...the not so smart pregnant chick

That would be me...

I was talking to my friend Jen today, kind of complaining about the nausea I've been having with this pregnancy, etc. She was feeling sorry for me and totally knew what I was going through as she was one that had a really hard time with morning sickness. She was even put on some heavy meds to help her get through the nausea. Well, we were talking and I was telling her that nothing sounded good to me. I told her how we went to dinner last night and after dinner, I didn't feel all that great and even today, I haven't been able to bring myself to eat anything 'cos nothing sounds good. I proceeded to tell her about a beautiful picnic we had at a winery on Saturday (way to go Rachel) and we had these lil' sanny's with cheeses, etc on them. Oh, it was so good - good enough that I went out and bought some more cheeses on Monday 'cos I was obsessing over them. I told her what they were - soft cheeses - and she just about freaked out on me. She was like "Zann, don't you know, pregnant ladies aren't supposed to eat soft cheese." Obviously I didn't 'cos I was eating them on both Saturday and on Monday. She then went and grabbed one of her magazine's that she just got and read to me what I couldn't eat again. Soft cheese was on there.

But here's the good thing, the soft cheeses that they were referring to were cheeses like brie and goat cheeses that are not pasteurized. I grabbed my cheeses out of the fridge and thankfully, all of my cheeses were pasteurized. So, I don't have to throw them away or go take them to Rachel.

You're really deprived of some things when your pregnant and it seems like there's always something new you can't eat. Before it was like "don't drink, don't smoke and you should be fine." Now it's, "don't drink caffeine, no deli meat, no tuna, no soft cheese, no raw fish..." Geez, where's all the fun people? LOL...I'm kidding.

Jill will be glad so I'll post it here - the nausea is still here. I hate it but at the same time, I take it as a welcome sign 'cos it means my body is still making a nice lil' home for baby. Jill likes it (but hates it for my benefit) 'cos it gives her reassurance as well.

My booty...oh man! Last night was bad. I kind of wanted to cry. And for those that know me, I'm not someone that cries a lot or gives into pain. Heck, I walked on a broken ankle with 3 torn ligaments for a year before the Dr's finally did exploratory surgery to find out why I was still saying it hurt. Scotty and I were watching TV and I couldn't get comfortable. The injection sites are starting to burn a lil' during and after the shots. Don't know why but last night was bad. Hoping tonight is a lil' better.

Alright - enough blabbing from me.

...nothing exciting

I just wanted to give all of you an update of real nothingness.

Nothing new is really happening with me which sounds kind of boring. But a boring pregnancy is a good pregnancy in my opinion. I go in next Tuesday for another U/S which is always exciting and I'm going to take my camera this time and record the hearbeat. And if I can, I'll post it on here as well.

I do go this Friday for my last progesterone check bloodwork. If all is well, I get to stop the progesterone on Sunday or Monday - one of the two. So, that's good news as well. My butt has become so numb I don't even care where the shots happen, where as before, I would make sure to find a good spot. Tylenol has been helping with the soreness 'cos it was even hurting to walk. Now it just hurts when I bump into something with either side of my butt.

I had a good friend's bachelorette party this weekend which was SOOO much fun and I'm so glad that I was able to go. Left on Saturday night and got home and just crashed!! All day yesterday, I was wrecked - couldn't wake up. I totally thought I was going to have to take the day off today to just sleep but I woke up feeling great and refreshed. Phew...

So, that's me - in a nutshell. Updates to follow after Progesterone check and U/S on Monday.

127bpm...

Well, I had another U/S yesterday and I apologize for the delay in posting!


The title of this post - 127bpm - is GREAT NEWS!! We saw the heartbeat and it was awesome. The lil' bugger's heart was beating 127 beats per minute. Nice and healthy. We are measuring right on schedule although they had the baby measured at 6weeks 6days rather than 7weeks exactly. According to Dr Acacio, anything within 3 days is perfect.


The U/S appt was quick and I can't help but say that I LOVE the midwife's office staff and her. They're just great!! Deena, the nurse, gave me a big hug when she heard we had a good strong heartbeat and Melissa, the U/S tech was going to take me back in for another U/S if I had my camera so we could record the heartbeat for Jill. They were all sad that Jill couldn't be there.

So, here's a picture from the U/S yesterday - a lil' bit clearer as I had some more time to play with the camera settings.

If you see the circle in the picture - that is the yolk sac. Right above it is the baby (find the + sign) and you'll see the line that goes to the right - that is baby Alcorn. The line is there to measure the baby and that tells the tech and Dr's that the baby is measuring right on schedule.

...oy vay!

Can I just be honest here and say that my butt hurts! I have 17 days left of shots and let me just say that my butt is ready for those things to stop. I would say for the last 2 weeks, it's just been getting worse and worse. I have the biggest knots on both cheeks and bruises all around. My left side is worse than my right but still, the right side hurts.

I CANNOT wait for these things to be over on the 31st. But I hear it'll take awhile for the knots and the bruising to go away.

I've been using the heating pad everynight. It's become my best friend and after I get a shot, I take my heating pad and sit on it. Maybe it's helping 'cos maybe it'd be hurting worse if I didn't use it...but boy oh boy...it still hurts!

Oh well - this is just me complaining today! Sorry.

Ultrasound on Monday afternoon - check back for an update then. Scotty and I are going up to Shaver Lake for the weekend (thanks to the Alcorns) for a lil' R&R. Woo hoo!

...the results are in!!

Well, we have 3 wonderful winners for the poll we did last week. Names to be announced shortly...just keep reading!



Jill and I had our first appointment today and it was great. Well, first and foremost it was great 'cos I got to meet up with Jill for a lil' lunchy-lunch at El Rosal. Got my Chilaquiles which made me really happy. (Funny story 'cos last time Jill and I were together, I kinda introduced her to chilaquiles and the whole time we ate, I had food envy 'cos I got something else.) Anyway, so we had lunch and then went to our appointment. We got there and the office was empty. We were laughing and at one point Jill goes "You know, people might think we're lesbians." And I just laughed 'cos I thought the same thing. But I'm comfortable with myself and people can think what they want. But I also said, "we'll just have to talk about our husbands A LOT." Too funny.




So we were called back and we met with Deena who is Rita's nurse or assistant or both, whatever. She was great. She went over all the do's/don'ts of pregnancy and all that fun stuff and just kind of learned a lil' bit about our past together and the surrogacy attempt in March and now this succesful pregnancy. And then we got to meet Rita. SOOO not what I pictured but totally amazing. I think why I wanted to go with a midwife this time is 'cos they are more involved with your pregnancy and wanting the best for you. Not that a Dr doesn't but I think there's a lil' more care for what you want/expect out of the pregnancy and birth when it comes to a midwife. I could tell the difference today in just the brief meeting we had with both Rita and Deena. After that, we got to have the U/S.




Went in and Melissa the tech tried to do a tummy ultrasound but unfortunately to get the info she wanted, we had to do the other kind. You really lose all sense of privacy after you have a kid and now especially doing this surrogacy. You care who see's you down there but you just don't at the same time. It's quite funny coming from the girl who didn't even want her own mom in the room when she delivered 'cos she didn't want her mom to see her "down there." (Needless to say, I didn't care who was in the room after 21hrs of labor - I just wanted Sebastien out). Anyway - sorry for that bunny trail. Melissa was able to confirm that we are in fact pregnant. I'm posting the U/S pic - it's fuzzy - but you can see what we saw today...



So, Sarah, Kristi and Jen all win. We have a singleton pregnancy. CONGRATULATIONS!

I go back on Monday for another U/S to confirm the heartbeat. We were somewhat able to see a heartbeat today but since the heart just starts beating in this week, it wasn't certain but Jill and the tech were able to see a pulsating light which resembled a heartbeat!! Yippee!!

...Let's take a poll

Ok, I had been thinking about doing this and then my girls on my message board did one for me and then Jill just emailed me and said that one of her friends has given her $10 to start the baby pool of how many babies are in me.

The girls on my message board were hilarious...here was their poll...

How May Babies are in Zann?

One - 21 votes

Two - 47 votes

Three - 3 votes

Four - 0 votes

Six (All 3 divided so there are 6) - 3 votes

I don't know what we could give away as a prize, maybe just a big "shout out" on here but let's take a poll and post what you think on the comments section and we'll tally up the results. Leave your name too so we can give up the shout out. LOL.

Come on - everyone vote!

Vote how many you think there are and what the sex(es) might be. Obviously we'll know on Monday the answer to the first question but the second question will take some more time.

...some fun things!!!

Well, I told you about the pregnancy tests and here are some pictures. Sadly enough, when you buy cheap PG tests, the results don't stay in the window. But when you buy good ones (which you'll be able to see), the results do stay in the window. And for some reason, I can't figure out how to get the picture flipped so everyone, tilt your head to the left. But the one on the right was from my first positive on the Friday after the transfer (6 days) and it was SOO faint but it was there. The 2 on the left are the "good" tests that were 9 and 10 days post transfer and you can clearly see the lines on there. This was so hard to keep from Jill. I just wanted to call her and tell her what I was seeing.

So, I've got my calendar and the good news for me - only 27 more days of shots. Let me just say my butt is hurtin'. I've been befriending the heating pad after the shots and it's helping the knots get a lil' smaller.

Wanna know something crazy?!?! I also got my due date. First and foremost, I'll be 9 weeks already at the end of August. That just seems crazy to both Jill and I. It just seems like this is going to fly by. And now for the crazy bit?!? Our due date is April 4th - and that happens to be Jill's birthday. What an AMAZING birthday present a lil' baby would be for them!

I've also got my first appointment scheduled with the midwife for next week for our 6 week appointment. We're still waiting to hear from Dr A's office if that's okay if we go ahead and see the local OB/Gyn as it's too hard to get down South. And Jill will be down in Visalia for her class reunion this weekend so she'll be able to stay and go to the appt with me on Monday. We meet with a nutrionist and then with the midwife and then we have the first U/S. So exciting. Basically, we're hoping to confirm that there is a sac with an embryo inside and hopefully a heartbeat but it still could be too early. Very exciting!!! I'll keep you updated and hopefully we'll get some great pictures.

...ok, now I can admit

I have to admit to all you guys on here (some already know 'cos of course I can't keep my big mouth shut) but I lived with a lil' secret since last Friday - 6 days post transfer.

I started taking home pregnancy tests last Friday and last Friday I had my first positive. I was on cloud 9. I was such in shock and so wanted to make sure that I wasn't seeing things that I took the test over to my friend Kasey's house just to make sure she saw what I was seeing too. She saw it too. So, what did I do? Yep, I went out and bought more pregnancy tests. About 5 more just to show you how obsessive I was (or am). I took a pregnancy test every day till Tuesday and every day they got darker and darker.

I had to keep that secret from Jill and it was the hardest. Of course, I was completely paranoid that it could just be HCG in my system from all the horomones but as each day went by and the lines got darker and darker, I started to feel more positive. And then when I got the first results on Tuesday, it confirmed that pregnancy tests don't lie (or at least all that often).

I think most of you know that Jill didn't want to know anything until the final beta test on Thursday. She had a crazy work week with a project due on Friday and didn't want to be distracted with bad news on Tuesday if my numbers were low or non-existent. Well, when Sylvia called me on Tuesday to tell me my first number was 100, she said that Dr Acacio was not going to pass up the opportunity to call Jill and tell her the amazing news. So, I waited an anxious filled hour with the biggest smile on my face, waiting for Jill to call me. I couldn't stand it after a while so I called Dr Acacio's office and asked Sylvia, "Has Dr A called Jill yet?" And she said he was on the phone with her right now and then about 10 seconds later goes "Ok, he just told her. Give her 5 minutes and I'm sure she'll be calling you. So, I waited for what seemed like ages and finally she called. We were both thrilled. Couldn't believe what amazing news it was. But we decided to keep the news on the downlow until we got Thursdays results!

So, now we wait. I'm supposed to get my calendar today of what happens next, etc. I think the next step is the first ultrasound at about 6 weeks if I can make it down South to Dr Acacio's office. Don't know when/if that'll happen yet but if it does, you guys will know. Jill wants to be there for that one and boy oh boy, I don't blame her! How exciting.

Anyway - thanks for all the well wishes and I'm sorry I had to keep you all in suspense yesterday - Jill and I were dying ourselves!!!