Third Time is a Charm??

Hello!!! It’s been a while! I wrote my first blog on December 24, 2012. Never did I anticipate that I would still be writing about my first surrogacy journey in the middle of 2014. Just another reminder to those who are considering becoming a surrogate, everything doesn't always go as planned. You must be prepared to dedicate much of your time and emotions to the process.

I had many people comment “YOU are having such a hard time getting pregnant. I can’t believe you would keep trying.” I don’t blame them because if they haven’t researched surrogacy then they wouldn’t understand that it had NOTHING to do with me. This little one is made of 0% of my DNA. All my tests were great. The doctors explained to me countless times that it wasn’t my fault. Maybe I confused some when I wrote in my previous blog that I felt guilty. Of course I felt guilty, but it wasn’t my fault.

March 24^th the husband and I headed back to New York for a third transfer. I am so grateful the parents allowed and paid for my husband to come each time. I couldn’t have done it without him by my side. Many people were shocked that I was going to try a third time. Yes, the last two loses has been devastating but the parents desire for a child hadn’t just vanished so of course I was going to try again. As long as I had my husband’s support, I knew I could try again.

My lucky shirt I had made for transfer. It says, "Time to bake! My oven, their buns!"

Taking selfies while waiting for transfer with an extremely full bladder!!

This is what I had to watch before transfer. Better than last time...a video full of creepy cemeteries. 

Of course lucky green socks!!

My VERY full bladder. The white line directly below the curvy part of my bladder is the embryos being transferred!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 We transferred 2, 5 day old frozen embryos. They were beautiful!

Our time in New York was once again filled with good food and good company. The great thing about being on bed rest for the day of transfer is people bring you lots of yummy food!

This time was a little different when we came home. I went back to school (I teach second grade) and the kids were so curious why I went to NY for a doctor’s appointment. Some appeared a little worried. I assured them I was ok.

Well you know by now how the next couple weeks went….WAITING….horrible…. WAITING….

Well let me tell you….the wait was well worth it!! First beta came back POSITIVE!!! Our number was 85.3!! Two days later our number went to….374!!!! Third and final beta….1560!!!! Hooray!!  Now the real torture starts…the wait for the first ultrasound. Although we received great news, it was still a little nerve racking considering we have been in this place twice before. However, I couldn’t help but be out of my mind excited!!

April 24- 7 week ultrasound. I was pretty excited because the husband was able to come with!! I thought my heart was going to explode out of my chest as I waited for that picture to appear on the screen. And then………there it was!!! One beautiful little bean in there!! With a beautiful heartbeat!!

7 Week ultrasound!!!

May 15- 10 week ultrasound. Again the husband came with!!! As excited as we both were, we could not totally block out the terrible events that occurred at the last 10 week ultrasound. I was terrified. Then all of a sudden there was this beautiful image on the screen of a baby. A baby that was kicking up a storm!!! It was breath taking. The ultrasound tech was so amazing. She created a CD for the parents with videos and pictures of the baby on it. Once again when I went back to school the next day my students were very curious about why their teacher had been going to the doctor so much. I wanted to tell them so bad but decided it was still to early in the pregnancy.

10 Week ultrasound video of baby kicking up a storm!!!

Week 12- This was a VERY exciting week for me….NO MORE SHOTS!!! I had given myself a shot every morning for 14 weeks and now finally that part was over!!

This pregnancy has been quite a trip! I have never in my life been so sick! The last 2 months of school were so hard. Again, the kids were worried about why their teacher was so sick. My two children (10yr and 6yr) have even been able to keep it a secret.

A friend of mine let me borrow her awesome fetal heart Doppler.  It is so reassuring to be able to hear that amazing sound whenever I want. The husband loves finding the heartbeat!!

SO….here we are. The second trimester!! Week 14!! Had a doctors appt last week and everything went great!

I feel so blessed right now. Still not feeling great and not sleeping well. Can’t drink pop, eat fried food or candy. Which is a good thing. It is a challenge to find anything I can eat. Avocados, apples, beans, corn, and tomatoes seem to be the winners at this time!

It feels good to be able to write a blog again. Thanks for taking the time to read. Please feel free to leave a comment or e-mail me if you have any questions about the process. I am grateful for all the support I have received. I am super excited about making these amazing people parents. And as for my former students….they will be seeing me in the fall and will quickly figure out why their teacher was so sick!!