"And don't forget to take ibuprofen so you don't get the contract headache!" said every surrogate ever.
I'm quickly discovering that a returning surrogate can fly through the whole screening process as fast as she would like. I'm amazed that it was only the end of August when I contacted my coordinator, Kim, to tell her I was ready to jump on board with one more surrogacy journey and asked her what I needed to do.
I realize I've gone through this process twice already, but I actually needed help walking through the initial steps again. It's the same but it's all so different. Our first two journeys I would anxiously look in our mailbox everyday for paperwork, paperwork, and more paperwork. Everything is online now! It seriously expedited the process by having everything conveniently submitted through the interweb. My monthly cycle began being tracked last month, and I've started prenatal vitamins already. We're seriously flying through this process.
A couple weeks ago Ben and I were able to go on a walk with J, T, J's Mom. I'm grateful that we were matched while the weather was nice enough to meet them outdoors. This was the second time we've met in person, and it definitely feels natural and easy to chat with all of them. I'm really looking forward to getting to know them all better and meeting more of their family members. They come from extremely small families. I think there were more people at Chloe's birth than family member they have. I hope our gigantic family doesn't frighten them. I mean, doesn't everyone have 72 first cousins?!
We've spent the last few weeks working through the contract phase. The contract headache is no joke. I have gotten one each time I've read through that intense document. I even gave T and J a heads up that they might want to take an ibuprofen before they start reading. It takes quite a bit of time for each of us to read through it. Once that's complete, Ben and I had a two hour over-the-phone meeting with our attorney. It's definitely a process to get through, and today WE SIGNED THE CONTRACT!
This week has been full of exciting updates with this journey. Not only did we sign the contract, the ovum donor made her donation on Sunday. They have little embryos growing already!!! They'll let those littles grow, freeze them, send them off for testing, and then the perfect little one will be ready to jump in and make itself nice and cozy in my magical uterus for nine months before going home.
We DO NOT KNOW when the transfer will be yet. I still have medical screening to go through. I bet you can't wait for those blood draw photos that will be coming. I'll keep you posted as I learn more. I don't have anything scheduled yet.
Thank you all for your continued support, care, and love! This whole process still fascinates me and brings me so much joy.
