The Transfer

The day before my transfer felt more like Christmas Eve than the day before a medical procedure. I spent all day cleaning the house from top to bottom. I even scrubbed my baseboards people... I had to keep busy to pass the time otherwise I would feel too excited. I settled into bed around 12:30, after my daily progesterone shot courtesy of my husband. Emma woke up at 3:40am, and Jason and I took turns trying to help her go back to sleep. I attempted to give her Tylenol around 4am and that triggered her vomiting all over her crib, then me, then the floor. I sat in the bath with her and washed her off while Jason changed sheets and scrubbed the floor clean. It all seemed so poetic to me. This very thing was the reason I wanted to become a surrogate. I had said "On nights where my children are up crying and fussy, or vomiting all over me and themselves, I remember that there are couples in the world who long to be up all night with a child of their own. I want to give those parents sleepless nights as odd as that sounds. I want them to enjoy the moments of parenthood that I experience." And there I was at 4am on the eve of my transfer, covered in vomit and sitting in a tub with my half awake screaming 11 month old. I actually laughed out loud and smiled to myself.
  
 She finally drifted off to sleep around 4:30 or so and still woke up at 7:30am on the dot. That kid is like clockwork. I quickly got up, got dressed while my husband took Emma and Hunter into the play room to watch TV and started my makeup. IF and his father arrived at my house to pick me up and take me to the transfer at 8am. I was only half done with my makeup (hey...if I was going to be stuck in bed all day I wanted to make sure I looked presentable at least.) IF and IM were so sweet and bought gifts for my children and for Jason and I. Hunter got a little set of dinosaurs that he honestly has played with all day, and Emma got a little push popping toy. They were so sweet and gave Jason and I a set of very fine teas. I absolutely love tea so their gift made me so excited!

We got on the road, and IF, his father and I enjoyed the scenery and excitement as we traveled to my appointment. When I checked in, they didn't need blood work and I was called back to a surgical suite fairly quickly. I was prepped, and the nurse checked my bladder via ultrasound to be sure that they could see for the embryo insertion. I was good to go! The Dr brought back IF after a few minutes and IF sat near my head and filmed the transfer of the embryo for me. I wanted to send it to IM so that she could see the transfer even if she wasn't able to be there. Here is that video...

The whole process was entirely pain free. I literally felt no discomfort whatsoever. It was incredibly fascinating to me to think "I'm not pregnant" one moment and then "I could be pregnant right now" the next. Seeing the embryo actually in my uterus gave this pregnancy a different kind of magic. Usually I am used to understanding a very basic concept of conception and how it works. I knew that with my own children, I had sexual intercourse with my husband and 2 weeks later there was a double pink line on a home pregnancy test. This pregnancy will begin with me knowing the exact second IF and IM's embryo was implanted and that is a whole different kind of amazing magic I like to call "Science at the hand of God and his workers." Amazing amazing amazing moment. After the Dr left the room so that I could sit for 5 minutes, they had checked the catheter under a microscope to be sure the embryo was in, I felt emotional. (Big surprise.) The reality of the years of wanting to be a surrogate for a couple, meeting and feeling so strongly for IF and IM and their drive and journey to become parents, and then actually having their embryo inside my belly where it can grow and become a tiny baby brought tears to my eyes. Poor IF... I didn't even unleash my real waterworks around him but I was teary at the magnitude of that moment. Imagine how blubbery I will be at the birth when I see them as parents!!! Oh boy...

I am now sitting on the couch, typing this while lying on my back (its quite entertaining to see..) My dear friend Nicole who is actually more like an Angel has been here helping do everything with the kids since Jason left for work, and we are currently both enjoying over sized jamba juices. I am soooo excited to test for pregnancy... I definitely have 5 tests....I will use all of them.