One hurdle cleared

Yesterday was a big day. Jenn had her biopsy, which went well, her results are expected on Friday, we do not expect any issues to arise.

Our donor had her first appointment and everything was found to be perfect! Our clinic is very happy with her, she is very healthy, cooperative and an expert in the IVF shots she is required to do. She had some genetic testing carried out and we expect the results in approximately two weeks. She has had two pregnancies from two previous egg donations so we can allow ourselves some hope that this might just work. At the very least we will have tried our very best.

We have an estimated schedule, which is very exciting!

Donor starts stims ~ November 29th
Donor's egg retrieval ~ December 11th
Jenn's embryo transfer ~ December 16th
Beta test ~ December 28th

November is going to be very quiet, except for some test result, so we have a little time to enjoy the fall before things start to get a little crazy!

The Shots

One of the things people are always intrigued with when they find out I'm a surrogate is the shots. For someone who has never done an IVF cycle, the thought of giving yourself a shot can be quite terrifying. When people find out that I've given myself hundreds of shots, some if them just about pass out. Still, my hat is off to those who do the egg retreival side of an IVF cycle. While I can do an IM injections with my eyes closed (okay, not really!), the stomach shots just give me the chills. I can't imagine having to face the stomach shots so many times a day.

After having given myself so many shots, I'll admit that I am pretty good at injections. I've got it down to a science. I use the smallest needle possible and I inject slowly. I hide in the bathroom so that my husband doesn't faint. ;) BUT....even though I've stood in front of the mirror hundreds of times to do an injection, I still break out in a cold sweat every time! :) I guess no matter how much practice I get, the anxiety never fully fades away.

The mock cycle is over tomorrow, so I have only one more shot to go tomorrow morning and then I am done with injections for a little while. I have a endometrial biopsy in the morning. Hopefully everything will be normal with that.

The day improved!

I heard today that our donor has done her psychological testing and is completing her legal next week. Our clinic confirmed she has an appointment next Tuesday, so fingers crossed that goes well.

I can enjoy the weekend without worry now, thank goodness!

I'm starting to get nervous

This is such a weird cycle for me (even weirder than the last!). It's both easy and difficult. It's easy (on me) because I have no physically (bodily) involvement in any of the process, I am neither providing the eggs, or carrying any resulting babies. It's difficult because being the control freak I am I cannot control ANY of the process, since I have no involvement. It's starting to take it's toll on me already and we haven't even started cycling yet!

We secured our egg donor on Tuesday 13th October, that's nearly two weeks ago now, and she hasn't yet been in to our clinic for her primary testing. I discovered yesterday that our second and third donor choices have both gone into cycle for other couples. This is being to freak me out. We are on a tight time schedule, we need to transfer by January, and I know how long these things can take, believe me, I've been here enough times before under different circumstances.

So there it is, I'm starting to get nervous.

So, I'm the GS!

Since Kirsten so graciously offered to share her blog space with me, I thought it'd be nice if I said a little bit about myself for those of you who don't know me!

I'm Jenn, Kirsten and Chris' GS. I met Kirsten through a mutual friend, and now we attend the same small group together. I'm 27, and have been married to a wonderful man for 7 years. I have two beautiful children of my own, and completed one surrogacy journey in 2008, which resulted in boy/girl twins.

Once I finished my first journey, which went incredibly well, I couldn't imagine working with anyone other than the couple I delivered the twins for. We were a great match, and I had grown close to them throughout the journey, so I just didn't see myself becoming a surrogate again unless they wanted to do a sibling project.

Not so. After I met Kirsten and Chris and heard a bit of their story, I began to feel a burden in my heart for them just the same way as I did the first time around. I could see how much they loved and enjoyed the little ones they already have, and wanted to help them have more children in any way I could. I asked my husband about offering to carry for them, and asked our mutual friend for advice on whether she thought it was a good idea to offer. I did some thinking and some praying, and took a chance in offering to carry for them.

As you know, Kirsten, Chris and I have completed one failed surrogacy cycle together already. It was my first failed cycle as a surrogate (having previously had one cancelled cycle and one successful with the other couple), and it was definitely not an easy thing for me to accept, though I'm sure my feelings were nothing compared to Kirsten and Chris. Still, I knew that I didn't want this journey to end in that way, so I am glad that we are moving forward again.

I am in the midst of the mock cycle, which so far is going great! I am excited to move on with this new cycle, and hope and pray that this time we will be successful and Kirsten and Chris will be blessed with another child or two to love.

13mm and a triple stripe

The mock is going well, Jenn is perfect.

Go Jenn!

(btw, it WAS still dark, very dark when I left home!)

6.30am

Tomorrow's appointment is at 6.30am. It's great because it gives both Jenn and I the chance to make it home from the appointment to take care of our kids before our husbands go to work. However, I think 6.30am should be made illegal. Jenn and I don't even think it will be light by then?!!

I feel for the staff at the clinic who welcome their work day at this time in the morning five days a week. We will see them in less than 12 hours!

We are blogging together!!

Jenn and I have decided to blog this journey together. We will both contribute to the blog giving our thoughts on this amazing journey.

We hope you enjoy reading!

Time for an update and a change of name

It's time for an update. I've changed the name of the blog to reflect our new plan. Call us crazy but we are moving ahead with another IVF. This is it. I've said many times before this is our last attempt, but this time, it is (really and truthfully!)

It takes three.

Three woman that is. One to donate the eggs, one to grow and nurture the baby and one to be a parent.

Yes, we have chosen to use both an egg donor and a gestational surrogate (GS). Could it get much more complicated?!?

We are very lucky that our GS Jenn wants to enter this journey with us again. After our last failure it would be understandable if she needed to step away and take some time out, but she is all ready to go again and we are so grateful for that. Without her this journey would not be possible.

This is our last shot, so we are taking all the advice we can get. Our best chance of a successful cycle is with a young donor who has donated before and those cycles have resulted in pregnancy. Our donor guide, D, has matched us with a 21 year old donor who has donated twice before, both times resulting in a singleton pregnancy. She lives local to our clinic and meets our requirements perfectly.

We are in the early stages, Jenn is currently in the middle of a "mock cycle" which tests the level of medication she requires amongst other things, and we are waiting for our donor to meet with our clinic nurse to complete her testing. We are hoping for a transfer sometime before Christmas, but time will tell, I learned long ago you cannot predict the timing of IVF cycles!

This might work, it might not, but whatever happens we will have done everything we could to try and we will be at peace with the outcome.

We are excited to start this new journey!