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!
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Monday, July 9, 2007
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
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
Thursday, July 5, 2007
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!!
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!!
Tuesday, July 3, 2007
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?
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?
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