Monday, January 28, 2008

a monday afternoon....

I better be quick 'cos there's a scheduled outage happening in t-minus 6 minutes. I don't really have anything new to report. We are working on the contracts and all the stuff. Fun, eh? I got an email on Sunday from Jill - it was actually to our nurse but it's an email about ordering meds. This is when the shots begin and I'm getting a lil' ansy about them. I know I'll be fine 'cos I tolerate pain very well. But it's just the whole anticipation that's getting to me.

Oh, after 2 long weeks of my darling, unemployed husband searching vigorously for a Nintento Wii, we got one. The lovely manager at Toys R Us started feeling bad for him 'cos he was in almost every other day and calling multiple times a day finally said he'd hold one for him. So, I'm going to create my wii character tonight and play video games. WOO HOO!! I'm not a geek, I promise.

Anyway - hoping you all have a good day!

Friday, January 25, 2008

Nice segway Zann...

Well, since Zann gave me a nice little intro in her last post, I thought it was a good time to hop on and write a bit. This is my first blog, by the way, so I hope I'm doing this right! Greeting from chilly Reno!

First, thanks to Zann and Scott for coming up with this great blog idea. So many of my family and friends have enjoyed reading it (okay, half of them said they cried!) and all are looking forward to the story unfolding. James and I are just so thrilled and feel so blessed to have such an amazing couple offer to do this. This little baby will be so loved. I think right now is the hardest part which is getting the ball rolling. Zann has been so patient in helping me sift through the red tape required to move forward. Hopefully, in just a few weeks, she'll be complaining to me about injections and I'll be promising a killer spa day when it's over! Seriously though, for anyone who hasn't gone through IVF, it's a real commitment and I'm still amazed at her generousity.

For those of you who we haven't met, I think Zann filled you in on most of our backstory. We have been trying for a family for three years now and have done 4 rounds of IVF. After a surgery in 2004, my body developed excessive scar tissue and that, combined with some nasty elevated natural killer cells, left me an inhospitable host! (Friends reference if anyone remembers) Anyway, enough about that boring stuff. We are so excited to start this new adventure with the help of Zann and Scott -- and look forward to sharing it with all of you!

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

the blogging begins...

So, I sent the link out last night to a lot of friends/family that have expressed interest in staying up to date with the whole process of this surrogacy and I even sent it to Jill. I was laying in bed last night freaking out though 'cos I sent Jill the link and hadn't heard from her all day. I thought to myself, "crap, I don't know if was okay that I post some of the information about Jill and James." So, I emailed her first thing this morning and thankfully she just didn't check her email yesterday afternoon and just got to read it today. Like myself, she said she's an open book so share away. PHEW!!!!

I've also given Jill access to this blog in hopes that she will give a big hello to everyone as well. I thought it'd be great for her to express on here her thoughts and feelings as she is just as much involved in this journey as I am! I can't wait to hear ("see" if we want to be technically correct) what she has to say...

Monday, January 21, 2008

january 18th...another day in paradise (huh?)

Who can honestly equate LA to Paradise? Anyone???

We drove to Rock-It on Friday morning so I could work half day. I took Scotty with me since we were meeting James, Jill, and the pyshcologist at Loew's Hotel Lobby later that afternoon. We were driving in to Rock-It that morning and there was a nasty brown haze sitting on LA. It was quite disgusting. And yes, although I live in cow country and the smell grosses some people out, I'll take the smell over that brown haze any day. Oh, and the traffic - thank God for small towns!!



We met with the pychologist after it took us over 45 minutes to go about 10 miles. She met with Scotty and I first and asked some general questions and then got into the nitty-gritty questions. It was the kind of questions that immediately kill any kind of good mood that might be there. But it's all questions that need to be on the contract. It's questions about death, life support, accidents - all that sad kind of stuff. But at least we're all on the same page.



Now, some of you may want to know Scotty and I's heart behind all this. The first question that the lady asked us is "Why do you want to do this?" Here it is :



Since Scotty and I had Sebastien in April 2005, our lives have been filled with a joy that we had never experienced or knew existed. So much love, so much joy...oh ALL the good feelings of the world wrapped up in one lil' bundle. We then had Spencer in August 2006 and our lives were changed yet again. All that joy and love multiplied. In my experience, giving gifts is more enjoyable and more rewarding than anything. If we can help James and Jill experience that joy and that love, that is a gift that I want to give. It makes my heart incredibly happy to think that I might be able to give them something that they're heart has yearned for for years. And to me, 9 months of my life is nothing compared to the life that I will continue living after I have their baby and the life that it will continue to lead once I'm gone. As some will not be able to imagine doing this for someone else, I can't imagine not doing this for James and Jill. Scotty and I believe in God and we believe that God has placed James and Jill in our lives for a reason. I really feel like this is it.

Alright, now that that's out of the way - back to the meeting. Sorry, bunny trail again...

After Scotty and I talked to the lady separately, we then had James and Jill join the discussion. We went over our expectations, what were some of the things we wanted, etc. We talked about the awkward question of "Will James be in the room when the baby is born?" And for those of you that want to know - I have agreed to "He can be at my head" 'cos I think it's just as important for him to be in the room as it's his lil' baby being born. I can't picture him in the waiting room like in the 60's and 70's with a cigar in hand waiting for the nurse to come out and tell him he has a baby _____. So, both him and Jill will be allowed. We talked about pre-natal appointments for me and if I expect Jill to be at all my appointments. No way, especially now that she's in Reno and it's impossible to be there for all of them. I would love for her, and I know she wants to be here for the gender ultrasound and all that good stuff. We talked about whether or not this baby would know "this" story when he/she grows up. We talked about what our expectations are after I give birth. We talked about how to handle Sebastien and Spencer and any questions they might have. All these crazy questions, I can't even remember them all to write them down now.

But in the end, the lady expressed that we are a great match and this will be a great experience for all involved. I can't help but think the same thing.

Oh, and also, the Loew's hotel does sit right on the beach in Santa Monica and we sat and overlooked the ocean during the interview. I will give the credit that is due to LA, when you're at the beach and watching a gorgeous sunset and you can't see the traffic and the smog, it is beautiful.

I'm honored that James and Jill would entrust my uterus with their lil' frozen embryos. I promise to give myself those shots daily (yikes) and to give that baby a perfect uterus to grow in for 9 months. I would hope that New Years Eve 2008, James and Jill will be at home snuggling their new lil' baby and Scotty and I would be toasting to each other - a job well done. Scotty is just as part of this as I am as he is, and will be my number one supporter. He's an amazing man for agreeing to his wife carry another couples baby. But he has a big heart, probably bigger than mine when it comes to giving. A lot of you probably don't know it but it's true. This is a journey for our whole family...even Sebastien and Spencer who may or may not remember this. But we are all in this together.

For all the friends and family and even strangers who might come upon this blog, keep EVERYONE involved in your prayers. We are all going to need it.

Oh, and a hello to all of James and Jill's family. Hopefully you'll get to know us a lil' better through this blog and hopefully we will all get to meet someday.

january 17th - back in LA (day 1)

Oh welcome to LA! I remember driving to breakfast last Thursday morning with Scotty and as we drove in and tried to find parking, I thought - who would want to live here and why? And why did I live her for 28 years. Yuck!!!

We met James and Jill for brekkies in Long Beach and we took my mom and the boys along. My mom wanted to meet the couple in who's baby I was going to carry. She's VERY supportive of what Scotty and I are choosing to do and has even said, "If I would have been able to do something like this when I was your age, I would have done it in a heartbeat." It's very encouraging to have your family behind you. Even Scotty's mom thinks what we're doing is great. Wow, I get on bunny trails...sorry. We got together for brekkies and sat and talked for a long time. James and Jill have since moved to Reno so we hadn't seen them for ages. We got to catch up on life in general. It was a good time.

We then met at Dr Acacio's office at 3pm that day and I finally got to meet the famous man that Jill talks about. She is correct when she said that Dr Acacio is great. Such a genuine and caring doctor. He explained a lot of the "unknowns" regarding the whole "science of making babies" to us and showed us on paper what a lil' embryo looks like. He answered my silly question of "will the baby have some of my blood." And for those of you that are curious to that answer - NOPE...the baby is all James and Jill's. The placenta acts as the worlds best filter. Say my blood type is O and James and Jill have bloodtypes of A and B, there is no way that baby will be born with O type blood. It's impossible. He stressed that as much as James and Jill are his patients, I am now his patient too and an important one at that.

After we talked in his office, we had to run some tests. Unfortunately and unbeknowst to Scotty, he had to participate in testing too. When I asked to go pee (knowing I'd have to pee in a cup), they came back with 2 cups. One for me, one for Scotty. The four of us stood their baffled. Why would they need Scotty's urine? Then they had me give blood - 3 BIG vials...yikes. After I was taken back to another room for the ultrasound, I guess they came and got Scotty 'cos he had to give blood as well. Turns out, our tests have to go through the FDA. All I can say about that is : WEIRD.

I then had a lovely ultrasound in which I learned I have a perfect uterus. I asked Dr Acacio if I got a sticker for that or a bigger lollipop at the conclusion of our appointment. He just laughed and snapped a few extra ultrasound pictures and said he was going to use those in a textbook. I'm quite proud of my uterus. :) He also said it was the best uterus he had seen all week. (Side note - Scotty was quite proud and blabbed to Zach & Susie about my uterus). What a proud husband. LOL.

After all that, we met with the nurse who went over a few last details and got a tentative calendar...and here it is :

I continue with the normal birth control pillls till the 13th of February.
I start the Lupron injections on the 9th of February (have I mentioned I'm not a fan of needles?)
I have a baseline Ultrasound on the 18th of February
The actual transfer of the Embryo's will be anywhere between March 10th-14th

Somewhere in there, I have to start the other injections which are a bigger needle and will require assistance in injecting them as they are kind of above my butt. Jill said that when she had to do them, James got pretty good at them. Scotty says he's up for trying. I also have Mara who I know will help, Kasey that has offered and my mother in law as well. And today, Jill even offered her step-mom Teresa to help with the injections. I guess I feel honored that so many people want to inject horomones into my bum! LOL.

Oh, and I forgot to mention - we have agreed on 2 lil' embryo's to be transferred. We're hoping for the best and at least one sticks. If both stick....WOW...but at this point, we're hoping at least 1 sticks. They refer to one as a singleton. It's kind of cute. I still can't fathom carrying twins but if it comes to it - I will. Just bring on the Ben & Jerry's. I think James will need a few drinks and a few "Guys Night Out" nights to wrap his head around 2 babies too. I won't be the only one in shock...



the beginning begins...

I don't know how to begin this per say so I guess I'll start with the typical introduction...

"Hi, I'm Zann."

This is going to be a blog for anyone and everyone that's interested in the next adventure in our life. And when I say "our" life, I'm talking about my family and I's life. My husband is Scotty and we have 2 gorgeous toeheads, Sebastien and Spencer. They are the joy of our lives.

We met Jill and James in April/May of 2006 through our mutual friends Kevin and Jen. I think our first official meeting was at a birthday party for Kevin and Jen's lil' boy. It could have been before that but since I have a horrible memory, I can't tell you for sure. We knew that James and Jill had been through a few IVF treatments but didn't really know their story. I just remember my heart broke for Jill the first time we talked 'cos you could see in her eyes how much she wanted a baby. Again, lack of a good memory makes me doubt the next statement but I believe between May and December, James and Jill tried one more IVF treatment that was unsuccesful.

Scotty and James worked together, along with Kevin whom I mentioned above, and so we all attended the annual holiday hoopla to mingle and be uncomfortable with a bunch of people you don't really know. We were lucky to snatch a table and all sit down for dinner together. We were talking about the unsucessful IVF treatment and what their options were at this point. Basically, it came down to adoption for them. I leaned over and whispered in Jen's ear first while the guys were getting a drink, "I want to be a surrogate for her" in which she freaked out and said "OH MY GOSH" with a big smile on her face. Once Scotty got back, I leaned over to him and said "Hey babe, I want to be a surrogate for James and Jill" and instead of getting a response like :
"Are you out of your mind?" or
"You're crazy." or even
"Heck no."
He looked at me and he said "Heck yeah." I couldn't believe his response 'cos I was starting to think I was crazy. We told James and Jill and I think the best description would be floored and shocked at the same time. But they both had huge smiles on their faces. I knew at that moment that they were put in our lives for a reason. We agreed to let the holidays pass, or moreso, survive the holidays, and we'd get together after the New Year. I remember going home that night and having so much joy. If all was to go well, I'd help give 2 people the chance at being a family.

We got together a few weeks later and sat down and talked over pizza. At that point, we had discussed doing surrogacy for James and Jill with our families and everyone was supportive of us. I don't even really remember what we talked about that night but I think it was to just make sure the 4 of us were all on the same page. Scotty and I wanted to help them have a baby and they were interested in us helping. Jill gave me all the information on her doctor and wanted me to contact him and ask ANY and ALL questions that I could possibly have. Let me tell you, that girl knows her stuff. I know she's going to teach me a lot about this process since she's gone through it herself.

Over the year, 2007 that is, we talked about it but never really set anything up. Early December, Jill sent me a lovely email just giving us an out if we needed one. You see, Scotty got laid off in October and hasn't been able to find any work and she didn't want the added stress of having their baby put on top of all that. She said that James' lil' sister had offered to help them out and she was ready to go now. And they were really keen to get going on the process and if I wasn't ready. She just wanted me to let her know and they would use her instead. I emailed her right back after talking to Scotty and just said that I'm still highly interested, that I know I can carry babies and I already have all the stretchmarks to go along with it. So that was it. We started to really move forward at that point.

She scheduled the first of the appointments. The meeting with Dr Acacio and his staff was on January 17th and then we had to meet with a pyschologist on the 18th (you know, to make sure we were somewhat sane).

So as the title states - the begininning begins...