I Was Told This Was Overdue?

So, I was recently advised that this is overdue lol  To be honest, I don't know when the last time I blogged was, either here OR on my youtube... but I know I'm way behind, and I'll tell you all why, and hopefully you can agree that it is a valid enough excuse.

April 15th - Dentist Appointment
April 15th - Home Visit From A Child Development Worker
April 16th - Play Date And Shopping Day
April 20th - Gabey's 1 Year Appointment
April 20th-23rd [just waiting for the appointment time and date] - Meeting With Social Worker
April 21st - Hair Appointment
April 23rd-25th - Easter Weekend With Lots Of Family Arrangements
April 27th - Gabey's 1 Year Birthday
April 28th - Mom's Birthday
April 28th - 1 Hour Glucose Test
April 28th - Thryoid Blood Test
April 29th - 24 Week OBS [Will Be 23W6D]
May 1st - Gabey's 1 Year Birthday Party

........JAM PACKED! 

We are FINALLY better though, and I've been working my tail feather off trying to get all my chores back to being all done as well.

I also order my doppler, and it had been sent to me last week, so now I'm just waiting for it to arrive now!  Exciting!

Alright, so this picture was taken yesterday, but it's still "new".  It was taken before I ate, so I wasn't bloated yet.  You can tell the difference from when I'm bloated though, the whole top part near my ribs blows up a lto more.  This way, you can see that I'm bubbling out haha



I find my webcam makes me look "skinny" a lot, and I took a picture with my phone and I definitely looked bigger, but you get the point lol 

Anyway, I'm sorry again, and I'll desperately try to keep up with this, but like I said, it's been pretttty hectic.  lol 

-Cathleen

New Surro Site To Look At !

Hey everyone!!

So, I've been having a hard time to come up with what to say lately haha

I'm feeling MUCH MUCH better now, and also have a new couch set!  I love it haha

I've also joined a new surrogroup, that I just love.  I've been on routinely [daily] and I find that the environment is so fresh and friendly.

It is a new site though, so it is very young and still in the process of getting members etc.  If you have any questions about surrogacy, and want to ask a few people at once, this is a great way to do it, and I haven't seen ONE negative response to someone else, and as far as I can see, it is DRAMA FREE, which is very very hard to find on a website. 

The best part... it is for IP's and Surros AND Egg Donors.  There are quite a few experienced sides to it, on all sides, and it's hard to find that at times. 

Here is the link : http://www.allthingssurrogacy.com/  I think that we can all enjoy this one, and there aren't "packs" of people and it is very low for judgemental feelings etc.  It is so much easier to upload pictures, you have a million security options [so it's not like either can see your entire profile, or no one can see it] which is one thing I REALLY liked. 

You all know I don't advertise much, but I really think that this is going to be an amazing site, and want to get more people involved!!  Feel free to add me once there are well, again, there aren't many people on there, so it's a nice small community [other sites have thousands and thousands].

Thanks everyone for putting up with my advertising lol  Really though, I recommend this site! 

-Cathleen

PS - 14 days until glucose test and thyroid retest
        15 days until next OBS and until we get the ultrasound pictures
        16 days until we ht 6 months and VIABILITY
        100 days until FULL TERM!
        

21 Weeks!! Belly and Belly Measurements haha

Well, 21 weeks down, about 16 more to go!!

Here are the pictures I posted up on facebook for 21 weeks [yesterday].

I know the last one is soo different lol I forgot totake it yesterday, and then I was laying around watching the time to take my fundal height [I wait 5minutes after laying down so that the babies can settle back a bit] so I took it real quick lol  New pajamas hahahaha

So AROUND I am 35 inches, I was 30 before pregnancy.
Fundal height is 33.5cm - which would measure for 33.5 weeks.

Wanted to update everyone!!

i'm in the process of buying a scale too haha

Alright, that's it folks!!

-Cathleen

Here Are The Newest Belly Pics!

20.5 weeks down... hopeufully about 15.5 left!! WOOT!!





........yeah... I know... you don't have to tell me... my shirt and pants don't match LOL

I didn't even realize MYSELF how round I was until I went to take a pic of my bellybutton for myself... this pic wasn't even MEANT to be share... I just wanted to SEE it LOL

Getting bigger...and bigger... by the day it seems <3 

Only about 15.5 weeks left... 15.5... holay smokes! 

I can't believe it sometimes... and I can't believe how FAST this pregnancy is going!  By far.. the fastest one yet!  I thought my first one went by super quick because I spent literally from the first day until the DAY before I went into labor [labor started at 40w6d] in school.  The second, I spent over half of it in school, and hte second half dragged on... forever.  This time, I'm at home... full time.  So I thought it was going to... drag on forever and ever.  I was soo wrong!

In about 10 weeks, it could be any day! 

THAT'S CRAZY!!

lol

I'm sorry I haven't been around... I've been super sick.  I thought sickness lasted forever with a singleton pregnancy... but my body is having like... 10x harder time getting better from this with TWO.  It's been almost a week wince it all started... maybe only 5 days... but ti seems like a week.  Started with aches, then a slight runny nose, then a sore throat + runny nose, and then a sore throat + super runny nose + cough.  It's the normal cold that we all get, it's just taking forever to just set in and then leave haha.  No real fever, but I am watchingit for strep throat... which apparently I'm prone to while pregnant. 

The cough is the worst part... it makes everything else SEEM a lot worse than it really is. 

So yes... it's probably not nearly as bad as it FEELS, but we allll know that the sinus and throat cold... SUCK.  I'm nearly at the point where I'm willing to get a sitter for a day.. and just sleeeeeep. 

Josh has been going through... a lot... lately.  That's putting it lightly. 

So I can't really ask him to come over and take care of hte kids while I sleep right now.  I'm... exhausted. 

But, other than feeling sick... I dno't have many complaints.  Yes... I'm sore and I've been a lot more achy in my pelvix, but I knwo that's a lot to do with being sick right now.  Most of my aches and pains are... if I elimate those... and the tiredness of fighting this cold off... I'm feeling pretty fricken good to be honest. 

I had someone say that they were "miserable" throughout most of their twin pregnancy.  It kind of upset me... how many people get to carry twins? 

I know I DO complain a bit... but I hope that I get it out that I'm also EMBRACING the experience as well.  Yeah... it comes with it's disadvantages... but man... there are TWO babies in there!!  Some people are miserable from day 1 with ONE baby... do people think it'll be a rollercoaster of sunshine and rainbows? 

I know that I didn't have the same situation as them... I'm not them.... etc etc... but I think that we should also appreciate what we're doing as surrogates... it's 9 months for crying out loud... I think we can sacrifice that for a life time of happiness....right?  We do for our own kids... and we could actually have them ourselves... imagine the ENHANCED joy if we couldn't.

I get that near the end... most of us are saying "Is it over yet??!!"  ... the swelling, puking, bloating, aches, pains, headaches, sinus congestion, exhaustion, decreased immune system and the thousand other things you can deal with during pregnant ARE annoying... but common... especially as a surrogate, we have to have known what we were getting into.  We signed up to help someone.  That's what we shoudl be focuxing on. 

I'm sorry to rant, I always seem to do that huh? lol

Thank you for reading, I know my readers are dwindling a bit lately, but that's okay, maybe once my appointmetns get interesting I'll haul in some more readers lol

I apologize about not doing my video blogs... no voice, puffy face and being this sick.... not attractive LOL

Have a great day everyone <3

-Cathleen & Surrobabies

20 Weeks.. Found An Outfit I Really Like hehe

So... as far as maternity outfits go, I think we all have that certain outfit that we really like and tend to wear more than the others haha  This is mine



I will admit... I wear it as a suit whenever I can, you can't see the jeans, but they're navy blue and even thought they fit "snuggly" now, they're not small yet [thank god].  I absolutely love this suit together, and it doesn't make me look humungous ... anywhere, which is fantastic.  Some shits will give yoiu the love handle look, others make your boobs look huge... it's hard to find good maternity suits! haha  The pants don't empasize on my thighs or butt and the shirt doesn't make my belly look bigger than it is, it gives an overall slim look.

I also sometimes get annoyed with shirts that are baggy in the wrong places and make you look fat lol 

Admittedly, I also don't like shirts that make my belly look tiny.  Because if they make my belly look small... a lot of other things have to be emphasized... not a big fan! 

Had to share with all of you I'm sure a lot of you have had the same problem with trying to get that perfect maternity outfit.  I will post a full body picture of this suit with the shoes I always wear with it when I have someone at the house to take the picture! 

For those just getting into the maternity cloth area, remember that comfort is #1.  If you aren't very used to wearing heels, don't even go there, your feet will swell like CRAZY... and your back is already under stress, so you don't want to add to that.

Flats are always a nice way to make you look dressy without all the discomfort.  Even then, remember that they should have a little wiggle room as well, because even if you think they fit nicely at 4 months, by 6-7 months, they'll be tight, even before walking around.  Round toe is usually preferred over pointed toe... again... mostly to do with a little swelling.

If you choose to not wear maternity pants [these aren't, they're just a couple sizes bigger], remember that they need to be loose, I would recommend NEEDING a belt to have them on over having a snug pair.  Even stretchy jeans will be outgrown in a very short time, the area just above the pelvic bone spreads out a lot before you even have a "bump".  When I first got these pants about a month ago, I needed a belt with them, and now I can go without.  As soon as pants get tight, stop wearing them, because it'll make you feel really sick, and it's not good to have any pressure on your uterus.  Don't be afraid to wear pajama bottoms for a couple weeks around the house until you fit into the next size pants.

For maternity pants... not all are made the same way.  That elastic part makes a HUUGE difference.  I've so far found for this pregnancy that the full elastic just doesn't do it for me.  It DOES offer support, and I loved it for my second pregnancy.  However, with this pregnancy, the support is TOO much, where I feel really squished in, so I just roll the elastic down a bit, and it adds a lot of support for the lower belly, and makes a BIG different for ligament pain.  Remember that you don't want them to be TIGHT.  We tend to grow... fast... so you want something to do you at least 2-3 months as maternity pants... are a bit expensive. 

Shirts are a lot easier.  You can easily buy a larger shirt if you don't want to wear a maternity shirt.  The benefits of this, is that it's a lot cheaper.  I like maternity shirts because it gives me a "pregnant" look instead of a "oh, she still hasnt' lost the baby fat" look.  Maternity shirts are a bit tricky to get the proportions right though, I will admit.  The boob parts aren't always flattering, but they are made to grow.  I have a couple shirts that I tend to wear a sweater with to avoid the "boob popping" look haha.  With shirts, it's all about body type and preference.

I don't much bother with accessories in pregnancy.. I find I'm stuffy and warm enough without, but a lot of people like to wear long necklaces to take emphasis to the belly, and away from everything else [that is... everything else that SWELLS lol]. 

good luck ladies.. maternity shopping can be exciting... and a bit discouraging! haha

have a great day everyone!

-Cathleen