1 week postpartum

Today marks 1 week since I gave birth to surrogate boy/girl twins. I'm feeling pretty good, the cramping was pretty bad in the beginning but that only lasted for about 24 hours or so. The breast pain this time around wasn't as bad as last time, not sure if it was that I didn't pump but a few times or what but I am very thankful for that. The breast pain was the worst last time.  

Emotionally, it's been rough, not related to feeling loss of the babies or anything related to the pregnancy or delivery. Mostly the drama with the teenager of the house! I feel like the hormones from the pregnancy compound the emotions of that situation.  I just have to remind myself this too shall pass. Having babies for other people is nothing compared to having a child of your own tell you they want nothing to do with you, that you mean nothing to them, your selfish and fake. Whats crazy is still loving them with all that you have even after it's been said. 

The babies got out of the hospital on Wednesday and are doing amazing thus far with their family. I went and visited yesterday and held them for a while they are pretty adorable and so tiny. The plan is for them to fly home tomorrow, Saturday. It sounds like they are all organized and ready at home with  lots of help planned for a little while at least. I was invited to visit them in a few months which sounds pretty fun to get to see their growth and I think it will be more comfortable for them in their own environment.  Anyways, something to look forward too.

I'm going to brag a little here, I gained about 50lbs with the pregnancy and 1 week later I'm down 33lbs! It was one of my big concerns so I'm very excited that it's coming off so fast. My goal with this money was to fix all the damage from all the pregnancies (which is why my daughter says I'm selfish) so loosing the weight is a priority. Selfish or not, I think I deserve it I rarely do things for myself so I'm gonna be selfish this once! If I remember I'll do an update after I visit them in a few months. Till then....

36 Weeks Twin set number 2

I had my 36 week appointment on Thursday I was again dilated to 6-7 but not really contracting, both babies sounded good and IF's weren't here yet, they were planning on coming down Sunday. So the Dr. and I decided I was OK to go home and we would plan in delivering Friday sometime. I was going to go in around 1200 to get things started. I became a bundle of nerves as soon as I knew without a doubt that these babies were coming! It doesn't matter how many times I've delivered babies I always get super nervous! It doesn't help that we did a quick sono to see baby A's position and she had a foot presenting.  That girl is so ornery! I immediately texted the IF's to let them know the plan and they booked their flight and hotel room quite promptly.  The plan was for them to land at 9:45 PM get settled into their hotel and meet me at the hospital the next day.
I went home to lay down and try to keep the babies in long enough for the IF's to get here at least. I continued to have some contractions all day that were fairly strong but very far apart and irregular. I started worrying a little because of the GBS status being positive this time that I wouldn't make it in time to get antibiotics, but again the contractions were pretty far apart so I kept convincing myself it was fine.  I finally went to bed around 9 feeling nauseous and contracting so I started timing the contractions again and they were every 4-6 min and fairly uncomfortable, not more uncomfortable than they had been but what they had been got me to almost a 7 so I again started to worry that I wouldn't make it in time for the antibiotics. By this time it was about 10:30 so I decided I had better just go and be safe rather than sorry and I texted the IF's and my friend and my Dr. to let them know I was going to go into the hospital.  My friend came and picked me up and we arrived just barely before my IF's did.  That put me in a room started my IV, checked my cervix, no change since the Dr's office but obviously I wasn't going anywhere dilated that far! So they gave me a dose of antibiotics and broke my water. I was then dilated to a 7 and baby A was frank breech AKA butt first, which is better than foot first! They moved me to the operating room and the contractions started, very slow at first, then more and more and more painful and I felt like something wasn't positioned quite right so I kept changing positions to try to fix it but it wasn't working so I had the resident check me and she said there was just a little bit of cervix left and I could probably push through it if I wanted so I did it hurt but it worked, here comes baby A's butt! By the way delivering breech hurts a little if you were wondering especially when it's the first baby! I thought it hurt last time when it was the 2nd baby, but nope hurts more when it's the first! so 2 good pushes and she was out all 5lbs 11oz of her (at least she had the decency to be the smaller one since she came out backwards!) Then a sono to see where baby B was, vertex (head first) that should be easier right? couple of contractions later he moved down far enough to break my water which he didn't care too much for because his heart rate dropped pretty dramatically for what seemed like forever, so with my next contraction I was dilated to a 9 but pushed through to get him out of there that also hurt pretty bad, but better than an emergency c-section under general anesthesia! And then there were 2! Baby B 6lbs 8oz I was so relieved to not be pregnant anymore I didn't even hear apgars or anything! I would have loved to get at least 1 more week out of the pregnancy for the babies sakes just because I know they do better the longer they're in there but they wanted out, or at least my uterus wanted them out! Baby B ended up in Special care nursery he was struggling slightly to breathe and had low blood sugars, eventually baby A also went to Special care for low blood sugars. Currently they are both still in special care but improving.  I haven't visited them yet since I left that day around 12:30 but I'm staying up to date by text. I think I can no longer resist the urge to see them and will head up soon.
Currently I am very happy to be sleeping well, and on my stomach and back which has been impossible for months! I'm waiting for the breast pain to start so far I've been fine in that area, but I know it's coming and it sucks bad!
This uterus has closed up shop, no more vacancies CLOSED FOREVER!!
As tyrian would say "If I ever have another idea like that slap me in the face"
I have truly enjoyed my surrogacy journeys and I would not change a thing about any of them. I am so happy to have been lucky enough to give a family to 3 amazing families who deserved nothing less, but I've done my part now to watch them grow and see what life has in store for them all! I can't wait......

34 weeks, dilated

Finally 34 weeks pregnant with twin set number two! I feel accomplished making it this far with twins again and lucky, don't forget lucky. I am also very uncomfortable, I feel like I am more uncomfortable this time around, probably because I just had twins 20 months ago and that's a lot to put on your body once let alone twice in 2 years. Sorry body, I hope you forgive me! I do think it will be worth it once its all over and these babies are born big and healthy and put in their dad's arms. I can not wait for that day, hopefully it's only about 3 weeks away.  I had my 34 week appointment the other day nothing out of the ordinary 2 strong heartbeats. She didn't tell me how big I was measuring but that's probably for the best, I already weigh more now than I did when I had the last set of twins and I have 3 weeks left so that's fairly disappointing! I also feel like I'm more swollen this time. Lots of swelling in my legs and everyone tells me I look bigger this time than last. The good news is I know how to loose the weight so I will start that ASAP! Hopefully about 2-3 weeks after delivery. I had to wait a long time last time because I sprained my ankle 2 weeks after delivery (no playing soccer this time)
Then she checked my cervix and did my GBS. I'm dilated 4 almost 5 and I told her she can check me again at 36 weeks because I don't want to know until I'm closer lol. Weird thing, I've never been GBS positive but this time I am. Out of 6 pregnancies I've been negative 5 times, it's not a big deal to be positive, I just think it's strange.
Still lots of contractions and back pain if I stand for more than 5 minutes which is understandable since I have at least 10lbs of baby in there which is more than most women will ever carry at one time. I'll find out Monday an estimated weight when I have my next and final sono!!! As excited as I am to not be pregnant anymore I'm lying if I say I 'm not worried about the pain of labor. You'd think after having 6 babies without an epidural one of those breech I'd say, whatever no big deal it's just a little pain, but it hurts like hell! I just pray it goes fast and nothing bad happens. I am of course worried about bleeding excessively since this is my 6th delivery and 2nd set of twins. I am at an increased risk so just keep me in your prayers that all goes smoothly! Worst case scenario they take my uterus and I'm done with that thing so, no worries there. Here's to one more delivery two healthy babies,  One healthy surro mommy, and a big happy family!

31 weeks

Well, I've had a couple of appointments since my last post. I'm now measuring 37 weeks at 30 weeks gestation (I'm currently 31 weeks though) babies are growing well I've gained 33lbs in 31 weeks which for twins is great! We'll see though, now is when they gain a lot of weight so hopefully I can stay under the 45lbs mark. Hopefully I just have 6 weeks left, one minute I feel like thats really close and the next I feel like it's never going to get here, usually when I'm at work and exhausted.  The legal work has been all drawn up and the lawyer has gone to court for me already. I'm not entirely sure what all she does but I know she makes sure no one thinks these babies are coming home with me, got to love her for that!!
My IF's are getting more and more excited I've been receiving emails with pictures of clothes they've bought for them and there's more talking about the babies coming. They've been down to see sonos twice now the last one they were both weighing about 2.5lbs that was 3 weeks ago. I have another sono next week to see how they're growing. I can tell them without a sono that they're growing very well!!
I will miss all these extra calories I get with carrying twins, but I am more than ready to have my body back and my energy level. I have absolutely no energy right now nor will I for probably the next 6 weeks (or more depending on when I deliver)  Then it's time to hit the gym hard to get all this baby weight off and tone back up, so excited to be normal again, whatever that is??  I have a pretty good amount of swelling in my legs after working 12 hours I'm going to be optimistic about that and say that's just weight that will literally fall off after I deliver. Not hard to get rid of water weight, just a few trips to the bathroom for that!!!
I've been having a lot of braxton hicks which are really annoying but totally worth it if they're helping to get my cervix ready for these babies to come out, speaking of that they seem to both like to hang out with their heads on my right side when we sono, we did a quick sono at work the other day and A (the girl) was head down but that's the only time I've seen her like that, hopefully she remains there so I can have a vaginal delivery. I know I can deliver a breech baby that way but I'm pretty sure no one can deliver a transverse baby that way! I'd be really sad if I had to have a c-section on my last delivery, but it is what it is I suppose!! Till next time....

34 WEEKS!!! Wait, nope, only 26

I had my 26 week check up last week, did my glucose test, measured my fundus, listened to babies heartbeats! All is well! I passed my glucose test thank goodness no 3 hour test for me, oh how I despise that 3 hour test!!! My iron was low so they want me to take iron supplements on top of the prenatals, goodbye regular bowel movements.
My fundus was measuring 34 weeks, I was so sad, that's 8 weeks ahead of my current gestation. With twins its normal to measure ahead by 6-7 weeks if I remember right I was at the 6 week mark with the last set of twins, my weight gain is pretty stable though, by that I mean I'm gaining at a normal pace, not too much or too little. The Dr. said it could be the way they're laying.  I know my back is unhappy with me and my abdominal muscles have given up all hope of holding up my uterus, I keep trying but they refuse to work for very long. I'm starting to wonder if they can get so bad my insurance company might consider a tummy tuck a medical necessity and pay for it?? lol
Babies are moving like crazy, sometimes I think they're having seizures they move so much.  My legs are starting to swell but just a little I'm sure it's going to get worse. I'm almost in my 3rd trimester which means they're going to start gaining all their weight which means all my symptoms are going to intensify dramatically! I got this it's my last pregnancy, I can handle 10 more weeks or so. I want healthy babies out of this deal, no NICU stays, or trouble eating or any problems for the IP's other than the normal every 2 hour feedings, and the poopy diapers.
Home life is improving slightly, finally sold the house, and found somewhere to live that's affordable and fits all my kids and I comfortably. Oh and the cat, insert eye roll, we can't survive without the cat!  Moving while pregnant isn't ideal, but I'm doing it.  Hoping to start slowly and pay someone for the really heavy stuff.  And I have people to help too which is amazing! Starting to feel like I can finally start my life soon! 10 more weeks, 10 more weeks!!!

Healthy Babies

Not too much news lately. Had an appointment at 22 weeks and both babies are doing well, great heart rates and growing very well according to the fundal height.  Been having several contractions a day, nothing bad just pressured annoying! I'm also still getting headaches off and on but tylenol gets rid of those at least for a little bit. Emotionally I'm going crazy but mostly because my daughter is acting out again. The pregnancy I'm sure doesn't help me to control those emotions, but I definitely have good reason to have those emotions. I'm not too uncomfortable yet, size wise, but it's coming fast I'm sure! They move all the time and it makes me smile when they do, reminds me how important this job of creating life really is. Theres 2 little humans in there growing and learning how to survive in this big bad world of ours.  It's so amazing knowing I'm helping with that. I wish my life were a little calmer so I could enjoy it a little more since it's my last one but it is what it is. You have to take life as it comes and try not to stress too much about things.approximately 13 more weeks to go and these little body snatchers will be ready to arrive, until then, patience and sleep (oh and maybe a little chocolate) are my best friends!!

Surrogirl 19weeks

I've been feeling really well lately. Not too tired, working out like normal again, eating healthy again (ie not ravenous) it's been going really well! I had my anatomy sono scheduled on Friday and the IP came down for the sono and the Dr. visit. The heartbeats were heard in the office and he was able to visualize how big my belly is getting! Then we went for coffee and got to know each other a little better. It was good to have that opportunity since he is pretty busy most of the time traveling for work. Then we checked in for our anatomy sono after a very tedious drive around to find the correct location. Luckily they weren't very busy and were ok with us being slightly late.  The sonographer was very nice and informative even did a little 4D for us of the little buggers! And as was expected based on the genetic screening there is a little boy and a little girl in there! My very first surro girl! I'm not sure why that is so exciting to me. I guess I feel as though I am over populating the world with boys?? After all this will be the 5th boy I've brought into this world if you include my own sweet little man and only the 3rd girl. My IP appeared pretty excited during the sono, he kept saying whoa and taking picture and video when it was permitted. That part, and when they're born is why I do this. Getting to see the excitement and love in their eyes when they see their babies that they've longed for for so long! It makes all the symptoms and pains of pregnancy worth it. Almost more so than having my own children, almost. I'm 19 weeks as I'm writing this so if I only make it to 37 like I did with the last set of twins that means I only have 18 weeks left, I'm over half done and i've barely done anything! ;)
Still working, finally have a contract on my house, still have a little drama left to work out but so far 2016 is looking up! Thanks everyone for all the well wishes and prayers and concerns for me. I appreciate each and every one of you! (especially those who get to listen to my drama on an almost daily basis) Till next time....