Bebe Bumps

March 31, 2010 at 12:41 PM (Our Journey, Uncategorized)

Hola amigos!  This is week eleven. Whoo-whoo! 

Bebe’s Blog:

I’ve felt some baby bumps this past week.  I think Bebe is practicing the backstroke or maybe even some freestyle in there but hasn’t quite perfected the art of the flip-turn yet.  The size of the pool is growing but Bebe is keeping up his/her own growth at the same rate.

This is what Bebe is looking like this week:

Bebe is about 1 ½ inches long and is about the size of a fig.  I wasn’t really sure what a fig looked like so I googled it and this is what google images came up with:

 

Bebe’s hands will soon open and close into fists, tiny tooth buds are beginning to appear under her gums, and some of the bones are beginning to harden.  Bebe is kicking, stretching, and moving around effortlessly.  Bebe can now hiccup because his/her diaphragm is forming.

Lucy ordered a fetal Doppler that should arrive sometime tomorrow and I am beyond excited to try and find the heartbeat.  We haven’t seen or heard Bebe since week 8 at the fertility clinic in Tampa.  I hope I will be able to locate Bebe, I’m going to start off by aiming for the bottom left corner of my tummy in the fashion the doctors have always done during my own pregnancies.  She told me the Doppler has the ability to plug into the computer so I can record the session and send it to them. I imagine we will do lots of live sessions but that I will also do a lot of recordings so Lucy, Ricky, and Little Ricky can enjoy them together during their specials times. 

My Time:

So, as of this Friday the weaning will be over and I will no longer be on progesterone capsules or injections!  Yeah, baby!  I am up to four Sharps containers and I went to the landfill last week (when I cleaned out the little girls’ room and pretty much threw away everything they owned.  Including their collection of Chinese manufactured piece of crap McDonald’s toys that of course were declared as their “Absolute FA-VO-RI-TE toys.”  Whatever, they hit the dumpster with flying colors). Anyway, my point was that while I was there I scoped out what I needed to do when I brought the Sharps containers for disposal.  I was told I’d go to the office and they would have ME dispose of them.  I got the feeling no dump employee would be actually be touching the sealed containers themselves so that was a little disappointing, what about my scrap book ya’ll? But, we will just see how it all goes down and trust me that I will get some sort of satisfying photo out of the deal.  I am just going to take a second to toot my own horn and The Husbands by saying that I am SO incredibly proud of the both of us. Myself for receiving a daily injection for over 14 weeks straight and of him for giving them to me night after night even though he hated every jab, flinch, lump, and bruise he had to be a witness to.

I have been feeling better by the day and I am so excited to be getting to the point of pregnancy that I remember loving.  It is hard to tell how much the drugs played into the nausea or if it was just Bebe developing.  I am glad that it is going away and that my friend AK also had a Lone Ranger of a Sea Band that she gave to me after I posted the last blog post.  Can you believe her lone Sea Band was also gray?  So, now with the complete set I am feeling better even though I look like I’m ready to sweat it out to the oldies with some 1980’s wrist bands on. Yeah, I look stupid.

Sleep is starting to become a problem. I can still hardly stay up past ten but I wake up to go to the bathroom around 3:30 am and then can’t get back to sleep until around 5.  I think part of that has to do with the weaning of the sleep-inducing hormone progesterone. The extra dosages aren’t keeping me feeling like I need to nap after every little activity; that is good and I guess a little bad.  However, I am starting to have very bitter feelings toward our dog who seems to sleep though anything- that bi**h! Pun intended. Ha, ha, ha.  Picture of the girl more relaxed and sleeping better than I will be for the foreseeable future.

Broken sleep or not, so happy Bebe is growing and developing.

© Pocketbebe, 2010

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LIFE (like the 11 part series on Discovery but 29 weeks longer)

March 23, 2010 at 1:23 PM (Our Journey, Surrogate Education)
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Well hello there, long time no chat!  Things are moving right along and I have a lot of catching up to do for you!

Bebe’s Blog:

Two developmental weeks have gone by since I blogged last.  A week ago Bebe was nine weeks old and looked like this:

and was the size of a grape (the red one, Bebe is not a runt!)

 

At 9 weeks Bebe was about an inch long and started to look more human. Essential body parts were all in place even though they’ll be fine-tuned and fully developed in the coming months. Baby’s heart finished dividing into four chambers during the week and the valves started to form — along with Bebe’s tiny teeth. The embryonic “tail” is completely gone and Bebe’s organs, muscles, and nerves were kicking into gear. The external sex organs are there but won’t be distinguishable as male or female for another few weeks and while the eyes are fully formed, Bebe’s eyelids are fused shut and won’t open until 27 weeks. Bebe has tiny earlobes, and mouth, nose, and nostrils are more distinct. The placenta is developed enough now to take over most of the critical job of producing hormones (hence the weaning of the artificial hormones!!). Grow Bebe, grow!

This current week is week 10 and as of right now Bebe looks like this:

Amazing that at only ten weeks Bebe has now completed the most critical portion of his/her development. The pregnancy is ¼ over with ¾ remaining, we have counted down 10 out of 40 weeks.  This is the beginning of the fetal period, a time when the tissues and organs in Bebe’s body rapidly grow and mature.

Bebe is swallowing fluid and kicking up a storm. Vital organs — including kidneys, intestines, brain, and liver (now making red blood cells in place of the disappearing yolk sac).  Bebe has tiny nails forming on his/her fingers and toes (no more webbing) and peach-fuzz hair beginning to grow on tender skin.  Bebe’s limbs can bend now. The outline of the spine is clearly visible through translucent skin, and spinal nerves are beginning to stretch out from the spinal cord.  Bebe’s forehead temporarily bulges with his developing brain and sits very high on his head, which measures half the length of his/her body.

My Time:

I’ve started weaning off the medications and so far that has been good, I was worried I might have some cramping and spotting.  Fingers crossed it continues to be uneventful.  Listed below is the weaning schedule from nurse YC in Miami:

3/19/2010: STOP patches. Estradiol tablets 1 pill every night. Progesterone vaginal capsules 1 every morning and 1 every evening. Progesterone in oil ½ cc every night. Continue baby aspirin and prenatal vitamins. 

3/26/2010: STOP estradiol pills. Progesterone vaginal capsules one every evening before bedtime. Progesterone in oil ½ cc every other day.Continue Prenatal Vitamins and Baby Aspirin 

 4/02/2010: STOP baby Aspirin,  STOP progesterone in oil, STOP progesterone vaginal capsules. Continue prenatal vitamins!!!!

Lucy has started her regimen to begin getting her body to be ready to breastfeed Bebe when he/she arrives in October.  Information that she found is located here under breastfeeding protocols. 

Last week I went on a two night three day field trip to Tallahassee to study the state government with my daughter’s fifth grade class.  Some of the highlights included watching the kids do a mock trial in the Supreme Court House, visiting a Florida history museum, IMAX film on ocean life, both the old and new Florida State Capitol buildings, and the never to be forgotten school bus breakdown in Georgia after visiting a plantation.  Good times, good times.

 I managed not to gag or throw up in front of anyone and that was in part to a little something called Sea Bands that I wore nonstop.  I didn’t ride the school bus very often but when I did, even the Sea Bands couldn’t keep the queasy away nor did they help any during the IMAX film BUT they did allow me to get myself out of bed in the morning at the booty crack of dawn.  Since I’ve gotten home, the pit of disaster (laundry, toys, and/or dog), has swallowed one of the precious Sea Bands whole and now I only have one,  which renders it useless.  Here is a picture of the Lone Ranger that didn’t help keep the allergy drip down this morning.  I guess it is back to CVS and another ten spot to keep me moving along.

This is the first pregnancy that I have felt this queasy this constantly and there is much deliberation going on in my mind because of it, is it the fertility medication? Is it because I might be carrying a boy this time instead of having a fourth girl pregnancy?  Is it because I have gotten more sensitive to pollen and environmental allergies over the past years?  Age?  What it is, is the million dollar question!  Ideas anyone?

© Pocketbebe, 2010

4 Comments

Taking Care of Business

March 10, 2010 at 9:45 PM (Our Journey)
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Bebe’s Blog:

Monday was our last appointment at the Tampa fertility clinic! Yay!!!  The appointment was for an ultrasound and we were able to see Bebe with his/her beating heart.  I have a still picture for you but it is really hard to see anything.  Bebe really looks like a gummy bear with its little arm and leg buds sticking out of its little body.  When you see the beating heart it seems like it takes over the whole body area.  Both Lucy and I tried to get video but it didn’t happen this time.  We just expected the tech to leave the scan on a loop like she did last time when she left the room and when we asked about it we were not so nicely told we were out of luck.  We did attempt to decode the ultrasound keyboard ourselves and recall the directions the tech had given to the trainee about the video during the ultrasound but we were both too scared that we would end up erasing the entire session that we kept our hands to ourselves.   

Bebe’s head is at the bottom by the arrow.

We toured two birthing centers, one hospital based birthing center, and a combined practice of midwives and OB/GYN’s that deliver at the hospital based birthing center.  Coming into the surrogacy arrangement Lucy, Ricky, and I had different ideas and different perspectives about what kind of prenatal care and delivery location was the best and I’m not going to say that getting to the final decision was a piece of cake on anyone’s part, but on Monday as Lucy and I went on all the tours and spoke with everyone it just fell into place. 

The last birthing center we visited and the practice of midwives that delivered at the hospital were both great and the next day Lucy said she’d be fine with either one but did have a preference after going home and researching more.  I had gone home after our day, got my injection, and was basically passed out within moments, so I hadn’t been able to wrap my head around a choice yet.  It ended up that she really liked the last birthing center and the way they handled things if Bebe and I needed to have care transferred to an OB mid-pregnancy or to a hospital during delivery.  It was neat to read later the extra research Lucy had found on the birthing center and how it is an extension of a Christian based pregnancy center program geared toward teen mothers with emphasis on the sanctity of life.  I was thrilled at the choice for our care and the chance through the pregnancy to support two ministries that I personally hold close to my heart and devote time to.  In hindsight God clearly had a hand in where we ended up that day and I only regret that we hadn’t come together in prayer and relied on Him the entire time we grappled with all the options.  Oh, how much easier it always is when I rely on Him and how easily I tend to forget that.

My Time:

I forgot about pregnancy dreams and how that is possible I don’t even know, those vivid little scenes that haunt my sleep, pry into the deep ends of my subconscious and ruin my much needed beauty rest.  I don’t know why but they are never vivid dreams full of sunshine, rainbows and butterflies, they are always scary, heart pounding, adrenaline pumping horrors.  The last one I can remember in detail was a dream where my four-year-old daughter was in one of those carnival swing rides and the riders would swing out over a body of water when the ride was in motion.  I stood at the rail and watched as her chair tipped forward while the flimsy chain did nothing to hold her petite little frame in the chair and she slipped out and went head first into the water.  I dove in to save her and that is when I woke up with enough adrenaline induced strength to lift a small car over my head and throw it had I wanted or needed to.  This is a part of pregnancy that I don’t love, it creeps me out.

This is totally unrelated but Lucy signed me up to receive several emails from different sights and one I got in my email today from Parents.com was titled: Pregnancy Bitchiness – Are you a Sufferer?  Seriously?? I’m sure the article is spot on and yes, I am a sufferer but isn’t it kind of sad that curse words have replaced couth in parenting publications?  

To end the day on a good note, I actually made dinner and cooked the meat without gagging or dry heaving in the trash can.  Not only did I cook it, I ate it.  Many times I’m so grossed out after cooking food while pregnant that I can’t even enjoy it, but tonight was an exception!  I don’t know the process but I know that by April 3rd I will be weaned off all fertility medication, so praises there too!

6 Comments

Bebe Bits & Disclaimers

March 5, 2010 at 8:00 PM (Our Journey, Surrogate Education)
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What a week blog world, what a week.  On top of spending the first ten minutes of every morning gagging from the mingling of allergy related postnasal drip and the existence of Bebe, the week was devoted to finally getting all the business and personal information to the accountant so we can get our taxes done.  In years past this day usually involved at least a few full glasses of wine but this year I sit in blissful silence (The Husband took the two little girls on a special outing and the oldest is in her room reading) and feel happy to be writing you. 

So, I’ve been contemplating on how to continue writing this blog as I seem to have a split readership.  Besides my family and friends, Lucy and Ricky have their family and friends and then there are fellow surrogates and intended parents who read also.  The fact that anyone bothers to read this other than Lucy blows me away and I thank you, thank you, thank you all for that.  However, it does make me cringe a little when I write about ALL the medical aspects and happenings to my “Lady Town” when I know my dad or some unsuspecting family member of Lucy’s from Germany is reading the blog and may be getting more than they bargained for.  Believe me, I never suspected when starting this blog that I’d have so much crotch talk going on, but I want to continue it because I can only wish I’d come across a blog that told me there was such a thing as progesterone capsules AND that they were 100% better than progesterone suppositories.  I find it to be my calling and my duty to not back track now. Fellow surrogates, I do it for you (I’m giving you the secret surrogate salute and holding high a glass full of sparkling white grape juice).  I know, I’m a lot like that middle daughter of mine, I can’t help myself.

I’ve decided to always give you Bebe’s update first and then below that will be my section of ramblings.  Here is your disclaimer now:  In an effort to present the most complete version of this journey I may at times focus a lot of talk on my private parts.  This talk may not be suitable for certain readers and especially those who may not enjoy graphic detailing of all that may, can, and will occur during fertility treatments, pregnancy, and childbirth.  While I believe I am hilariously witty and find this all fascinating I know that a certain percentage of my reader population may not.  In an effort to spare you unpleasant thoughts that may linger further into the future than you may appreciate or anticipate, you will from now on find this warning “CROTCH WATCH” posted prior to any information you may find potentially disturbing and/or life altering.  Anything you read after said warning is read at your own risk.

Bebe’s Blog

Last week Bebe was 7 weeks old.

And the size of a blueberry.

Bebe’s hands and feet started to develop along with little eyelid folds.  Both sides of Bebe’s brain is growing and the liver is making red blood cells until bone marrow forms and takes over doing that job.  The appendix and pancreas is formed and a loop in the growing intestines is turning into the umbilical cord which now has blood vessels to carry oxygen and nutrients to and from Bebe’s body.

As of today, March 5th, Bebe is 8 weeks old and looks kinda like this:

Bebe has webbed fingers and toes and the eyelids almost cover both eyes.  Breathing tubes are being developed down the throat and into the lungs and primitive neural pathways are being formed in the brain.  Bebe is the size of a kidney bean and is constantly moving and shifting.

We will get to see an ultrasound picture of Bebe again on Monday and by then Bebe will be 8 weeks 3 days old.

Keep growing little one!

My Time:

Health wise I am feeling really good.  Other than feeling tired and the gagging that started this week I don’t have a lot to complain about. Yet…  I’m going to email Miami soon to find out what a tentative weaning schedule for the meds looks like because I am so done and over the Progesterone injections.  I want to start counting down.  As of today I know I will need to be on them for at least two more weeks, but I need a finish line to focus on.  I’ve decided when I am finished I am going to take all three of my sharps containers to the dump (which is a designated sharps location) and take a picture of the dump employee holding the containers for my scrapbook.  It’s the simple things in life that make me smile.

CROTCH WATCH:  The boobs are starting to take on a life of their own and while they look nice and full they are similar to an exhibit at a museum, there to taunt captivated viewers but off limits to touch.  As of the first ultrasound the ban on intercourse has been lifted and for those partners of surrogates-to-be, that totaled 28 days of a sex free life.  Gasp, gulp.  There was no physician enforced abstaining prior to the transfer since my husband had previously been man enough to brave the outpatient clinic for a little rubber band and scalpel time.  According to my current (semi legalistic) bible study book, Lies Women Believe and the Truth That Sets Them Free, we are terrible sinners for that decision, even hell worthy in some religions but we aren’t sweating it too much cause we “gotta have faith, faith, faith,” or at least repent and accept “grace, grace, grace,” if Nancy Leigh DeMoss indeed speaks the absolute truth in her book.  She also claims that “natural family planning is the mother of abortion,” chew on that Catholic believers. Whoo-doggies.  I’m tired, hungry, and getting a little silly (who quotes George Michael or Nancy DeMoss these days?), time to exit the blog and go watch Tosh.O.

  

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