I am going to be a gestational surrogate

My life is very much a spiritual one. I am constantly reminded almost daily that there are forces beyond my control. Within my life there are paths that I have chosen which have taught me so much about myself and others. Currently I am heading down the path of becoming a gestational surrogate. In short I am going to carry a baby for another couple, I will have no biological ties to this baby but rather have the honor and privilege of creating a family and bringing a new soul into the world.

I am sure you are all interested in the process so I will do my best to explain what we have done thus far. In the summer of 2014 after we had decided we were moving to Georgia I started looking for career opportunities and noticed there was an abundance of people actively searching for surrogates. I was about three months post partum and started to discuss this possibility with Daniel. We sat on it for a few weeks bringing it up now and then, really trying to think about how it would effect our lives and we were still very positive about it. I completed the initial questionnaire and it has been a pretty fast paced journey since then. We have had to have many conversations with the agency, we have had to have the tough conversations about what to do if something went wrong with the baby(s). We were in the midst of moving so we knew it would be something we had to wait a little bit for but that we could do the preliminary stuff beforehand.

Shortly after moving here we had our home visit. Our case worker through the agency came to our home and we talked, she saw where we lived and met our children. At that point Jackson was not yet 6 months old. The agencies policy is that you have to be six months post partum to even begin to put your body through the process. After having the home visit and the agency speaking to our references, we were matched. The agency had a couple in mind for us and after the couple received our family information we received theirs and next was a Skype call. The call went really well, I was nervous to meet them and was hoping we would click and I believe we did!  From my research being matched with someone or a couple is one of the bigger decisions in this process because you are going to travel this bumpy road with them and will have a connection for your life.

Currently we are in the contracts phase. I should be hearing from the lawyers shortly and then I will meet with a lawyer in our area. From there I will begin taking medications to get my body ready for the IVF. As much as this is physical it is also business.

This is a decision that effects the whole family and from the very beginning everyone puts heavy emphasis on your support system. I am so blessed to have a very strong support system. I know that for many of you this is the first you have heard about this and I am sure you will have questions along the way. At the end of the day I am able to give the gift of life. For that I am so very thankful. I look forward to sharing this journey with you as well.

You get ten minutes, go fast.

You know I think about things to write about, often, but the times that I have to sit uninterrupted are so short even after bedtime. Really because bedtime is when we all go down, ha! We are halfway through January and today my baby is 9 months old! I blinked and it happened. We had his checkup today and he is tall and a little thinner with a nice big brain. He is just such a love, I seriously must kiss him a thousand times a day. He is starting to get into a routine for the most part. 

I have been looking into preschool for Ms. Addie. She is just so ready. She talks about school all the time and when the bus comes at 7:45 each morning (if she is awake) she talks about getting on it or the type of backpack and lunch sack she will have. So its time. I am supposed to go look at one tomorrow but I may have to reschedule. 

Things are going well, ya know there is the same crappy life things that come and stress up your day but we are all good. Healthy, happy and starting the year off well. Addison and Jackson are playing more and more and it is SO adorable. She gets him to laugh and blows raspberrys on his belly. I love them. a lot. 

Speaking of love, I am loving this southern winter. It is definitely colder so I get the season which is nice. I also am able to go outside and I don't freeze my butt off. The lack of snow is cool too. For now I don't miss it. 

Well that concludes my ten minutes of random thoughts and eating cottage cheese with veggie chips because a small boy is now screaming. Great. 

So there you have it, Addison is three with sass for days, Jackson is 9 months and Dan and I are doing well. 

oh yea, happy new year.