K's a ROCKSTAR... Surrogate Side

K's a rockstar.  She had her egg retrieval on Wednesday morning and they were able to get 8 eggs!  She was sent on her merry way with some very important Vicodin and orders to rest.  

As she rested, I awaited a call from the clinic to confirm my next steps for meds (even though I was well aware of what needed to happen, I felt better to hear it directly from my cycle nurse).  I didn't want to be the one to screw anything up!! After waiting a while for them to call me, I called the clinic to request this information.  I left a message a couple of times...  I think my final message got their attention because I got a call back later that afternoon.  

I'm thinking the cause of the delay was that my cycle nurse was either on vacation or out of the office that week since the nurse who called me really had no idea of my next steps.  I pretty much explained to myself my next steps and she just verified.  I was informed that I would continue the estrogen regimen of pills and patches, discontinue the Lupron and begin butt injections; progesterone in oil (PIO).  When the nurse didn't mention anything about the pills (Medrol -- umm, YUCK! -- and doxycycline), I asked if those also began.  She said, "oh yes; start them, too". Good thing I've been around this block a time or two... o_O

I asked if they happened to know if the transfer was confirmed for Saturday and she told me yes, but they wouldn't have a time yet.  I would find out the time the day before the procedure.  

There is something to say about being a surrogate and having patience...  

I finally got the call for the time of transfer and my excitement suddenly peaked.  It's getting real again!  I immediately log onto Amazon to place an order for pee sticks!

As I was searching for good deals for First Response Early Result home pregnancy tests, I received a text from K.  She notified me of our transfer time (just in case I hadn't heard from the clinic yet) and also shared that out of the 8 eggs that were retrieved, only 2 were fertilized. This was disappointing news for both of us; especially K.  Given the historically not-so-great quality of the eggs, we have chosen to transfer 3 embryos each time to increase our chances that at least one will attach and grow.  Unfortunately, this time around, we don't have a choice of which embryos will be best since we will have to transfer the only 2 that fertilized.  This was heartbreaking for K.  She felt defeated.  But, I made it very clear to her that she is a ROCKSTAR!  There are not many women who could endure all of what she has been through in life.

We. Will. Get. There.  We WILL stay positive!

Cycle update... Surrogate Side

Well, there's been some progress with our next attempt at a sibling for the big guy! I've been diligently taking my meds as directed (only one itty, bitty mistake that wouldn't cause any issues - hopefully! I inadvertently changed my estrogen patch one day early... o_O). 

I went for my monitoring appointment to check the fluffiness of my uterine lining and she never ceases to amaze me. My uterus was on point and exceeded desirable expectations. I was instructed to continue my meds as prescribed and wait for K to be ready for her part. 

K ever-so-patiently awaited the arrival of her period so she could begin her meds to stimulate follicle growth. She's such a trooper; her meds are heavy duty and cause significant discomfort for her. But, instead of complaining about it, she forgets about her own pain and asks how I am doing; always looking out for others! Just like at the birth of baby Charlie! She was always making sure I was okay, comfortable and well hydrated! Lol! 

I digress...

So, she's been to a few monitoring appointments and, although her follicles have been slow-growing (which is quite normal for her), she was told that they can see at least 9 eggs! She was given her retrieval date -- THIS Wednesday morning!

Once she undergoes the surgery for the egg retrieval, they will be fertilized by J's sperm and be left to grow for 3 days. At some point during that time, the embryos will be helped along by a procedure called "assisted hatching". I'm not an expert with that technology, but I guess it helps the embryos attach better to the fluffiness and grow. Charlie was also helped along by that same process.

So, although we have not been "officially" informed by the clinic of our date of transfer, both K and I anticipate that we'll see each other on Saturday adorned in our "lucky socks" for another round!

...the date of this next transfer just HAS to be lucky because I am skipping out on girls' night out to see 50 Shades of Grey (which has been planned for a year and a half)... 

Bahahaha!

Meds Update... Surrogate Side

Meds came!

These lovelies commence this evening when I begin Lupron injections. I've been taking birth control pills for the last week. 

According to my meds instructions, I will continue with the Lupron and BCP combination until I take my last BCP on the 25th. I'll continue the Lupron and should get another (!) period a few days later. Once I get my period again, I'll start my estrogen regimen; oral pills twice a day and a patch that gets changed every 3 days. 

After about 7-9 days of being on the estrogen and Lupron, I will be scheduled for an ultrasound to measure my uterine lining to be sure I am responding to the hormones appropriately. If I measure well, I will continue meds as originally instructed. If I'm thin, the nurses will have me increase my dosage and schedule another ultrasound for monitoring. 

From there, our clinic will be in touch with me and let me know the day of K's egg retrieval. On the night of her egg retrieval, I will stop Lupron and begin my progesterone injections. You know, the huge needles into my backside... 

On that same night, I will also begin some other meds; Doxycycline and Medrol. These pills are to prepare my body for the "assisted hatching" technique that the embryos will undergo. (In essence, assisted hatching entails poking a little hole into the outer shell of the fertilized embryos to help them hatch and implant better.) The Doxycycline is an antibiotic to help fight against infection and Medrol is a steroid  to help prevent my body from rejecting the embryos. 

I will continue all of those meds (the Doxycycline and Medrol are only for 4 days) throughout the first trimester should pregnancy occur; and we are HOPING it does!!!!

Until next time, world!

A miracle was born... Surrogate Side

... 1-year ago!! Today is Charlie's birthday! 

Can you believe the blessed day everyone was waiting for happened exactly ONE year ago?! K&J were given the greatest gift in the world at 4:26pm on a snowy, wintry cold night in the Northeast. I experienced the worst pain in my life, but couldn't have been anymore content just ONE year ago. 

The little man has grown into a bundle of scrumptiousness and has the most beautiful blue eyes one could ever wish to have. Charlie has been welcomed into a world of complete love and admiration; what more could one want? And I was lucky enough to be a part of creating that reality. 

The little family was able to hold their long-awaited miracle on Christmas morning; eager to witness the magic through him in years to come. 

Not only was it Charlie-man's first Christmas, but it was also K&J's first Christmas as parents. A first of many firsts yet to come. 

Our next venture is to make K&J parents of TWO! We have a bit of an update to share. Small steps, but I'll be starting birth control pills when my next period starts in order to align my cycle with K. After two weeks of birth control, I will stop the pills and begin Lupron injections. 

If you recall from our last (successful!) fresh transfer, which resulted in baby Charlie, the injections are done in my belly fat with a small, thin needle. These injections don't hurt much at all. I was very fortunate to avoid any ill-effects of the medicine last time and hope for the same this time around. Fingers crossed!

During the time that I will be on Lupron, K will undergo her her portion of the cycle. (Be forewarned - I know very little, if anything valid, about K's cycling, but I'll give it my best shot.) She will be put on meds to stimulate her follicle production and be monitored to track progress. Once everything is where it needs to be, she will endure the retrieval. From there, the eggs will be fertilized and left to "grow" for a few days before being transferred into me. 

Right before the transfer, I will be instructed to change up my meds, but we can go into that once I get my full protocol. We have a tentative transfer date for mid-February; they're thinking around the 19th. 

Stay tuned!

It's been a while... Surrogate Side

Hello world!  It's been a while!  

In my defense, not a whole heck of a lot has happened. 

Just a bunch of waiting...

That said, let me explain the waiting game.  Given our latest failed attempt at getting the super-cute Chuck a sibling, we were faced with some obstacles that needed attention prior to moving forward.  

For this past transfer, we used the remaining embryos that were frozen from our successful fresh transfer in April of 2013.  Due to the length of time from when we first started this surrogacy process for Charlie-man and our attempt for baby #2, some FDA testing had expired.  New testing is required before fresh embryos can be transferred. So, K&J got on it and had their testing completed just a little bit ago.  

K will be meeting with the IVF clinic to get her new protocol for the egg retrieval and then we'll determine the schedule for the next transfer.

Given the upcoming holidays, we are thinking that we'll shoot toward a transfer for either January or February!  Let's see if 2015 can top how awesome 2013 (we got pregnant!) and 2014 (we had Charlie!) has been.  

WooHOO!  I just can't wait to not have my period anymore...

In the meantime, I will continue to live it up during this holiday season and enjoy every moment with my little lovies while they are still in awe of the magic of Christmas.

The results are in... Surrogate Side

The 2WW is over!  The blood was drawn this morning!  The results are in...

But first, I have to relive the moments leading up to this day with all of you.  Not a minute went by that I did not want to pee on a stick (POAS).  I used great self-control over those two weeks.  I didn't start testing until 7dp3dt (7 days past a 3-day transfer - embryos developed for 3 days before being transferred into me).  I made it clear to myself that if the home pregnancy test was negative, that I would just consider it a "practice run". 

Monday was the first test. Well, the first official test; I didn't count Sunday's effort because I didn't use a First Response Early Result (FRER) test.  Those are the best and are the only test worth squinting for.  So, long story short, Sunday's leftover Dollar Tree test from a "scare" a few months back with the Hubs didn't make the cut. 

Monday morning, I POAS.  It was negative. And believe me when I tell you that I examined that thing thoroughly.  Nothing.  Because I was adamant about giving K a really good birthday present (Monday was her BIRTHDAY!), I did a second test on Monday evening.  I saved my pee for as long as I could so it could be "concentrated".  I POAS and... negative.  Bleh.

Tuesday's test was negative.  Again, a thorough examination was performed.  By Wednesday morning, I was expecting to see a second line.  Nope.  Negative.  WTF?!

Thursday: negative.  This is when I started getting nervous.  I google around to see if other people had not gotten a positive home test before getting a positive beta (blood test).  There was still hope!!  Other people have been negative with home tests and got a positive beta!  One of my friends (who just gave birth to her second surro-baby last month) had this same thing happen to her.  At this point, I was reassured.  There was hope.

Friday.  Today.  I took my very last FRER.  I watched as only one line appeared.  For a brief moment, I thought to myself, "how the heck did I get all the faulty tests?"  Well, at least we still have the blood test...

I arrived for my blood draw and was immediately taken back; no waiting!  The phlebotomist preps my arm and takes a look at my veins.  She'd taken my blood before without an issue, so I wasn't concerned.  Welp, I was wrong.  She sucked this time.  Long story short, she had to try FOUR TIMES before she could get my blood. 

Fast forward to noon.  The clinic called.  The results are in. We are not pregnant...

9 Months...Parents Side

 

Charlie

 

Same Chair, Same Socks...Parents Side

The time had come. I had taken 4 flights in less than 24 hours and I wouldn't miss it for the world. I was so excited to see G. Every time we see each other it's like seeing family.
I couldn't wait! The surrogacy process is never boring.  I flew in the night before, and did not sleep much because I was both excited and a tiny bit nervous for the next day.  There is always the risk of losing the embryos during the thaw but knock on wood that has never happened to us before. As I walked into the large fertility center this week, there is a feeling of happiness, familiarly and a little bit of anxiety. We had been down this road before, with much success. Every cycle you do your best to prepare yourself for a failed cycle or success. This was lucky cycle number 8. It becomes common, yet never super easy. Although, 8 is my lucky number so maybe this is a good thing! G was worried since she was going to be a little late but I assured her they wouldn't start without her, and a few minutes after she arrived. So great to see her! We were sent back by the same nurse as last time. Also the same chair which seemed a little weird, but hopefully good luck. The doctor on staff that day came in and explained the little embryos thawed well and we would be able to transfer all 3, with Assisted Hatching. G and I were thrilled. As we were sent back to the surgical room, I looked around. I stared at the medical staff, G, all of the equipment and stopped for a moment and realized that no matter what happened, we were already so lucky. The amount of time and energy that it took to have Charlie was amazing. A medical miracle really. As we went through the transfer, we waited with anticipation. We hung out for a bit after, and sadly I had to head to the airport. Frankly, that was the "easy" part.... Now we wait for the dreaded 2WW.

Rush... Surrogate Side

Our transfer was scheduled for Monday, September 29th at 9:30am.  I had to be at the clinic at 9am to check-in and prep.  K had flown in and was going to meet me at the clinic in the morning.  I couldn't wait to see her!  

Because we have been through this before, I knew I had to allow enough time in the morning to accommodate the EXCESSIVE traffic that I remember hitting last time.  I gave myself a pretty good cushion of an extra hour.  As I made my way for the 3-hour trip, I was making good time.  And then...BAM!  Traffic like you wouldn't believe.  I had 18 miles to my destination.  I texted K to let her know and we both were like, "yeah, no problem. We've got this".  I had an hour to go 18 miles.  We're good.  And then, I see this:

Uh-oh....

Is this for real?!  I'm in a rush!  At this point, I still had 14 miles to go and had already been in this traffic for about 15 minutes!  This was not good.  I stay in touch with K and let her know that I wasn't going to be on time.  It was 9am and I had 5 miles more and the traffic was bumper-to-bumper.  Long story short, I literally RUN into the clinic at 9:15am.  As soon as we saw one another, we immediately embrace.  It's like seeing family you haven't seen in a long time.

K and I were pleasantly surprised by how incredibly understanding and sweet the clinic was.  The receptionist was a doll who said, "you're here, you're safe; that's all that matters".  She even whispered 'good luck' to us as we walked away.  Lovely lady.

As we waited to be called back, we chatted about our families and, of course, gushed about Charlie and how awesome he is.  Clearly!  She listened to me complain about how badly I needed to pee.  I prepped my bladder like a champ.  When we were called back to prep, we were brought to the same station that we had last time; our nurse was even the same and K thinks she remembered us because she had said something while I was in the bathroom to undress.  I walked out of said bathroom adorned in these (and a robe):

Oh, but of course!  Couldn't forget these!  K had hers, too!

Everything was lining up to be a good transfer!  The Reproductive Endocrinologist (RE) showed us the results of the thawed embryos and told us that all 3 of them survived the thaw perfectly.  Three 6-cell embryos!  K was concerned about the quality, but the RE assured her that a 6-cell can be just as good as an 8-cell, so he was happy with the odds.  Good enough for us!  

We were escorted to the room where the transfer was to take place and my excitement skyrocketed.  I got myself situated on the table and let go of all of my modesty.  Not too long later (well, it felt like forever having an old man was staring at my goodies), the 3 embies were transferred into my fluffy uterus where they will be urged to implant and grow.  Okay, okay.  Maybe I don't wish for ALL of them to implant and grow, but you know what I mean!  (wink, wink)

After saying our goodbyes, K rushed to make her flight given the horrendous traffic.  I rushed back home (but, not without obeying all traffic laws because I was carrying precious cargo...) so I could get a nap in before picking up the kids -- a 3:45am wake-up makes for a long day!  As I was resting after our festivities that morning, my doorbell rang. 

How thoughtful! A delivery from Charlie, K&J!

So now, we wait.  We wait, we wait, we wait.  The two-week-wait (2WW).  There is nothing more frustrating than the 2WW.  Our beta blood test to test for pregnancy is scheduled for Friday, October 10th.  Let's put a rush on it, okay?  But, maybe there's a plan in place to make use of these:

Just picked these bad boys up at lunch today... o_O

It's ON... Surrogate Side

My monitoring appointment was this morning at 10am.  As I waited to be seen, I thought to myself, "I cannot believe the time has come once again".  You may think that I am crazy to be doing this again, let alone so soon, but I am SOO ready.  I am just as excited - if not more so than last time - to do this again.  I have so much invested in my IPs and their new little family that I cannot wait to be a part in helping them achieve another little bundle of their own; to give a sibling to Charlie!  

As I await my turn to be called back, I looked around the waiting room to see other couples waiting to be seen.  I wondered if there were any other surrogates in there, but since there were couples, I figured they were there for themselves.  It made me think of all the people out there, not only couples, who struggle with infertility; all coming from different walks of life.  There are so many situations out there and so many broken hearts.  I was fortunate to be able to conceive on our own.  I am also fortunate to be able to be a part of another journey to bring another joy to such a wonderful family.

Okay, okay.  On to the good stuff...  I had my labs drawn (this lady was GOOD, too) and was sent on to my ultrasound.  I was informed by the technician that a resident doctor would be in to observe the procedure.  I said okay and was ready to go.  The ultrasound technician was no stranger to maneuvering the "weenie wand".  She shoved that thing in there with a vengeance.  I was, at times, squirming around the table from the pressure.  When she was done, she said that she was going to hand over the wand to the resident doctor (who I thought was just observing the ultrasound).  What?!

Do I have a statement written on my forehead that appears any time I enter a medical facility that says, "Hey, pick me! Pick me!  I'd LOVE to be your guinea pig"??!  

Seriously, I've done my fair share!!  

Anyway, I allowed her to check things out.  After some time of just laying there and hearing them whisper amongst themselves and seeing the resident shake her head and begin to get frustrated, I interjected and asked if everything was okay.  (At this point, I still hadn't been told how things looked and whether or not my uterus had failed or succeeded.)  The resident explained that she was learning and that she couldn't locate my ovaries.  I decided to clue her in that maybe she should shove the wand a little further since it basically felt that it wasn't in very far at all.  She followed my "suggestion" and pushed a bit further and voila;  she found the goods.  

After they used and abused me, I felt I deserved to know the outcome so I asked for the results of the thickness of my endometrial lining.  She obliged and told me I measured 12mm.  Umm, what?! 12mm!  My uterus is a rock star!  I walked out of the clinic with my head held high and nipping at the bit to text K my results.  

K and I waited (and waited and waited) until I was called by the clinic to let us know if we were good to go for the transfer on Monday.  I received the call around 3:30pm and they said my labs and ultrasound were great and we had the green light for our transfer!  They gave me my next steps as far as my meds, too.  I began progesterone in oil (PIO) injections tonight as well as began taking the antibiotics due to the assisted hatching to the embryos.  

I have to say, I totally rocked the PIO injection tonight.  Only a slight hesitation before taking the plunge...  I'm a pro.  Let's do this!