And We're Off!

Yesterday was a great day in the surrogacy world-we had two big movements! I went for my third week of blood testing yesterday morning and got a call from one of the Brigham nurses afterwards saying it's time for me to start the birth control pill! This news means two things: 1) From what they can tell, my ovaries are working perfectly-my hormones are cycling just like all you other ladies out there 2) They now have control of my hormones (as well as Laura's) which is crucial in getting us ready to start our injections. Holly was on vacation last week but, now that I've started the pill, I'll hopefully hear from her Monday or Tuesday regarding our next steps. Since our original plan was to start injections in March for an April transfer, things seem to be right on track! The second piece of news is that Laura's lawyer (Ruth) completed the contract and will be sending it back to our lawyer for review. The way this works is that our lawyer (Leslie) drafted the original contract after speaking with Thom & I, which was then sent to Ruth. Ruth then reviewed the contract with Laura & Calvin, made necessary changes, and finalized it to be sent back to Leslie. Now that Leslie has the contract back, she'll review it again with us. Laura said that they didn't make any significant changes to the contract so I'm thinking we're nearing the final draft. Big news! So, that's about it for today. March used to seem so far away and now it right around the corner-yay!

The Real Testing Begins

Sorry to disappoint-this won't be the most exciting blog entry yet but, as promised, I wanted to keep you all updated. Tomorrow marks the beginning of my weekly blood testing, which will serve two purposes. First off, they need to make sure my ovaries are still doing their job. Due to the trauma and blood loss from my complications, there was initial concern that my ovaries may not function "up to par" for gestational surrogacy to be an option. Testing over the summer showed no problems so, as long as there have been no changes since then, we're good to go! I KNOW Thom would agree that I've been emotionally stable and pleasant as ever, so I'm thinking my ovaries/hormones are doing just fine. :) The second, and more exciting, purpose of the weekly blood testing is to determine the exact timing of my cycle. Hah, sounds real exciting, huh?? Though I feel like I've already given half my blood volume to the Brigham, this testing seems more important because its actually leading somewhere! If all goes well, any results from here on out will be geared towards getting Laura and my cycles synchronized, coming up with a schedule to start our medications, and ultimately leading to a definitive date for transfer! This process has been a whooooooooole lot of "hurry up and wait" so any forward movement is welcomed with open arms. Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers for a speedy month of testing and lots of good news! :)