Birth Story:
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Dennis and I have been married for almost two years, and accepted the fact that we would never have a child together as I had to have a hysterectomy during the birth of my daughter 4 years ago. One day, as I was experiencing ovulation pain on my one remaining ovary, we came upon the idea that even though it was not very likely, that we could still theoretically have a baby together. To make a long story short, we started talking about it more, and even contacted 2 Surrogate Agencies - one in California, and one in Texas where we live. We hadn't been talking about it for very long, when Dennis' sister offered to be our surrogate! We were floored!
We started the process pretty soon after that, and things moved so rapidly! It seems like I had my consult one month, and then we were already starting our meds. We were delayed one month because I had two follicles on my ovary, but the next month was a go. We retrieved 6 eggs of which 5 fertilized naturally, and we transferred 2 8-cells and 1 4-cell on day 3. Lisa's lining was 12. We went to San Antonio together for our transfer (we all live near Houston), and Lisa and I had a great time in our Hotel, and I got to wait on her after her transfer. I was with her holding her hand during the transfer, and got to see the embryos go in via u/s. I have a picture of them for our baby's Baby Book! We had a negative HPT on 9dpt, and 2 days later, I was awakened at 7:30 am by Lisa telling me that this HPT was definitely positive! We were shocked, but ecstatic! Her beta the next day was 51. Our betas progressed a little slowly, and she had one very scary bleeding episode at 5+ weeks. We had an u/s, and we weren't able to see anything in the uterus, and thought the pregnancy was lost. We had 2 more ultrasounds in which we saw the sac and yolk sac, but no heartbeat. Everything was still a full week behind, and our OB didn't give us much hope. The next u/s, we had a fetal pole, and a heartbeat of 120!
The rest of the pregnancy went well, and at our Level II u/s at 20 weeks, we were still measuring exactly a week behind in everything! We found out we were having a healthy baby girl! (I am 38, and Dennis is 40). The rest of the pregnancy went fine, and we were induced 11/10/99 at 37 + weeks as Lisa was developing mild preeclampsia, and she was 3 cms dilated with all of the contractions she had been having. She was started on Pitocin about 7pm, had a dose of pain medicine and slept a few hours. She was then 4-5 cms and got an epidural and was smiling saying that it just wasn't that painful. Within an hour, our OB broke her water (4-5 cms), and within 45 minutes she was waking up to breathe through her contractions. My husband, who is an Anesthesiologist, and Lisa's anesthesiologist put their heads together trying to come up with a medication combo that would alleviate her pain. No one thought to check her cervix - it turns out that she had probably been fully dilated about an hour after having her water broken! Her legs were numb until the next morning at 7 am from all of the extra medicine in her epidural! After being examined by the OB, he just calmly said "Oh, the head is right here"! The nurse said to us, "Do you want to see your baby's head"?, and I looked and saw that she was almost here! She also had a headful of dark hair! Lisa scooted down on the table, and the head almost delivered! I had to stick my head out the door to tell the OB to come right now! Noelle Elisabeth delivered at 12:14 am - almost without our Doctor, and without a single push! We were all crying in the room! Lisa's DH was so supportive, and her DS just loves the baby! We got to breastfeed in the delivery room - I had been pumping about 6 oz/day with Adoptive Breastfeeding Preparation, and Noelle nursed like a champ! I roomed in with Lisa the entire hospital stay! I bonded with her so very quickly in the hospital!
I guess this sums up Lisa's outlook: It was 2 am in the Hospital, and I was breastfeeding Noelle. Lisa woke up and looked at us, and said, You know, I definitely don't have maternal feelings toward her. I definitely feel like her Aunt, and I'm glad you're the one up with her. Goodnight" And she smiled and turned over and went to sleep! She is the absolute best! We had so much fun going through this pregnancy together! We are absolutely silly together sometimes, and always had everyone in stitches talking about her being pregnant with her brother's child!
I can't even describe what joy I have in my heart for my daughter, and for Lisa. I would like to congratulate all of the other parents here, and say a heartfelt "Thank You" from the bottom of my heart to all of our surrogates. We wouldn't be holding our miracles without your precious gifts!
Love,
Barbara and Lisa and Noelle Elisabeth
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