5 Months Old and Clinic Info!

Hey everyone!

The twins turned 5 months old today! And yes... I do have some pictures for you! hehe.

Haley is now rolling both ways and laughing out loud, Gavin is cooing and babbling and is rolling here and there at his own pace! Next weigh in is at their 6 month check up right after Christmas, definitely excited!

Here are some pictures for you all!

Plainly, as you can see they are getting huge! What little cuties they are becoming! Haley is sleeping her nights and Gavin is starting to get close to it!

Okay, surrogacy update as well. I don't know what's going on with the Egg Donation but I'd be glad to start meds... tomorrow to get the show on the road. I would LOVE to think that it would happen on time for January, but I'm just not sure anymore.

I REsent allmy paperwork via Xpresspost, should be there by tomorrow... if not I'll flip a lid, literally.

If it is impossible to get the egg donation by the end of January then I will have to rethink it as a possibility until after the surrogacy. *wimpers*

On a positive note, I should have my testing for the surrogacy done within the next TWO WEEKS. How exciting is that?! I may finally get tomeet my IP's finally! I'm so darn excited! We are still all hoping to do contracts in January so that we can do the mock cycle in February so that we're all geared up for a good timed transfer to have delivered by Christmas. I'm starting to feel like this is actually going to happen... and I'm so fricken excited!

Work is going well too. Can't believe it'll be two months that I've been back to work soon! Seems to be flying by, and thankfully, work has become a distraction until we can get the surrogacy going, before that, it seemed like the time was going SOOO slow!

Can't wait, Tammy and John have been great and we're all getting nervous and excited, Josh is starting to ask questions about how it will all work, which means that he is excited too. Men never quite show excitement the same way women do, but its always a good thing when he's asking questions, this time he wants to be completely involved. It's great, and it feels like this will be a whole new story,a nd a completely different surrogacy. I can't wait!

That's it for now, but I will update next week! Will take lots of pictures and details of the tests as well! YAY!



19 Weeks!

Yes! That's right!

There is only 19 weeks until April! Holay shmokes!

I woke up this morning with  no voice, coughing, sinus cold.. HOWEVER... there is only 19 weeks until April, and then it'll be the transfer!!

18 weeks until t he wedding. Holy holy holy shmokes.

Hoping that the next four months go by nice and quickly!

Yes, I've started the countdown!

Twins... What Twins?

Teehee. Yes, I got to see the twins today! I am extremely grateful to be able to say that they were here for a couple hours today and I got a ton of pictures, but of course, I have a few of my favorites that I will share with  you!

I took SO long to get ready for their visit today haha I redyed my hair, put some make up on, bought some new clothes and got the kids all excited about their visit today! This was me just about a half hour before they arrived... super duper nervous haha

The twins are about 4.5 months old [tomorrow]. They are growing SO fast now. Haley is 23 inches long and Gavin is 25 inches long, both approaching 12 lbs! They are SO big! They are adjusted at 2.5 months, and for 2.5 months old, they would be little giants haha. What a wonderful thing it was to see them today! Just amazing!






Indeed, they are getting big!

Can't wait to see them again, but that would be up to their parents. Makes me a hundred times more happy that I can still help people. They are such happy little babies!! As the time passes, I realize that even though not many people would choose to do surrogacy a second time, or a third or a fourth... I'm just so grateful that my spouse is supporting me throught his. How amazing is it that event hough I can't be a TS again, he is still going to let me continue being a GS. I just can't wait to be able to watch Tammy and John with their first born!! They said that they would like a sibling project if there was only one baby, and I would be so honoured if they would want to work with me a second time!

So glad these munckins have such a good home, and most importantly, each other!

Money... Dun Dun Dun

A lot of surrogates agree that money topics are NOT our favorite ones.

I spoke to my IP's a few nights ago, and of course, they wanted to know about the money aspect. They definitely aren't the type to bring it up often, as in two months, this is the FIRST time they have brought it up.

Having spoken to THEM about it, I realize that there are some things that probably a lot of people don't understand about surrogacy in that way.

A surrogates "reimbursement" is non-taxable. This is to help with all the payables involved inthe pregnancy. This could include a million things. Food, clothes, food, counselling, helping with sitters, travel for appointments etc etc etc need to be paid for us. I did my first surrogacy for 2k all inclusive. This did not even cover the food expenses for the last trimester. So you can imagine just how quickly this money does go.

A lot of us require extra rest [especially while carrying multiples] and our reimbursement helps to get sitters so that we can get the rest required to have a healthy pregnancy. Especially if we have other children under school age, it is strongly recommended by doctors that the surrogate and her partner make sure to have one on one time, as the surrogacy in general can take quite a toll on the relationship.

Most people think that the couple will pay said surrogate something like 50k. This is not true. In Canada, reimbursements are LEGAL. A lot of intended parents are contacting me and telling me that it is illegal to give a surrogate money. I don't know about any of you, but I can't afford to do another surrogacy for free. The emotional strain alone warrants or reimbursement. "Reasonable Reimbursement" is legally NEEDED to have a surrogate. No law in Canada will tell you that you HAVE to do this for FREE. No court or judge would ever pass such a law.

REASONABLE is within 15-25k in Canada. However, in the US, there is no limitation to what a surrogate can ask from Intended Parents.

I've found that a lot of people don't realize that in Canada, the Intended Parents do not have to pay for any health coverage... much like France or Great Britain, we have an amazing health system. During the pregnancy, we are taken care of. The medical bills that it does not cover however, include the IVF procedure and medications that come with it. This would fall under our medical coverage that we pay for for dental, optical and prescriptions. Most people do have this, and I know that for my coverage I pay something like 17$/month for family coverage.


We are also going through an agency this time. The main reason I went though an agency was because I didn't want to have to handle the money issues. I wanted to make sure that someone else could handle this part FOR me. I'm HORRIBLE when it comes to asking for money, which is one of the reasons my last surrogacy ended so badly. I wanted a third party to take care of all of that.

Money Money Money

Yuck

We are getting into the contract phase though, which is why this even came up.

It's good though, I'm excited that things are moving along. I have to wait now to see when the dr is setting up all my testing and screening, and I get to meet my IP's and most likely we will sign contracts then. We want to be together and we want to have a lot done every time I go.

I asked permission to tell you all a little more about them, and I'm so lucky, they are more than happy to be announced in my blogs. How fortunate am I?!

Tammy and John live in the Greater Toronto Area [not far out of though]. It will be amazing for the transfer and testing and just about everything until I am released to my OB office. This way, I am the only one who really has to travel, and I know that they will have the chance to be a part of it all! You have NO idea how happy that made me!

So..... we're about 21 weeks from transfer!

20 weeks from my Egg Donation.

Yep.

You read that right.

We're doing a shared cycle... that is... my IP's that I'm donating to and my IP's that I'm doing surrogacy for [different couples] are sharing MY cycle lol

We're retrieving MY eggs, so that they can put them into THEIR surrogate, and then we're also going to be synced up with my IP's ED so that HER eggs can be transferred into ME 3-5 days later.

Wedding is in about 19 weeks as well. CRAZY.

I've been workin for about three weeks now. Also crazy. It's helping the time go by though, that's for sure! Hoping to do another VLOG on youtube by the end of the weekend to update there as well. It's going to go by SO fast now! WOOHOO!