12 weeks 6 days

I had my regular OB appointment today with Dr. Bishop. We listened to the baby's heartbeat on the Doppler and it was in the 150's and sounded great. As usual, I was in and out of the office in about 20 minutes.  Dr. Bishop always says I make his job easy, but honestly I really don't have much to complain about.  Sarah and Brian weren't here for this appointment, which was totally fine since it was such a quick appointment.  Next month will be the same way, but then the appointment after that will be the big 20 week ultrasound which they, of course, plan to be here for.  

So, we're already headed into the 2nd trimester. The time when a woman is  supposed to start feeling better and getting more energy...Yeah, not so sure how much of that will be going on. Don't get me wrong, I am feeling better, but how much energy can I really expect to have when I'm chasing 3 kids around plus trying to keep up with housework and working 36 hours a week? But it's ok, because I expected this and still chose to do it. It's my only real complaint and it too will pass...right? ;)

When I picked Alex up from school today his teacher asked me if I went to the doctor's because Alex had made sure to tell everyone that I was going to have the baby in my belly checked. I told her yes, that I had and she promptly congratulated me on my pregnancy. And I promptly filled her in on the whole situation. She said it all made better sense now because when she asked Alex if he was going to be a big brother again he said no, that the baby wasn't coming home with us. We had a laugh over the whole situation, but it made me feel really good about being upfront and honest with the kids from the get-go. I guess maybe he understands a little more than I thought?

Q&A #5

Can you still, uh, you know...?


Yes..'nuff said.

Q&A #4

Can anyone at all be a surrogate as long as they are healthy physically and mentally? Could a college kid do this for health insurance?


I'll tell you what the requirements are for most agencies first. 

• You have to have had at least one child of your own. (Most require you also have custody of that child.)
• You have to be generally healthy and no major medical history.
• Never had any STD's.
• Be between the ages of 21-38 (some say 42, depending on health.)
• You have to pass a psychiatric evaluation.
• Most require that you not be on Medicaid (welfare.)
• Be average weight for height.
• Non-smoker and no history of drug abuse.

That being said, there are the emotional aspects to think about too. You really have to be comfortable with the thought of carrying a baby for 9 months and then hand it over to its rightful parents. You also need to be comfortable with the idea of possibly losing your fertility in the process due to pregnancy or delivery complications. It's because of this that most surrogates wait until they are done having their own children before they choose to carry one for someone else. 

So, could someone do this for health insurance? If you mean, are they automatically given health insurance because they are pregnant, then no. Most intended parents pay for the health care costs out of pocket because even if the surrogate has insurance, many insurance companies have surrogacy exclusions. Meaning, if it's not your own baby that you're carrying they aren't going to pay for it. However if one wanted to use the money they are compensated with to purchase their own insurance, then I suppose they could, but probably wouldn't be able to until after the baby was born.


There is also the option of matching with intended parents independently avoiding the middle man of the agency. This option is cheaper (Most agencies charge around $10,000 for their services.) but can be much riskier. You can skip some of the steps, but most intended parents don't want to chance that the surrogate they are choosing isn't really going to try to keep the baby or try to get as much money out of them as possible. And vice versa, most surrogates want the security of knowing the parents are going to do what they say they are going to. That's not to say it cannot be done safely and securely, because agency involvement or not you still have be sure you are comfortable with each other. The whole process requires an immense amount of trust.


I don't try to pretend I know everything about surrogacy, because I certainly don't. Fortunately, everything I've been through has gone very smoothly. I've read peoples stories where the situation has gone very wrong or has been very difficult, so I count my blessings. I've learned a lot by doing research online and my biggest resource is www.surromomsonline.com . Just about any question you may have can be answered on this site and through its message boards. It's a wonderful tool to have handy.

First Prenatal Appointment and Another Ultrasound

So, it's been a little longer than I planned since my last post. I'm 9 weeks and 5 days and boy...am I feeling it. Last week I was soooo tired. It seems a little better, but not much.  I've also been having an upset stomach. Not really nauseated, just feeling icky. The foods that I normally love don't even sound good. I was the same way in my other pregnancies too.  What does sound good is cereal. I could eat it for every meal. Also I've been craving fruit. Which was the same in my other pregnancies as well. I was telling someone this and they said, "Well, at least that's better than craving McDonald's!" Very true! :)  I've also had a really bad taste in my mouth, which I do not remember ever having before. I think it could be from the meds that I'm still on (prometrium and estrace) but I'm not sure. So, I've been trying to chew gum most of the time between meals.

I just can't wait to get some of my energy back! I feel bad for my family because I've been very unmotivated to to do anything around the house.  I know Joe gets frustrated by this (Love you, Honey!) so I try to do as much as I can. He's been really great, though, and helps me a lot despite being in school and working.  I think this is one of the times where being a night shifter is a disadvantage.  I stay up all night for work 3 nights a week and then sleep during the day and I've found that even on my nights off when I do sleep at night I still have no energy in the morning. I don't find the motivation to do anything until after noon!

So, at 9 weeks pregnant last week we had another ultrasound and first prenatal appointment with my OB physician. Everything looked great on the ultrasound and the little peanut was measuring exactly 9 weeks like it should. And boy, was that little peanut wiggling! It was cracking us up. Like it had its own little soundtrack in there and couldn't resist dancing. The heartbeat was 178 because it was moving around so much!

I was really looking forward to having Sarah and Brian (Yep, they gave me permission to use their names in my blog! Yea!) meet my OB, Dr. Bishop. As I've said before, I really really like him.  As most of you know I am a labor and delivery nurse, so I work with him, but I was a patient of his before I worked in that department. I've found that I love working with him just as much as I love being his patient.  I hope that they like him as much as I do!