Our Story.....

In 2006, I had decided to become a surrogate mother. I knew that I was done having children for myself. I knew that helping others have kids was something that I could do. My body does great with pregnancy. I love being pregnant. 
 
 

In October of 2006, I matched with an amazing couple from California, J and D. They already had three kids, but wanted another, so I helped them complete their family. In December of 2006 we signed contracts and in January of 2007 we did our first IUI and amazingly, it took!!!  We found out by ultrasound we were pregnant with one healthy baby, but we did not find out the sex.  When he was pulled from my stomach during the csection and the doctors announced it was a boy, the look on my IM's face made the entire thing worth it. Watching her with her son was a dream come true. I loved seeing them as a complete family and being involved in his life is such an honor. 

 

 

After a few match issues, I decided to once again go through an agency to find a good match. In March of 2010, I was introduced to E and R. I fell in LOVE!! They are both such amazing people, I knew right away that making them daddies was something I had to do.

Contracts were signed and medication was started in August of 2010. In September, we decided to do our transfer. We were in the September Sunflowers group on my surrogacy website, SMO (www.surromomsonline.com). 

Ryan and I flew down to Mexico City. It was both of our first times out of the country. We had an amazing time. The guys took us to all the hot spots, including the pyramids. It was just mindblowing to see all of that history!!! We also ate at some fab places!!! This picture was the four of us eating at a place called The Groove. This suddenly became my FAVORITE place to eat!! It has the best food ever!

I was all geared up with tons of pee sticks to pee on! But it seemed as many times I took the stupid tests, I never seen two lines. It was very heartbreaking because I had never had issues getting pregnant. But with IVF sometimes, that is the way it works! Sadly, that transfer did not work. We were all bummed, but figured with IVF, things could be like that and we knew we wanted to try again.

 

So we geared up for round two, this time in January of 2011. This time I went to Mexico City alone. E took me to an amazing museum full of beautiful artwork, handmade crafts from the natives and tons of archeology that they had uncovered.  I could have spent hours going through each room. It was fantastic.  This time, we got put in the January Snowdrops group on my SMO group. We really thought this time would be it!!! This time, I was a bit more careful with the pee sticks. I thought I had a positive, but the beta turned out to be .10 and then dropped back down to 0. It was heartbreaking again to go through another failure. But we knew this was not the end. We geared up for transfer number three.

In May of 2011, I headed to Mexico City, again alone.  This time, everything seemed to fit perfect. We transferred three beautiful embryos. We used a different clinic and a different RE. Thought the shake up would change our chances a bit.  And sure enough...at 7dp3dt, TWO lines!!!!  

These are ALL positive!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We were totally excited and couldn’t wait to hear the heartbeats.  But sadly, at 5 weeks, I began to bleed. An SCH was found and because of the location, it took the embryo with it. Everything happened so quickly and within days, my beta numbers began to drop and the pregnancy was gone.

That honestly was one of the most difficult things I have EVER had to go through. Physically it was like going through labor. My uterus had contractions, my back was killing me, and my emotional status had become shaken. I never had gone through a loss before. Part of me was already connected to the pregnancy and to lose it was very difficult. 

But we knew that we couldn’t give up. We had five frozen embryos left in the freezer, so we decided to go for round four!  So in November I headed back down to Mexico City. This time just had to be it!!!!!  Both of the guys got to be in the room. Both of them, were able to take part in the process.  And on November 7^th, three beautiful embryos were transferred and on November 12^th, a very faint, but noticeable line showed up on the pregnancy test. And on November 13^th, at 6dp3dt (6 days past a 3 day transfer—or 9 days past ovulation) the digital test said YES+!!!

I of course, could not hold in the joy and emailed the picture to E and R!!   There were so man positive pee sticks this time around!!!!!!!! I loved to watch the lines just get darker and darker!!!!!!!!!!!

I decided to contact my clinic to go in for a beta. I had to know where the numbers sat. So on November 14^th, at 7dp3dt, the number came back at 63.6. VERY PREGNANT!!! 

So that is where we are today. My posts from now on will be about each happening. I want E and R to remember this forever. And have these posts as a story, as they can’t physically go through the pregnancy. I want them to be able to look back and be able to read about every pee stick, every beta, the first ultrasound, the first movement, the first kick and beyond. I want to share my story as well, allowing those a first view into the world of surrogacy through my eyes. Sit back and enjoy the ride!!!!