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Wednesday, June 20, 2007

A LONG Day

Kids were up all night. K wanted comfort, R kept worrying about "coughing". I got UP at 3:30, loaded the car, woke M, woke R... and spent the next 45 minutes holding her as her tummy was obviously upset. We almost didn't go. Then she got all excited about taking a ride in the car so we just went ahead and loaded them up! K didn't make a peep, he was just up and curious as to what the hell we were doing AWAKE at this ungodly hour. Leaving them at brother-in-laws house was not so easy. K, of course, was no problem. R.... well she didn't feel well! She was confused, it was so early in the morning... and she had not really spent any time there before. We ended up using the "rip the band aid" approach as I put her in sister-in-laws arms, gave her a hug and kiss, told her I loved her, then raced out the door. I'm told she cried for a minute, till they got the TV on, then didn't really notice that I was gone the rest of the day. Phew!

The flight was long and boring, as all flights go. I got a bit of a migraine on the descent ( pressure related, maybe?) but did NOT get motion sick, as is my habit. We were met in baggage claim by a little man with a BIG sign with my name on it.. from the town car service. That car was awesome. Comfy, plush, HUGE inside, and MINTS! They had a wee little trey of MINTS for their passengers! Perhaps a history of fugly mouthed early morning travelers, I don't know, but I thought it was great!

Our first appointment wasn't till 11 that morning. The town car dropped us at that office at 9:30. We snuggled in for a long wait in the waiting room when the RE walked by, saw us, and got all excited about getting one of "us" ( surrogates from GG, their partner agency) out EARLY rather then late. We were called back for the consult less then 20 minutes after arriving.

The RE, was awesome. He was just... awesome. Super nice, caring, comfortable, casual, easygoing, professional.. just awesome. Plus, he looks like a fluffier Robert DeNiro. We will now call him Dr. Awesome since hey, he was. After the consult portion we had to start the nitty-gritty business of clearing our "bodies" for this challenge. M got some blood drawn and some pee collected, then (prude) decided to wait in the waiting room for my portion to be complete. I needed to have a Sonohysterogram (SHG) to verify that I did indeed have a uterus and it was indeed functional. ("This test is performed to see if the cavity of the uterus is normal. The test usually takes 3-5 minutes to perform and may cause some moderate cramping. Approximately 30 ml (2tsp) of a sterile salt solution is injected into the uterine cavity while an ultrasound is being performed. ") I also got a pap, etc and all that boring stuff. ( Side note, side note... I now weigh, officially, 4 pounds LESS then I did when I started TTC for R. LESS. )

OK, so I've been going to Gyn's for years. Once a year since the age of 16, then several times in a year with my pregnancies. I have had my fair share of awkward legs-in-stirrups moments. None of them are pleasant. All of them are uncomfortable. A wee bit embarrassing. Dr. Awesome is AWESOME. Joking and laughing the whole time, yet still professional and caring about the whole thing. He had a monkey-banana mobile hung above the bed and when I voiced my approval of viewing distractions he went on about how it was all his idea, how he thought about hanging a penis mobile because it IS women who are laying there, then thought better of it because most, if not all, of the women there are there at that point because then are SICK of thinking about penises.. anyway, it was funny. He was funny. The whole thing was done before I even got a chance to get embarrassed, it was pretty painless and even that I don't really remember because I was busy laughing, etc. Yes, Dr. Awesome.

Anyway, so far I have 100% medical clearance. Big birthing hips "made to hold babies", a nice uterus that, while tipped, is perfectly functional and cushy. Initial hormone levels that are right on par with what they should be. We just have to wait on the results of the blood work now. I swear, they took a gallon of blood, it was so much! But they test for everything under the moon, which is good, I guess. If I "fail" on any of those tests we can't proceed. But so far so good! Our next destination was the GG headquarters for the Psych exams. We were, of course, super early. We got there at 11:45 and our appointment wasn't till 1. Once again, they worked us in early! It was pretty formal at first. I took a computer evaluation with close to a million questions, true or false. It took me about an hour and a half to get through. No, I don't think there is a plot against me. Yes, I do own mirrors in my home. No I don't enjoy the thought of setting a cat on fire. Yes, If I were a painter, I might paint a picture of a flower. No, I never hear voices that aren't there. Yes, I do remember my childhood..... on and on and on. Ugh. After that we moved into the live interview Psych exam. The lady was nice... but it was formal and kind of uncomfortable. This portion was very thorough. It was harder then it needed to be, I think, because she was so .... formal? But when we were done, my hand was shook, we were congratulated, and the rest of the staff came in to meet us because I was, for all intents and purposes "a perfect Surrogacy Candidate" according to one. I passed.

We get the medical screening stuff back in, at most, 10 business days. no more then 48 hours after that i will get my first "offer" or invitation. I have been told I can be picky by the DR. ( of course) about who I choose. I meet or exceed all status quo requirements. I guess not all Surrogates do. Sound so full of myself, huh? Well, they require a low BMI ( mine is 20.3) and the average BMI that they get is 30, which is also the top BMI accepted. I have had two textbook pregnancies and two super fast, easy natural deliveries. I have a super supportive husband and a pretty supportive family. Plus I have a passion for this. So yes, I'll be picky. In 10 business days or less, I will potentially be introduced to the family I will be a small part of forever. If I accept their invitation and they accept my acceptance, we meet in person. That will be another flight to LA for M and I. If we hit it off, if we really like each other, we move forward. I have already been given the cycle control drugs necessary for the first part of the IVF. I wait for CD 1 to start them, which is 20 or so days away. That is right about the time we'll be getting together to meet.. or sooner, depending on the med results and their travel availability, etc. It just gets more exciting from here!



We were finished early so had a large part of the day open to do whatever we wanted. We took a cab ( good lord, that was scary!) down to the Santa Monica 3rd Street Promenade, and the pier and beach there. It was fun and interesting. It really hit me hard what a "small town" girl I am!

There were transients sleeping all over the place, some of them just sleeping where they fell on the beach. There were thousands of people crowded on that beach, playing etc. No personal space though, you are playing right next to another group. You might TOUCH them while sunbathing. Just... weird for me, I have a much larger personal-space requirement. It was pretty neat people watching though. For how huge that city is and how populated, I was pretty surprised to see how CLEAN everything was! I expected more litter or something. Granted, we were apparently in a more affluent area, but still! It was fun. We were so tired, but it was fun. We had some dinner at a cafe on the promenade while a street performer, who was pretty good, sang her little heart out, her mother clapping along. We did lots of window shopping and wandering around before we headed over to the airport at 6:30 for our 9:15 flight home. The flight was just as boring as the first one, and once again there was NO motion sickness! YAY! WE picked up the kids at midnight ( they slept through it) and headed home... tired, but excited. The kids missed us, but not unbearably so. I called every few hours and each time they were playing and happy. It was HARD leaving them the whole day, especially with R not feeling so well and K... well I've never left K before, so that was just hard. But that part is done now, we'll have more notice next time about when we travel so will have more time to prepare!
Anyway, I'm excited. It all seems so real now!


























*No, I don't know why M wanted a picture by the Porta Potty. We don't ask about these things, we just go along with them. Easier for all.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

That is AWESOME news! I am not surprised you passed all the evaluations! For one, you have two beautiful children, and you are one of the most level headed emotionally sound people I know :D You are doing such an amazing thing, and I am SO EXCITED FOR YOU!! I can't wait to hear more!

Amber said...

I'm so glad everything went well!! I hope everything else goes as smoothly as this goes!

Anonymous said...

yay how exciting!! im glad it all went well for you :)

Anonymous said...

Im glad all the test came out perfect! This sort of says to me that this is MEANT for you. This is such an AMAZING thing for you to be doing and I'm so Happy that I actually get to follow along with the journey. I feel as if I have to say Thank You for being so giving to others.

BTW, I live about 25-30min from where u took those pictures, I love how well they came out. Love Santa Monica Beach, if u thought that was nice,up a little further toward Malibu is so beautiful.

Bump Fairy said...

Alright Rachelle, next time I fly down ( 3 weeks from now or so, then again... a month after that?) I'm gonna make sure I've got advanced notice so I can get together with your girls! We only went to the pier because Dr. Awesome recommended it. I've never been to LA or that area at all. Probably would have just gone back to the airport for 6 hours if he hadn't said where to go! Next time.... Malibu!

Anonymous said...

Just found your site via A Little Pregnant, and it's great.

I used to live in Santa Monica for 2 years, and it is a really beautiful spot - homeless included. It adds local flavor.

BTW, stop by my site and say hello when you get the chance!

The Writer said...

Sorry it took me so long to show up here, since I got all this by phone yesterday I wasn't in too big a hurry! Anyway, I just knew you'd be brilliant! Wasn't so sure about the hubby, since I know him, but I knew you'd be great! I'm so glad your trip was good and that you had some time to do something fun and explore a bit. I personally hate L.A. and try to do nothing more than drive past it or change planes there. Brave you!