Again I have been slacking...

But what can I say, it has been crazy busy here. We have had holiday parties to attend and play dates and ice skating and Erick's awesome birthday party and well I don't know... LIFE to deal with. Today Lance is under the weather and we are totally housebound except to fairy(is that how you spell it?) Kyra back and forth to school. She has her Christmas party at school today otherwise she would have stayed home with us as well.
Anyhow I am getting tubby, the baby is pushing my intestines up and out lol.
She is an active little thing too. I had a midwife appt on Monday and Bonnie was so kind and turned on the US machine for me. I wanted to be able to give something to Candace to see. She was so active and has grown so much. She looked absolutely perfect too. I know I know you are hearing me say 'she' and wondering if I know something, well the truth is I don't know anything but it's just a feeling I have.
So here is a picture of my belly as of last week. I was about 12 weeks 3 days when I took this picture. The mirror was dirty ;)




The HB was in the 150's on Monday and I have finally gained a little weight. I am up a total of 4lbs according to the midwifes scale. My BP was perfect as always. Urine was clean.
We scheduled my 20 week US already and Candace is flying in to go to it. She is extremely excited, which reminds me... the pictures I got on Monday, grrr, My little Lancey Pants tossed them into the fireplace before I could scan them in. I was so sad becasue I wanted so bad to show them to Candace. They were great pictures. I got a total of three, all profiles of the body and you could see the spine and in one it looked like the baby turned her head to face us and we could see her eye socket. In another you could see the leg bones so well. While the machine was on she was kicking her legs like nuts! I have felt the occasional thump in there but nothing consistent yet. Really very random.

I hope that is enough for now, the truth is I have no clue when I will update again. Kyra and I are going to the Ballet tomorrow http://www.dallasmetroballet.com/
Then on Sunday Kyra has her first ice skating show. Next week the kids get out for the holidays and I might drive down to see my mom and dad. My mom was in the hospital last week for a fractured hip. She is out of work for a while and could probably use the company. Then on Friday night we have a party to go to, and Sat night we have 2 parties to go to.
I am planning on skipping Friday's party though(Scott will be going). The ones on Saturday should be a lot of fun so we are planning on attending. One is the Driver party for Atrium(it's always fun) and then our friend Thomas is having his annual Christmas party on the same night so we will not be missing that. His parties are always the best.
Well I am outtie!
Merry Chrismtas!

WHEW! It's been a little while.

SO it has been a little while since I last posted and of course there have been some developments...
First I am indeed pregnant. My first beta was 269 at 10-11dp3dt, my second was 901 at 13-14dp3dt. Good strong numbers! I had the blood drawn for the second beta on Monday and it was drawn as a stat blood draw but it wasn't until I went into the dr's office the next day to actually pick up the results that we got them. It was really frustrating. Well then Chris called and wanted to schedule an ultrasound and they were less than co-operative. At that point I decided enough was enough and I called my midwife. She and I spoke for about an hour and a half and I decided to ditch the dr's office and am now under the care of both my midwife and the RE clinic in NY. Chris really wanted me to have an US on Friday but that was just not possible, and well truthfully I didn't want to go in on Friday and not see anything. I would have been worried for a whole week. So we scheduled the appt for today.
SOOOOO the long awaited, how many are there????

Looks like there is 1!!!
I am partly relieved and partly sad but I am extremely happy because the baby is measuring perfectly to the day! Candace got to be "at" the appt through the phone. I put it on speaker phone and so she got to know at the same exact time as me. I am so happy for her and Alex. I can't wait for this baby to be here and to see their faces as they hold this little miracle. It is going to be a great day! IN JUNE!!!!

Isn't this just the cutest video clip ever!

Long awaited update

OK so Friday is our Beta day, just 2 more days and we will get a much clearer picture. I started my POASitis on Monday...
early Monday morning I got a shadow of a line but it looked completely negative by the time it dried. But I got a a very faint positive on Monday afternoon


Of course that answer wasn't good enough for me so I pee'd again and again...
so here is a picture of the tests...

Then I had to pee some more and I got this very very obvious one.

and yet another picture of the one I took today...


So.. what do you think?

Stickers?

That is what we are hoping for. We transfered two beautiful embabies yesterday afternoon after an accupuncture session. I had some time alone during the accupunture and I was moved to tears as in my mind I was searching the building for the embabies and talking to them. We had a nice little conversation(I know some of you will think this is weird but it's just how I am.) I am hoping our pep talk has encouraged them to stick around to meet their mommy and daddy.
After we came home and I went down to sleep. I slept for a few hours and when I woke up dinner was just about done and we had a great meal. Then I went back to bed but read my book until almost 11:30. I slept well aside from the fact that I woke up a couple times looking for my kids. The bed they have in their guest room is sooo comfortable!

Well I have to go to the potty so I am out for now. I will update again soon.

Here is a picture of Candace and I just before we transferred.

The Retrieval...

So this morning Candace went in for her retrieval. Her words are that things went as well as can be expected. She is a little disappointed that they were only able to retrieve 5. They were able to get the sperm injected into 4 out of the 5 and we will hear more about how things went tomorrow sometime. Personally I am a little relieved for Candace and Alex. They were facing a serious moral dilemma if they had too many eggs. I can see the blessing in only having 4 to work with. I hope she will feel the same way after we get our Beta back:)
The transfer will be at 2:30 on Monday! I am supposed to drink a bunch of water before hand and come with a full bladder. In 37 hours I should be boarding a plane to go see my friend and companion on this journey. I am so completely and utterly excited and cannot wait to get there. I have the utmost faith that everything will work out positively and in 9 short months a baby will be gracing us with his/her presence.

Again thank you for all the well wishes and prayers (I know not everyone responds here but that you are praying non the less) Thank you so much, and keep praying!

Leavin' On a Jet Plane...

don't know when I'll be back again...
Candace has her egg retrieval on Friday, exactly 9 months before my birthday(wouldn't that be so cool?) Anyhow she has a total of 7 follicles right now and they are all growing a couple are a little smaller than she would like BUT she is hoping they will be a little bigger by the time she triggers.

I am flying out on Sunday and we are expecting to do the transfer either Monday or Wednesday. I can't believe after all this time we are finally here. Finally going to transfer some embabies!

I have a chiropractic appt tomorrow ad I am going to be getting acupuncture on the day of the transfer, so I should be all set. I will have everything in place and all my duck in a row. I have been taking my folic acid and an additional 50mg of B-6 everyday as well this last week I have been craving fruit like you would not believe. I had strawberries and bananas the other morning for breakfast and these juicy red pears for dessert, lol. I tried some nectarine but it wasn't quite what I had been hoping for. We have gone through probably 4lbs of strawberries alone this week. Of course the kids devour them as well because Lance and Kyra are total fruitaholics.

Well I am getting sleepy... I appreciate all the love and support and especially all the prayers you have been sending out for us. Thank you so much... I will update agai after the transfer!

YAY!

Looks good...

I got my period and had an ultrasound and my lining was at 3mm. 3 mm is a great place to start. Candace also had her baseline ultrasound and blood work done and she was well suppressed. I started my estrace pills on Friday the 7th and she started her Gonal F on Saturday. It's been a week now and she and I had follow up ultrasounds. With her follow up they found only 6 follicles total, so they decided to up her dose of Gonal F and she went back again this morning. With my follow up we found the estrace has been doing it's job and I am now at 9mm and we are in a holding pattern.
Candace had another ultrasound this morning and she got a few more follicles and so they are going to keep her on the upped dose for a few more days and check one more time on Monday. We are scheduled for a Sept 21st egg retrieval and I fly to New York on the 23rd.... if only you could hear the excitement in my voice! Candace and I are both thrilled that we are going to get to hang out and that this is FINALLY moving forward.

Candace is going to schedule an acupuncturist to give me a treatment just before and just after the transfer (I am so excited about this!) There is a German study that shows IVF success rates there going from 26% to 42% with the use of those two treatments. If something as simple as acupuncture can increase our chances of success I am all for it.

This meds schedule has been fun for me. The kids remind me every night about my shot. One night last week Lance came in and was lifting his shirt and said he was ready for his shot lol. Kyra is a big helper too, she lifts my shirt for me and rubs the little alcohol swab where I am going to give my shot and she even pinches my skin so the needle goes in easier. All I have to do is aim and shoot. Everyone is so excited about this happening.

Ok so there is our update.. your still praying right? ;)

5 shots down and an ultrasound

We are 5 lupron shots into this cycle. I am waiting on my period to start. I have a great feeling about this cycle. I need to bleed so bad though. My uterus has felt so heavy for 5 days now. I have an ultrasound scheduled for 7am on Thursday morning. Candace has one at 7:30 am her time. Looks like we will both be early to rise Thursday... I think we are a tad excited lol.

Please be praying for us and this cycle.
Thanks everyone for all your support! I love you all.

AF?

I think I see her on the horizon...
you know how it goes, you are waiting and waiting knowing you cannot possibly be pregnant, I mean how could I be right, Scott has been snipped and well there isn't much nookie happening here. So today I finally break down and pee in a cup and dip a stick, go to wipe and guess what... there is PINK on the TP! FINALLY! Thanks for those of you who sent me some AF vibes. I just need her to get full force and then I can let Chris know. I should probably bleed until Monday before starting the BCP's anyhow.

I cannot wait until Candace finds out... what a great way to end her vacation.

Waiting for Aunt Flo

Finally we have some idea of us starting again. IN the last month Candace and I decided to take things naturally. We are now waiting for my period to start(so please pray she comes soon). I will bleed for a few days and start the BC pills again. We are planning on taking the pills for about 2 weeks and then starting with lupron again. At which time I will stop the pills and have another bleed and then we are into a new cycle! YAY!! I am extremely excited and I know Candace is as well.
Speaking of Candace she is out of town this week on a much deserved little vacation. I miss her though. It kind of sucks not to have a Monday morning email from her. Candace and I have communicated almost daily since we hooked up last October. The weekends are a time when we are least likely to hear from each other so this Monday not hearing from her has been a little sad for me. But I am glad she is out having a nice time.

Anyhow I just wanted to update you guys on how things are playing out and beg for some AF vibes...;)

What's that they say...patience is a virtue??

Well, the cycle has effectively been cancelled and we have been bumped to August. The doctors feel that I need 4 weeks to recover from teh surgery. They are particularly concerned about the possibility of hyperstimulation and if a large volume of fluid enters my abdomen before my internal stitches are healed it could rupture. I know no one wants that but here we are back to the waiting game. This gives Andrea time to treat her ear infection as well.

So currently I am taking a shot of Lupron at night (for only two more nights), an antibiotic twice per day, a birth control pill, a multivitamin, and Lortab for pain (love that stuff!). I think my body doesn't know whether it's coming or going! I just keep telling myself it's all in good time.

Andrea and I talked about how erie it is that we are both so healthy and we both had incidents that ook us to the doctor for the first time in years this month. We suppose someone is trying to tell us something...so we would be remiss not to listen.

Rest and recovery are the game at the moment and then we can gear up for an August cycle. With all that has transpired and gone on I'm no less excited about cycling and if anything more so.

Yes, I do believe that this journey is teaching us some unexpected life lessons...but isn't that the best way to learn and develop yourself? I think so!

Disappointment and patience

I remember when we first matched Candace said she wasn't the most patient person in the world and I kind of chuckled then and thought to myself neither am I. Yet here we sit having been quickly matched but having to be ever patient with the rest of this process. I can't help but wonder if this is something we are supposed to learn together. If that is the case I couldn't have been matched with a better person to learn this with.

AND as much as I would like for our journey to move along quickly I want us to both be in top shape for this baby. Candace came home from the hospital yesterday and is doing well but now I am sick. I have an ear infection and the doctor has prescribed some antibiotics. She wanted to give me a shot of antibiotics while at the office to help kick start the healing but I declined.
I am really disappointed that these two things are going to cancel this cycle(well I don't know for sure but I am 99.9% sure) but I know it is for the best and I believe that God has a plan for this process for us and we are in his hands. We are at the mercy of his plans and I trust in him.

Candace if you are reading this... I Love you girl! We will get there:)

A

Journey on Detour

Earlier this week Candace started having pains in her abdomen and we were concerned that it might be an appendicitis. It appears our fears have been confirmed and Candace is in the hospital right now to have her appendix removed. I am praying for her speedy recovery and would appreciate any prayers you are willing to send up for her as well. I am sure that all this is happening for a very important reason so I will trust in the fates that were dealt us this month. All good things are worth waiting for.

An intro from Candace

Hi Everyone!! I'm finally here. Since I am not the computer savvy one and Andrea is she has to poke me a few times to get me started! I am so glad that we have the opportunity to share with you our journey as it unfolds. It has already been quite a ride! As Andrea said we met online back in October. Much like her, I knew right away that she was the person that I was looking for. I truly was attracted to the base of what she has said about herself and her beliefs and then when we began communicating further I was sure that we were a great match. I love that we are both so health conscious and similar in our outlook. It gives me such a great feeling to know that I can just trust her choices. That was the biggest thing for me. There are many stories of surrogacies where the IM is a bit controlling or micromanages the surrogate. That is so not me that I felt it so important to trust my surrogates judgement so that we would both be free and comfortable. I couldn't have found a better person to help Alex and I become a larger family!! Love you babe!

To make a sad story short, the reason that Alex and I turned to surrogacy surrounds a 5 year struggle with infertility and losses. I do have a beautiful 10 year old daughter, Abby, who is from my first marriage. Alex has no biological children, although he makes the best step dad ever! Abby was born at 31 weeks following a pregnancy complicated by pre-eclampsia and resulting pre term labor. I had an emergency section and several cuts which left me with a lot of scar tissue and related fertility issues later, including a blocked left tube. Alex and I were married in February 2003 and had the most beautiful winter wedding ever. But I digress...when we began trying for a sibling for Abby we quickly knew we would be in for a long road. I had several early losses over the years (3 of them) and we finally got pregnant with a strong pregnancy in 2005. I had a SCH that scared us every few weeks with a sudden bleed but still all looked good with the baby. My level two ultrasound revealed that all was well and we were having a boy!

A beautiful sunny Sunday in October 2005 my family was gathered at my parents home on Lake George. I was 20 weeks pregnant. Mid-afternoon I began feeling strange and was going to the bathroom every 10 minutes. I felt a lot of pressure and I gave ALex and my mother a look that told them to put me in the car and go to the nearest hospital. By the time we got halfway there I was having contractions that were 1-2 minutes apart and lasting 45 seconds each. Once in a bed on the labor and delivery floor they hooked me up and we heard a perfect heartbeat for the baby. Then my water broke in a huge gush. The nurse just looked at me and disconnected the monitor so that we would not be able to hear the heartbeat slowly fade. There was nothing they could do. I labored for the night and did not seem to progress. I felt a final surge of pain and then everything subsided. I felt a final move of the baby and then everything subsided. In the morning when the doctor checked me he discovered that I had delivered at some point the previous evening and the baby was sitting in the vainal canal. He retrieved Marcus and we were able to spend a few hours with him. My family was also able to see him. Because it had been so long since I actually delivered him through the uterus, my uterus and cervix began to close and tighten back up. They were then unable to retrieve the placenta. They spent the entire day working on it and brought me into surgery to no avail. It was decided that I would be discharged from this small hospital and sent to my doctor in Albany to the larger hospital. When I got there she was shocked to see my condition and what they had done to me. She was able to put me under again and retreive the placenta, which allowed me to avoid a full hysterectomy. Unfortunately, the previous efforts had resulted in the loss of a large piece of my cervix.

So, here we were recovering from the physical and emotional loss and deciding what to do next. Although Alex was ready to turn to surrogacy sooner it took me a full year to accept it with open arms and move through the feelings of loss for myself not trying again and the feelings that my body failed us. I am really glad that I took that full year because when I embraced surrogacy I did it with no emotional regrets or complications and it has allowed Andrea and I to bond and move forward with no negative emotions.

Did I say it would be a short story lol?!

I am feeling better today but going for a CT scan regardless. It can't hurt to rule anything out and they assured me that it won't hurt my eggs!!

It must be the weather

Today is day 8 and Candace and I had blood work and ultrasounds. We both had them scheduled for this morning. At my blood work appt. they finally realized that they had not been charging me the "stat" fee. It is $40 extra for stat blood work that is not medically indicated! GEEZ! While they were trying to get that figured out the clock was tick tick ticking away and I needed to get to my next appointment. I scheduled the appointments an hour apart just so I wouldn't run into issues with being late. I finally told them look I got to go I have another appt, charge me what you need to so I can go! I called Candace on the way to the next place(which thankfully was right around the block). Her blood work and ultrasound went great this morning but she has been suffering from some unexplained abdominal pain. We are all hoping it is not a looming appendicitis. We didn't get to talk long because like I said the next clinic was just around the block.
My ultrasound went smooth but my lining was 8-9 mm which is just to thick. I also had a 15mm cyst but Chris said that they are not concerned about it at all because of where I am at in my cycle BUT they are concerned about my lining. I need to shed more of my lining so they are putting me on progesterone for the next 5 days hoping to induce a blood flow so I can shed more of the lining.

Candace had an appt with her regular doctor this afternoon to follow up about the abdominal pain. They want her to have a CT scan but it was near the end of the day and she isn't feverish. Normally they would schedule it for the next day but it's the 4th. Candace was going to go up to her parents lake house tomorrow but considering the condition that might be looming and what happened the last time they were up there and needed to use the emergency services there Alex doesn't want to go. It was actually the first thing I thought of when she mentioned that they were planning on going up there and so I completely understand why they are now planning on staying home. It's not my story and maybe Candace will post about it at some point but I will say that her last visit to that hospital resulted in a very devastating loss for the both of them.

Top that all off with the fact that I am losing my voice. I sound awful! I really think it is all the mold spores from the monsoons that have been coming through lately. Who would have ever thought monsoons in Texas;)
I snapped this picture yesterday when the skies opened up and dumped on us.
I feel like the land scape will never dry out. Even if it stopped raining for a whole week I would still have puddles in my back yard because there is just no where for the water to go. The ground is too wet to soak up any more water. Can you guess what is in the forecast for the rest of the week?
My poor kids have been stuck in the house for what seems like forever! We have been renting movies and last week I took them to the movies and paid a baby sitter to stay with Lance. I wish we had some more plans and fun things we could do but alas this weather is screwing up the summer terribly. So I will blame all the faults in our cycle on the weather as well... someone has to be the fall guy right?

An Intro from Andrea

So this is Candace and I. Can you tell who's who? Well that's ok because we can. I am the one with brown hair and blue eyes... oh wait that is both of us... ok I am the tall one.
So that is what we look like.

Recently I got a private message from a friend on a private board where I post. A friend of hers knew Candace from another board where Candace used to post and she had been hoping to keep up with our journey and was wondering if we had a blog somewhere that she could read. So I spoke with Candace and we decided it would be fun to have a blog and so here is our journey to baby.
I met Candace online in October. I had finally decided that I was ready to begin this chapter of my life. Becoming a surrogate for someone special had been something I had been wanting to do for years. My husband and I are now done having our own children and Scott sealed the deal almost 2 years ago with the big snip. Anyhow, since I didn't have any friends who needed me I figured I would find someone on my own. I posted an ad on one of the surrogate websites and within hours I had a few replies. I responded to everyone but only one reply really stuck out in my mind. We emailed back and forth for a few weeks but in my mind she was the one. There were so many things that stuck out to me. She was so open about herself and her needs in this process as was I with her. The one thing I wasn't sure I would find was someone who was open to my birthing preferences. Having had 2 of my 3 children at home, I much prefer to give birth in my home with a trained professional, of course knowing that most women who are seeking a surrogate have suffered unimaginable losses I of course was(am) open to giving birth in a hospital. I think the fact that I was open to a home(natural) birth for the couple I ultimately decided to help was what made Candace email me to begin with. We are both very natural minded people and it didn't take us long to come to the conclusion that we were a match! Of course I never in my mind imagined I would be matched that soon and had a time line that I needed to stick to before I could start the medical part of this journey. Candace has been so patient waiting for me.
We met face to face in January when Candace flew down here. She and her daughter spent a weekend with my family. It was a fun time for all of us. We went to the museum and ate lunch at this amazing vegan cafe, we had dinner at my house and just talked a lot. It didn't feel like two women meeting for the first time but friends just getting together for a weekend.
We finally got everything in order and were gearing up for a June transfer. I had a mock cycle in April to see how my lining would react to the meds. Everything went well and within 2 weeks I had a nice and thick lining. I stopped the meds and we waited for my period to start.... waited... when she was due she didn't come and so we waited a little more. By that time we realized that something was going on and I went in for blood work and an ultrasound. At that point we found a huge cyst had developed on my ovary. UGH! We had to wait for it to subside and my period to come before we could proceed. 2 weeks late, AF finally arrived! So that pushed us back into a July transfer. A small set back but it's ok because we are here now and we have both FINALLY started our meds to have a baby! On Monday I took my last birth control pill and started my Lurpon injections(they so do not hurt at all, easy peasy!) and on Tuesday Candace took her last birth control pill and started her Lurpon injections.

So this is where we are at!