4 months pregnant. *smile* When I was pregnant with Preston and Sawyer, I hardly showed until the 5th month or so. I know it will be different with twins. The top part of my abdomen has already come out a bit, the lower part, again, since the birth of my first, has always been out. LOL! I promise belly pics will come eventually! Until then, perhaps I'll show some past pregnancy photos to get you all in the mindset . . . maybe next post.

Who has a pair of 10 week old Fetus' swimming in her womb? This girl!

Here's the latest pic of the cutest damn fetus' in the world. They're about 10 weeks and growing. It is amazing the changes in just 2 weeks. During the ultrasound they were moving all around, arms and legs moving about. They were "tag teaming", when one would be moving the other would rest and then they'd switch. Very fun to watch.

Now that we're 10 weeks along and all was great with the ultrasound, I have been released to my OB. I'm lucky that Dr. Knight, who delivered my last two children, is covered by my special surrogacy insurance. I'm excited to be under his care again because he's an amazing doctor. Our first appointment with him will be at the end of the month. We'll be able to do another ultrasound so he can see firsthand what he's dealing with and the Intended Parents will be able to meet him as well.

Oh, and I was able to stop all my medications Saturday. Now instead of pumping myself full of hormones, I only have to take the prenatal vitamins. YEAH!!!

Lastly, an update on questions. I was talking with someone and they asked me, since there are 2, do I get to keep 1 of them? I swear, some people . . . too funny (and by funny I mean ridiculous).

8 weeks and counting!

We're 8 weeks along and a few things were (or at least thought they were) seen at the last ultrasound. The Sonographer said that both the embryos looked good (they'll be fetus' next week) and she still thought they were identical. It looked as if both had their own amniotic sac, which is great news. We also got a pretty cool 3D picture of them (above). When you look at it, Baby A is standing on its head and Baby B is up on the left wall . . . you can make out a little of a facial profile- but they're pretty much "kidney beans" at this point.


We have definitely entered "morning sickness" time . . . I never really had it too bad with my own three, but these two "peanuts" are bringing it. I start to feel nauseous if I go a little while without eating something. My "morning sickness" turns into "nighttime sickness" when around 9:00 PM I start to feel queasy. Also, I'm going to bed a lot earlier than usual. I've been so exhausted this time around. Not sure if it's because I'm carrying 2 or because I'm raising 3 this time around . . . but man, oh, man I'm tired 80% of the day. I usually put my kids down at eight o'clock and then work (around house, internet, etc.) until midnight or so. Now, I put them down and hit the hay myself! Needless to say, the house looks terrible and I haven't done anything to my website in weeks. But I know soon enough I'll be out of this phase . . . . and into another!

Q & A Part I

Since I'm so open about the subject of my Surrogacy I get plenty of questions. They say there are no stupid questions, but I'm starting to think, whoever "They" are never carried another couples baby. I figured I'd share some answers of some of the most popular questions I've been asked so far. You'll notice I put Part I in the title . . . I assume Part II will come a few months from now when I start really showing and new questions arise.

Q: What made you want to do this? Did you just decide one day to do it?
A: It may sound weird, but I think this is one of the reasons I'm here (put on this earth). I have known for a really long time that I would do this someday. To anyone who really knows me, this is not really a surprise at all.

Q: Wow. I couldn't do that! Now this is more of a statement, but whatever. I hear it a lot.

A: Yes, I know there are not a lot of women who could (or should) carry a baby for someone else, family or not. But I'm not your average girl. And lucky for infertile couples out there, a few of us do exist.

Q: Aren't you going to want to keep them?
A: No, why would I? They are not my babies. They were not my eggs, not my husband's sperm and we already have 3 of our own, thank you very much. I went into this knowing all the above. We're done having (our own) kids. There is an amazing couple that needs my help. Why on earth would I try to keep THEIR child? I would not babysit a friend's baby for 9 months while they're fighting in IRAQ and then expect to keep it once they returned.

Q: It's not your egg but it's your blood, so won't it be your DNA?A: No. A fertilized egg has half it's genetic material from the egg and half from the sperm . . . nothing from me.

Q: What does your husband think? Mine would never let me do that.
A: Well, then I guess I'm lucky I married the right man. I have a loving husband who supports me (so far) in everything I've wanted to do. He knows what things are important to me, he knew about the surrogacy idea even before we were married. He is excited by the idea because he knows this journey is important to me and our family as a whole.


Q: Do your kids understand?
A: Ruby (age 6) and Preston (age 4) totally get it. We began discussing this with them when we started the process and even bought a book for them (a few posts below). Sawyer is 19 months and oblivious to the whole thing. My children are one of the reasons we're doing this. I think this is a great learning experience. There are so many ways to make a family and I want them to CELEBRATE all families, no matter how they get there or who's in it. This experience will help them see first hand that everyone (regardless of race, sexual orientation, religion, etc) should be admired and celebrated.

Q: You get a lot of money for doing this, right? (now I haven't had any friends ask me this as it is a bit rude but my mother gets asked this a lot and I've had students ask me too).

A: I'm sure some people become a surrogate because of the money but I'm not one of them. I kind of think that the money is there to help partners think, okay there are other reasons to do this too. Not only that, but with the amount of time and energy you put in, it's nice to get some compensation.

However, a lot of money, No. I make more teaching part time, a few hours a week (with little to no complications for my body) than I'll be taking home from this experience. Most people see a number and think, wow . . . without thinking of a few things. Also, unlike other "jobs" you don't usually have to work 24 hours a day, 40 weeks a year . . . . never off, limited to what you can eat, drink, physically do, etc. I think you catch my drift.

Q; What if you have 5 or 6 babies?
A: I won't have that many babies as only a certain amount of blastocysts are placed inside the uterus.

Super Uterus!

We had the first ultrasound yesterday and everything looks good so far.

The image on the right is from our ultrasound. You will notice (at this time) there are 2 embryos, that's right two.

However, they couldn't really see a membrane. What this means is that there may be a chance that these are identical twins, versus fraternal twins. If this ends up being accurate, of the three blastocysts placed into my uterus, two didn't attach but one of the blastocysts divided into 2 embryos . . . and those 2 attached. I go back in for 2 more ultrasounds at 8 weeks and 10 weeks, so maybe the membrane will show up better or they will rule that these are, in fact, identical twins.

This is very exciting. The Intended Parents are so excited. My kids are really excited. Rick is excited that we don't have to raise twins. So pretty much it's a WIN for everyone.

My family is a bit concerned with certain Risk Factors that are more likely in multiple pregnancies, but I am going to remain positive. I am a researcher and a have no problems asking TONS of questions, so chances are I will know all the possible issues and what I can do to try to prevent them. I am a "glass half full" type of gal (in this case 2 glasses that are half full) so I'm sure it will all be great. I will get huge, but I get huge anyway. I already have been stretched- so bring it on!

What will you be doing December 2008?

I had my blood drawn for the hCG level test this morning- 7 hours later I finally hear the results. We were looking for a level of 100 to confirm the pregnancy. Anything lower and I'd need to go back on the 9th and see if it had at least doubled since the 7th . . . . but my level was 267.

I'm very excited. I was really hoping it took the first time. The transfer wasn't really hard for me but to have to go through it over and over as the Intended Parents, that I wasn't excited about.

I will go in for the first ultrasound around April 20th. Of course I'll keep you all posted. I'm sure there will be more to say the weeks leading up to that. I still have injections and medications to take until May 17th, so if a needle is involved, a blog can come up at any given time!

They gave us an estimated date of arrival as December 15, 2008 (40 weeks). We'll see if I last this time. My own Children arrived at 36 weeks, 38 weeks and 37 weeks. If history repeats itself we could be looking at Thanksgiving baby for G & S.