Today I am officially off of my birth control pills. I had to take the Synarel (nasel spray) along with the BCP's for 6 days and now I am just on the Synarel. I am hoping I will get my period here in about three days and then I can start my Estrace. The Synarel will stop me from ovulating (suppresses my ovaries) and the Estrace... well I'm not sure what the Estrace will do I just know that I need to start that after my period comes and of course when the clinic tells me to. I will ask them exactly what it does when I talk to them next.
So far the Synarel has been just a piece of cake. The only side effects that I've noticed have been minor sleep interuptions and a few extra zits than normal. Really nothing major at all. I was hugely relieved especially after how hard the BCP's hit me. I'm a hormone supplement pro now! hahaha It was a bit of a learning curve with the Synarel. The first few days I took it were gross. I would spray it into my nose and a few minutes later I would start tasting it as it ran down my throat. Poison is probably the closest I can come to describing the flavor. One of my friends suggested that I sniff with my nose more when I spray it so that it goes up my nasal passage instead of down my throat and what do you know she was right. I rarely taste it anymore. Learning the new meathod really just felt like the cherry ontop of the cake.
Both of my daughters have the "uncomfirmed" H1N1 virus. They haven't gotten swabbed, but all symptoms point to it. Poor little ones. I am betting that I will get it here shortly, which will suck, but I can say it will be nice to have it out of the way for when the pregnancy happens. I/we won't have to worry about getting it and it harming the baby. We'll see if I'm singing a different tune if/when I'm lieing on the couch in a fever induced daze.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
First dose of something
It begins!! I'm so excited!! Today I went to the pharmacy and picked up my first hormone treatment. It's called Synarel. It's a nasel spray that I take once in the morning and once at night. What Synarel will do to me is suppress my reproductive system and stop me from ovulating. It has similar side effects as the birth control pill I was taking, but usually those only last for about two weeks. I'm thinking it might be easier this time knowing that all these things are most likely coming. The birth control pill took me by total surprise. I'm ready this time. Bring on the hot flashes and sleepless nights b/c then I know it's doing the job :)
The intended mom starts on her birth control pills today. We need to now align our cycles to eachother b/c my body needs to be ready to receive a fertalized egg at the same time that she is ovulating. It's realy interesting. All this has made me realize that none of this is possible without God. Science can only go so far and it's amazing how many things need to be insync and working for this to happen. Our cycles have to match, my uterin lining has to be the prefect thickness at the right time, the dr's have to be able to harvest a good amount of healthy eggs from IM (intended mom), then IF (intended father) needs to have a good amount of healthy sperm, we then need atleast one or two healthy embryos to survive three days (outside my uterus) and then finally we need the embryo(s) to survive and grow inside of me. There is so much going on here and I feel so positive about the whole process, but I know that we really have to trust in God through this whole thing. None of this is possible without him.
The intended mom starts on her birth control pills today. We need to now align our cycles to eachother b/c my body needs to be ready to receive a fertalized egg at the same time that she is ovulating. It's realy interesting. All this has made me realize that none of this is possible without God. Science can only go so far and it's amazing how many things need to be insync and working for this to happen. Our cycles have to match, my uterin lining has to be the prefect thickness at the right time, the dr's have to be able to harvest a good amount of healthy eggs from IM (intended mom), then IF (intended father) needs to have a good amount of healthy sperm, we then need atleast one or two healthy embryos to survive three days (outside my uterus) and then finally we need the embryo(s) to survive and grow inside of me. There is so much going on here and I feel so positive about the whole process, but I know that we really have to trust in God through this whole thing. None of this is possible without him.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
It`s been awhile
It`s been awhile since I have written something. Not much had been happening on the surrogate front.
A couple weeks ago the intended mom talked to the fertility clinic we are using and they informed us we had until Oct. 28th to get all our counselling and legal contracts completed. That set us all into a mad dash b/c we had thought we had until sometime in November to get that in and we weren't far along in the process. It was quite interesting actually. Going over the legal contract that we were going to be signing really brought up some questions we had to think about. For example, what would happen if the baby had a genetic or congenital disease that would make it unable to live once I gave birth? Would we continue on with the pregnancy and who would make that decision? If I happened to get pregnant with 3 or more embryo's would there be any case where we would be willing to reduce the size of the pregnancy? These were all things that we really needed to think about and it REALLY made me thankful for the intended parents. We have the same morals and values when it comes to the important things. I don't know what we would do if we didn't agree. What if we came to an impassable moral dilema? Everything had to be legally laid out, but at the same time I really trust that we are on the same page and that they take my feelings seriously. I'm glad that part is finished now. We can get to the fun stuff now ;).
My husband and I are heading to Mexico for a week with two of our closest friends. We are SO excited. This is the first time either of us have been out of the country and also the longest we have ever left the kids. I'm going to go and not look back hahaha. I know I will miss my girls, but it will be so nice to have this second honeymoon before we begin the pregnancy and hormone treatments. I can't believe that November is when we start it all. I'm so excited!!
A couple weeks ago the intended mom talked to the fertility clinic we are using and they informed us we had until Oct. 28th to get all our counselling and legal contracts completed. That set us all into a mad dash b/c we had thought we had until sometime in November to get that in and we weren't far along in the process. It was quite interesting actually. Going over the legal contract that we were going to be signing really brought up some questions we had to think about. For example, what would happen if the baby had a genetic or congenital disease that would make it unable to live once I gave birth? Would we continue on with the pregnancy and who would make that decision? If I happened to get pregnant with 3 or more embryo's would there be any case where we would be willing to reduce the size of the pregnancy? These were all things that we really needed to think about and it REALLY made me thankful for the intended parents. We have the same morals and values when it comes to the important things. I don't know what we would do if we didn't agree. What if we came to an impassable moral dilema? Everything had to be legally laid out, but at the same time I really trust that we are on the same page and that they take my feelings seriously. I'm glad that part is finished now. We can get to the fun stuff now ;).
My husband and I are heading to Mexico for a week with two of our closest friends. We are SO excited. This is the first time either of us have been out of the country and also the longest we have ever left the kids. I'm going to go and not look back hahaha. I know I will miss my girls, but it will be so nice to have this second honeymoon before we begin the pregnancy and hormone treatments. I can't believe that November is when we start it all. I'm so excited!!
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
HSG experience
I had my Hysterosalpingogram (HSG) today!!! I'm relieved to have it over with and I definately psyched myself out for nothing. I was weird... that's the best way I can describe it.
So I get in there they give me a gown to put on. It's big enough to fit a full grown man which was actually kind of nice since all I could wear underneath were my socks. The nurse then brings me out a nice heated blanket to put on while I wait IN THE WAITING ROOM for them to bring me in. Thankfully there were only nurses hustling about b/c otherwise that would have been quite uncomfortable. So they call me in and the nurse sort of explains what will happen. This procedure is done vaginally, which was one part scary for obvious reasons and one part a relief since I had sort of imagined them using a huge needle to inject the dye through my stomach (obviously not the easiest way). She shows me all the instruments that they will use. They have to wash my cervix and then they use a long thin needle thing that has sort of a metal bulb looking thing at the end. She explains that the dye can cause some cramping and minor irritation to the uterus, but that the part that most women find uncomfortable is when they clamp the needle thing onto the side of my cervix. That sounded not fun to me at all!! She then procedes to tell me my dr's name. This is when I started to feel weird b/c I realized that it's an older man from my church whom I have known since I was a baby. I was kind of wishing for the needle through the stomach idea at that point. Thankfully my fears were put to rest when he came in and he didn't mention anything about knowing me. I was VERY relieved about this. I was not in the state of mind to talk about how my parents were doing and where my brothers were living now.
I was unsure of exactly how much detail I should go into. Should I tell them I'm going to be a surrogate or should I try and give as little information as possible. That question was answered for me pretty quickly when the first thing out of the dr's mouth was "So you've been trying to get pregnant for awhile?" I wasn't prepared to lie and when my answer of "we are going to use IVF" only caused more questions to come my way I quickly realized that obviously I should just say what I'm doing here. Especially since he goes to my church and he will find out eventually. So I spit it out and both were surprised (this is Dawson after all), but very supportive. He asked a few more questions just out of his own curiosity, but after that we got to continue with the procedue. Yay......
They laid me down on this cold metal table with this big half circle ultrasound machine. I was pretty relaxed and "comfortable" for the begining, but once I realized that they would soon be clamping something to my cervix I started to get quite nervous. That's when I heard the great news. The dr. says clamping it won't be necessary today. Woohoo!! Relief flooded through me. Now all I had to worry about was the dye. They turned the ultrasound screen towards me so that I could watch as he slowly injected the dye and it started to float out into my fallopian tubes. I was surprised by how small my uterus and fallopian tubes were compareds to my pelvis. I honestly didn't feel a thing. The dye didn't bother me one bit and it showed that my reproductive organs appeared to be fine with no blockages to be seen. I was relieved to hear that it was over, but overall it was not a "bad" experience. The nurse was so awesome she definately made all the difference.
Hope that was not too graphic for you all ;) Thanks for letting me share.
So I get in there they give me a gown to put on. It's big enough to fit a full grown man which was actually kind of nice since all I could wear underneath were my socks. The nurse then brings me out a nice heated blanket to put on while I wait IN THE WAITING ROOM for them to bring me in. Thankfully there were only nurses hustling about b/c otherwise that would have been quite uncomfortable. So they call me in and the nurse sort of explains what will happen. This procedure is done vaginally, which was one part scary for obvious reasons and one part a relief since I had sort of imagined them using a huge needle to inject the dye through my stomach (obviously not the easiest way). She shows me all the instruments that they will use. They have to wash my cervix and then they use a long thin needle thing that has sort of a metal bulb looking thing at the end. She explains that the dye can cause some cramping and minor irritation to the uterus, but that the part that most women find uncomfortable is when they clamp the needle thing onto the side of my cervix. That sounded not fun to me at all!! She then procedes to tell me my dr's name. This is when I started to feel weird b/c I realized that it's an older man from my church whom I have known since I was a baby. I was kind of wishing for the needle through the stomach idea at that point. Thankfully my fears were put to rest when he came in and he didn't mention anything about knowing me. I was VERY relieved about this. I was not in the state of mind to talk about how my parents were doing and where my brothers were living now.
I was unsure of exactly how much detail I should go into. Should I tell them I'm going to be a surrogate or should I try and give as little information as possible. That question was answered for me pretty quickly when the first thing out of the dr's mouth was "So you've been trying to get pregnant for awhile?" I wasn't prepared to lie and when my answer of "we are going to use IVF" only caused more questions to come my way I quickly realized that obviously I should just say what I'm doing here. Especially since he goes to my church and he will find out eventually. So I spit it out and both were surprised (this is Dawson after all), but very supportive. He asked a few more questions just out of his own curiosity, but after that we got to continue with the procedue. Yay......
They laid me down on this cold metal table with this big half circle ultrasound machine. I was pretty relaxed and "comfortable" for the begining, but once I realized that they would soon be clamping something to my cervix I started to get quite nervous. That's when I heard the great news. The dr. says clamping it won't be necessary today. Woohoo!! Relief flooded through me. Now all I had to worry about was the dye. They turned the ultrasound screen towards me so that I could watch as he slowly injected the dye and it started to float out into my fallopian tubes. I was surprised by how small my uterus and fallopian tubes were compareds to my pelvis. I honestly didn't feel a thing. The dye didn't bother me one bit and it showed that my reproductive organs appeared to be fine with no blockages to be seen. I was relieved to hear that it was over, but overall it was not a "bad" experience. The nurse was so awesome she definately made all the difference.
Hope that was not too graphic for you all ;) Thanks for letting me share.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
It's booked
Everything has happened as I had hoped. My cycle has started and I am already looking forward to not having to deal with this for 9 months. My HSG (Hysterosalpingogram) is scheduled for September 30th. I'm farely confident that everything will be fine since I have had no problems in the past and my body has handled my pregnancy's fine, however it's always better to be safe than sorry. It would be awful to go through everything, spend all that money only to find out later that there was something wrong within my body that was causing problems. I'm happy to be one step closer.
Today we have our first counsellors appointment. This is mandatory with the clinic we are using which I think is a really smart idea. Basically they want to make sure that I am mentally/emotionally okay to continue in this process. I also think it's very important that our marriage be strong enough to survive or should I say flourish during this time. I know that pregnancy's can be hard on marriages and I'm sure surrogate pregnancy's are a whole different ball game. I feel like we are good to go, but it will be nice to have someone else's opinion. The women we are going to see is also a Christian and I have been told she is just awesome. I'm actually really looking forward to our meeting.
Today we have our first counsellors appointment. This is mandatory with the clinic we are using which I think is a really smart idea. Basically they want to make sure that I am mentally/emotionally okay to continue in this process. I also think it's very important that our marriage be strong enough to survive or should I say flourish during this time. I know that pregnancy's can be hard on marriages and I'm sure surrogate pregnancy's are a whole different ball game. I feel like we are good to go, but it will be nice to have someone else's opinion. The women we are going to see is also a Christian and I have been told she is just awesome. I'm actually really looking forward to our meeting.
Thursday, September 17, 2009
End of pack one
So today is my last pill (of the pack)!! I'm really excited b/c it means a. I'll get my period and we can find out if my body is going to get back to normal in time for this to happen by December and b. I get to have my hysterosalpingram done in 9 to 11 days which brings us one step closer in the whole process. It feels like we've been at a stall for the past little bit so it will be nice to see some progress.
I'm going to talk about menstration right now ... pre warning for anyone who is uncomfortable with this ;) haha.
I haven't had a period since before I got pregnant. So that makes it about 19 months now. wow!! I'm a little nervous about getting it. Is it going to be super painful or heavy? I don't remember what it was like after I had my first daughter. I know it's inevitable so I'm happy to just get it out of the way so I can quit wondering when and if and how. So here's hoping everything is normal and as it should be.
I'm going to talk about menstration right now ... pre warning for anyone who is uncomfortable with this ;) haha.
I haven't had a period since before I got pregnant. So that makes it about 19 months now. wow!! I'm a little nervous about getting it. Is it going to be super painful or heavy? I don't remember what it was like after I had my first daughter. I know it's inevitable so I'm happy to just get it out of the way so I can quit wondering when and if and how. So here's hoping everything is normal and as it should be.
Friday, September 4, 2009
Starting to adjust
I am hugely relieved to discover that the side effects from my birth control pills are slowly starting to level out. I was really wondering how I was going to handle the next four months of this. I knew that I was defiantely going to find a way, but it wasn't going to be the easiest part of this whole thing. I feel like such a little whiner, seriously it's just the pill!! There are millions of women on it and they don't complain. Honestly though it felt like I was on drugs. I started slowly sleeping better and not having nightmares. I only feel jittery in the mornings, but it feels more like I'm cold and shivering and my mood swings are much more controlable. Pretty much everything has gone back to a somewhat normal level and I am feeling more like myself again. It was a huge relief!!! I was thinking that it might take some time for my system to get used to the hormones, but I never imagined that it would be this quick. I hope that means they are still working.... I guess we'll find out when I'm done my first pack and my cycle is supposed to come ;)
So it's good news. We are heading in the right direction and I'm no longer a little bit crazy :) Thanks for puting up with me!!
So it's good news. We are heading in the right direction and I'm no longer a little bit crazy :) Thanks for puting up with me!!
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