Friday, November 22, 2013

Is it Hard to "Give Up" the Baby?

I know this is a question lots of people have about surrogacy.  I got this question several times, and it was my mother's main concern when I told her I was going to do surrogacy.  It's also, I'm sure, a very real worry that many potential IPs have when going into this process.

Here is a short article I found, written by a former surrogate to potential IPs who may be worried that their surrogate will want to keep their baby, or at least have a very hard time giving it up once it's born.  I really liked this article because the way she felt is the same as the way I felt, only written more succintly than I would have done it. 

http://www.donorconcierge.com/is-it-hard-for-a-surrogate-to-give-the-baby-up-by-pamela-macphee/

Paragraph 6 ("Here's the key...") was me 100%.  That's exactly what I wanted out of my surrogacy journey, and probably part of the reason I didn't feel fulfilled once it was over.  I was hoping to be able to bask in the glow of my IPs' joy, and I didn't really feel like I was able to do that.

Here's to hoping next time turns out better!

Friday, November 15, 2013

Losing Weight and Feeling Great!

It has been 3.5 months since I had the twins, and I feel that my body is now almost back to normal.  I still have another pound to go to hit my pre-pregnancy weight.  Man they weren't lying when they said those last 5 pounds were hard to lose after the second pregnancy.  I don't know if it was the fact that it was twins, the fact that I'm now over 30, the fact that I didn't breastfeed this time, or just the fact that it was the second pregnancy, but even though I had a lot less weight to lose this time, it's taken a lot longer to do it.  But I've been exercising and doing some ab work, and I am finally starting to get to the point where I'm looking in the mirror and liking what I see again.

I recently realized that after spending so much time the last three years either pregnant or planning to be pregnant, my "skinny" wardrobe has been woefully neglected.  Even though I feel like I look good again, a lot of my clothes make me feel out of style, and frumpy, or just plain boring.  I have tried looking in some stores for cute stuff, but since I generally hate shopping, these trips are painful for me.

So I was super excited when I discovered Stitch Fix!  It is an online personal styling service.  You sign up and fill out a "style profile."  This is where you tell them what styles of clothes you normally like, and if you are a dummy like me who doesn't even know what your style is called, they also show a bunch of pictures of outfits and ask you if you like that style.  You can tell them what kind of clothes you need for your lifestyle (business wear?  casual?  date night?), how much you want to spend, what colors/patters/materials you want to avoid, which parts of your body you like to flaunt, and which you prefer to hide, etc.  Then they send you a box of five items - tops, pants, dresses, accessories, etc. - they think you would like.  You can try them on at home.  You pay for what you want, and return the rest for free with feedback on what you liked/didn't and why, so the next time they have a better idea of what you would like.  I paid $20 for the stylist's time, but that is applied as credit toward whatever I decide to keep once I get my box.  For each box, you can tell them if there is anything specific you are looking for in that particular shipment.  For example, I said that I was looking for winter clothes that could I could wear in my business casual workplace as well as out for a girls night or date night.  I also told them I just bought a pair of boots and am looking for something to help show them off.  I should be getting my box in about 6 weeks, and I'm excited to see what they send me!  Sound fun?  Here is the link if you would like to check it out: http://stitchfix.com/sign_up?referrer_id=3295725.

Please note, I do not work for Stitch Fix, nor do I get paid to post this.  It's just something I found that I was excited about, and thought other surros (or random readers) might have the same clothes problems and needs as me.  However, if you use my link and sign up for a Stitch Fix box of your own, I do get a $25 credit toward my order.  So, if you want to sign up, I would love it if you would use my link to do so!

Anyway, I don't really have much going on that is surro-related these days that is actually reportable, although I think I have developed a bit of a pregnancy/surrogacy addiction and I still want to stay active in the community.  (Do I browse the classified ads on Surrogate Mothers Online?  Yes.  Do I keep a count down of how much longer until I can get pregnant again?  Yes - 8.5 months).  So I might stop by from time to time and post something that is mildly surrogacy, or at least pregnancy, related.  Hope all my blog friends are doing well!