Well beta day is usually filled with excitement trying to think of how high your first beta numbers may be. They like to see over 100. Obviously with all my negative tests I wasn’t expecting a good outcome. I won’t lie though I was still secretly hoping for a miracle.
I got the results about 2ish they called and I already knew because I had checked my quest email a few minutes before. It was definitely negative. I know I/we gave this baby girl all we could and for some reason God must have had another plan. It 100% still sucks and I hate it. This part never seems fair. I mean we did EVERYTHING we were supposed to do. All my meds all my appointments looked good. My lining was triple striped. The embryos are all genetically tested and graded. All they can say is sorry and sometimes it still doesn’t work. 😔
I take comfort in knowing that I did my very best to give her a loving, thick, warm little uterus to try her very best to snuggle into. I feel grateful knowing that I am trusted by Karen and Rodger to hold their baby until she or he is ready for this great big world. What a honor and privilege it is for these families to trust me with literally the most precious cargo. ❤️
If I’m trying to find a bright side then these are the things.
1. I stop meds today so no more butt shots! I now get a break for a bit.
2. I’m going to have a drink tonight! I deserve it! 😂
3. I get to go back to Chicago and visit my friends again. I’ll bring them more salsa too!
So now the plan is to stop meds wait for a terrible period and start birth control again. Then I will go right back into Lupron and eventually progesterone in oil again before transfer (butt shots). Then transfer another sweet embryo into my uterus again. I’m sad but also happy to have a plan moving forward. Here is to a hopeful may transfer!
Sorry I also hate when I post the negative sad stuff but it’s real and sadly part of the process.
The new puppy gave me lots of love. We got our kit kit a sweater and she’s not a fan. 😂
Well I’ve still been trying to get something to pop up on the pregnancy tests and I’ve had little glimpses of something trying to come through. Yesterdays test looked promising so I figured today’s would look good in the morning. Sadly it didn’t. I don’t feel like I see anything at all. It all sucks. I know this is part of the process and it can happen but it doesn’t make it suck any less.
Thursday is the official blood draw day so I’m not going to take any more tests until blood work comes back. I’m at the place now I think it’s mentally best to prepare for a fail and hope to be surprised by blood work. This sucks for us all. We all put so much work into this for it to not work. I know we did everything we could though. I’m going to suck it up and power through the week.
I will update everyone on Thursday after I get the official confirmation either way. Thanks as always for all the thoughts and prayers say a couple extra for Karen I know how much she wants this. ❤️
Happy April 1st. Today is the day Karen and I have been waiting on where she will come over and we will take a home pregnancy test together. We have both been anxious the last day and a half at least. We had wonderful massages and pedicures yesterday so that helped take our minds off it a bit. It’s 6:00 am and we are not testing until 11:30 ish. I will officially be 4dp 6dt! I am excited and terrified all at the same time. On one hand I feel like a line is for sure going to pop right up. I feel it. I feel so tired and I definitely had the cramping and I felt like I could really smell stuff too! Yesterday after my nap I felt so nauseous for like an hour or more. The problem is I obviously over analyze everything because I know they put a baby in there! The pio butt injections are also supposed to literally make my body think it’s pregnant so it really could all be tied to that as well.
It’s honestly hard to distinguish how real it is. They just have me on so many drugs. I keep telling myself even if there is not a line it’s totally ok and we have plenty of time. While I know that’s technically true it will also still be crushing to not have a second line today. I’ve never tested in person with anyone before. It’s one thing to call and tell someone you don’t see anything yet. It’s a whole new thing to have her go look and SEE her disappointment. Thats my biggest fear right now. But the other side of that coin is I could be seeing joy, excitement, happy tears and pure happiness. That’s obviously the outcome I really really want to happen.
I have had a couple people ask if I would cheat and test before we test together and I won’t/wouldn’t. I want this to be real and authentic no matter what today’s outcome may be. That’s not to say I haven’t been tempted believe me I have! Yesterday in my transfer group two other girls who transferred the same day as me all got very faint positive tests. I am so excited for them and hopefully things continue in the right direction and the lines just keep getting brighter. I even asked Karen yesterday if she wanted to just try testing yesterday after our appointment and she’s obviously way stronger then me because I was ready to cave and go for it. She said no let’s just go ahead and wait until tomorrow! I’m positive that was the better choice 😂.
So now I just keep waiting until 11:30 rolls around and we get to take a test. I just wanted to get my real thoughts and emotions out here before it was actually test time. I will update with the good or not good news later. (Hopefully hopefully good) I will also add a picture of my test I took last time when it was positive at 4 days past transfer! This looks me I feel like was super bright and it was with baby Oliver. I hope this baby Girl is digging in deep and throwing out tons of hcg as well.
This was Oliver’s test! Oliver’s test 4 days past transfer The room service breakfast here is so so good.
Ok it’s now 11:13 and Karen is on her way. I’m seriously sooooo anxious 😬 it’s terrible terrible. I don’t know why we thought this was a good idea. 😂 Oh please please let this turn out ok.
Ok it’s now 5:23 so way later sorry guys. Karen got here and I peed. I brought the cup out so we could do them together and walk away.
We waited the 3 mins like the first response test said and I told Karen to go look. She did and sadly she said she didn’t see anything. I also went to look and I also didn’t see any lines or shadows. 😞 I obviously felt terrible and kept saying sorry. Karen took it well. Well as well as anyone could. We were just so hopeful obviously. We also both know 4dpt is super early still. I wanted to just cancel lunch and tell her to go without me. But we packed up and went to meet her friend Genevieve. I honestly had the best time!!! It was exactly what I needed I just wanted to crawl back in bed, cry and sleep. I’m so happy I didn’t. We laughed and talked for hours. She was so much fun and definitely my kind of person to hang out with. Obviously Karen only has the best friends! Everyone she knows is just incredible. ❤️ They both had drinks and I had some decaf coffees and lemon water. The food was great we went to RH and it’s just a beautiful spot. We also saw a couple get engaged!!! How adorable is that. Anyway Karen dropped me back off at the hotel and Ricky said he got me a surprise. He got me a chocolate cake to make me feel better.
How sweet is he.
He then saw me pick up the test again and I swore I could see a line now… He also said he saw it earlier but didn’t want to say anything to me. 😂 He knows I’m a psycho.
So I obviously immediately called Karen and was like wait now we see something! I did my best to take pictures and show her. It’s definitely outside the window of accurate test results so it could be a false positive perhaps but I’m going to hope and pray it’s not and that as the days go on the line gets darker and brighter. Regardless I go on the 7th for the official blood work. The good news is they have more embryos also and I know we can try again. I don’t want to have to but we can. 🥰 I’ll post the pictures of the dried test so you all can see also. Let’s all pray and cross all our fingers and toes for us to get brighter stronger lines in the official time frame so we can feel great about all this. We are going out to dinner tonight and we fly home tomorrow morning.
What does that mean???? 😂 Well in the ivf world it means 2 days past a 6 day transfer. That means the embryo/ baby grew to 6 days when they transferred her. Two whole more days before Karen and I take a test. Honestly each day I feel more confident that it’s working. I’ve had cramping since after transfer. Nothing terrible but basically when you get pregnant you feel slightly crampy. Almost like your going to start your period. Normally people don’t know or even pay that much attention to it. I obviously know they put baby girl in though and so I over analyze each and every little thing. 😂
So far my symptoms are definitely cramping, yesterday I felt like I peed a lot. (I did drink a lot too though 😂) This morning I felt just like blah. That weird feeling of feeling hungry but nothing really sounds that good. So I just get to keep waiting and over analyzing everything. Also remember I’m taking progesterone in oil injections. The purpose of this drug is to make my body think it’s already pregnant so that it wants to keep baby in here. So all these things could also be from the influx of meds too! 🙄
I’m going to visit the girls today. Ellie and Grace! Im sure they will be more excited to see Ricky because they are all going to play Nintendo together. 😂 Its always fun to see the babies I helped grow. They all grow too fast.
Yummy food. Pizza pizza pizza Bed rest with the price is right.
Last night was such a great night. We had so much yummy food and plenty of drinks to enjoy. We stayed for hours enjoying our time together. I got back to the hotel and obviously couldn’t sleep so I took a nice bath. Watched some tv and did sleep off and on during the night. I kept checking my phone to see the time and finally at 6:00 I decided I would just get up. I made a coffee and took another bath to try to relax.
I listened to some Christian radio and had a good cry. It’s all so exciting and scary all at the same time. It’s hard to explain to people how much goes into all this. I know I try to always post cute, funny and happy pictures but believe me there is plenty of hard stuff from behind the scenes. My butt is already bruised I have huge lumps from where the oil goes in.
I honestly cry before every single transfer. It’s all just so much. My hormones are crazy and today I really just felt them all. (Those who know me best know I don’t cry and I don’t let people see me cry) I hate it. I know it’s normal and ok to cry it’s just the way I am. I just kept praying for this sweet baby girl they put in! I also couldn’t stop thinking about the one transfer I had that didn’t take. 😔 It was so so sad and hard. I still think of that little girl. I know God had other plans but it still sucked and doesn’t seem fair and it’s ok for me to think that!
After I pulled myself together and got ready I was feeling better. I just needed to stay busy. FCI called me and said baby thawed out great and they actually wanted me to come early! ❤️ So as soon as Karen got here we headed over. I was drinking my water and they told me not to take my valuim until 9:30. Then they were like wait you didn’t take it yet. Hurry and take it now. 😂 So basically it kicked in right after my transfer! So we waited a little bit so I could get to feeling a little more normal.
We went for breakfast and it was sooooo yummy. Then we walked around a store and then went back to my hotel so I could rest. I’ve been sleeping for hours and it was great! Now I’m starving and Ricky is still asleep. I’m going to wake him up soon so we can go get some yummy deep dish pizza! Giordano‘s is my favorite.
So far since transfer I’ve been feeling pretty normal. I do have a tiny bit of cramping off and on so I’m going to think positive and say it’s baby girl digging in deep. DR Kaplan said my uterus looked great and it was plenty thick. But they didn’t re measure it. So now we just wait wait wait… I’ll try to stay busy watching tv and doing little things.
Tomorrow I’m having lunch with the girls at 12:30. On 4/7 we will be doing the official blood beta test where we want a good number. Then 2 days later they will have me take another to see how the numbers will rise. We are actually planning to take a at home pregnancy test on 4/1 the day before I fly out. Im hoping we get even a faint line by then so Karen and Rodger can see it in person. So here we are and now we wait.
Ricky just got up so I’m off to go get my pizza!!! Thanks everyone for the support.
Love this cool lion outside the hotel. Last nights bath. This mornings 😂 This is a terribly blurry picture lol 😂 But we looked so fancy. Look baby girl is HATCHING! That’s a really good thing. Crossing my legs and holding this baby in for the long haul! 😂
I’ve been awake since 2:00 am. I’m a bundle of nerves I guess. I am obviously excited but then I go through all the other emotions as well. I just keep praying my uterus and body is doing all the things it needs in preparation for baby. I wish I had better words to express the feelings I get before transfer. I just keep going over all the meds and knowing that I’ve taken them at the right times and days. I think is my uterine lining too thick? Or maybe is it not thick enough? (It was over 12 so I know it’s enough lol) Regardless I still think about it. I hope my estrogen and progesterone levels are where they need to be. Will the embryo/baby thaw well when they pull it out? I just keep praying for this sweet baby and hope that my body is exactly what it needs to be. I want my little womb mate to be extra happy and comfortable for the next 40ish weeks!
I’m trying to think all wonderful and positive thoughts. Karen and Rodger are so excited and I don’t want to let them down. Thankfully they do have plenty of embryos if one doesn’t stick but I have high hopes for this little one. ❤️
It’s now 3:30 am and I have to be up and getting ready for the airport at 6:45 so I’m going to try my best to rest and sleep. I’ll send this update out after we land in Chicago tomorrow.
Well we landed safe and sound. I never did fall back asleep but I did get to pray for the baby and transfer so that’s good. Tomorrow morning at 9:55 is when I’m scheduled so I have to start chugging water at 9:30! They want you to basically feel like your going to pee your pants before they do the transfer. 😂 Karen is going to meet me at the hotel and since the clinic is right across the street we will go over together. I got us matching bracelets for transfer day! I will give it to her tonight. Hopefully they brings us extra blessings and peace.
Tonight we are going out to dinner with everyone! Molly, Jon , Karen and Rodger. I’m excited to enjoy time together before our big day. We are staying at a BEAUTIFUL hotel in Chicago the peninsula this place is so gorgeous and has so many fancy tech things I am having a hard time figuring them out. 😂 We ordered room service for lunch when we got here and it’s all done on a tablet! Everything in the room is controlled with touch screens/buttons. Our bathroom has huge bathtub with a TV. It’s super nice and fancy and I definitely love it. 😍
I’m definitely still nervous like always but I’m excited to be here and have the opportunity to try to help. I have done everything I can and now it’s all up to God and what he will allow. I just hope he listens to me! 😂 Thank you all for your continued thoughts and prayers for Karen, Rodger, Ricky and Baby! I will update again tomorrow after transfer is completed and My Valium has worn off.
How cute are these 🥰Driving to the airport These are my giant butt shots that I swear Ricky enjoys torturing me with… Chicago is cold and Ricky can barely keep his eyes open. 😂 not sure why he looks like this. You can find me relaxing here later. 😆 This is my favorite little spot already for makeup and hair!
Well I have been on my ivf drugs. Things are going well. I’m hormonal and crazy as expected with all the estrogen and progesterone. I’m definitely getting excited now. Today is our last ultrasound appointment to check lining and blood work. In the mean time we got a puppy last week and boy are we tired. He’s so sweet but man I forgot how hard puppies are. All the potty training and crying at night. Basically I have a newborn at home. 😂
Today when I got to my appointment they told me they didn’t have someone to do the ultrasound!!! Mind you I had this scheduled for OVER a month now. To say I was frustrated would be an understatement. I let them know it had to be done today so after some waiting they filled out a new order and sent me on my way to the hospital. I went straight there and the hospital staff was so kind and helpful once I explained how important it was to be done today! They called and were able to squeeze me in so I go back at 3pm today.
I called FCI and they were so nice and said for me to just make sure I ask what my lining thickness is today and let them know. On Tuesday it was 10mm so I know that’s already good. they need a minimum of 8 to do transfer so since I’m over that we are good. I will start the big butt shots next week. Eeek my poor butt is already dreading this. 😂
So I will fly out next Sunday morning and transfer will be Monday!!! We also got exciting news that Karen gets to come to the transfer with me now. That makes us both happy. It’s a really cool experience to see the baby/embryo go in so I’m happy she gets to see it now also. ❤️❤️❤️
I will be in Chicago for a bit after transfer for couch rest. Sign me up for this. 😂 I love napping and resting. I know Karen is planning some fun things for us while I’m in town and I’m excited to meet more of her friends. Plus I’ll get to spend some time with Molly and Jon and the girls. Im hoping the weather stays nice and I can do some fun shopping as well! I’ve been eyeing some cute new summer tote bags… 🤫 Dont tell Ricky! 😂
After my final appointment yesterday my blood work was all good and my lining was 12.2 so I’m perfectly fluffy and I’m praying baby digs in deep and I have a perfect little home for 9 plus months.
Hello everyone who has kept up since day one or welcome if you are new! I love that I can see that people all over the world have seen and read my little blog posts. It’s crazy to think that this all started 9 years ago. I hope by me being open and honest through all this it has helped others. I hope women who have struggled getting pregnant have felt encouraged, uplifted, joy and most of all seen!
Because of my journey to help others I have read so many stories of women who want nothing more then to be a mom. I have women reach out to me probably once a month wanting to know more about surrogacy and how it all works. I love trying to help in any capacity that I can. Infertility is a dark difficult place for so many women. I truly wish I could help everyone! I’m inspired by these women who speak up and speak out about the pain, discouragement and disappointment they face. I’m also sensitive to the fact that so many cry and suffer in silence sometimes. I can only try to imagine the way it all must feel. I’m truly sorry.
I hope that my choice to help will spark an interest in others so that they may also help someone somewhere. Obviously having babies for others is not for everyone and I know I’m a bit of an oddity for loving it all so much. But I also know there are others like me and even if you can’t do something like this you can be inspired to do things to help others and make this world a better more beautiful place. Donate blood or plasma sign up to donate a kidney. Check into bone marrow donation. Foster children who need love. (This is also on my to do list) 🥰 Donate time at animal rescues, food banks or women’s shelters. Help the homeless. Honestly the list could go on and on.
Now before I get too far off topic… As we all know I always say every pregnancy is my last pregnancy until well the next last pregnancy. 😂
After my last pregnancy I was definitely sure I would be done because of some of the complications I had at the end. While I know they were very common in pregnancy and somewhat normal. To me they were very scary and concerning since I’ve never had anything except basically picture perfect pregnancy’s and deliveries. (Minus one c section and breech delivery) 😆
So I was on the road to finding my new normal after pregnancy and babies have filled my last 12 years of life. Retirement was off to an okish start you could say. Until I got the call and was asked about coming out of my so called retirement and doing one more!
I know I know insert all the gasps, shock and confusion here. 😂
I know you are all thinking who asked? Before I always went through an agency and found these couples to help. I definitely wasn’t on a search this time. But sometimes life just works in fun little ways and things turn out perfect.
This time it was someone I considered a friend. ❤️ It’s funny because I only knew her because of wait for it…. MOLLY! My first Baby mama. Its just so crazy how the world works sometimes. Molly tried to get me to help her have a baby years ago before I ever even met Jen. The timing just wasn’t right. So then when the timing was right I was equal parts shocked, honored, excited and sad that she would ask me. I’ll get to the sad part later. I have had some fun times in Chicago on my girl’s trips! I can’t even talk about how crazy and fun our night on the town was. I partied HARD this particular night it was a treat for all of Chicago and the girls that were there! 😂 So after literally seeing me at my craziest party girl self you could imagine my surprise when she was still ok letting me carry her unborn child! I wish I was exaggerating a bit but honestly I’m not. I was a mess that night🤣🤪🤣
I was sad because I didn’t think I would be allowed or ok to be pregnant anymore. I mean 6 babies is a lot. Not like 19 kids and counting a lot but a lot none the less. I explained that I was old and wasn’t sure I would be allowed to help but we decided to ask Dr Kaplan anyway and just see what he would say. I was basically in shock when the nurse emailed me back a few days later and said that after going through my files he would approve me! I still had to go get a ultrasound done in his office though to check and make sure he thought my uterus was strong and healthy enough. So I went and did that. I was still a little worried even then that they may say no. Again to my surprise they said everything looked perfect.
So I guess my old trusty uterus may have one more in her. Haha Im still honestly a bit shocked this is all happening again. My 5th journey! I would be lying if didn’t admit I’m a tiny bit nervous too. I really really want to help them have a perfect healthy baby. So I would appreciate any and all prayers, good thoughts, well wishes for us all and the precious baby!!!! I hope this pregnancy goes smoothly and we have no issues at all. I’ve already been praying for the baby they will be preparing to implant in me via IVF. I hope she or he is perfect and digs in deep. I hope my uterus is strong, fluffy and the perfect little home until baby is ready to come into this big world and go home with mommy and daddy!
So the details are as follows…
We are finishing up our contracts now. Just 17 days until meds start! All the shots…. I can honestly say I’m definitely not looking forward to that part. 😂 Lupron rage, headaches and the giant butt shots. My poor butt is already sore just thinking of it. Ricky on the other hand I think will secretly be excited on my grouchy days to stab me knowing he can torcher me a bit and get away with it. Then on March 28th as long as everything goes at planned I will be in Chicago getting pregnant again! I’m seriously so surprised I’m even saying that again. I always have so much going on in my world and honestly I think I love it that way. It’s busy and mostly fun!
I know this was a long one. Thanks to everyone as always for all the love and support. Especially to Ricky our kids and my parents who support me through all my crazy life adventures. Plus all my other friends and family who always offer support and love for us all. I’m beyond grateful and appreciative for everyone. It seems fitting to me that when I began this all years ago I started in Chicago and with Dr Kaplan and now here I am all these years later likely ending in Chicago with Dr Kaplan. How perfect is that. 🥰
Without further ado I would love for you to meet my new IPs and friends who now already feel like family too. Rodger and Karen. My heart is bursting with excitement to help you both! What an incredible journey we have both had to get us here together. I just know it was meant to be.
All my meds are here!!! So many things to keep track of.
Well today was supposed to be induction day. I didn’t make it to today and I have very mixed feelings about it. On one hand I’m so happy he’s here safe and sound. I can’t help but to be a little sad though that it was due to me being told I had pre eclampsia. 😔 5 pregnancies and now this happened. I was shocked I felt fine! It was a regular Thursday I had my drs appointment where everything was FINE. They checked me and I was only like 2cm and baby was still high up. We laughed and knew he would make it to induction day today. I was feeling fine other then my swelling that only seemed to happen when I stood for too long. I came home and installed a toilet with my dad and then I took a bath that night. I had no contractions all day. Then bam at like 9:30 or 10:00 they started and after about 30 mins of me feeling like they were consistent I decided to download a contraction timer and time them.
Well they were coming every 3 mins! This was happening for about an hour and a half so Ricky was not going to let me not go to the hospital. If it had been up to me I would have probably stayed until they were more intense. I dislike being in the hospital sitting in a bed and probably being sent home. 😆 So I curled my hair and did my makeup because well I can’t look a mess. I told J and K I would let them know but I was going to be checked. They had me pee and hooked me up to the monitors. I was super dehydrated they said. (As usual I never drink enough water…) So I was getting IV fluids and I figured they would send me home.
They also took my blood pressure and she asked if it had been running high. I said no I’ve never had a high reading that I know of. I knew then something was not good. She of course said it was no big deal and they would check again in a little bit but I just knew something was off when I’ve never had a high reading. They said they would run a blood sample to check things too. The on call dr came back in and said how would you like to have a baby today. She was very cheerful about it. I knew better. 😢 I said well not if it’s because you think I have pre eclampsia. She said sorry but they wouldn’t let me leave because of it. I cried. I was worried about baby LB and me. I asked them to re test my pee after I was hydrated but they said it wouldn’t matter. I was confused because I felt totally fine and normal. I was disappointed that my body was not doing what it was supposed to do. I’m a pro pregnant person this isn’t supposed to happen to me! But good news he was head down!!!
I called J to let her know, she took it way better then I did. They started booking flights! Dr Sammons was not on call and it was a different dr from the wentzville office. Someone I had never met. He was all about putting me on pitosin and breaking my water immediately. I was a FIRM NO! My last labor I let them break my water and I felt like it was too soon. They insisted that once that happens labor would go quickly. That didn’t happen and they almost gave me c section because my water was broken for so long and I wasn’t progressing fast enough to push. (Thankfully my nurses rallied for me and I made it last time) This time I wasn’t going to repeat that! They also wanted me to get the epidural before they broke my water… I didn’t want to because then I knew I would be stuck in bed. Now I’m definitely Pro epidural! I’ve always had an epidural so I wasn’t against getting it. I just didn’t want to get it if I wasn’t in pain yet. The nurse kept telling me i could do what I wanted, but that if I didn’t get it and things went quickly then it would be hard to get relief. So I caved and got it. I don’t want to say I regret it but I will say I was right and nothing happened quickly! I labored for HOURS! Stuck in bed.
I asked the nurse if I could be moving or using a peanut ball etc. She just encouraged me to rest. In the mean time J and K had made it to the hospital. My Dr also called me and said the other on call dr told her well she wouldn’t even let me see her or do anything! Lol Dr Sammons said that sounds like Rashel. I even asked her if I for sure had pre eclampsia or if it could be wrong. She said it wasn’t wrong. Uggg Thankfully the night nurses came in and it was the same girls from last time! 🎉 These girls had me on the peanut ball and hanging my legs off the bed etc to get baby LB to come on down! Thank the lord. During the whole labor thankfully my blood pressure went as stayed down and I didn’t require any medicine for it. (Magnesium) I have only been told terrible things about this medication when laboring. I was very thankful to not need it.
I don’t even remember what time it was but they finally checked me again and I was like 9 and a 1/2cm… I was so tired and hungry I said I bet I can push through a 1/2 cm! Or just do a good membrane sweep. My nurse laughed and said she would tell the Dr but that she thought I could push through it also! Woohoo In came my Dr and she said let’s give it a go! I’m a super pusher I know this about myself 😂. It’s like my pregnancy super power. I feel bad for women who push for an hour plus. I’ve never had to do that thankfully. Baby LB was still pretty high us she said so I was going to have to work for it. I felt like I had been pushing for HOURS. I was tired and kept thinking oh no maybe this is the time I can’t do it. But I kept pushing. Finally they said he was close and before I knew it out he came!
His mom got to grab him right away and I touched his sweet little head! He had such dark hair. He was precious and perfect! He was crying right away too. Those first sweet tiny baby cries are the best. K got to cut the cord and mom did skin to skin. It was perfect. Turns out my pushing of what felt like hours was a crazy 21 mins… 😂 I’m pretty dramatic I guess. I’m not sure how you women have the energy to push longer! You all are incredible!!! We ordered pizza and salad and Ricky got me a soda! It was like 10 pm and we were all exhausted but excited too. I love getting to see J and K with their new baby. That’s literally all it’s about for me! Seeing them love that baby is what I waited 9 plus months for. It makes all the shots, meds, drs appointments, swelling, pushing for 21 mins 😆 etc all worth it! And Leaf if a wonderful big brother. He loves his baby brother so much and J is great at sending me pictures and updates on how life is going with two kids.
After I was released I had to go back to the dr that Monday for a blood pressure check. Thankfully it’s still been good and I didn’t have issues or need medication for it. It seems to be back to normal and all my swelling is gone! I guess I’m thankful to Ricky for making me go to the hospital even though I didn’t want too. If not things could have gotten worse I guess since I didn’t have another appointment until the following week! I’m still shocked that my body has birthed 6 babies! It doesn’t feel real to me. I have been so blessed to have two of my own children and then two more for each of the families. I will always say birthing babies will be the best thing I will have have done in my lifetime. These children will do incredible things in this world. They are all bringing such love, joy and happiness to so many! I have not only been able to help make parents happy but grandparents, cousins, aunts, uncles, God parents, and big Sisters and brothers! My heart will forever be grateful and blessed for this experience. I’m the least emotional girl ever but this part of my life makes me emotional! This chapter of my life has been filled with the most love and joy. I’m not sure if this is the end for me or not but on baby making. 😔 I don’t think I will ever feel ok closing this chapter. This part is hard for me. I want to have babies for EVERYONE! Regardless I’m so blessed and happy to have this chapter in my life. Love is a powerful thing. I love all these babies and these families. This isn’t something everyone can do and that’s ok! I think we can all look for ways to help change the world though. Look for ways to give back! I promise it’s worth it. 🥰
I also have to obviously thank my incredible support team. First up my husband! He doesn’t get enough credit! Not only has he supported me 1,000 billion percent. (But being pregnant with other peoples children is a little different lol) He has picked up the slack when I have been pregnant. He gave ALL the butt shots except for like 3! The first one my cousin Barb showed him how to do it and two Molly had to give when Ricky couldn’t come to Chicago! He deals with the hormones. Lupron rage is real! He has taken care of me after every delivery. Helping me shower, carry IV bags in and out of bathrooms, putting my underwear on me when I can’t bend over, waking me up when I fall asleep on the hospital toilet! 😂 That is an inside joke but yes it actually happened! So so many things. He loves me like crazy and I need to do better at remembering that. 🥰
Then their is my parents! My mom and dad have always watched the kids for every out of town trip I had to make. When I had my C section my parents kept the kids for 5/6 weeks because it was so bad and I couldn’t lift the kids for car seats or Everett for his crib for naps. They came over at crazy hours to get the kids when I would go into labor. They have picked up meds and supplies for me so we would just be able to go home from the hospital. They have sat with me when I couldn’t be alone, taken me to drs appointments. The list goes on. I don’t know what I would have done without that kind of love and support!
We also have my kids! They have sacrificed time with a non pregnant mom. Suffered when I had headaches or mood swings. We have skipped family trips because I couldn’t travel too far. Good comes from this also! My kids think having babies for other people is NORMAL! They ask others who are pregnant who their baby is for. ❤️ I am proud of that.
Welcome to the world sweet baby Oliver! Born at 37 weeks and two days! 6/18/21
5 pounds 15oz of pure perfection.
Watching your wife birth is exhausting… 😂 Making the best of an early birthday party! Dad Cutting the cord! Baby Oliver’s little home! This was cool. I love love love this one! My crazy positions and incredible nurses! He was a perfect little roommate! 🥰I had to make him hold him! 😂 Liquid gold! Oliver’s first feeding
Well they checked me and I’m a whopping 2cm… 😂 We are thinking we just may make it to induction day now. I know I could be 2cm today and 4 next week so who knows really. It is exciting to be officially on the books for baby time though. 🥰 I have another appointment next Thursday so we will check again then. The really good news is that he was back to head down! So maybe all that crazy moving he was doing the other day was him deciding to move back to the right position! I’ll keep you posted if anything big or exciting starts happening.
My Bump, Their Bun 