Almost done with 1st Trimester

Dana had an appointment the other day confirming babies were measuring a little over 10 weeks.  Heartbeats were a little high but everything looked good. NP said babies were very active.  We were able to listen in during her visit since we were not able to make the doctor visit. Her next appointment is in July and we are hoping to be able to be there. There is nothing better than being able to hear those little heartbeats!

We are coming up to 12 weeks and just hope and pray all continues to go well.

Dana posted on her facebook today:

Dana Richmond Mathews

3 hours ago via mobile

I am excited to announce I have 2 precious little humans taking up space in my uterus. My 4 kids are relieved to announce these little ones aren't ours to keep. M & T (and big sister K) will be taking home their own version of Double Trouble in December!

·

• 61 people like this.

Heartbeat x 2

This morning, 10AM Dana went in for an Ultrasound to listen for heartbeat. They heard 2 heartbeats! All is going well & measuring on target. Almost 7 weeks!  One more ultrasound next week and we are officially released from the Fertility clinic and on to regular OB.We will miss our Fertility coordinator, Carrie, who was awesome!

My text this afternoon to Dana, "Thank-You for giving our babies a home for the next few months... we are so grateful!"

And there are 2!

I received a call from Dana at 9:30am to find out results of Ultrasound. Before, I could even ask how she was doing, she tells me...you are having two babies!! There are twins in there! I started to cry.... a happy cry. I couldn't wait to call Mike to tell him.

Pregancy has been confirmed

On Friday, April 20th Dana went in for our blood test to confirm HCG levels. Results came back perfect. Her levels were in a perfect range and confirmed pregnancy.

We received follow up blood test today to make sure levels are rising and there is a normal pregnancy. We received great news and levels are strong.

Next appointment is on Thursday for Ultrasound...

I am starting to get excited but still very early to go picking out baby names!

Home Pregnancy Test

After not being able to sleep for days, we get the text from Dana at 5:30AM.

Her home pregnancy test is positive. I cant even describe what I was feeling. Maybe too good to be true.

Meet Dana

Skipping ahead a month, we moved forward with our surrogate, Dana. I have not looked back since. She has been so incredible through this whole process and has been a good support system for me to reach out to. She has 4 children of her own, two of which are twin girls! She lives in Kansas City. 

We have been so blessed to find someone that we feel comfortable with, can trust and really like.

Her and I were taking shots at the same time to prepare for the transfer which was Easter Sunday. My egg retrieval was a few days before Easter Sunday. I was told they retrieved 21 eggs, a few days later I found that only 14 survived fertilization. Then on Easter Sunday, we arrived to the clinic and the embryologist let us know that out of the 14 embryos, we only had 2 that made it far enough to use.

These two embryos were transferred into our surrogate. My husband and I were able to watch during the transfer. Pretty Amazing! An Easter Sunday, we will never forget. 

Now, we wait 10 days to find out if we are pregnant. The percentage is 50%.

The Research Begins...

The past several months, my husband has been on a mission to make sure he does his due diligence in researching every possible surrogacy option. We had conference calls in India, Thailand and doctors through-out. I came to realization this process was unbelievably intense but I knew if anyone could handle all of the research and intense process, was my husband. My one and only job was to find a surrogate! I started calling individuals that I found on chat boards, online forums and surrogacy boards. I spoke with several women and they all had interesting stories but I didn't feel comfortable with anyone or have an instant connection.

On New Year's eve, I made one quick call to call someone I found online.  After speaking with her over the phone, I knew she was the one....