**GENDER**

- During my procedure the doctor did an anatomy ultrasound to ensure the singleton baby was perfectly healthy.

- I saw her going down to the baby's parts and I yelled "NO, I DIDN'T WANT TO SEE THAT", but it was too late... I SAW IT!!!!!

- I wanted to do a nice surprise for them with the gender, I was going to send them a pink and blue balloon in the mail and poke a hole in the one which wasn't the correct color for the gender. I was going to go on skype with them and tell them to blow the balloons up. (It was going to be a surprise for me to, but  I saw the gender already).

- I was skyping with Laura and David when we arrived back in our hotel room and I was letting them know that everything went very smoothly and I sent them a video of the new baby and its heartbeat sound. Laura then asks if they (the doctor) could see what the baby was. I tried to play it off like I didn't know, then hubby jumps in and says "yes, we know". 

- I told them I had a surprise for them and that they would know in just a few days, but Laura really wanted to know. So I told them

- The little peanut is a BOY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

They were very excited to know that they are having a little boy and it was so nice to see them so happy.

Reduction Day

- Today is reduction day. I have many emotions that I am unsure of. All I am hoping for is success.

- Martin and I were taken into a room where the doctor discussed the procedure with us and let us know and helped us feel more at ease with the decision for the procedure. The risks of carrying multiples are extremely high, and when identicals are involved, it only places those risks higher.

- The procedure itself was about 10 minutes long, and was the hardest thing I have ever had to do in my life. I cried the entire time - scared that I was going to lose the entire pregnancy (only 2% chance of that happening).

- It went as smoothly as possible, the doctor did an AMAZING job at keeping me calm and even showed us the little one left and revealed its gender - which will be in my next post in telling the parents.

- I now have to take antibiotics for 7 days to decrease any chances of infection. Also, be on light rest for the entire week and not lift anything over 10lb. Luckily I have an amazing husband to help me this week. Bleeding or not is completely normal after this procedure. *Any fellow surrogates that have to go through this, don't be afraid to email me or ask questions.*

EMERGENCY ROOM

So Tuesday, I woke up with a pounding migraine. The light hurt my eyes and sound hurt so bad. I tried taking Tylenol to ease the pain, but of course Tylenol isn't that great (only pain killer allowed whilst pregnant). I lay on the couch the entire day. Around lunch time the vomiting started and it didn't stop until around 1am.

- 8.30pm - I text the agency to see what I should do. The Dr was notified and she insisted I go to the emergency room because she was scared that I may become (or already be) dehydrated.
I continued vomiting, I was unable to leave the house (to get to the emergency room) until around 10 o'clock. My hubby drove me there (My Dad watched my kids).
- At the ER, I was given IV fluids to keep me hydrated, and something a little stronger for my headache. I was there till 12.30am.
- When we arrived home, the vomiting started again, luckily only once!!

This has got to be one of the most scary things i've experienced being pregnant. So you girls out there who are carrying multiples (or just have bad morning/ALL day sickness). Ensure you keep yourselves hydrated, and if you are ever vomiting too much - go to the ER.

Yesterday, I woke up with another headache, and even more vomiting. The Dr called me to check on me and asked about what happened at the emergency room. She prescribed me another medicine to control the nausea (clearly the other one doesn't work for me).

Tonight, Dr A called me to check on me again, and to let me know that I can page her anytime if I need anything. It is so nice to have her support and good luck wishes for my reduction which will be July 8th.

Dr's appointment

I went to see Dr. A again today for another ultrasound to check if everything is still going smoothly. It was! Still had 3 little heartbeats and they are all so healthy. We are measuring 10 weeks and 5 days today.

Baby C was a wriggler! (Far left)

Dr A and I sat down in her office again to discuss the reduction. She explained the procedure very thoroughly and made me feel more at ease about it.
Up until now, I have still been taking all my meds: estrogen patches, estrogen injections, progesterone inserts, progesterone injections, and my pre-natals. She said I can stop patches and inserts YAY, but I must continue same dosage of injections until 1 week after the procedure.

I have also been extremely sick. Vomiting most mornings and nauseous most of the day. I have been prescribed zofran (anti-nausea medicine) but it only works some days. Guess I do have triple the hormones than my other pregnancies.

SCARED AND SHOCKED

Since the ultrasound, my feelings have been all over the place. I have been sad, scared, happy, hormonal, shocked, stressed, sick, and many more feelings.

I have had many different opinions from friends and family about the reduction. The negativity that comes from people is awful and I do not like having negativity placed upon me. I came into the surrogacy world to help a couple have a HEALTHY baby, and that is what I am going to do. Give Laura and David the gift of life.

I have been so emotional (thank you hormones) and I have had great support from my hubby, and some friends and family, but mainly Laura and David. They have been beyond supportive and they are always there to make me feel better through text or Skype. 

Today was support group day, and I couldn't be happier to see my fellow surrogates and hear their support too. From here on out, I will not accept any negativity. I am looking forward to the rest of my journey.

How many did you say??

Sorry I haven't posted for a while. I have been pre-occupied with school work and overloaded with morning sickness.
Anyway...June 9th. I had my first ultrasound appointment with Dr. A. To see how many embryos implanted.

That's right. TRIPLETS

Dr. A showed Laura, David (on skype) and I the screen, and we saw 3 little heart beats. 1 embryo had split (3% chance). So we have 2 identical's and a fraternal. I bet my face was a picture. Seeing Laura and Davids reaction was also the craziest thing I saw. They both had their hands on their cheeks and kept saying, "this is impossible".
I am still in shock to this moment, that I am as of now carrying triplets!! What an insane feeling.

After the ultrasound...
Dr. A and I sat in her office to discuss what was to happen next. She insisted that I get a reduction, because carrying 3 babies is extremely risky (especially identical twins). She referred me to a reduction specialist.

FYI: I know a lot of you may be confused about the entire reduction. This is a doctors order! Not only for my health, but so Laura and David can have at least 1 healthy baby. If I carry these babies as far as I can (typically 30 weeks). They are going to be extremely sick and in the nicu for a very long time. The couple have already been through having a baby at 25 weeks and they do not want to go through this again. So please only positive thoughts here. I am happy with whatever decision the doctors and parents choose.
This is the real surrogacy world. These things do happen (not occasionally), but they do happen. This blog is purely to inform people (and hopefully potential surrogates). It isn't to scare anyone away, but the things that we all must think about before going into the surrogacy world.

Another countdown.

I haven't written in a while, mainly because I have been busy with school work, and morning sickness (more like all day sickness) has arrived. So I apologize for that.
We are currently 7 weeks pregnant, and have yet to find out if there are 1 or 2 little peanuts in there, but, we do get to find out on Monday, YAY. We are all really excited to find out. I just Skyped with Laura and David and they were telling me how tired I looked (must be a good look on me). We talked about our love for Grey's Anatomy - the TV show. So glad we have that in common. I also found out that Laura has been having some sympathy symptoms, she has been eating lots of food and is very tired all the time. Hmm.... Sounds pretty familiar if you ask me. I too am ALWAYS hungry, I swear my belly grumbles right after I have eaten and every few hours after that.

This month we have had a surrogate support group (every month), its one of my favorite days. Each month is a different theme and this one was "Mother's day tea," it was a lot of fun. I love talking with the other surrogates and finding out about their journey and sharing Dr stories amongst all our pregnancy symptoms. Here are some pics of our meeting.

We all get name tags with where we are in our journey's

Kailey, myself and Tina drinking tea

Since then I have been having crazy cravings. One of them was especially weird Bananas and custard. The people that know me well, know that I CAN NOT stand bananas. It's a texture thing, and the smell of them. My son Kameron was eating one and I thought it smelt very refreshing and I had the sudden urge for bananas and custard and I LOVED it. 

My crazy craving

Here I am now 7 weeks preggo with Laura and Davids baby or babies. I am still taking daily injections of progesterone and estrogen injections twice a week. Estrogen patches and Progesterone inserts and baby aspirin and pre natal vitamins. Us surrogates have to remember so much and its very important for the health of the baby/ies.

Can't wait till Monday to find out if its 1 or 2. June 9th can't come fast enough, we are all very excited.