Meet our Surrogate, Bridget!

I thought I would introduce my self. I am the surrogate. Bridget. I live in Boise. I have 3 kids, Jackson is 11, Rylee is 7 and Austin is 2.5.

I am married to Shawn.

I work part time as a hospice nurse.

I have been a gestational surrogate once before. Bringing two beautiful girls into this world 4.5 years ago. I have to say that was one of the coolest things I've ever done and I cant wait to experience that again.
I couldn't have imagined doing this for better people. Cody & Erin have been such a joy to get to know and I can't wait to take this crazy ride with them and give them their sweet baby.

I can share a little of what this has been like for me so far. When we were in Seattle in June I had blood work, a meeting with the Dr to go over my past medical history and what to expect with this clinic. I also had a sonohysterogram, which was a little camera put into my uterus to see how it looked inside. I have to admit, I was a little nervous for that part. I've heard other girls say they got valium and/or Vicodin for that and I got nothing. But in the end, meds would have been overkill. It was easy and pain free. Actually kinda cool, who gets to say, they've seen the inside of their uterus? Maybe that's the nurse in me. Shawn and I had a meeting with the psychologist to make sure we were just crazy enough to do this. Then we had a meeting with her and all 4 of us. To make sure we are all on the same page for the important things.
Once we navigated the murky waters of the legal contracts, it was on to meds.

I've been on Lupron for a couple weeks now. Its a small insulin needle injected into my stomach. I do that every evening. Now I'm also taking estrogen twice a day. Tomorrow I will double that dose and a few days after that I'll triple it. That is to thicken the lining of my uterus.  I am going in once a week to check and make sure the meds are working like their supposed to. So far so good.
I can't believe that in 3 weeks we go for the embryo transfer. For those unfamiliar with that. Its very similar to a pap smear. There's an ultrasound wand on my belly to help the Dr. see what he's doing, and he sticks this tiny little straw inside and places the embryos right inside the uterus. Its painless and quick. 

So that's a little about me and what's going on on my end. I am an open book so if anyone has any questions please feel free to ask.  

Another milestone!

22 days left until our transfer  and our cycle is officially, officially starting (even though we've felt it started 9 days ago).  Today Bridget had her suppression ultrasound which she passed with flying colors, to no one's surprise!  :)

A suppression ultrasound is done to give us a baseline.  Bridget's baseline state was induced by her taking Lupron for the last 9 days.  This ensures that her ovaries do not release eggs of her own prior to the embryo transfer.  What I've learned is that most Physicians consider this the actual starting point of the IVF cycle.  Good to know.  ;)

Bridget's appointment was at 9:45 am, she messaged me by 9:55 am saying how easy the appointment was and that the clinic in Idaho where she is being monitored said the ultrasound looked great.  Within an hour and a half I heard from our nurse coordinator, Leigh at SRM giving Bridget the green light to move on to the next level of medications.  We're moving up!  Tomorrow she starts Estrace, Aspirin and gets to decrease the Lupron.  I'm sure that will be a relief.

Cody received all of this news while still at work today.  He was so excited to hear that everything is going well and we are on track.  We are celebrating together, very far apart, I can't wait for him to get home!  And he can't either.

We are so blessed to have so much love and support in our lives.  Our friends and families are so important to have on this journey, if you're reading this- Thank you, we love you.  💚

23 Days until transfer!

Jaiden went and watched Connor play baseball in Great Falls today and she came home with a Griz onesie!  That's my girl!  :)  Pretty excited to add this to our collection.

Bridget has her 1st ultrasound tomorrow morning to assure the medication is doing its job.  I'll be excited to hear how things look and to make sure we are on track.  I'm really not concerned, Bridget does such a good job and is incredibly smart and intuitive.

Cody comes home FINALLY in 5 days, our house is so antsy waiting for him.  Working for a month straight is awfully trying for our whole family.  The pay off is that he gets to be home almost as long as he is away.

Excited for tomorrow! 

24 Days to Transfer!

Jaiden's turn!  :)  A new night time ritual...for 24 more days until we go back to Seattle!

25 Days to Transfer!!

Olivia found this onesie today and we had to buy it!  I made a countdown to transfer board and we are feeling the excitement!

And so the adventure begins...

It's Officially begun!

I've been told it doesn't feel real until this day...Start of the meds.  Now I'm not Bridget, I'm not the one taking these meds, but I am certain, my feelings shifted a little today.  Cody and I have always talked about having a baby together and until now we were doing a lot of talking and aligning ourselves for this moment.  Today, Bridget started meds and the talk became real, it turned to excitement and we have incredible hope.  Bridget is truly amazing.