Screening Appointment

Another whirlwind of a week was had by this girl! Oofdah! Let me dive into recapping it.
Sunday: Armin's 4th birthday party!! I cannot believe my baby is becoming such a little boy! He had an absolute BLAST and it made my momma heart so full to see him so happy and surrounded by so many people who love him. He came up to me during the party and even said "Mom, I'm so excited! I get to play with all of my friends!". If you know how hectic our schedules are, you know how rare this is for him to get such time with ALL of his buddies so just hearing that made my week💚. Also, I came down with some kind of bug while at said party and tried to tough it out but around dinner time, I was beyond exhausted, achey and had the chills. I hated giving up that time with Armin but also knew I needed to take some time to make sure I was well, so he ended up spending the night with his Grandpa Donie so I could ride out whatever I'd come down with. Thank goodness for this little village I have.
Monday: Woke up feeling MUCH better. No chills, a little tired and functional! I was beyond relieved to be able to spend Armin's birthday with him that day and to not have to cancel this important appointment for the surrogacy. Armin and I just hung out at the apartment and played with his new toys. It was a much needed chill day for both of us and he loved getting to play with so many new things. My mom came around in the evening and picked us up, we got some Mc D's (per the birthday boy's request) and headed to the airport. Amin was upset with me for not taking him with me (it was hard to explain how quick this trip would be, let alone how boring it would be for him to be at the Dr. with me for 2ish hours). This was then followed by him saying "Mom, I don't want you to go. I don't want you to get lost". There goes my heart. I promised to take as many pictures of the airplanes as I could and keep my tickets for him so he could feel like he wasn't missing out on as much. I left with a big hug from two of the people I love the most. I arrived in San Diego around 10 that night and took my first Lyft ride to the hotel. By the grace of some external power, I managed to locate said Lyft. When talking to the driver, he asked what I was in the area for. I told him and he just said "Woah, wait a minute. Like, you're getting pregnant??". I laughed and said  not right now but soon. Que awkward "what a selfless/great thing you're doing" spiel (I am quickly realizing how well awkwardly I handle praise or flattery with this). I just told him it feels like the perfect time in my life to do this and I've always wanted to do this for someone(s). We had good conversation throughout the trip and once I got to the hotel, I was getting ready to tell him thank you and to have a good night. He then proceeds to ask if I wanted his number. Goodness. I made some awkward attempt at lightheartedly shooting his request down while quickly exiting the car.
Tuesday: Woke up hella early thanks to my CDT residence. Leisurely got ready and went down to get the complimentary breakfast. Met a nice lady in the elevator who said "I wonder if we'll get much rain today". To which I responded "Is it supposed to rain?". The lady looked at me sideways and just said "Well, there's a hurricane coming...". Here I am, blissfully unaware of an impending hurricane in the area I've just traveled to 😁. Ate my breakfast and felt energized enough to walk the half mile to the clinic and spare another Lyft ride. I made it there in good time and snapped a couple pictures of the area on my way (definitely a nice change from the flat plains of the midwest).

The appointment went quite well. They checked me out and drew some bloodwork to make sure I'm in tip top shape to even consider this. They said all looks well and I should be hearing back from the test results sometime this week. They then explained the medications and other fine details. Holy Hannah, those meds! The list includes a baby aspirin (to prevent a clot from messing up the pregnancy), estrogen and progesterone (self explanitory...one is a pill, the other a daily shot which I clarified must be taken on my backside), an antibiotic and steroid closer to go time for transferring the babes (to make sure there is no yuck in my system welcoming these innocent embryos in my body and to prevent my body from trying to give them the boot) and, of course, prenatal vitamins. I think that's everything... They then explained that the parents wanted to do a sort of "mock cycle" where I start taking estrogen pills and receive an ultrasound and bloodwork once a week for the next three weeks to make sure my uterus lining thickens well enough and my hormone levels respond appropriately. Essentially, more assurance that my body will be ready for all of this. I am all for that! I then met the doctor that will be performing the IVF as well as his medical assistant. They ALL had such good things to say about the parents which was not surprising from what I've heard about them but it was all the more reassuring that I got matched with the most amazing parents :). I left for home a couple hours after the appointment (after getting a little time to check out the bay area and, of course, get sunburnt in the process - thank you Scandinavian ancestors!). The trip back was relatively uneventful...but I must commend my mother for driving to pick my happy (tired) ass up at the Omaha airport after my final flight had been unexpectedly canceled. Have I ever said how lucky I am to have the parents I do? Because I hit the dang jackpot 💚
Wednesday: Throw off my schedule to work an overnight (aka spotty sleep throughout the day).
Thursday: Throw off my schedule again to get back onto a day schedule for my work weekend. Puke. I did get a pedicure and pizza with my friend, Traci, though! And I got to talk to a very distracted Armin about how his week had been so far.
Friday-Sunday: Work, work, work. The agency also released my information to the parents (and vice versa), so we began communicating a little more casually via email. I am so happy for this and that the communication is going so well. For as uncommon of a circumstance as this is, I fell like we are all meshing pretty well and I am just more and more anxious to get this ball rolling with them!
So here I am now (I'm so sorry for the long winded explanation of my week. If you're still reading this, I owe you a few minutes back of your life...and maybe a cookie). Tomorrow, I go to my first ultrasound/bloodwork draw of this "mock cycle" and if everything looks ok, I will start my first estrogen pill tomorrow night. Fair warning, if I start crying for no reason, I blame it mostly on the new seasons of This Is Us and Grey's Anatomy starting up recently...and I suppose the hormones.
Hoping all goes well tomorrow and I can take another step forward in this process.
For now, sleep!
Good night, internet!