I don't know if anyone else feels like this in the beginning of a surrogacy but it feels like once I started Lupron that the days go by so much slower. I look forward to my injections because it is one injection closer to the transfer. I literally look at the clock 20x a day hoping it is 6 o'clock and I can do another injection. I have been taking injections for a week now and it seems like a month has passed. The good news is they are so easy. I had nothing to worry about. The first couple of times it itched and stung a little but I have already become a pro and they don't bother me at all. The other bad news hot flashes, isomnia and bitchy are all side effects of Lupron. My poor boyfriend and children!
I have more blood work tomorrow. Y's first injection is on the 29th, she starts Estrace. So things are moving right along even though they don't feel like it. I need to find something to keep myself busy so I have less time to fret about it all.
The first injection of Lupron is done and out of the way. It was painless and I didn't even hesitate that long before I stuck myself. The only discomfort came a little after and it wasn't too bad, just some itching and slight sting, kind of like I had a sweat bee sting.
I will be so use to needles by the time this is over with. On average I will have 9 injections a week for the next 16 weeks. Then I will have my blood drawn twice a week. All together that is 11 needles a week and around 175 needles the entire journey if the first transfer takes which hopefully it will. I don't want to think about if it doesn't work the first time just yet, we will cross that road if it comes. WOW! To see it on paper kind of hurts but it will be worth it in the end. To be able to hand Y & S their baby and fulfill their dream will be one of the most rewarding things that I have ever done.
It has been over a month since I have wrote to catch the blogging world up on my surrogacy. So here it is.
We flew out of the Charlotte on Thursday morning headed to NJ. The flight wasn't too bad, it was a small plane so it was a bit bumpy but it was only a 2 hour flight. We landed and got rented a car and headed to Somerset to check in to the hotel. At 7 we met up with Y & S. We went to dinner at Ciao Bello Restaurante and had a wonderful meal and conversation. I am so happy that I matched with such wonderful people. They are so grateful for what we are doing. After dinner we went back to the hotel to crash. It had been a very long day!
Friday we woke up and had breakfast at the hotel and then headed to the screening appointment. It was the longest doctors appointment I had ever had. I was poked and prodded for 5 hours.
First I had to give blood (more to come on that later). Then we had to have a hour long meeting with the therapist which went pretty well I think. She nodded and wrote her notes, of course making me nervous but I don't think she found anything she needed to be worried about. I guess Bill and I are sane for the most part. After Bill and I met with her then all four of us met together, Me, Bill, Y & S. That only took about 10 minutes. So far we have agreed on everything and there wasn't much to talk about.
Once the mind prodding was complete they wanted to check my uterus and cervix to make sure that everything was ok in that department. I will not go in to much detail here but my uterus is clear and the mock transfer only took a minute so I am good to go in this department.
Then we met with the NC (nurse coordinator) to go over the meds calendar and talk about how the next few months will go. Basically I will start Lupron on May 20th. I will start Delestrogen on 5/31. At some point around 6/19 I will go off of Lupron and start Progesterone. Transfer will be around 6/21. And then there will be the 2WW (2 week wait). And hopefully at some time during that time we will get a BFP (big fat positive). After getting the calendar the doctor went over the injection procedure with me. Of course this freaked Bill out. He HATES needles. By that point it was three and we were all starving and ready for lunch.
I am going to back up to the beginning of the day so I can tell about the on going drama through out the day. When we first got there I handed over the results of my HIV test to the NC. I had gotten the test done at the local health department to try and save my IP's money. They hadn't had the results until the morning we were supposed to be flying out so I had grabbed them and thrown them in the folder so because I didn't want to miss the flight. So the NC comes out and takes me to her office and shows me the results and the HIV 1 & 2 say negative. The HIV RNA says detected. WTF? The NC says she has called the Raleigh department and they say it was not detected. I call the local health department back and they say it was detected. Now I am confused and freaked out. I know that there is no chance but still there is that what if. So through out the day I am on the phone with the nurse at the health department that gave me the test. She gives me various reason that it could have come up detected. The RE office goes ahead and retakes the test. At 3:00 when we are just getting finished up the nurse from the health department calls back to tell me it was in fact not detected and they made a mistake. The reason they made the mistake is even longer to explain so I will leave that out for now. I was just relieved to hear that it wasn't detected.
So finally we were given permission to go and get something to eat. We went across the street to grab some Chinese food. Then went to get the contracts notarized. We said goodbye to Y & S and then headed back to the Newark airport to drop of the rental and meet up with my aunt and cousin and headed to NYC.
This city is so beautiful. We drove in on the George Washington bridge and the view is amazing. The traffic will scare the crap out of you but when you aren't worried about getting hit by a semi it is great to look over and see the cliffs on one side and the city on the other. We got to my aunts pent house apartment and the views are amazing. We will finish out our 4 day vacation here.
So far this journey has been amazing. I am so happy with who I am matched with and even more happy that we are able to move forward!
