Catching Up

Hello!
So, it's been a bit. And a lot has happened in the past 3ish months. I've been keeping offline with anything about the surrogacy because I wanted to respect DJ and JP by letting them spread their news firsthand 😊. And to be honest, life has been at a pretty constant pace lately. But let's catch things up a bit.
So we had a smooth transfer at the end of November. After the transfer, there's a two week wait until the surrogate is to take a blood test to confirm a pregnancy (or lack thereof).
I cannot tell you how much I questioned every little sign my body may have given me during those two weeks. I was feeling a little more tired than usual. Could it be a pregnancy symptom? Or maybe its the changing of the seasons. Or maybe I'm just always tired and cutting down on caffeine is making it more prominent. I felt more bloated as well and intermittent spats of mild nausea (aka, I just didn't feel like eating for a few unusual hours some days 😉). Maybe I really was pregnant...or maybe it was just the meds.
The guys agreed that they wanted me to take an at home test before the blood test so roughly a week after the transfer, I took a test and low and behold, two little pink lines! However, the at home tests aren't as accurate as the blood test so we cautiously welcomed those pink lines until the results of the blood test could be concluded a week later.
And what a relief, the first blood test confirmed a pregnancy and the second one had increased promisingly! They were officially expecting fathers!!
Once the tests were confirmed, we then moved on to the first of three weekly ultrasounds at weeks 7, 8 and 9 of pregnancy. I was never really told why they need to do those three consecutive ultrasounds other than to confirm the pregnancy in the most concrete way possible and to ensure healthy growth.
I went in to the first ultrasound cautiously optimistic. The blood tests had looked good, things were seeming well/normal and I was positive the ultrasound would show two little ones.
To my surprise, the ultrasound tech almost immediately chimed "Well, there's one little baby in there!". This was great news but I was not expecting to hear of one. She checked baby's measurements and everything was looking just fine. A healthy baby safely growing.
For certain reasons, I was not allowed to FaceTime the guys during this or any of the two other weekly ultrasounds. I now had to let the guys know how the ultrasound went. I had quite a mix of emotions. I was excited for them to know that their baby was looking just fine and growing right on track. Thank goodness for a healthy baby. However, I knew how hopeful they had been to have both embryos take. They chose to transfer two for a reason and I now had to break it to them that one embryo had not stayed.
I got on the phone with JP and told him the news. I could hear the mix of emotions in his voice and I felt both elated and somber for them. Again, I think the ultrasound came as more of a surprise than anything.
Despite not being able to FaceTime the guys during the remaining two ultrasounds, I was able to send them pictures and videos of baby's heartbeat. The next two ultrasounds went smoothly and baby was continuing to grow right on course 😊. After these ultrasounds, I was deemed a "graduate" from San Diego Fertility Center and was then released to start seeing my local OB.
One week later, I went in to see Dr. Salama, the OB, for the first time. This would be the first time she would see me as a patient and as such, she wanted to do another ultrasound to see things for herself. Thankfully, Dr. Salama and her practice have been more than accommodating with letting me FaceTime/call the guys during the appointments so far. This is such a relief because I want nothing more than to have them experience as much of this as possible and overall Dr. Salama and the staff at her clinic have been more than supportive, understanding and accepting of the unusual circumstances that come with a surrogate pregnancy.
I digress a little.
So during this first ultrasound, I was able to FaceTime with DJ and have him see their baby in real time. I cannot put into words how it felt to see his reaction to seeing their baby and hearing baby's heartbeat. I blame the hormones, but I got a little teary. I'm sure that's something I will only continue saying as we progress through this experience. This is absolutely why I chose to do this. I know how it felt to see Armin for the first time and to know that little life was growing well and it's just as great of a feeling to see a wonderful family grow and experience those same things 💗.
Baby was still looking just as healthy and even moving around now! How amazing it is to see how much changes in just a matter of a week!
Next, I got to stop my meds at the end of February.
In the grand scheme of things, the meds really weren't that big of a deal but I sure as heck wasn't complaining at not having a nightly progesterone shot to look forward to. I promptly celebrated by indulging in my cravings of tacos and cheese balls for lunch/dinner 😆.
A couple weeks later, they had some routine 12 week genetic screening tests which consisted of some bloodwork and another ultrasound. JP and DJ had already had genetic tests done on the embryos and knew they had transferred a boy and girl of healthy genetics. However, these 12 week tests were to rule out nuccal cord defects that aren't necessarily caused by genetics. Baby was quite active again on the ultrasound and thankfully, all went well with those tests as well. One of the blood draws was also a kind of test that could determine the gender of the baby. Within a week, the guys found out they would be expecting a little girl!
I believe that is about it in terms of catching things up to speed. We are now 15 weeks along and counting! The bloating has given way to a little bump now and I'm feeling just fine. Hopefully this is a good sign for a smooth pregnancy and a healthy little girl to add to their family!
More to come as more comes along 😊 Thank you for reading!