Embryo Transfer Day

The transfer is complete!

I do not have the words to describe how happy we are today. After everything we have been through, it's finally all happening.

The day started off as normal as possible. We got Eliza fed, dressed and off to school, telling her that after today, her baby brother or sister is going to be in Stephanie's belly. She is so beyond excited to become a big sister.

Eliza can't wait for her Baby Brother or Sister, but she still has to go to school

I worked for a couple hours and then Carmelo and I took a walk. On our walk we talked about how blessed we are and that we feel so lucky that this day was finally here. Around 10:20, we got in the car and headed over to the fertility clinic. Upon our arrival and before we exited the car, we said a quick prayer asking for Stephanie and the baby to be protected thru this process. We took a deep breath and headed it.

Stephanie and her husband were already there and just like every other time we have got together with them, we embraced and smiled and were both so excited for what's ahead.  The clinic was running a little behind, so it gave us more time to talk. I love how much Carmelo and Stephanie's husband get along.

Eventually the nurse came and got Stephanie and I. She changed and the nurses went over a couple things and then brought in the husbands. The doctor came in and gave us "Baby's First Photo", a close up of our embryo. After going thru the procedure and any questions, Stephanie was escorted back to the transfer room and 15 minutes later was wheeled back in. Embryo transferred!

Our Team

Our embryo

Stephanie had to lay down for about 20 minutes, but after that the nurse said we were free to go. That was it...the day we had been waiting so long for was over...and now we wait...

Next up we are scheduled for the pregnancy test to confirm the pregnancy on May 12. Pray for us.

"I've seen miracles just happen, silent prayers get answered, broken hearts become brand new, that's what faith can do."

See that little speck? Right there? That's our baby! Transfer completed!

Introducing The Kids

So much has been going into preparing my family for what's to come. We have bought books that we have read to Eliza to help her understand that a new baby is coming, but the baby won't be in Mommy's tummy. She knows our surrogate by name, Stephanie, and we talk about her and her family openingly. We show her pictures of Stephanie and  her family so she can recognize them.

Going into this we didn't have any expectations about the relationship we were going to have with the surrogate and her family. We wanted any sort of relationship to happen naturally and if one didn't happen that was okay too. I could tell immediately upon meeting Stephanie that we would develop a relationship beyond the next year. But for us, Carmelo and I, it took us a while to let our guard down. We have both been thru so much in the last two years. Between losing a pregnancy and my cancer diagnosis, it's been hard for us to truly believe that good things are happening.

Between doctor's appointments and our mandated psych evaluations, we have seen Stephanie and her husband quite a bit, but we hadn't introduced Eliza to them or her kids. We talked about wanting everyone to get together, but Carmelo and I needed to be in a good, secure place before we could let the introduction happen. I want Eliza to know her and I want her kids to know us. It's important for Eliza to see who will be helping us grow our family and it's important for her kids to see who their mommy is helping. This is going to have a big impact on them as well. So the weekend before the embryo transfer we arranged for our families to get together and it couldn't have gone better.

We met at a local farm and the kids immediately hit it off. Ice was broken over the kids (and adults) shared love of Munchkins and from there, they were running around, feeding the animals, riding the horses, snacking some more and talking about their favorite topic, poop. I'm pretty sure Eliza and Stephanie's middle are spirit animals and didn't stop giggling about poop and pee the entire day.

It was the perfect day and just makes us so much more excited for tomorrow, Embryo Transfer Day! and what this year is going to bring for us.

Looking At The Pigs

Waiting for Their Horse Ride And Probably Talking About Poop

Most Likely Talking About Poop