Sex, Love and Other Drugs

This blog post written by Tiffany, Surrogate Mother

We are getting a little racy in tonight's blog post.   Filming a documentary on this journey means opening up our lives and story, the good, the bad, the PERSONAL. So why not start opening up about it now? So tonight I picked the top 3 topics everyone seems most curious about, and asks the most questions about; sex, love and drugs. 

Let's talk about sex. Many (brave) people and close friends have asked me "What if you and Sean get pregnant right before transfer or instead of their baby you get pregnant with your own?"  "What type of pill are you on? What if it fails"    These are great questions!  The truth is, no birth control is 100% unless it is abstinence, yup - I sound like your high school gym teacher who taught you sex education (why were the gym teachers teaching it anyway?).  After careful consideration, Sean and I decided that abstinence would be the best route to take to avoid any accidental pregnancies, especially since we are really fertile!  My doctor said it was a wise choice and said, "Tiffany, it seems if you are in the same room as sperm you just get pregnant, so this is probably the safest option."  Hahahahaha!  Love it. So, since my IUD was taken out a few months ago, Sean and I have remained abstinent.  It has been easy at times and sometimes, not so easy!  I am sure most of you reading this can understand the need for it, but our need to get this baby here is more important and it really does not feel like a big sacrifice.  Plus, there are other things, without getting into too many details! Fun can still be had and when you have a husband as hot as mine, those other things are our saving grace!  And although we did choose that type of birth control for those months, Seattle Reproductive Medicine instructs all GC’s not to have intercourse from the time we start the estrogen (patches, etc) up until we know the results of the pregnancy test.  So currently we would not be allowed to anyway! :)

Let's talk about drugs, the number two question we seemed to be asked.   I am still taking a shot of Lurpon every night.  I was on 10 units and I am now currently down to 5 units.  Sean is filming in LA for a little over a week and I had some lovely guests giving me shots and THEN the snow storm hit and I was stuck in 2 feet of snow and had to administer it to myself.  It took me maybe five tries but I finally succeeded and did not pass out!  I am getting better and will do it to myself again tonight, I am becoming a seasoned pro at this stuff.  I am also currently on the Vivelle dot patches and estrogen tablets I was on previously.  This will help line my uterus and prepare it for the transfer next week.  So far they have not been too bad, I do feel a little more irritable than normal, since I don't normally get irritable or moody, this is different and very recognizable for me so I am able to keep it to a minimum (I hope!).  I have started to feel a little more tired, dizzy, light headed and had a little bit of a loss in appetite - for those of you who know me, we never thought this day would come!  I am eating but have lost 10 lbs since going off of the birth control and onto the Lupron.  Although, being trapped in the house the past few days from the snow up on our little mountain hill and eating out of boredom, I might have added a few L.Bs!

Let's talk about love.  My favorite topic it seems!   So another question I get asked often is, "Are you getting paid to do this?  If so how much?"  I am not getting paid to do this.  Natalie and I did not know at the start of this, it is illegal to pay a surrogate in Washington State.  By the time I realized this, I had already signed the contract and it was too late...... hahahahaha just kidding about that last part!  I would not accept payment for something like this for my family. I am doing this out of good old fashion love.  I think love is so powerful and allows us to do some pretty amazing things with our lives.   I am thankful for the gift of love and the courage it has given me to do this and the courage it has given Natalie to give me the chance to give her and my brother this gift.  We are so very lucky.  James and Natalie do pay for other surrogacy and pregnancy related things though, so we are not paying for anything having to do with this baby, well... maybe I will be buying extra wine for my husband when I get more cranky as I get pregnant!   

We are about a week or so away from the transfer, I go to the doctor on Friday to check my blood levels and uterus lining, next week Natalie will go in for egg retrieval. After the eggs are retrieved and they go hook up with my brother's "donation" they will either transfer the embryos at 3 days or 5 days, it will depend.   I cannot believe we are almost here! I am getting really excited to be pregnant again, not so much the morning sickness, but everything else that pregnancy brings will be such a fun adventure for me, and to feel life growing inside of me again.  

As always, thank you for reading this blog, for sharing it, for commenting and sharing your owns stories.  It has changed us forever.   We have reached over 100 followers on the blog, and have over 400 followers on our FB fanpage which can be found here:  

www.facebook.com/ABellyForMeABabyForYou


Also, I will be broadcasting live a few times each week and answering your questions via chat.  We have done this a few times this week already and it has been a lot of fun!  Please email me at TiffanyBurkePhotography@gmail.com if you would like to be on the mail out list for an opportunity to tune in to a live broadcast. We can only take 20 people at a time.

Everyone stay safe in all the weather, and keep your questions, comments and stories coming, we love them all! 

“It is only in adventure that some people succeed in knowing themselves - in finding themselves.”

~Andre Gide

With love,

Tiffany