So much surrogacy!

So, surrogacy has actually been on my mind longer than 2 1/2 years. When Mike was about 5 months old, my cousin has some female issues and was concerned about conceiving children. As I hugged her, I said, if that happens, I would totally be your surrogate and I meant every word! Luckily, she went on to have her own, but I had even mentioned to Luke that after we finish have kids that would be something I would love to do. Little did I know I would be "doing" surrogacy, I would just be the intended mom.
Now to clear up some more surrogacy confusion:

I get this question asked and it's funny to me because it never crossed my mind.

1. Are you afraid Buffy will want keep the baby? My answer is NO! I never thought about it until someone asked. While I do think that this baby will be extra special to her and hold a dear place in her heart, I know she has no desire to keep him/her. I think with surrogacy you just have different emotions/connections with the baby than you do your own.

2. Will the baby have any of her genetic traits? The answer is NO. The baby is created of my egg and Luke's sperm, so totally our genetic pool. The baby will come out looking just like Mike and Bella with tons of hair! Genetic material can NOT be passed through the uterus.

3. What exactly happens in the IVF process? it's sounds more simple than it is. When we started Buffy and I took a medication called Lupron. It puts your body in a menopausal like state so we can sync up our cycles. (remember I still have one). Currently I have started my stimulation meds (gonal-f and repronex) I take 4 shots daily. What this does is produce a lot of eggs. Typically a woman has 1 egg (sometimes 2) a month. Well last time these drugs made me have 27! Buffy added Estrace pills three times a day. This builds up her uterine lining. For the next 10 days or so, I will continue my shots and go for nearly daily u/s, and b/w. They are measuring my follicles (which hold each egg) They have to be over 16mm to be mature. Buffy will get monitored to make sure her uterus lining is thick and ready for the embyros. Egg Retrieval is an out patient procedure. They give you twighlight sedation and go vaginally to extract the eggs. Is it painful? kinda. During this Luke usually makes a donation, but since it's surrogacy, we are using a frozen sample which is as good as fresh. Once they have retrieved the eggs, we use ICSI (intracytoplasmic sperm injection) this is where they take single sperm and inject into each egg. My clinic does this for better fertilazation. Then they watch the embryos grow. My part will basically be over medication wise. Buffy will start PIO (progesterine in oil) These are really uncomfortable shots in the butt that leave lumps. (Buffy you are a champ) 5 days after ER (egg retrieval) it's Embyro Transfer day. You can do transfers really on any day beteween day 2-6. My clinic generally does them on day 3 or 5. Day 5 transfer are better if you have lots of embryos because the embryos became Blastocysts. Day 5 is when your body would naturally implant an embryo, so it's a good time to transfer the embryos back. The doctor takes the embies and puts them in a cathetor, Buffy will have a full bladder and the doctor will insert the cathetor vaginally, while guided by ultrasound. We will actually get to see the doctor place the embies in Buffy's uterus. It's quite amazing. they are little white spots. We will also get a picture of our embies and the little dish they were created it. (we have Bella's and it's amazing she fit in there.) Buffy will rest for a while and then we wait. I am not sure when beta day is with a five day transfer. Beta is the bloodtest given to determine pregnancy. And then we are pregnant! :)

I hope that clears up things for everyone. For me it's second nature now. The instant someone mentions infertility or IVF, my ears perk, because I know exactly what they are talking about.

It takes very special women to put themselves through this for someone else's baby. I am so thankfully there are awesome women like Buffy who will do this!