Surprise!

More big news has come since my last post.

Last time I had posted anything, we were awaiting the results of the next weekly ultrasound and blood work. To say I was a little tense during the ultrasound and blood work would be an understatement. I felt good things about it but I wasn't sure if that was my perpetual optimism or a legitimate sign.

Turns out, my body is loving the heck out of these hormones because I was deemed ready to roll with a transfer a week early. I couldn't believe it reading that email from the fertility center. We made it to another point in this whole process!

Both SDFC as well as IARC have been absolutely wonderful throughout this whole process. Kayla, our IARC coordinator, was able to nail down an itinerary within hours of getting the "OK" and SDFC was very willing to work with the guys and myself to hammer out a time that would work for our travel schedules (I apologize for the hammer and nailing phrases, I'm currently stuck in the middle of an HGTV binge 😉.

With all of that coordinated, I was given directions to start more medications. Along with the prenatal vitamins, folic acid, baby aspirin and estrogen I've been taking daily, I began taking progesterone in oil shots the day after Thanksgiving.

This is the most ridiculous thing, with me being a nurse and having piercings, but I am very much leery of needles. Give me a shot to give to a patient and I can handle it, no problem. The thought of having to do this to myself? Inner pep talks galore.

Thankfully, I haven't had to do any of these shots myself yet which makes the whole requirement SO much more doable. I just feel like I've been doing squats like a mother for the past week. Definitely can handle it.

A few days down the road and here we are in the very temperate San Diego! 

The guys, my mom and I all flew in to the area yesterday and we were able to all meet for the first time in person. This was such a relief after having communicated primarily through texts and emails for the past month and a half! We had a very nice dinner together at a roof top restaurant by the ocean and were able to break the ice a little more naturally than our initial "What are your feelings on (insert terrible thing happening here)" getting to know you call during our matching phone call.

That leaves us with today - transfer day.

I can honestly say, I've never gotten (potentially) pregnant by two different men with 7 people in the room, one being my mother.

Cross that one off of my bucket list 😏.

The whole process was pretty cool and very (understandably) thorough.

They had thawed the embryos and showed pictures of before and after the thaw. Both looking healthy. They then verified with paperwork and verbally the number of embryos they were transferring. The embryologist also had to verify "these are the embryos of intended parents, DJ and JP to be transferred to Ilsa". I will admit, it caught my attention to hear her say that - we're doing this!

When all was said and done, Dr. D said everything looked great. I will have a blood draw in two weeks to confirm if I am pregnant but will still have to wait a few weeks more to confirm if both babies have decided to hang out in there for a while. We have made it to the big day and the rest is wait, wait, wait.

We said our goodbyes at the clinic as the guys had to book it to another clinic to get DJ's eye checked out before their flight home. He unfortunately took a quick and unexpected trip down their stairs at home the night before they flew out after tripping over one of their pugs. I hear that's good luck on transfer days, right?

So I have been instructed to take it pretty easy today and will head back home tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed for a successful transfer!

One Step...Diagonally?

Some more news that has come of this week...and here I thought we were going to have a few weeks of hum drum news in regards to the surrogacy.

First, the Camp Fire. I heard of this happening last Saturday morning. All I knew at that time was that there was a fire out in California that had started quickly and had (at that point) already claimed 6 lives. Not only do I have family out in California, but this is also where JP and DJ live. Que small panic. After researching some more, I found that the fire was in the immediate area of my cousin, Mary, and over 100 miles from where the guys live. Upon further updates, we found out my cousin was/is safe. I had also confirmed with the guys that they were ok, though air quality is quite poor there. From what I have heard last, the fire is still only 55% contained and has claimed over 50 lives. I cannot fathom what the families of those 56 people are going through. Despite how much we plan and look ahead in life, that can all easily be changed in a matter of a day, let alone a few seconds. My heart goes out to everyone affected by this tragedy. 

I am beyond thankful that those I know in the area are doing ok, despite the circumstances.

And now I'm realizing there's no smooth way to transition from that subject to that of surrogacy...

This is why I'm an awkward person.

This Wednesday was the start of our "cycle" to lead up to the hopeful transfer day. No big deal, right?

To start off the cycle, they need to get my "baseline" (I thoroughly apologize for the excessive use of quotes...my post-journalism self is getting increasingly annoyed with this). I guess, to rewind a little, my cycle technically started about 2 weeks ago now? I initially start by going on my birth control - kind of crazy, huh? The end goal is that I can help these two have two healthy babies but I have to take birth control. The reason behind that is to have better control of the timing of my cycle. After being on the birth control for about 10 days, I go off of it for about 3 days and then go in to have my baseline estrogen and progesterone levels checked as well as get an ultrasound to check out the lining of my uterus.

No one ever said this was glamorous 😉.

My local clinic then sends the results to SDFC and to my IARC coordinator. Once SDFC has a chance to look at things, they send a message saying (hopefully) all looks well and I can go ahead and start the oral estrogen pills. Which is exactly what happened...and then some. Apparently, while I was on the birth control, my body "grew" an egg (one matured maybe?). Being a cardiac nurse, this fact flew over my head until the fertility center clarified. My body can either allow this egg to just chill and not do it's thing about it and we can go ahead with the transfer (and from my interpretation, a week earlier?). If my body decides to ovulate the egg, all bets are off for this cycle and we will abandon ship until we can start again with my next cycle.

Can I just highlight the fact, this is completely up to science and absolutely out of our hands?

So here we are, another week into this and another step kind of forward. I'm very much hoping we can move forward. As much as I would love to be able to take matters into my own hands, I know this is up to fate (or chance/science/Mother Nature...whoever is in charge here).

To be continued this Tuesday!

T-Day

I had meant to update this a little sooner but...life.
Last week was pretty wonderful, in all honesty.
I was lucky enough to be able to take Armin out for Halloween. The day got so busy that I was really only able to snap one good picture of him in his (and my brother's girlfriend, Jess's) costume while visiting them. Ladies and gentlemen, behold, Bumblebee - Taco Edition:

Yep, he's mine, alright 😉.
While I was out with him, my phone notified me of a new email from SDFC. I was in a hurry so I just caught a glimpse of the first little bit of the email which happily said "We have good news! We are ready to move forward with a FET (Frozen Embryo Transfer) date!".
Butterflies.
I generally try to not respond to things that aren't urgent until I have time to myself to look at my phone a little more. And this was Halloween, I really enjoy going around trick-or-treating with Armin.
I tell ya, though, that phone was burning a hole in my pocket by the time I was able to look at that email.
After getting the Hurricane down from his sugar high and into bed, I checked out what the email had to say.
December 4th is the big day! Less than a month from now, we will be setting sail on this experience. The guys are also planning on being in San Diego for the transfer so I will officially get to meet them in person. I'm equally excited for both experiences 😊.
The email also went through a run-down of how the next few weeks leading up to the FET will go. Basically, it will look very similar to the mock cycle we went through last month. I will have a baseline ultrasound and bloodwork, get the go-ahead to start hormones, take the hormones with weekly ultrasounds and bloodwork to monitor how ready my body is. Alright, I've got this.
The email also stated that I will then fly out with a companion to San Diego the day before the transfer, which is when I will hopefully get to meet DJ and JP. After the transfer, I am to stay on pretty strict bedrest - I will only be able to get up to go to the bathroom and get food. I mean really, as a working mother, you really don't have to tell me twice to just spend the day lounging in bed 😛. Then I'll get to return home where I'll have a 20lb lifting restriction until I have a blood pregnancy test (hCG).
I'm just still in awe that this is happening. I'm so thankful to be at this point and I feel lucky to be doing this with these two guys. I have also thought about it a little more, and if all goes well, we will have the results back a little bit before Christmas. I'm not terribly religious but I do love the season and two sticky little ones would be a remarkable reason to add to the celebration 💚.
So, for now, a little more waiting. It's already going by quickly so I'm sure December 4th will be here sooner than we know it!