Ready to cycle....or not ?!?!?

I'm gonna vent here for my IPs and myself.

Well, like I mentioned before the clinic now tells us that IM (and IF) need to have new labs because their previous ones have expried. I think we are all frustrated by this since the clinic didn't make IM aware of this until we were ready to cycle. She's been in contact with them several times checking in on the next steps and they basically said to stay on BCP and call when contracts were finished. The wouldn't give much more info than that until we signed on the dotted line. It's apparent no one ever pulled her chart or we would have known about the expired labs months ago which could have easily been done while we waited on contracts. UGH

I guess all that doesn't matter much though because when IM was bringing me up to speed she also relayed to me that the clinic is not cycling with any patients end of June early July because they are taking vacation!!! That is right when we'd be starting to cycle!! UGH UGH Guess we'll have the month we need to get those labs done now. UGH UGH UGH

My heart goes out to my IPs, I hate that something that should be so natural and "simple" has to be so complicated for them. Their only desire is to have a baby and there are so many factors and cirumstances that go into the process of IVF and surrogacy that it really isn't fair. A&T...sending you both big {{{HUGS}}}. It will all come together and happen soon we'll just have to continue being patient.

Getting somewhere

The clinic called to touch base with me Thursday. I'm supposed to let them know when CD1 comes along so that we can work out a med protocol and schedule, I'm expecting AF sometime around June 7th. IM has to go in for some new labs because during our wait her old ones expired but other than that we are ready to cycle!!!

Waiting, waiting, waiting.......

Not much else to report besides that. Contracts are done, now just waiting on a cycling calendar from the clinic. I'll update when there is more news but for now we wait.

Baby Mama

As a surro myself, I really hope people will see this movie was obviously written for the comedic effect and to be humorous because the portrayal of the entire surrogacy process was pretty inaccurate.

I was disappointed, I wasn't really miffed because I knew they portrayed Amy Poehler's character Angie (SM) to be ignorant and immature but I was hoping for it to have a "feel good" ending. You know, where you walk away touched by the journey they went through together which just didn't happen for me. Everything ends up ok in the end ... she [Tina Fey/Kate] gets her baby and all but it totally removed the best and most amazing part of surrogacy...helping create a beautiful family. DH wanted to remind me it was a comedy not a drama but I didn't like that it left me feeling unfulfilled.

Time for Signatures

FedEx just dropped off the final contracts to my front door. Hoping to get them signed tomorrow night while Jason and I are visiting friends so that they can be our witnesses. I'll be putting them in the mail first thing Monday morning and then off to A&T they go.

Overview of the Cycling/Transfer Process

For some of you with questions of what is involved in cycling and transfer, I thought I'd share with you the details that go into this process. The protocols vary but this information is pretty accurate in describing all that it entails. ~ Tiffany

The surrogate and the egg donor (intended mother) synchronize their cycles, usually with birth control pills. About 14 days into the birth control pills, usually both surrogate and egg donor will start Lupron. Lupron is a subcutaneous (just under the skin) injection to shut down the bodies normal hormone production so the doctors can control your cycle and be sure the surrogate's uterus is ready to receive the embryos at the exact time for the best chance of success.

The surrogate is usually about a week or so ahead of the egg donor to ensure her uterus will be ready when the eggs are retrieved and fertilized, and because they can keep the SM in a holding pattern for up to 2 weeks once her uterine lining is at optimum.

When your menstrual cycle starts while on Lupron, your Lupron dose is usually decreased by half and you start adding Estrogen replacement to the mix (in the form of pills, patches, or shots depending on your doctor). Some doctors have you take other medications as well (Dexamethasone to suppress male hormones to increase implantation, antibiotics to guard against any infection that might have gone undiagnosed, etc.)

The egg donor starts on injectable fertility hormones on her cycle day 3 to stimulate her ovaries to produce several eggs as opposed to just 1 or 2. Fertility hormones continue anywhere from 7 to 12 days depending on the egg donor's response to the hormones. The egg donor is checked about 3 times a week via ultrasound and blood tests to determine her response to the drugs.

Once the follicles are the right size (about 18-20mm) she is given an HCG shot which induces an LH surge which also matures the eggs. 36 hours after the HCG shot, they do the egg retrieval. Up until this time, the date/time of your transfer is in limbo.

The eggs retrieved are fertilized with sperm from either the Intended Father or a sperm donor and incubated for 2-5 days. Lupron usually stops the day before egg retrieval. Progesterone replacement (most often in the form of intramuscular injections, but sometimes with suppositories or Crinone gel) starts the day of the retrieval and continues until the 12th week of pregnancy or a negative pregnancy test. Estrogen replacement also continues until the 12th week of pregnancy (when the placenta takes over hormone production). Because you were on Lupron and your natural hormones were suppressed, you need to take external sources of these very important hormones in order to maintain any pregnancy that occurs.

When the fertilized embryos are at the proper stage, they are loaded into a special syringe with a thin flexible catheter at the end. The catheter is inserted thru the cervix into the uterine cavity (sometimes with the assistance of abdominal ultrasound to ensure EXACT placement of the embryos) where the embryos are "injected". Most doctors will only transfer three to four 2-day old embryos or two 5-day embryos. Any unused embryos are frozen for a future attempt if a pregnancy doesn't result from the fresh cycle. Bedrest of anywhere from 2 hours to 3 days is usually required immediately following embryo transfer.

Hopefully after all this a pregnancy is achieved, if not the process starts all over again.


Information summary from http://www.surromomsonline.com/articles/gs_process.htm