Trickling right along... Surrogate Side

Things are falling into place!  Since agreeing to be a surrogate again for K&J and letting my agency, Circle Surrogacy, know of our intentions, things have been moving right along.  Circle has been on top of things.  Like I said before, I was surprised by all of the things that I had do for this second time.  I figured it would be a smooth turnover since my last journey ended only 5 months ago, but I was mistaken.

I had to "re-apply".  If you have been following my blog from the beginning, you will remember that the application for surrogacy was page upon page of at least 100 very in-depth questions pertaining to personal history, family history, medical history, previous surrogacy experiences, surrogacy expectations, education and employment background, hobbies/interests and legal history.  I was asked to have my OB complete a clearance form stating her opinion of how long to wait before getting pregnant again and whether she "clears" me to do this again.  (I can TOTALLY see the purpose of having this form completed.)  I was also asked to have my OB send my records from this last birth to them so they can have their doctors review it.  (Again, totally get this requirement.)

I was in touch with a social worker from Circle who "interviewed" me as part of the screening process.  That was about a 45 minute phone call.  It was actually kinda fun to talk about my last surrogacy journey.  It surprised me how much I forgot  about the "little" things of the pregnancy.  The social worker had asked how the pregnancy had gone and I genuinely replied, "great, no problems at all!"

Later in the conversation, she said that they had come across something in my medical records that she had never seen before: "significant VB at 19-weeks".  When she said that, it all came rushing back to me!  I explained to her that I had some vaginal bleeding around 19-weeks and it was attributed to passing either a subchorionic hemorrhage or what remained of the non-viable twin from earlier in the pregnancy.  (The beauty of being pregnant and giving birth is that you don't focus on the bad things that happen, but rather remember the glorious outcome!)

Since then (and that was back in late May?), much more has transpired!  I have just recently had my medical screening where the doctors performed a hystereoscopy of my uterus (saline inserted through my cervix to check my lining to be sure there aren't any potential problems before transfer), a physical, urine screen and labs consisting of 7 tubes of blood. 

The hubs also had to provide a urine sample and 4 tubes of blood; poor guy.  (If you've been following this blog since the beginning you can appreciate my sentiment...) I won't divulge the specifics of his experience, but...  WHO AM I KIDDING?!  Of course I will!

He got super woozy, turned transparent white and had to be offered juice and some time to rest and recuperate.  Bahahahaha!  The nurse informed me of his current state while I was waiting to be seen and my reply?  "I'm not at all surprised."  When he walked out, I was such a good wife and offered my assistance to walk him to his car and asked (sincerely...) if he was going to make it.  When he left (he didn't need to stay for the rest of my appointments with the docs), the nurse confided in me that she was hoping that he didn't fall over because she wouldn't have been able to pick him up!  Gosh, I love this man!

The same evening of my medical screening, I had a meeting with my attorney to review our contract.  (The contract is probably the most uncomfortable part of a surrogacy journey; for me at least.)  There were some new additions to the contract set up by my agency that gave my eyebrows a wiggle, but I can appreciate their purpose behind it.  I think??  o_O

But, all in all, things are taking shape and we still anticipate a transfer to occur sometime in October or November of this year!!  Just a few more months!  And, during that time I will be relishing in the "me" time, savoring a few cocktails and getting my body back into shape only to destroy it again! 

WooHOO!  Bring on a sibling for Charlie!!!

Look at him.  He clearly needs a baby sister/brother.  He's just too sad right now...