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About Me

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Caledonia, Northern Illinois, United States
I am a Thirty-Something mother of four beautiful girls. My love for them, and the joy I've experienced during this crazy ride called motherhood, has inspired me to help make the dream of a family become a reality for couples through gestational surrogacy. I've proudly helped A&T, as their lives were forever changed when they welcomed a son in April 2010 and K&S were blessed as parents in Sept 2012 when we welcomed their twin boys. I completed my final surrogacy journey Nov 2015 when I helped a wonderful local couple J&W and Big Brother add their family with the birth of twin boys. I am so very fortunate to have wonderful relationships with each one of my surro-families and continue to share in their lives.

Monday, February 6, 2012

Beta Is In

It's 403 at little shy of 11dp5dt. Yay!!!

It's driving me crazy how it's on the fence and could go either way. It's a nice high number for one but could also possibly mean there are two in there. The chart I like to use says average is 132 for 10dp5dt and 292 for 11dp5dt ... my bloodwork was drawn at 6:45 AM which put us in the middle at 10.5dpt so ... the wait continues.

The big factor in this whole beta game is that the numbers continue to rise and at a steady pace - this is where we lost out last time - so praying all continues to go well and we see another nice increase and another solid number come Thursday when I have the bloodwork repeated.

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Confessions of a POASaholic

Final HPT - Sunday AM (2/5)@ 9.5dp5dt

A whole lotta HPTs.

Beta in the morning!!!

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

We Have An Overachiever

Well time to share the news - we have a BFP! K and I had agreed that I'd test Tuesday morning. I was totally preparing myself for a negative since we wouldn't even be 5dpt yet - having an afternoon transfer threw everything off but - to our surprise it was POSITIVE at only 4.5dp5dt.

I wasn't sure how I'd feel about a positive this time after the downward spiral of last cycle. Initially I thought I'd be a little guarded but, I honestly can't help but be excited and I'm feeling very optimistic. I love how K, despite all the disappointment she's faced over the last few years, is still as excited as if this were the first time and doesn't let the past keep her down. Can I just say what an amazingly strong woman she is! For now we are happy for the good news but remain cautious too as we realize how quickly things can change.

I'll leave you with a view of yesterdays tests. The 4.5dp5dt line is light, but totally there without having to strain your eyes (enlarge for best view). I didn't even get a positive test this early with Baby G, at 4.5dpt with that pregnancy the HPT was stark white and as you may know that pregnancy started out as twins. ;) Very hopeful of what is to come.

Congratulations K&S!!! Let's pray this one sticks!!!! Beta is scheduled for Monday (2/6).


Early AM test @ 4.5dp5dt a faint line.
Digi says PREGNANT @ 4.75dp5dt


Same test as above - 4.5dp5dt @ 5:00 AM - and - official 5dp5dt @ 1:00 PM. What a difference already!

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Transferred!!

Transfer complete! They started thawing the first two embryos around 10 am and we got word an hour later that they thought there was no need to thaw the third - the first two were looking very nice. So, we transferred two 5d blasts, a 4AC and a 4BC. Stats were 55% for pregnancy, 20% for twins - transferring all three would have only brought the probability up to 65% but our HOM risk would go up considerably.


Everything went smoothly except for one of the lil guys got stuck in the catheter, the embryologist discovered it when they took the cath back to the lab and inspected it - which is routine because this does happen. So they had to "reload" and do a second insertion to make sure both were where we needed them to be. All in all it was good, just praying one or both of these lil ones stick around.


I wanted to get K a lil something as a transfer gift so I decided on some socks in the lucky fertility colors green/yellow - along with some Godiva chocolates. When I asked the cashier to wrap them up she asked the occasion and I said, "It's hard to explain, lets just say friendship". She proceeded to get it ready and added a pink & blue bow ... Hmmmmm a sign perhaps? K, Daisy and I all wore the lucky socks for transfer. :) K&S were super sweet and got me something too, I was surprised to come home to a lovely Edible Arrangement - Yum! The girls are eyeing it but momma doesn't want to share!



Planning to test ... hoping to see double!

*New pics added to photo album.






Friday, January 20, 2012

Counting Down Now!

I had my final monitoring appointment today. My lining is in the 12+ range and "perfect". Tonight is my last dose of lupron than PIO in the AM - counting down now!

I talked to IM and the clinic and we've decided to thaw two embies, assess quality, and thaw the third if either of the first two aren't looking favorable. If we do move forward with thawing the third they will all be transferred - assuming they are all considered viable - to increase the likelihood a pregnancy will occur.

Since my IF will be out of town I'm not dragging my husband along so, Daisy - my BFF and fellow surro - gets to be my transfer companion again - and IM will be there of course too. I'm not sure any of us are ready for the rollercoaster of testing but, at the same time excited to be here again too. Yay - just 6 more days!

Friday, January 13, 2012

All On Track

We started the cycling process again just after the Christmas holiday. Things are coming along and so far so good. My first monitoring appointment after doing Lupron injections for a week, the baseline, was to make sure we were at a good starting point for the rest of the process. All looked good and I got instructions to continue with the protocol. A week ago I started adding in estrogen patches (E2)- 2 every other day. Today, before sunrise, I made the snowy trek to the monitoring clinic and all looks great. My lining was measured at 9.67mm and "looking pretty". Ideal is anything over 8mm. I'll hear from FCI this afternoon to confirm the b/w and u/s results and go over the next steps but with a little less than two weeks till transfer, things are looking good.