Well we are only 4wks3days and I am starting to think we are going to have night sickness instead of morning sickness. The last two nights I have been queasy. Lets just hope that is all I get! Haha, yeah right! :)
Sent from my android device.
Sunday, February 27, 2011
And so it begins...
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
And we must go on...
So there we were, home with no baby, and a scar that ran from my belly button to my... well you get the picture. What to do? We did everything right, were friends first, dated, got married, great careers in place, and planned our pregnancy. Life was great! Boy, did my world just get turned upside down! But life doesn't always go according to plans. WTF?!
The idea of surrogacy started when I was still in the hospital. The next morning after the surgery, the on call Doc, who is the husband of the Doc that did the surgery, came in to explain the details of what happened. I was more sober then and had lots of questions. As he was explaining all this "stuff" to me, one thing stood out in my mind. I still had my ovaries! So I asked him, "hey Doc, you're telling me that I have eggs, but no oven?" "yes", he said. I said, "that means that we can still have a biological baby?" "technically, yes, but let's focus on getting you better first", he said. Okay, there's still hope!
I felt like I'd been hit by a Mac truck! In the next several months came all of the usual questions, the "what ifs". What if I would have waited longer between the fibroid surgery and getting pregnant? Maybe I should have asked more questions about my low blood pressure that day at the doctor's appt. Maybe I should have seen the signs, there were none, but I should have known anyway. This was my body and I didn't see it! The doctor should have known something, right? Was I being punished for bad decisions I've made in the past? Of course all of these thoughts were irrational, but you can't help to think "what could I have done differently?" Grieving SUCKS!!!!
During the grieving stages, my solace was research. I needed to understand more about this rare condition that cost me my baby and almost my life. The bottom line is this, Placenta Percreta is not something that anyone can predict or diagnose. The placenta embeded itself into the uterine wall so deeply that it actually breaks through. A medical mystery. Other research that helped with my sanity was information about surrogacy. I knew it existed, but knew nothing about it.
About a month after the surgery, my Aunt Paula called. I remember I was at a friends house. She was so excited when I answered the phone. She told me that her and a coworker were having lunch recently and the topic of surrogacy came up. This woman told Paula that she had always wanted to be a surrogate for someone, and my aunt's eyes lit up. She said she had a niece that just went through a horrible experience and proceeded to tell this woman my story. Paula asked her if it would be okay for her to give me her information and maybe I would call. I wasn't ready. We still needed time to process our next move.
So, the holiday's come and go, boy that was a rough Christmas, and on to Easter. I know Paula wanted to ask me if I had contacted her coworker, but I still couldn't. When George and I got back to Austin, it was time. We were ready to move forward. I called, she didn't answer, so I left a message. She called back, WOW! We spent over 2 hours on the phone, like we had been friends forever. This was crazy! Good, but crazy. Lisa was so easy to talk to, I strangely didn't feel uncomfortable with her at all. We decided to talk things over with our husbands and set up a meeting.
I did not tell George much about her because I wanted him to form his own opinion. He has great instincts and I trust that. So, we met memorial day weekend 2009. Things were a little awkward in the beginning, but after a 4 hour lunch, we seemed very comfortable. After we left, I asked George what he thought. He said they were the one! Okay, here we go, we are really going to do this! AWESOME!!!
The idea of surrogacy started when I was still in the hospital. The next morning after the surgery, the on call Doc, who is the husband of the Doc that did the surgery, came in to explain the details of what happened. I was more sober then and had lots of questions. As he was explaining all this "stuff" to me, one thing stood out in my mind. I still had my ovaries! So I asked him, "hey Doc, you're telling me that I have eggs, but no oven?" "yes", he said. I said, "that means that we can still have a biological baby?" "technically, yes, but let's focus on getting you better first", he said. Okay, there's still hope!
I felt like I'd been hit by a Mac truck! In the next several months came all of the usual questions, the "what ifs". What if I would have waited longer between the fibroid surgery and getting pregnant? Maybe I should have asked more questions about my low blood pressure that day at the doctor's appt. Maybe I should have seen the signs, there were none, but I should have known anyway. This was my body and I didn't see it! The doctor should have known something, right? Was I being punished for bad decisions I've made in the past? Of course all of these thoughts were irrational, but you can't help to think "what could I have done differently?" Grieving SUCKS!!!!
During the grieving stages, my solace was research. I needed to understand more about this rare condition that cost me my baby and almost my life. The bottom line is this, Placenta Percreta is not something that anyone can predict or diagnose. The placenta embeded itself into the uterine wall so deeply that it actually breaks through. A medical mystery. Other research that helped with my sanity was information about surrogacy. I knew it existed, but knew nothing about it.
About a month after the surgery, my Aunt Paula called. I remember I was at a friends house. She was so excited when I answered the phone. She told me that her and a coworker were having lunch recently and the topic of surrogacy came up. This woman told Paula that she had always wanted to be a surrogate for someone, and my aunt's eyes lit up. She said she had a niece that just went through a horrible experience and proceeded to tell this woman my story. Paula asked her if it would be okay for her to give me her information and maybe I would call. I wasn't ready. We still needed time to process our next move.
So, the holiday's come and go, boy that was a rough Christmas, and on to Easter. I know Paula wanted to ask me if I had contacted her coworker, but I still couldn't. When George and I got back to Austin, it was time. We were ready to move forward. I called, she didn't answer, so I left a message. She called back, WOW! We spent over 2 hours on the phone, like we had been friends forever. This was crazy! Good, but crazy. Lisa was so easy to talk to, I strangely didn't feel uncomfortable with her at all. We decided to talk things over with our husbands and set up a meeting.
I did not tell George much about her because I wanted him to form his own opinion. He has great instincts and I trust that. So, we met memorial day weekend 2009. Things were a little awkward in the beginning, but after a 4 hour lunch, we seemed very comfortable. After we left, I asked George what he thought. He said they were the one! Okay, here we go, we are really going to do this! AWESOME!!!
A long awaited day
Wow! It's finally here. The day we've waited for... We're pregnant! Those words just keep ringing in my ears. I just can not believe it. I am so very happy. We found out "unofficially" on Sunday, and although there are no false positives with pregnancy, I was still waiting for the "official" word from the doctor. This is so surreal. We're going to have a baby, or babies!!!!
What a journey this has been. Exactly 2 and a half years ago today, I was sitting in a hospital in Austin being told that I was going to lose my baby and they had no idea what was wrong with me. What a horrible, traumatic experience. Why, God, was this happening to me? I didn't understand...
Let me give you some background on me and George. We met in 1995, my first semester of college. My friend Mike introduced us and George helped me with an English paper. He is very smart, and a bit of a smartass! Once the paper was turned in, I looked back in the computer and he had changed the whole thing. It was very funny and I said, I really like this guy. He turned out to be an amazing friend, which is all he was for 7 years! Then, one day, I started to develop "feelings" for him. One night I confessed my love and so did he! We dated for 4 years and got married on march 4th, 2006. During that time we weathered a break up, a full-time traveling job for me, a move to Austin for him (which I later followed), and hurricane Katrina which forced us to push the wedding off for 4 months.
We decided that we wanted to wait a little while before having kids. All of our friends were kidless and we just didn't think we were ready. I then found out that I had a fibroid tumor on my uterus the size of a grapefruit that had to be removed before kids were possible. The surgery went great. No more excuses, it was time to try for kiddos!
In may of 2008, we went on a cruise with our best friends, who we helped hook up together, and BAM, we got pregnant! I wonder how that happened? LOL! Things were going great, other than a little bleeding in the beginning which turned out was kind of normal.
I had a dr.'s appt on august 22, 2008. Doc told me that my blood pressure was a little low, but nothing to worry about. He sent me next door for my blood work and then off I went about my day. We scheduled the next ultrasound for 2 weeks, that's when we were going to find out what the sex was. It was about 3am and I woke up and had to pee. When I sat down, the pain started. My abdomen hurt so bad! I couldn't breathe! I could barely move. I screamed for George to call 911. He was frantic. Running around the house looking for my pants and shoes. Yea, like I was really going to get dressed at a time like this. I just wanted EMS to get here and tell me what was going on.
They finally arrived, but didn't have a clue what was wrong. My blood pressure was extremely low, so off to the hospital we went. In the ER, they kept comming in asking questions and looking at charts and screens and kept leaving again. The tests went on for hours! No pain meds for me, I was preggers! It sucked!
They finally moved me to the labor & delivery floor sometime that morning. We were in a larger, private room so we could get some rest. They still don't know what is wrong, but the baby looked fine. After some time, I woke up to what I thought was me peeing on myself. Wrong, my water just broke, I going into labor! WHAT?! They said the baby was fine! The on call Doc came in & told us that I had to deliver this baby and they would start potossin. Over my DEAD body!!! There wad no way in Hell that I was delivering this baby that had no chance of survival! Besides, my Doc and I already decided on a c-section because of the fibroid surgery I had less than a year prior. She finally agreed to a section because they had to do an exploratory surgery anyway to figure out what was wrong with me. I kissed my husband good bye and off I went, still knowing nothing.
After surgery, I woke up in the ICU and there was a party going on in my room! Well, maybe not a party, but the drugs sure made it feel that way! I look to my left, and she looked like an angel kneeling next to my bedside. It was the Doc. She was there to tell me what happened. She thought they should wait till morning, but George knows me all too well and told her I would ask as soon as I woke. He was right!
It was a condition called placenta percreta. My placenta actually ruptured my uterin wall. That's not something that you hear about everyday. There is a reason why, it is very rare, and usually happens during labor, which results in a live birth and an emergency hysterectomy. Well, we got 1 out of 2. At that time, there had only been 3 confirmed cases of this happening during pregnancy including mine. Only 1 person lived, me.
That is why today is such an important day for me and George. Thank you Jesus! More to follow...
Tara
What a journey this has been. Exactly 2 and a half years ago today, I was sitting in a hospital in Austin being told that I was going to lose my baby and they had no idea what was wrong with me. What a horrible, traumatic experience. Why, God, was this happening to me? I didn't understand...
Let me give you some background on me and George. We met in 1995, my first semester of college. My friend Mike introduced us and George helped me with an English paper. He is very smart, and a bit of a smartass! Once the paper was turned in, I looked back in the computer and he had changed the whole thing. It was very funny and I said, I really like this guy. He turned out to be an amazing friend, which is all he was for 7 years! Then, one day, I started to develop "feelings" for him. One night I confessed my love and so did he! We dated for 4 years and got married on march 4th, 2006. During that time we weathered a break up, a full-time traveling job for me, a move to Austin for him (which I later followed), and hurricane Katrina which forced us to push the wedding off for 4 months.
We decided that we wanted to wait a little while before having kids. All of our friends were kidless and we just didn't think we were ready. I then found out that I had a fibroid tumor on my uterus the size of a grapefruit that had to be removed before kids were possible. The surgery went great. No more excuses, it was time to try for kiddos!
In may of 2008, we went on a cruise with our best friends, who we helped hook up together, and BAM, we got pregnant! I wonder how that happened? LOL! Things were going great, other than a little bleeding in the beginning which turned out was kind of normal.
I had a dr.'s appt on august 22, 2008. Doc told me that my blood pressure was a little low, but nothing to worry about. He sent me next door for my blood work and then off I went about my day. We scheduled the next ultrasound for 2 weeks, that's when we were going to find out what the sex was. It was about 3am and I woke up and had to pee. When I sat down, the pain started. My abdomen hurt so bad! I couldn't breathe! I could barely move. I screamed for George to call 911. He was frantic. Running around the house looking for my pants and shoes. Yea, like I was really going to get dressed at a time like this. I just wanted EMS to get here and tell me what was going on.
They finally arrived, but didn't have a clue what was wrong. My blood pressure was extremely low, so off to the hospital we went. In the ER, they kept comming in asking questions and looking at charts and screens and kept leaving again. The tests went on for hours! No pain meds for me, I was preggers! It sucked!
They finally moved me to the labor & delivery floor sometime that morning. We were in a larger, private room so we could get some rest. They still don't know what is wrong, but the baby looked fine. After some time, I woke up to what I thought was me peeing on myself. Wrong, my water just broke, I going into labor! WHAT?! They said the baby was fine! The on call Doc came in & told us that I had to deliver this baby and they would start potossin. Over my DEAD body!!! There wad no way in Hell that I was delivering this baby that had no chance of survival! Besides, my Doc and I already decided on a c-section because of the fibroid surgery I had less than a year prior. She finally agreed to a section because they had to do an exploratory surgery anyway to figure out what was wrong with me. I kissed my husband good bye and off I went, still knowing nothing.
After surgery, I woke up in the ICU and there was a party going on in my room! Well, maybe not a party, but the drugs sure made it feel that way! I look to my left, and she looked like an angel kneeling next to my bedside. It was the Doc. She was there to tell me what happened. She thought they should wait till morning, but George knows me all too well and told her I would ask as soon as I woke. He was right!
It was a condition called placenta percreta. My placenta actually ruptured my uterin wall. That's not something that you hear about everyday. There is a reason why, it is very rare, and usually happens during labor, which results in a live birth and an emergency hysterectomy. Well, we got 1 out of 2. At that time, there had only been 3 confirmed cases of this happening during pregnancy including mine. Only 1 person lived, me.
That is why today is such an important day for me and George. Thank you Jesus! More to follow...
Tara
It's Offical!
Well I went for my blood test today and was so nervous! I kept praying for big numbers! Before I went in I talked to the Nurse in Austin and she said that we want a number between 50 & 100. But she also said that since we were testing a day early, if the number was a little lower than that it would be okay. So as I was walking in to the lab all I kept thinking was "Please be a high enough number, I really don't want to disappoint Tara & George!" They draw my blood, which if any of you know me, know that I hate to have that done, and they send me on my way. The nurse told me it should be about 2hrs before the results would be in. Do you know how long 2hrs are? It is exactly 120 mins, or 7200 seconds! (not that I was counting) hehe! Finally the nurse calls and gives me the great news! My number is...
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.137!!!!!! (and that is a day EARLY) :)
Okay, now how many of you are thinking twins?
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.137!!!!!! (and that is a day EARLY) :)
Okay, now how many of you are thinking twins?
Addicted to POAS!
***CAUTION! LOTS OF PEE TALK!
Brad and I drove home from Austin on Thursday, and Hayden was out of school on Friday so I took him shopping with me! (Had to bribe him with an ICEE, but he agreed) We were on a mission... to buy home pregnancy tests (hpt)! First stop Dollar Tree, why you ask? Cause they are only a dollar! haha! So I bought 5 tests, figured I could use those to practice peeing...cause practice makes perfect, right? Our next stop was Target to pick up a few of the more expensive ones for when the time was right! I bought an UP brand (generic for e.p.t.) which had 2 test and a Clearblue Easy Digital (the ones that say "pregnant" "not pregnant") because I thought they were neat and cool and they didn't have this technology when I was pregnant with Hayden! Anyway, I had to pee while I was at Target so I figured, no time like the present to start practicing, right? So into the bathroom I go with my $1 DT hpt, ripped it open did the deed! Needless to say... Negative! After purchasing the hpts, some shampoo and an Icee at Target we were off to the house! Later that evening I had the urge to pee again and guess what happens next... negative result again. Not to worry though, it is still way to early to get a positive result and they are only $1anyway. The next morning I woke up and figured I would try the UP brand since it was the first morning urine (fmu)! Neg again! I do notice though that this peeing on a stick thing is becoming very ADDICTIVE! I get on the Internet to find out what test out there is the best and all fingers point to First Response Early Result (FRER), so off to the store we go again, and purchase a three pack... just in case I need extras. Seven o'clock on Saturday night I figured I would try out the FRER. Are my eyes playing tricks on me??? Do I see something or am I making my eyes see something? I pull the results out of the casing and turn it in every which direction trying to decipher if it WAS a line or not! I was driving my self crazy so I put it away! 5:30 the next morning (Sunday) my eyes pop open, I have to pee! Well this "Peeing On A Stick" (POAS) Addict surely wasn't going to let this FMU go to waste, so I break out another FRER test and pee away! Once again I think I "see" a line! Heart pounding I go back to bed and think "I will just get Brad to look at it when he gets up!" After doing numerous breathing exercises to get my heart to stop pumping I finally fell back asleep! 8:30 rolls around and I get Brad to look at the test and guess what she sees...... TWO LINES!!! I AM PREGNANT! OMG! I'M PREGNANT! I am going to make Tara and George parents! Finally! I couldn't even think straight! I thought, I have to call Tara, but Brad said that I should at least wait until later in the afternoon and take another test before I called her. I told him he was right I should wait cause I would hate to disappoint her, and as soon as he walked out of the room I picked up my phone and called her! lol! NO ANSWER! How could she not answer in a time like this. I sit at my vanity trying to put my make up on and I couldn't even do that, I just needed to talk to Tara! There was no way I was going to be able to get through the day without telling her. Few mins later (which felt like hours) the phone rang and it was her. I started by saying I had some bad new, good news, and some really good news! Naturally she wanted the really good news first but she was going to have to wait! I told her the bad news was that I spent $35 on hpt's! (**Don't tell Brad I spent that much!) The good news was that I took a test last night and I "thought" I saw two lines, and the great news was that I took another test this morning and I "DID" see two lines! She was ECSTATIC! After hanging up I was able to finish getting dressed and we headed to NOLA for the day, to catch a parade with two hpt's in tow! You didn't think that addiction stopped with a positive, did you? As soon as we made it to the parade route I had to pee again! Closest restroom was a Popeyes with a line a mile long, and yes I stood in it and yes I held up the line while I took another test! hehe! This time there was no doubt, double lines! WHOO FREAKING HOO! After a long day in NOLA with family we made it back home and guess what? (In a gitty voice and rubbing hands together) I still had 3 DT tests and a Digital one! So guess which one I took next... the fun one! It was time to see that fabulous word! "Pregnant" and that is exactly what we saw! So are you wondering what happened to the extra 3 DT test! Don't worry Brad would kill me if I wasted so I did what I do best...pee on them too and they all were positive! I just want to see the lines get darker over the days! What can I say, my name is Lisa, and I am ADDICTED TO PEEING ON A STICK!
P.S. We have our blood test tomorrow to confirm out findings, and I don't think that will be a problem!
Brad and I drove home from Austin on Thursday, and Hayden was out of school on Friday so I took him shopping with me! (Had to bribe him with an ICEE, but he agreed) We were on a mission... to buy home pregnancy tests (hpt)! First stop Dollar Tree, why you ask? Cause they are only a dollar! haha! So I bought 5 tests, figured I could use those to practice peeing...cause practice makes perfect, right? Our next stop was Target to pick up a few of the more expensive ones for when the time was right! I bought an UP brand (generic for e.p.t.) which had 2 test and a Clearblue Easy Digital (the ones that say "pregnant" "not pregnant") because I thought they were neat and cool and they didn't have this technology when I was pregnant with Hayden! Anyway, I had to pee while I was at Target so I figured, no time like the present to start practicing, right? So into the bathroom I go with my $1 DT hpt, ripped it open did the deed! Needless to say... Negative! After purchasing the hpts, some shampoo and an Icee at Target we were off to the house! Later that evening I had the urge to pee again and guess what happens next... negative result again. Not to worry though, it is still way to early to get a positive result and they are only $1anyway. The next morning I woke up and figured I would try the UP brand since it was the first morning urine (fmu)! Neg again! I do notice though that this peeing on a stick thing is becoming very ADDICTIVE! I get on the Internet to find out what test out there is the best and all fingers point to First Response Early Result (FRER), so off to the store we go again, and purchase a three pack... just in case I need extras. Seven o'clock on Saturday night I figured I would try out the FRER. Are my eyes playing tricks on me??? Do I see something or am I making my eyes see something? I pull the results out of the casing and turn it in every which direction trying to decipher if it WAS a line or not! I was driving my self crazy so I put it away! 5:30 the next morning (Sunday) my eyes pop open, I have to pee! Well this "Peeing On A Stick" (POAS) Addict surely wasn't going to let this FMU go to waste, so I break out another FRER test and pee away! Once again I think I "see" a line! Heart pounding I go back to bed and think "I will just get Brad to look at it when he gets up!" After doing numerous breathing exercises to get my heart to stop pumping I finally fell back asleep! 8:30 rolls around and I get Brad to look at the test and guess what she sees...... TWO LINES!!! I AM PREGNANT! OMG! I'M PREGNANT! I am going to make Tara and George parents! Finally! I couldn't even think straight! I thought, I have to call Tara, but Brad said that I should at least wait until later in the afternoon and take another test before I called her. I told him he was right I should wait cause I would hate to disappoint her, and as soon as he walked out of the room I picked up my phone and called her! lol! NO ANSWER! How could she not answer in a time like this. I sit at my vanity trying to put my make up on and I couldn't even do that, I just needed to talk to Tara! There was no way I was going to be able to get through the day without telling her. Few mins later (which felt like hours) the phone rang and it was her. I started by saying I had some bad new, good news, and some really good news! Naturally she wanted the really good news first but she was going to have to wait! I told her the bad news was that I spent $35 on hpt's! (**Don't tell Brad I spent that much!) The good news was that I took a test last night and I "thought" I saw two lines, and the great news was that I took another test this morning and I "DID" see two lines! She was ECSTATIC! After hanging up I was able to finish getting dressed and we headed to NOLA for the day, to catch a parade with two hpt's in tow! You didn't think that addiction stopped with a positive, did you? As soon as we made it to the parade route I had to pee again! Closest restroom was a Popeyes with a line a mile long, and yes I stood in it and yes I held up the line while I took another test! hehe! This time there was no doubt, double lines! WHOO FREAKING HOO! After a long day in NOLA with family we made it back home and guess what? (In a gitty voice and rubbing hands together) I still had 3 DT tests and a Digital one! So guess which one I took next... the fun one! It was time to see that fabulous word! "Pregnant" and that is exactly what we saw! So are you wondering what happened to the extra 3 DT test! Don't worry Brad would kill me if I wasted so I did what I do best...pee on them too and they all were positive! I just want to see the lines get darker over the days! What can I say, my name is Lisa, and I am ADDICTED TO PEEING ON A STICK!
P.S. We have our blood test tomorrow to confirm out findings, and I don't think that will be a problem!
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Let's get cozy!
Just a little update for all who are sitting on the edge of their seats patiently awaiting some sort of news! Yesterday we transferred two beautiful 110-120 celled blastocytes! Everything went great, and now we are in a 8 day waiting period...boring! ha! Here's to hoping they think my uterus is nice & comfy and that they want to hang out for a while!
Friday, February 11, 2011
5,4,3,2,1...Blast Off!
Well it is a few minutes to 6:00 am. and I have been laying in bed AWAKE since about 4:15! Why you ask? In a few hours I will have had the car packed down, the four kids off to school and on our way on a 10 hour drive to Austin. Whew! I don't know why I am so nervous/anxious this time but WOW! My stomach is in knots. Maybe it is because I got the phone call from the IVF nurse yesterday with the FABULOUS news that they retrieved 14 eggs from the ED! So Austin Here We Come! Here's to a safe trip and sticky vibes!
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