Journey Coordinator & Next Steps

So since becoming officially matched with my wonderful IP's, I have been bumped up to the next level. I have been assigned a case manager and she is going to be my point of contact throughout this process.

The coordinator sent me my "surrogacy handbook" to read over and I will be speaking with her about it in the morning. I am excited to talk to her as well. The handbook is great. I had talked to Jeni about a lot of the info in there already, but it is good to have on hand. She has also sent all my information off to the IVF clinic in LA. Once they receive that packet, they will be contacting me (within 10 days) to set up an appt for my medical screening, teach me about IVF and how to use the needles. It is a two day (overnight) trip and hopefully I will be meeting my IP's then too! We will see. I am not sure how all that is going to work yet.

So that is what is going on now. I have just been so happy lately, and I can't tell you how great it is to open my email and find a note from them. They are so sweet, and so deserving. I cannot wait to help give them what they have dreamed about all these years. And as a heads up, I have added them as authors on this blog, so every now and then they may pop in and say hello to you all as well! We all thank you for supporting us in this journey. It is so exciting and emotional for all parties involved.

Hope you all have had a great week! It has definitely FLOWN by for me!

Much Love,
Katy

It's officially OFFICIAL!

I am so excited and happy! This is an amazing couple! I can't wait to tell you all about them. We have been conversing back and fourth via email and they are exactly the people I've wanted to do this for. The search has ended! With their permission I'll be sharing more with you soon. What a great birthday weekend I had!! 29 is going to be an amazing, life-changing year!


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Gift.

Some of you know my birthday was yesterday. I went to the mailbox and my wonderful Aunt sent me the most amazingly perfect card with a message that fits so perfect to me right now. I told her about my surrogacy plans AFTER receiving this card. Tell me it's not perfect! She's the best.

It reads, "God not only loves you very much but also has put His hand on you for something special.
1 Thessalonians 1:4. Which is also very close to a verse I put on FB the other day as well.



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Skype Date

So today was the day! "Meeting" face to face over skype with my potential IP's. I woke up nervous, but as the day went by, I just calmed down and was relaxed by the time 1:00 rolled around.

I got the girls lunch and we all sat at the table to skype. F & C appeared, and they were just as they were in the photos I received in their profile. Such a beautiful husband and wife, just missing that one piece of their life together. We talked about family, friends, activities, marriage, hopes and wishes through this journey together etc. I even got to meet "The Beast" their sweet little rabbit. They are a fun, adventurous couple, much like Joe and I. The conversation flowed pretty smooth and I enjoyed learning more about them and where they are from.

So I did ask about their struggles with infertility, this will be another post once I know were definitely matching & with their permission I will share more, but the emotions started flowing about their struggles and I just was hit with a love for this couple. We went from laughing and talking, to tears. Ten years they have tried. I cannot imagine. I will be praying this is the end of those struggles for them, and I can help make their dreams come true.

As we hung up on skype, I sat and took it all in for a moment. I am more than excited about this, and confident in this being a wonderful match. I can't stop smiling, and I hope they feel the same about us.

I have so much left to do today, sorry this post is brief, but I promise it is going to be so great from here on out! Thanks so much for yall's support! I wonder what they are thinking/talking about as they go to sleep tonight.....it is 11pm their time....hmmmmm.

P.S. Joe skyped too, he did great! I think it made our decision to do this more of a reality. I love you babe!

The Meeting!

After several emails with circle, they informed us that Katy accepted to move forward with us, a meeting is organized for the next Sunday!

So great, we are so happy, but in the same time very anxious.
if she does not like them? if she cannot understand us because of our french accent (and not good english...)? if she think we are not the good match?...a lot of questions that we cannot answer.
We crossed the fingers!

This day was so long...we were connected several hours before the meeting, just in case of!
And when the Skype began, we realized that our first inspiration was the good one. Katy and Katy family are so wonderful! it was so amazing to discover them, so great!
Immediately Katy reminds us one Fred sister, it is like if we already know Katy family.
We are so lucky to find them! Katy family is our super hero family, you know like the cartoon "The incredible"! We are sure they have superpower...


Maybe it is the end of the tube for us, now we can see the light, still far away, but now we are not alone and we can feel the warmth.

Big hugs!

All About Surrogacy

This is a wonderful blog post that says it all! I am so excited to be matched and see how this whole journey goes. It is sure to be an amazing process.

http://lovemakesafamily2011.blogspot.com/2012/03/surrogates-point-of-view.html

Twiddling my Thumbs

So here I am waiting. The week had been very uneventful but that is okay because I've been feeling very busy otherwise.

So I've been "tentatively matched" with F&C in France. We've both reviewed one another's profiles and we have agreed to the next step which is a Skype call. Yes, I am nervous. But we did hear from them via email and they are excited to "meet" and have a little talk. They seem really great. Active, loving couple, with a wonderful extended family - this baby would have cousins to play with etc.. So this is where we are at. I am excited and nervous but I know, just like the 2 1/2 hour phone call with Alicia, that this will turn out easy peasy as well.

So Sunday is the day. Please be in prayer for us. Thanks for following along in my journey!

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Gift from the sky

After signing with circle we knew that we could wait during several months before to be matched with our surrogate mother. We are waiting for so many years, some additional months cannot affect us.

And the really good surprise arrived, directly from the sky!

We received a profile of a surrogate mother from circle.
We were very surprised, because in our mind we were prepared for waiting during several months.
 In the same time we were so excited but also very anxious and stressed.

But the stress disappeared very quickly, in fact, just after seeing the photograph of Katy and her family. We knew in the second that Katy was a "gift from the sky", we had a so good feeling it is really difficult to explain this sensation. We just loved this family immediately! It was a so beautiful day!
We are so grateful!

Of course, we sent an email to circle saying YES we want!!
Then we just needed to wait to see if Katy wanted to build her journey with us...and the stress appeared again ;-)!

MMPI

Today was so busy! But it was good. I had the MMPI exam today with the psychologist. It took about 30-40 minutes. Wasn't as bad as I thought. I was kinda weirded out knowing someone was watching me take it, but I quickly got over that and it was like I was taking it alone. It wasn't hard, more of a personality test. Some weird questions but that was to be expected. Next step matching. I'm getting anxious, praying I find the perfect couple! Very very soon this will happen. No more prep work, now I'm to the real stuff. Eeeeek!

I've also joined a group on Facebook with about 8 other gals with Circle. I'm glad to have them to chat with. They've given me advice, tips, and a dose of reality. They have all had wonderful journeys so far. Can't wait!

Thanks for reading my quick little update!


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Social Worker Chat

Well Monday afternoon I had my call with the social worker. Joe and I has decided the night before we were gonna go down to Colorado Springs and pick up a new car. I told her we would be on the road and she said that was fine. I just hoped my phone service wouldn't drop our calls.

It did, just a few times but we got thru the entire 2 1/2 hr long conversation. It actually wasn't bad, and it kept me company on the road. She was very personable and made the call laid back and easy. I was nervous but quickly my nerves went away and it felt like I was talking to a friend.

The purpose of this call is to make my profile that they will send to the IP's. she asked me about my family, my childhood, jobs, education, hopes for the future and current events. It was a good conversation.

She called Joe Tuesday morning and they talked about an hour or so. He did great and is so supportive of my dreams to so this for someone. I was grateful that he took the time out for me to do this. He's so awesome.

After our phone call Alicia sent me my commitment letter. I'm pretty much all done!! I've sent the letter back in to them today and I've been accepted!! As of today I received a profile if a family the believe is my best match.......now to pray about it and hope this family is it for me! They are from France!

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Prayers!

First off, I hope you all have a Happy Mother's Day!! I just wanted to pop in real quick and ask for you all to pray for me this weekend! I have my conference call with the social worker (2 1/2 hrs) Monday at 11am. Then Joe will talk to her on Tuesday. I am really excited and so nervous at the same time!! I hope my anti-social husband can handle this okay haha! Just kidding, I know he will do great! Thanks friends!

Also just wanted to share this photo. It is so true, and this is why I want to do this so much!!

Social Work Screening

Well today I received an email from Alicia at Circle. She is one of the social workers who will assist with my screening and matching process. They have received all of my medical records and they are currently being reviewed by and IVF doctor liaison. He will pre-approve me so I can move forward in the surrogacy journey. I do not see that being a problem.

So with that step behind me, next step is a long talk with her over the phone. She will talk further about the surrogacy process and I can ask any questions I have as well. She will also be asking a lot of personal questions. Basically generating a little biography about my life. Once that is done I have a little   100 question (MMPI exam) personality type test. This is done over video conferencing with a licensed psychologist, so they literally watch me take this test. Should be interesting!

"C" is ready to move on to the next step. She is gonna look more into the legalities etc. and is kinda asking me if I want to start moving forward too. I am honest in my response to her that I am hesitant, but not un-willing to go indy. I just really want to be sure we know what we are getting into. I know this is exciting and all, but we need all our ducks in a row. People seem to do this all the time, and I am definitely in contact with those that have. She seems like a really amazing person and I really really want to help her out. We should begin to chat on FB soon, I am excited to get to know her more and more.

Found a few great bible verses I just want to jot down here. They are very inspiring to me right now.

Romans 12:6 - In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. So if God has given you the ability to prophesy, speak out with as much faith as God has given you.

2 Corinthians 9:7 - You must each decide in your heart how much to give. And don’t give reluctantly or in response to pressure. “For God loves a person who gives cheerfully.”

We are to give with a grateful heart, and I intend to do just that!

Communicating.

So I have been communicating with C for the past few days. She really does seem to be a perfect fit. I won't go too in depth right now, but we both agree on what we want for the most part. The only thing about C is she wants to go, what the surrogate world calls, "indy" which means independent of an agency. Being that this is my first time doing this, I feel more comfortable using my agency. So what do I do? I know no matter what, we would both have our own individual attorneys throughout the process but there is so much more to it, it seems. "C" is ready to roll, and so am I and she wants me to be her surrogate. There is also another couple that wrote me yesterday, same beliefs I have, live in Maryland, and want to go independent as well. I don't want to keep either waiting, but I also want to see what IP's the agency has to offer. So now I am in a little predicament. What to do.....how do I know who will be best for ME, and gosh I wish I could help them all!!!

I spoke with Jeni today just to ask how the process was rolling on their end in receiving my medical records, and she said she saw some things come thru today. She is waiting for an update to see if they have received everything, then my file will be complete. Once it is complete, I'll be in screening with a social worker for about a week, then I can finally receive my commitment letter and IP's profiles. She said the process should start moving faster very soon. I would really love for someone like the above two couples to be with my agency too, I can only hope!

So that is about it for right now. I hope I can make the best decision. I am being prayerful about it all.

Patiently....Waiting.

So the last few days have been pretty un-eventful in regards to all this surrogacy stuff.  It is painstaking wondering when I will hear back from the agency lol. It is ridiculous how many times a day I look in my email eager to see a message from Jeni lol. I did hear from her last night though, and she said they are expecting to receive my medical records early this week. So they will send those off to their MD and then he will approve me for the meds, etc. So we are well on our way, just need to be PATIENT. Which is not really in my vocabulary.

That being said, I've really been praying for patience, because this is not something to rush. I read something today that really spoke to me. And I know it will speak to you as well. It said, "God is never late, but he is never early." If we allow God to guide our paths, he will make a breakthrough in our lives, in HIS time not ours.  I will find someone who shares my beliefs, and I should not have to lower my standards. Even if I am a "tougher" match. I don't want to be in a position where I will have regrets.

Soooo.....I got an email from a lady who saw a post I made on a site and she sent me an email with her story. I will call her "C". She is just the person I have been looking for. Unable to have another child, and a devout Christian. We did some introductions and we will see where this all goes. But I am excited to have found someone so far! I just need to get more details about her expectations and the way she plans to go about all the legalities etc. Sorry to be so vague, but it's a very new detail in this journey. Just be in prayer for me and C!

Medical Clearance - Check!

Well, I had my OB visit, and Kim was so excited to hear I wanted to do such a wonderful thing for a family. She had no hesitation in signing my medical release. I had to ask if she had seen any surrogate mothers in her office, and she had. She said they were all beautiful experiences. That made me even more happy to begin this journey. After my checkup I went over to the lab to get blood drawn. I needed to get my TSH levels (thyroid) checked again. I came home and scanned the release to send to Jeni, and told her that the blood results would be back within a day or two. No joke, 9pm that night, I got an email with my lab results, and my levels seemed to be good. So I sent that off to Jeni too.

I cannot believe how smooth things are going so far. At this point, I have done everything I need to do. Now I am waiting on my Dr's offices/hospitals to send my past medical records (pregnancy stuff) to Circle. I hope they don't take forever. I think the next step will be the phone call with the social worker. I was just thinking, today was the first day since starting this that I didn't talk to Jeni haha. She is so amazing, and she is the reason I have decided to go with Circle as my agency. She has been such a great go to person, support, and follows up SO WELL. So if you ever run across my blog, thank you Jeni for being so awesome.

In the meantime, here I wait. I'm seriously addicted to all things surrogacy. Really hoping to find a great group/forum so I can talk to some ladies going through the same process. I just joined a group on FB tonight, so I hope I like it. I always enjoyed being on babyfit when I was pregnant with my girls. Not to mention I made a few wonderful friends! Thanks for reading!