Bad, Bad Blogger!

I have been a horrible blogger lately!  I'm sorry to have fallen off the planet.  Now that I have gotten some energy back, I have been very busy the last few weeks with a lot of things that have nothing to do with surrogacy and I haven't made time to get on here and blog.

I can't believe I will be 18 weeks pregnant on Friday!  Finally around 3 weeks ago I got some energy back and have been feeling good most of the time.  My insane hunger has lessened as well, which is nice.  I look and feel like I'm growing by the day, and I have gained a total of 9 pounds so far.  This is pretty much in line with my singleton first pregnancy.  Although the doctor never said anything, I believe I gained way too much last pregnancy (my craving for bread didn't help that), so I'm hoping to keep my twin weight gain this time in last with  my last one.  My belly definitely looks much bigger than the first time around.  Here is a belly picture of me, at 17 weeks, 5 days:

My belly has now exceeded my non-pregnant personal space bubble, and I find myself pulling my chair in too close to tables, bumping my stomach up against the copy machine at work, etc.  Now I need to make an effort to stay a little bit farther away from everything to accommodate my new size.  I remember this cycle happened to me twice during my last pregnancy.  I shudder to think about how many times it's going to happen with twins!

My appointment last week was uneventful.  I just got weighed, peed in a cup, had my blood pressure checked, and met the new doctor.  He was able to find two nice strong heart beats, and he sent me on my way.  Since it was just an OB appointment, my IPs didn't make the 5 hour drive to attend.  I took the opportunity to let the new doctor know about our situation and inform him that my IPs are really hoping to find a doctor who will be sympathetic to their situation and include them in the appointments as much as possible.  He informed me that he and his wife are also struggling with infertility, so he believes he will be able to form a bond with them.  So I'm hoping that this will be a good match for us.  He did tell me he has a vacation planned for July, which makes me a bit nervous.  I'm not due until the end of August, but with twins you just never know when complications will arise, and it would be rough to not even have my doctor around to help me through any sort of problems that might happen in the 31-35 week time period.  I need to remember to ask him exactly when in July his vacation is scheduled.

Next Wednesday, April 3, is our anatomy scan.  My IPs will be coming down, and we are all so excited to get another sneak peak at the babies.  Of course the priority is making sure that both of them are healthy and thriving, but we are also looking forward to finding out the sex of the babies as well.  My husband and I did not find out the sex of our own child in advance, so it's kind of exciting to get to know early this time around...that way I can get a head start on spoiling them with cute stuff!  It will be interesting to see if the tech's guess of two boys at the 12 week ultrasound was correct.

In other news, next weekend I am going up to Chicago for a surrogate get-together organized by my agency!  I think there are about 10-15 girls going, all in various stages from just starting their journeys, to being pregnant, to already having delivered their surro babies.  We have all gotten to know each other a bit with the agency's facebook group, but it will be so nice to meet other surrogates in person.  There is another girl who is also pregnant with twins and about 4 weeks ahead of me, so it will be fun to compare bellies and symptoms!

Hello Second Trimester!

I am 13 weeks pregnant today!  I can't believe how fast the first trimester went by.  For the most part, I have felt great, much better than when I was pregnant with my own child.  Just the one day of sickness, a few other moments of passing nausea, and the obligatory feeling of exhaustion.  I am still feeling very tired, but I'm hoping that I get some of my energy back in the next couple of weeks.  Aside from that, I am SO hungry.  With how much I have been eating, I am shocked that I still haven't gained any weight, although I'm definitely starting to get a baby bump:

We had our 12 week appointment and NT screening on Wednesday.  First we had the ultrasound, and both babies looked great.  They were both measuring a few days ahead, and had good heart rates of 170 and 164.  The NT screening went well, they both measured well within the normal range.  They also took some blood to screen to find out what the risks are for genetic abnormalities.  Since we used such a young egg donor, there is no need for an amnio unless the blood work results come back abnormal.

Both babies were very cooperative for their test, the tech was very impressed.  She said she's has twin NT scans take all afternoon, but ours only took about 45 minutes for the whole ultrasound.  All of the babies organs looked great, and we were able to see hands with 5 perfect fingers.  The tech also had gender guesses!  She went on the record to say that she believes my IPs will be the proud parents of twin BOYS!  She told them not to rush out and buy blue yet since it's too early to be sure.  She was pretty confident about Baby B, but Baby A was more of a guess.  It will be interesting to see if she was right when we go in for our anatomy scan at 18 weeks.

Then we had our first regular OB appointment.  It was pretty routine, get my weight and blood pressure, have me pee in a cup, and ask if anyone had any questions.  After that, my IPs got kicked out of the room while the doctor did an internal exam on me.  I got to ask about delivery options, and the doctor told me that at their practice, if Baby A is head down when it comes time to deliver, they prefer a vaginal delivery to a c-section...yay!  If Baby A is not head down, it will be an automatic c-section (as it most likely would be with just a singleton as well).  I also asked about getting special permission for my IPs to be able to join my husband in the delivery room, even if it was in the OR.  She said that she is pretty confident that an exception can be made in our case.

Once the appointment was over, my IPs told me that they did not like/were not comfortable with that doctor.  They didn't appreciate being kicked out of the room and didn't feel like they got enough time to ask all their questions.  So we will be trying a different doctor next time.  I definitely want to make sure everyone is comfortable and able to enjoy the pregnancy experience!

Guess I Should Have Knocked on Wood...

...a little bit harder!  I had my first pregnancy puke, ever, this morning.  It's my own fault though.  Last pregnancy I avoided citrus fruits the whole time because they made me feel gaggy.  Last night right before bed, I decided that instead of eating something blander and more substantial, it would be a good idea to eat an orange.  This morning I upchucked orange juice.  Needless to say, citrus will not be making another appearance on the menu for this pregnancy either.

Normally I'm very strong stomached (I mean, I've had food poisoning without throwing up - twice!), so even though I felt nauseous beforehand, I was still shocked when I actually threw up.  I'm still not feeling so hot today, and really hoping I don't embarrass myself with a trash can puke at work.  I thought by making it past the 10 week mark with no symptoms I would be in the clear, but no such luck.

Other than that, things are still going well.  I've been feeling good, other than this morning.  I'm just starting to get the tiniest baby bump, but I don't think anyone but me would be able to tell yet.  I have been spotting at least a little bit almost every day for the past few weeks, but I've pretty much gotten over being worried about it.  I'm just hoping that the SCH resolves itself soon so the biggest perk of pregnancy (not bleeding for 9 months) doesn't pass me by completely.

In other news, I have been meds free for 2 days now!  I'm really enjoying not having to remember to take my meds every night, and I'm not missing the nasty suppositories one bit!

Only 9 more days until the next ultrasound and our first OB appointment!  I'm excited to get to that stage and to see my IPs again when they come down for the the appointment.  I'm also making a list of questions to ask my OB to make sure she is the right match for me.  Number 1 on my list is finding someone who is supportive of vaginal delivery of twins (I don't think I should have to go through a major abdominal surgery just because it's easier for the doctor), and I'm thinking of already making a case for letting my husband and both my IPs in the operating room for delivery (most likely I will have to deliver in the operating room just in case, even if it's a vaginal delivery).  I figure if I start fighting the strict 1 support person rule now, I might be able to get an exception for us.  I suspect we will be the first ever surrogacy situation at the hospital, so I'd like to work to set a good precedent for others!

Meds Countdown

2 more shots...
4 more patches...
8 more suppositories...

And then I am free!  Woo hoo, Sunday is my last day of meds!

Nothing else is going on.  My household is finally healthy again, and now I'm finally well enough to notice that I'm starting to feel pregnant.  Still nothing much going on, just some general stomach unhappiness, very hungry, and tired.  I have continued to spot on and off since my last ultrasound, but since there has been no red blood I'm not too worried.  I was told that my SCH was starting to clot up at the last ultrasound, so I'm guessing (hoping!) this is just the excess being released as the SCH reabsorbs back into my lining.

Other than getting to stop meds, I won't have much to report until the first OB appointment on February 20.

8 Week Ultrasound

Yesterday was our 8 week ultrasound, and it went great!  I was very happy to get to go in yesterday, because I had had quite a bit of spotting the night before and that morning.  So it was a relief to see both babies with their strong heart beats.

Baby A was still measuring right on track with a heartbeat of 181, and Baby B (our overachiever, as the tech refers to him) was still measuring a day ahead with a heart beat of 173.

My IPs were able to make the trip down from Chicago to check out how much their babies have grown in the last two weeks.  They looked much bigger and had arm and leg buds this time, which is something they didn't have last week.  They were so excited to see them looking perfectly strong and healthy.  We got to use the brand new state of the art ultrasound machine that the office just got in.  The tech told us she had only used it a couple times before.  So IPs were able to take home pictures of their babies not only in 3D, but in color too!  It was really amazing, you could see every little detail of the cute little blobs.  They basically look like gummy bears right now, but that equipment is going to be amazing once their faces are more developed!

My next appointment will be my first OB appointment and NT screening ultrasound on February 20, at 12 weeks.  My IPs are going to be able to make it down to that one as well.  It's going to be so exciting to be able to see them see the 12 week ultrasound.  That was the first one my husband and I got to see for our own child, and I can't even describe the feelings I had when I saw that teeny tiny person bouncing around inside me that I couldn't even feel.  Even though they have gotten to see their babies twice already, by 12 weeks they will look like little people, with faces and arms and legs.  I can't wait for my IPs to get to experience that awe and elation!

As far as everything else, I have been doing really well with this pregnancy - probably better than I did with my last one.  I haven't had a single moment of morning sickness (I know I'm probably jinxing myself by typing this out), and hardly even a passing wave of nausea.  I have been extremely tired, but nothing I can't handle, even with a toddler this time around.  I also haven't had any problems with bloat.  Comparing my belly to pictures at this time from my previous pregnancy, I look much better this time around.  I lost about 4 pounds between the start of my meds and the first beta, and I am still a pound below my initial weight.  I have been battling a couple of colds that I've caught from my kiddo (oh, the joys of having a daycare baby!), but I have still been able to eat well and get enough fluids.  So I'd say that considering the fact that I'm growing two people right now, I'm doing pretty well!