1...2...3...?

Just this morning I got the awesome chance to be in the room as my sister surrogate had her first ultrasound.  Her results are her business and won’t share those, but it was pretty awesome to be there and watch as somebody waited to hear how many babies were growing in her belly.  The whole room was quiet and anticipation on faces as the count began.

Then it was my turn.  Now after having several babies, especially some that are not yours the whole “privacy” thing seems sort of silly.  During birth I had friends and family see my lady parts…some of them for the first time… and I’m sure it wasn’t a pretty picture.  HOW could it be?!  You also have all sorts of doctors and nurses looking at your nether regions…sticking things in there…stretching things…

So at this point, when it comes to baby related processes it doesn’t really matter much who is in the room, so if you were wondering if it was awkward to have 1 doctor, 2 nurses, and 1 other surrogate in the room…it was not.

So I lay there staring intently at the ultrasound screen as the doctor began to count.  Now to be honest, as soon as the ultrasound started I saw 2 “bubbles”.  But that doesn’t mean there are 2 babies.  1 could not be developing.

But that was not the case this time.  There were 2 babies at the appropriate developmental stage.  And the doctor says there is a 90% chance they will both continue to grow.

So ladies and gentleman, it looks like I’m having twins.

I’ve been freaking out about the thought of twins UNTIL last week.  When my hCG numbers were high and the thought of triplets crossed my mind.  AND THEN I get an hCG number at 15,000 this week and start to seriously consider that one of those embryos split into two and I was having triplets.  So it’s funny how knowing now there are twins is rather a relief.  2 is FAR better than 3.  So I went from being terrified of having twins to excitement that is ONLY twins.

PRAYER REQUESTS

• My nausea sticks to mornings.  So far so good, mostly

• These babies are HEALTHY and growing normally

• That I will NOT need to go on bed rest, that I will NOT have to miss extra work, and that I will NOT need a C-Section

• That my family can be an example of Christ to my IP (Intended parents) and their family.

DISCLAIMER aka THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

Click here for my Surrogacy FAQ. As always PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE contact Justin or I if you have questions or concerns. We are open and willing to share everything

Spiders, Blood, and Retainers (it makes sense)

So yesterday was really of no importance, but things happened that got my brain moving and so I’m sharing completely random things with you because of it.  Which I guess is not much different than normal.

The Spider Dream

I had a dream that I stopped by an old friend’s house to say hi to her parents.  My kids started running around chasing a “lizard” in their front yard.  I briefly saw that lizard race by me and thought, ‘that doesn’t look like a lizard’.  A moment later it ran by again with what looked like a giant spider in its mouth, but at closer look it was in fact a SPIDER with a LIZARD in its mount and that spider was eating the lizard whole (I know this is physically impossible, but it was very real in my dream).  I told the kids to stop chasing that thing only to have Taylor come up to me with a huge chunk of flesh missing from her arm saying “The lizard tried to eat me”.  Justin came to the rescue and shoved the spider in his mouth and just chewed away…yellow gooey stuff pouring from his mouth.

In hindsight... that is a little like he just ate a portion of our daughter’s arm… sicko.

Jordan’s Clumsiness

Jordan is the queen of epic injuries.  She doesn’t do “small” so on Sunday she tripped and took a quarter inch triangle chunk of skin off her toe.  She took it like champ while I scrubbed that open wound with alcohol.  Then she followed that up by jumping off swings and landing on her knees on Tuesday resulting in bloody knees.  The good news is Justin now has a medical kit in his car for such occasions.  

Fake Retainers

As the dentist explained to me that Taylor will likely need braces (not surprised) I had to reassure Taylor that braces aren’t that bad.  I then remembered that in my late elementary days I thought braces looked awesome and wished I could have them.  I proceeded to painfully sculpt a paperclip to fit around my teeth to look like a retainer.  I wore it for like a week.  Nobody noticed.  I was sad, and my teeth hurt, and it tasted horrible.

1455

So at 11:30 yesterday I headed to Dr. L’s office to get my blood drawn and then begin the 2 hour – torturous wait for my results.

3 hours passed…

My sister surrogate and I shared messages of angst as we waited…

4 hours passed…

My Case Worker joined in the wait with much anticipation and even called to find out a time…

5 hours passed…

I began packing up to leave work, now realizing I wouldn’t find out for another hour or more since I’d be driving and unable to read a text or answer a phone call.

I grabbed my purse and my phone chimed.  My Case Worker got the results BOTH OF US WERE PREGNANT!

Shortly after I got a phone call with my numbers, 1,455.  I vaguely remember my number being around 500 last time, at this same time.  This was nearly triple!! WHAT?!

I emailed Dr. L’s office to make sure I heard correct.  I did.  I go in tomorrow for another blood test to make sure that number is rising (it should about double every 3 days if I remember correctly).

So now we wait until the ultrasound (somewhere after 6 weeks – which is 2 weeks away) to listen for baby(ies) heartbeat(s) and count the number of heartbeats.

Prayer Requests:

·         So far I have NOT been nauseous.  If you remember, last time around this time I was nauseous ALL DAY EVERY DAY.  I lost a TON of weight my first trimester because I could not eat anything no matter how hard I tried.  Pray this continues and I have a nice easy first trimester

·         Pray that my anxiety about having twins subsides since there is a 60% chance that is what I’m having and that I will not have to miss any extra work due to complications

·         Pray these babies are healthy and strong and no “tough choices” will EVER have to be dealt with during this pregnancy

·         As always, pray that my IP (Intended Parents) see Christ through me.  That they have an amazing peace during this time as somebody else takes care of their babies for the next 8ish months.

DISCLAIMER aka THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW

Click here for my Surrogacy FAQ. As always PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE contact Justin or I if you have questions or concerns. We are open and willing to share everything

1 Day To Go

1. With my last day comes an important question. FIRST, when doing an injection Justin pinches the skin, shoves the needle in, slightly aspirates, the pushes in the meds. The reason for the aspiration is to ensure there is no blood (an indication he hit a blood vessel). The problem is with the amount of bruising I have I think he keeps hitting pockets of blood that results in doing a brand new injection. Tonight, however, when aspirating a bubble of yellow stuff came into the syringe. It looks like pus. And I'm sort of freaking out.

So anyone have any ideas on what this is?

2 Days To Go

1.       I’ve been nauseous the last two mornings.  The good news, it’s only in the morning (PRAISE JESUS) – last time around this time I was nauseous 24 hours a day…it was horrible.  I have no other symptoms of pregnancy.  None of my “usual” indicators are making any appearances.

2.       I’ve also had some light bleeding/spotting.  The Fertility office is not concerned.  I, however, am sort of freaking out.  Last time I had some spotting a couple days after the transfer which, from what I’ve read, can be caused by the actual implanting of the embryo into the uterine lining.  However, this is over a week later so it’s more stressful.

3 Days To Go

1. There are 2 times in life going to the bathroom is insanely stressful. The first is the first time you poop after giving birth - a baby was just shoved out of your lady bits... as you push to poop you can't but wonder what else will come shooting out.

2. The second the first time you pee after getting an IVF transfer. You KNOW the baby isn't going to just pop out, but still as you sit over the toilet you can't help but worry about those beautiful babies in the making landing in the toilet.

3. Also, on a related bathroom note...4 babies later I MUST brace myself before a sneeze or am likely to pee on myself.  True Story.

4 Days To Go

1. Funny story... I got a sunburn today.  Mostly my stomach is burnt and my belly button is not.  I'd show you a picture but that is scandalous, but Heidi can be my proof.

2. Speaking of Heidi, we spent our March date night out with Brad and Heidi trying Thai food for the first time.  The best part was Justin's dish was called The Crying Tiger, and I quote, "The tiger wasn't crying because he was in pain, he was crying because this tastes so beautiful" - Justin Davis (or something like that).  Also our waitress was a ninja, true story.  I also once ran over Brad with my car 5 times.

3. We followed dinner with a game, don't worry Sam, it was Settlers so you have not been betrayed.  Brad won, Justin ruins towers, and Alexis doesn't care.

4. I totally saw Easter bags full of Reese's Pieces today while at Target.  I bought 2 of them.  1 for Sam and 1 for Tiffany.  I almost just got 2 for Tiffany since Sam ate hers last year.  I only bought them at all because they told us a story about how Sam ate all of Tiffany's.  So thanks to Sam's thievery I remembered that story so I felt I owed him 1.  And that is why they will both get one.

4B. It really bothers me that I spelled out some numbers in #4 and wrote the other's out in number four.