I Must Remember

In 5^th grade we had to pick a poet to write about.  My first “memorable” research paper.  It was after read the book Dear Mr. Henshaw by Beverly Cleary where a boy writes his favorite author over and over again.  So the goal was to write a letter to our poet and then based on our research write ourselves a reply.

I picked Shel Silverstein.

I loved his odd poems (I still do).

I memorized one of his poems (well I memorized a lot of them) called I Must Remember:

“I must remember . . .

Turkey on Thanksgiving,

Pudding on Christmas,

Eggs on Easter,

Chicken on Sunday,

Fish on Friday,

Leftovers, Monday,

But ah, me—I’m such a dunce.

I went and ate them all at once.”

And so today when I met with the Intended Parent’s (IP) translator and he asked me a HUGE question I thought to myself… “I must remember”

He asked me (unofficially) if I would carry another baby for my IP.  After this little girl is born they want to try again (they still have frozen embryos and going in for another Egg Retrieval soon).

He said they love me, and love my family, and love working with me.  And they would love for me to do it again.

My gut reaction, YES! I would love to continue this journey with them as they grow their family and get the chance to continue to reflect Jesus to them in such a unique way.  The longer I’m in their lives the more impact (theoretically) I would have, right?

But then I thought…what would I change about this process.  I already have my list of pregnancy woes…but what did I not know then that I know now that I want in my contract.

So here it is (again just a list for myself):

Required

·         PGD/PGS testing must be completed (genetic testing that shows results of chromosomal disorders)

·         Since PGD/PGS testing is complete the parents will rely on the results and not request any additional post transfer testing (no testing while I’m pregnant)

·         Termination cannot be requested after the 1^st Trimester (Surrogacy contracts must allow for the parents to request an abortion by law.  But my contract can say that I will refuse to abort like it does now and pay all the fees)

Nice To Haves

·         Use Dr. L for the fertility Doctor (He and his staff are awesome and it’s close to work)

·         If twin pregnancy provide lost income for days missed from work for being sick/nauseous

·         Starting at 20 weeks an increased reimbursement for housecleaning (scrubbing tubs is HARD to do with a belly in the way)

·         If Doctor’s appointments can’t be scheduled (due to Doctor availability and not my fault) so that I am missing only 2hours of work than anything over 2 hours will be paid for

What To Keep (what’s there already I want again)

·         Normal Pregnancy restrictions (no caffeine/seafood/alcohol)

·         No invasive procedure without dual doctor request (my OB and Fertility Doctor think necessary – this includes an amnio)

·         I will not be asked to do a “Reduction” (removing 1+ babies to reduce the number of babies – ie there are 2 and they only want to keep 1)

 

I’m sure there is more, but that’s all I can think of for now.  This is more just a list for myself.