Surrogacy Journal Entry part 2 (1st journey)

Part 2 to http://mormonsurrogate.blogspot.com/2011/01/my-first-embryo-transfer-surrogacy.html

January 28, 2006

Time to catch up. First off- I am pregnant, 12 weeks along- 1 baby. I have been feeling nauseas and tired for awhile. I don't remember exactly when it kicked in- around the beginning of December. K_____ and S_____ were very disappointed that they weren't going to have twins. However, they are happy that the pregnancy is progressing as it should. 

John & I took the kids to Utah for Christmas. We were able to stay for 2 weeks. I was able to see MY OB/GYN for an ultrasound. (the rest of the pregnancy I was seen by Navy doctors and nurses in San Diego) We saw this tiny little bean of a baby.

I was sick for 2 days where I couldn't get out of bed. I was nauseas/tired/throwing up. I knew I was dehydrated and went to the Emergency Room. They put me on IV's to hydrate me and gave me meds for nausea. This was the day before New Year's Eve.

 My uncle Jon invited John and I to his work were they were having a nice Prime Rib dinner on New Year's Eve. After that, we went to my friend Terrill's house. She is John's friend too-basically got us together. I found out she is pregnant too- about 2 weeks behind me. After all this time we're pregnant at the same time but we're living in different states and this isn't my baby.  Sadly this means that I probably won't be able to be there when her baby is born, since I'll be in San Diego recovering from birth. We'll see though.

Last place for New Year's Eve was John's parents where we played games all night. We really had a great New Years.

We came back to San Diego January2nd. Our older kids, Jeremy and Tristan stayed behind with John's mom. She brought them down 2 weeks later in our van. We had been trying to sell it. We had a nice time with John's mom visiting.  Our youngest daughter, Jessica had just turned 2 on January 6th. The other kids weren't here to celebrate with us, so when they got here we all went to Knott's Berry Farm. It was fun to see Jessica go on the rides for the first time.

I have been feeling yucky off and on. I'm having a hard time keeping up with the kids and housework. Wendy helped out a lot when she was here. We hope to have more visitors. We may go to Utah for Easter.

I think I have a great couple to do this surrogacy for. However, it hasn't been a completely smooth ride. I'm sure that is to be expected.  I think the culture difference can be hard. Sometimes I feel like I'm being bossed around or like I don't have much privacy. I don't want to bring up anything specific or point fingers.  I'm sure they don't mean to be that way. I am happy to do this, but I think if I were to do it again I'd pick a couple with the same culture as John and I. Maybe this will explain a little- I feel appreciated and all that, but it's like I'm good friends with the wife and it's more of a business transaction with the husband. They have treated me well for the most part, it's just different than what I expected. 

*I want to add that they've stayed in touch and I treasure our friendship. I don't regret a thing! They provided me with a wonderful first experience of being a surrogate and I'm so happy that they chose me.

My first embryo transfer (surrogacy journal entry) A peek inside..part 1

I wrote the following before my 1st embryo transfer as a surrogate. I wish I had written more about my first experiences.

This is part 1 in what could be a 3-4 part series of journal entries.. if you think I should go on.

11/18/05

I feel a bit anxious as we get ready to depart. I'm with my husband and we are flying on Southwest Airlines to San Jose California. From there we will be driving a rental car to San Fransisco. (area) Tomorrow morning at 10:00 am I have an appointment at Zouves Fertility Center. 

This is all part of my journey as a surrogate. This is something I've felt destined to do. I was matched with a couple in July 2005, shortly after moving to San Diego. I've been taking a series of pills and shots to prepare for tomorrow.

Two days ago 31 eggs were retrieved from S______ who is the mom I am helping. From those eggs, 16 embryos were created. They will probably transfer 3 in the hopes that 1-2 will implant and survive. 

I am very excited about this journey; however as reality hits, butterflies begin to flutter. 

We have arrived and picked up our rental car which we upgraded to a Gold PT Cruiser.  (seemed fun and cool at the time lol, not that Gold would have been my first choice for any car)

We will be meeting K_______ and S________ for dinner tonight. This will be the first meeting between John and them. I have met them twice.

We went to Red Robin for dinner- yummy. John and I love that place, especially the clam chowder. It was K______ and S______'s first time. They said they liked it. They are vegetarian and both found something good they could eat.

We laughed and chatted like we were all old friends. It was nice.

It is now 9:30 am November 19, 2005- Saturday. We will be leaving soon to go to the fertility clinic. We will discuss how many embryos to transfer and then the transfer will be at 11:00.

My hip/butt is sore from shots, but other than that I'm feeling good and excited for today's events.

It is now Sunday November 20, 2005. Yesterday Dr. Zouves transferred 2 high quality embryos. When we first found out how high quality the embryos were K_____ and S_____ were both overcome with joy and emotion. It was an awesome sight. S______ hugged me and K______ shook my hand as usual.

We all walked down to surgery and I changed into my patient gown and was given a Valium. We were all in gowns and surgical hats. 

We were told we would be able to take pictures and video tape the procedure. (Yay!)

Transfer took place at about 11:20 am. We were able to leave at about 12:00 pm. I felt fine- no pain or discomfort. I wasn't sure what to expect. I just felt normal, but awe struck that I was basically just impregnated. 

Luckily no morning sickness yet. Hee hee.

I did my strict bed rest yesterday. Today I am taking it easy and doing a little bit of sightseeing (while resting in the car) before we head back to San Diego. John is taking very good care of me and I'm happy to have his company. I am also grateful for his love and support.

We ended up going for a nice drive into San Francisco and eventually found Chinatown. We would have stopped to explore, but I can't be out walking all over the place. We were able to go see the movie Walk the Line about Johnny Cash. Afterwards we ate at Red Lobster, another of John and mine's favorite restaurants. 

It is a bit of an odd feeling of responsibility to be carrying someone else's child(ren). I will do my best.

I have more restrictions early on than in a regular pregnancy. 

We are on the plane to go back to San Diego. I had to change seats because I was sitting in an exit row and would have been required to lift the door (in an emergency) which is about 50 pounds. One of my orders is not to do any heavy lifting. I wonder about my daughter Jessica who is almost 2 and weighs about 35 pounds.

I hope that both of these embryos continue to be healthy and end up in live twins. That would add to this experience. 

If the pregnancy was indeed successful, I wonder how long until the morning sickness kicks in.

Next week I will be taking beta tests to confirm pregnancy and to check levels. I will still have to continue my shots which I'm not looking forward to. I am quite used to them however. 

My mom flew in to watch the kids while John and I were at the embryo transfer. I get to spend four more days with her and one will include Thanksgiving. There's a lot to be thankful for at this time.

We had a great time with my mom. She was a huge help and made a lovely Thanksgiving dinner.

Flashback Friday Journal edition

Ok, I've been wanting to do a flashback Friday with old videos, pictures etc.

Well my bestest friend since I was 3 posted this on my Facebook wall:

July 16, 1991: "Dear Journal, Today was a fun day. Me and my best friend went to the mall. We saw some cute guys but we didn't want to talk to them because we already have boyfriends. My boyfriend's name is Steve. He is really nice but I don't know what he looks like & Jill's boyfriends name is Cameron. ...He's nice too, but we can't wait to meet them. Well I better go -K- BYE!!! Love, Stephanie "



I replied "Are you freaking kidding me? Who the heck are Steve and Cameron? Where did we meet them? And how old were we in 91? Let's see I'd be about 14 and you'd be 13? Oh geez. I was going to do this to you...now where did I put that darn journal/...diary?"




And then I actually found one of my journals and checked to see if I wrote anything the same day and found this:

Hmmm: Same date: July 16, 1991




10:55 PM



Hello! Or should I say goodnight? My brother has been in Logan, he was living there in a condo with his friend Page. They were there because they were going to go to USU. School for them didn't start un...til October, they went there early to find a job and work for 3 months before school started. They were there for probably about a month and it's a small town and they couldn't find jobs, so my brother moved back home and is going to go to a different college. Well anyway, when he was living there they had a cat. Her name is Love or Luv. Anyway he brought her home with us so now we have a cat. She is totally black with green eyes that glow in the dark.

(I freaking LOVED that cat)

Enough about that-------


Cameron is getting back Friday July 19th. 3 more days to go! I'm not ging to do what Gill did to me! I was going out with him and I went to Puerto Vallarta for a week and when I got back he was going with someone else! The scum-sucking pig couldn't wait a week for me, but I can wait a month for Cameron! When Stephanie writes in her journal she writes Dear Charlie- Maybe I should start writing Dear Rod, that used to be my nick-name! (because of my love for Rod Stewart)

Here are some other old nicknames:

Michelangelo

Splinter

Maggie Simpson

Marge Simpson

Joe McIntyre

Seniorita

Rod

and my most recent nick-name is Billy Bob



Love ya,

Jill

I ♥ Cameron 11:10 PM
 
I don't remember 1/2 those nicknames.. must have been just for a day and I still have no clue who Steve or Cameron are. They must have been some firiend of  a friend weird thing. We always had boyfriends who we had never met, but talked to on the phone. Kinda creepy/scary now that I think about it..
 
I read on and after a few months of being "rad as hell friends", Cameron was a complete and total jerk to me and said some really hurtful things to me. I don't believe we ever met.
 
I also read about liking 6 guys at the same time in 8th grade. (nothing new there)
One of the guys names was John. Well I don't remember liking many Johns, but I was an aide in 8th grade and there was a guy named John in that class and I later found out he had a crush on me and thought I was in high school. I also happened to end up marrying the guy.  I wonder....