Wednesday, February 9, 2011

12 days post transfer

Went for a blood test... hcg levels are only 10.2 and although it is positive its not high enough... so I go back tomorrow for more bloodwork. The IPs are being super supportive and I am just freaking out. How can you be pregnant but not pregnant enough??? Very confusing. But I am trying to stay positive. If my numbers double we are moving in the right direction. Only glimmer of hope is that both my pregnancies were low hcg levels to begin.... we shall see Friday. Have the chance to help someone else's dreams of a family come true is amazing and I am praying everything goes well! More on Friday.

Saturday, February 5, 2011

Why do this?

I have had the privilege to know some pretty incredible same sex partnerships, seeing the struggle they have gone through to have children, their own or adopting or surrogates has lead me to this point. I let me husband know i wanted to be a surrogate for a same sex couple, preferably male and he was behind me 100%, thanks babe! I researched companies, found one that is the oldest gay owned surrogacy company in the US and filled out my paperwork online. From there the normal background and conversations occurred. I was very specific with the company on whom i wished to work with.

In august i randomly checked my spam box in my gmail account and found an email stating a couple wished to work with me, this was my fat kid in dodge ball moment! I felt like for once i didn't get picked last haha. A phone call was set up with the IPs (whom are the cutest guys ever) and myself. We had a great conversation and continued to email. Once i was informed that they indeed wished to work with me it was a whirlwind of medical reviews for me and my husband as well as psychological reviews for us both. Medically everything went smashingly, psychologically i had to admit for the first time how much my horrible experience in Brazil when i was 16 really messed me up, we will save that for another time. Aside from that slight hickup, which the IPs were very sorry to hear i went through but were not put off by, the rest went well and my hubby passed his review as well. In October we started contract negotiations, sounds very complex but for me took up only about 45 min of my time. Both sides agreed and by Nov we were ready to roll.

In December i was put on BC pills to regulate my cycle with that of the egg donor. BC stopped in Jan, Lupron shots then began and the medical part is all a blur until i had the privilege to start progesterone in oil shots... let me tell you how much a 22 gauge needle hurts when you are stickign yourself... heating it in the palm of your hand or slapping your skin to try an numb the area is a joke!! doesn't work! haha.

Fast forward to the day before the big day! the day before i am to travel to the clinic responsible for the ER and sperm donation and creation of the embryo.... well welcome to the winter and the northwest... snow delays like crazy!! i managed to finally get to the town for the transfer around 6pm after starting my journey that day at 4am... yuck! then we managed to get 13 inches of snow that night... let me tell you how much fun getting to the clinic for transfer was that morning. 15 minutes later and its all done, 2 embryos transferred and I'm told to go home.... what i am leaving out of this story is that my luggage was left in Baltimore by southwest... thanks southwest! So i have to go clothes shopping so i have clean clothes to wear for the next few days. Good thing is i am from the state where the transfer occurred so my parents were there to wait on me during my day of rest, haha. Now fast forward to my 2WW...

2ww (2 week wait)

This is my firs time blogging so here goes. I'm sure this will be confusing as i am starting in the middle of my journey.

The things i am learning during this 2 week waiting period are blowing my mind! So far my experiences with the surrogacy company and clinics, aside from the monitoring clinic here, have been wonderful. The people are friendly and genuinely want to see you get positive results. The IPs are the most amazing people i have had the privilege to get to know. They don't treat me like an "employee" as i have read some IPs treat their surrogates. They really do care about me and this has been apparent to me from the get go but has been voiced to me by friends who have had the privilege to meet them.

On Wednesday my progesterone test results were over 20.... this is what i think that means...
First Trimester 10-90 ng/ml Average is about 20 at 4 weeks LMP, and 40 at 14 weeks LMP. It is important to note that while a higher progesterone level corresponds with higher pregnancy success rates, one cannot fully predict outcome based on progesterone levels. Progesterone supplementation is unlikely to help if started after a positive pregnancy test.

here is day by day what happens after a 3 day embryo transfer
1dpt ..embryo is growing and developing
2dpt... Embryo is now a blastocyst
3dpt....Blastocyst hatches out of shell on this day
4dpt.. Blastocyst attaches to a site on the uterine lining
5dpt.. Implantation begins as the blastocyst begins to bury in the lining
6dpt.. Implantation process continues and morula buries deeper in the lining
7dpt.. Morula is completely implanted in the lining and has placenta cells &
fetal cells
8dpt...Placenta cells begin to secret HCG in the blood
9dpt...More HCG is produced as fetus develops
10dpt...More HCG is produced as fetus develops
11dpt...HCG levels are now high enough to be immediately detected on
HPT