June 15, 2006

The 8 week ultrasound was today, and everything looks good! Lesley's doctor is pretty sure the babies will be born in 2006, even though the due date is January 24th . . . normal for multiple births. I am going to attempt to attach a copy of the ultrasound pictures, but I'm not sure you will be able to see anything at all. Our little blobs are about the size of a bean!

May 30, 2006

Today was our first ultrasound, and it was expedited by Lesley's high HcG levels. The ultrasound technician wouldn't turn the screen to show us until she had a clear picture of what she was looking at. I strategically positioned myself so I could see anyway, and it was very apparent that we were having twins! Lesley reminded me that she knew first and had warned me! Isn't she intuitive? Gary did not pass out, and took the news into stride. Double the planning, double the excitement. When we called Mom and Grandmother, they thought we were teasing them! It was fun to pass the news, and I'm sure we are in store for many more surprises . . . good ones, that is!

May 18, 2006

We're pregnant! Yeah! What a wonderful birthday present! We knew that Lesley would have the labs in the morning, and we were all very anxious. Needless to say, I accomplished nothing at work. Apparently, the grouchy lab lady told Lesley that it would be at least 24 hours, but that was resolved with some tears and ingenuity on Lesley's behalf! She convinced them to send over a courier immediately, and they did. A couple hours later, we know! It was a little difficult to spread the word. I was trying to contact Gary first, and of course, he wouldn't answer any of his phones (bad reception). I got through to him, and then began the numerous calls I promised! I went home at half day to meet Gary, and we had crawfish to celebrate! What a great day! What a relief that the wait is over.

May 7, 2006

It is the morning of the procedure, and I think we are all feeling more relaxed than we expected. We were able to eat Lesley's favorite breakfast, and head to the clinic. They were so great to us at the clinic. The embryologist gave us a picture of the 2 embryos that they chose for the procedure, and he gave us the petri (sp?) dish that they developed in! Isn't it amazing how small we start out? They let Gary and I go into the procedure, and we were all able to watch them take them embryos out of the dish into a tube, and watch them travel to their destination on the computer screen. Amazing! I cried like a fool, and one of the nurses took pictures the whole time! It was a really wonderful experience, and we were so glad to be able to participate.

When we got home, we chose to watch movies and relax all day . . . that is what our (Lesley and I) favorite thing is to do! We ate soup, and Lesley was quite positive she was pregnant. I can't tell you how awesome it has been to have someone so positive involved in this process. The embryologist did say we were in the "gimme" category due to our ages, quality of blastocyst, and going to a 5-day transfer. We hope he is right!

May 5, 2006

It has been a very busy week! My friend, Teresa, came to visit on Friday, and we had a great time! It was nice to have someone take my mind off of all the IVF stuff. Teresa was going back to Midland on the same day that Lesley was coming in for the embryo transfer! After we picked up a sack of live crawfish for her to fly back to Midland (that's right folks, they do not discriminate against crawfish flying), we took her to the airport. We picked Lesley up at the same time, so everything worked out well. Lesley and I went to get pedicures, and I fixed some of her favorite dishes. We were looking forward to eating and relaxing after the procedure tomorrow!

May 2, 2006

Today was the "retrieval" procedure with Dr. Richard-Davis. It was very simple and fast, so we were out of there by 10:00 a.m.! I was given sedation for comfort, and they retrieved 20 mature follicles! This is great, and much more than we expected. It is really nice to get good news, and for things to go smoothly. We went crazy with the camera, because I am trying to document the experience. Here are a couple of our pictures!

April 14, 2006

Well, Lesley has already started taking her injections, and I started today. It is really amazing what science can do! Of course, she will have to take them for much longer than me, and her needles look pretty scary! She is really tough, and doesn't even flinch. I can't say the same for myself, and let's face it . . . there is no way Mom would even watch these injections being given!

All is going well. We just have to get bloodwork drawn and ultrasounds frequently. They have to prepare Lesley and I simultaneously, so it seems a little tricky to me. I think I could teach a course on this stuff by the time we are finished!

I am attaching a picture of Gary and "the girls." He is already a great dad!

April 11, 2006

I flew to Midland on April 7th to join Lesley, Taylor, Mom, and Dad for the weekend. We went to Traci's shower, and Taylor seemed to have a great time. She stayed so busy, she passed out on the couch at the end! What a party animal!

Gary met us for his birthday in Dallas on April 9th (Mom's birthday, too). We all had dinner together, and started to prepare for our court date on Tuesday. Mark and Cindy had us over to their house for dinner on April 10 to help prepare us for how the court procedings may go. They put so much time and energy into making sure this part of the process went well. We were so grateful, because it involved a lot of different details and paperwork. We arrived for our court hearing to meet Mark at 9:15, and I was really nervous. As it turned out, the judge approved our contract and waived the home study within 10 minutes of meeting with us! We think she was so tired hearing about other peoples' divorces, that she was glad to hear of a happy story. Everyone in the court room wished us good luck, but I don't remember, because I was so tearful! We will have to send a picture to the judge to remind her of the good work she does! Thanks to Cindy and Mark! Without them, we would not have had any guidance!

Starting the Surrogacy Progress

Lesley, Taylor, and Mom came for our first appointment with Dr. Richard-Davis. It was so great to see Taylor and how big she is! She enjoyed blowing bubbles and playing with the neighbors' chihuahuas! Of course, Mom wanted to go to Harrah's, but they don't open until next week! We all settled for dogs and bubbles. It was a good time, and the appointments went well!

Our next step would be to take care of all the legal responsibilities involved with a surrogacy, and Cindy and Mark were helping with that!