Monday, November 8, 2010

Match Making SUCCESS!

This couldn't be anymore perfect. Really. I am so very thankful that this is all shaping out to be "the surrogacy of my dreams". Seriously. I'm not even sugar-coating anything. This really is perfect--Thank You God for my answered prayers!


We had our Match Meeting yesterday. Eric and I...well ok, just me--I was so nervous! I woke up at 7:00am. I felt "off" and I'm sure it was because of the time change (seriously, is the time change thing really necessary?!). I felt like I was late already, even though we really weren't--meeting wasn't until 10:15am. So I jumped out of bed, hopped into the shower, hurried around to get dressed, got the kids up, yelled at Eric to get out of bed (sorry babe, I love you!), did my hair, put my face on, Eric took care of getting the kids ready and the car gassed up, we loaded up in the car, stopped at the local donut store, dropped off the kids and dog (oh that dog!!) with my Mom (LOVE YA, MA!), and then we were off!! Our agency, Family Creations, is located in Woodland Hills, so we had a good hour ahead of us. I used that time to go over all the questions I had compiled a while back (see questions HERE) that I would be asking my Intended Parents. I went over each one with Eric to get his input and thoughts. It was a nice drive and allowed me the time to get my head into the game, so to speak. As we merged on the the 101 Frwy, we got a call from Stephanie saying that the Parents had arrived early and that if we too arrived early to just come on up. Okie doke!


So we arrived at the office building, which we knew ahead of time would be closed since technically it was not a business day. The doors were locked, and I knew they would be. Stephanie mentioned that there would be a security guard and that he would allow us inside the building, we just had to mention Stephanie's name. Ok. Hmm. We didn't see a security guard? Knock, knock, knock. Nothing. So we walked around the building thinking he may be at the back entrance. Nothing. Hmm. I called Stephanie on her cell phone. No Answer. Hmm. Ok, now i'm worried--are we at the right building? I walked out front, all the way out to the street to reverify the address. Yup, we were at the right building. I called her again. No answer. Now i'm really worried! As I'm pacing back and forth and wondering what the heck is going on, Eric did some investigating around the building (God love that man!!). He ended up finding this LITTLE itty bitty box like thing with buttons on one of the pillars outside the doors. He pushed the button....waited...and we heard a voice. Yay!! Such nerd-balls we are!! Who knew we had to ring the "door bell"? Haha! The guard came down and let us in. Phew!


Now i'm nervous as hell. We had to take the elevator up 7 floors. I can feel my heart starting to beat more rapidly. My body getting hot. My legs feeling tingly and numb. My hands starting to sweat. As we reached the 7th floor, Eric said he needed to make a quick pit-stop at the restrooms. Ok. So, I waited in the hallway. By myself. Waiting. Thinking. Anticipation rising. His quick pee stop seemed like it took 20 minutes, when really it was more like a minute and a half. He's done and we continue down the hall to suite 760. I grab his arm tightly in an effort to release some of my nervousness, and we entered into the office. We were greeted by Stephanie herself. So pretty and such a sweetheart--this was the first time we had met face-to-face. She quickly hugged me and was so excited to have us there. "Well, are you guys ready?", Stephanie said with a huge smile on her face. "Yes, of course!", I quickly replied. Stephanie ushered us into the front conference room where we finally got to meet the people that I was going to help make a family.


For privacy reasons and until I can get their permission to use their names on my blog, I will call them E (the daddy) & A (the mommy).  It's a funny  coincidence that their initials are the same as my husbands and I.


Our meeting with E & A went perfectly--it really did. We were all very nervous and didn't know what to expect. Stephanie helped to keep us on track and facilitated the whole meeting. There were a lot of "what ifs" that had to be brought to the table, and thankfully, we agreed on each one. It was a little uncomfortable talking about the scary things like how we felt about the idea of carrying twins or triplets, selective reduction, or what if the fetus was known to have a birth defect--would they want to abort the pregnancy? As uncomfortable as it was answering those questions, we had to. If we didn't see eye-to-eye then this match would not work. And thankfully, both parties had the same views and thoughts and there weren't any problems. It was really comforting to hear that E & A were also concerned about ME and MY wellbeing. We each shared our story of how we met (as hubby and wife), what led us to Surrogacy, our hobbies, ect.


I don't want to reveal too much about E & A until I talk with them about my blog and get their approval to discuss. But what I can say is that they are great! They chose us and we said yes! They are local and only about 20 minutes from us. They are so excited to get started. They welcome a blooming friendship with Eric and I. "A" even promised to make me chocolate chip cookies when the cravings start (and I'm holding her to it!). They LOVE LOVE LOVE that we have such a strong support system. They are working with one of the BEST fertility doctors IN THE WORLD. So, once again, I have piece of mind knowing that (literally) I am in good hands. If you want to research this doctor, Google Dr. Paulson, USC Fertility.


What's next? I will have an appointment setup with a psychologist and another appointment will be setup with Dr. Paulson to check out my baby-making organs. Once I am cleared to go by the two docs then our lawyers collaborate, draw up contracts, we review and make changes if necessary. Once the contracts are signed by both parties, then we hit the ground running and we're clear to start INJECTIONS (more on that later)! We are hoping to start injections the first of the year.


I'm off to Vegas this weekend with my girlfriends. I'm looking at it as a celebration and last hoorah before getting knocked up. :oP


Until next time....



8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Annie!! This is so exciting!! Hope everything continues to go well for this wonderful miracle! So glad you have created this blog so that everyone else may experience your journey! Truly a BLESSING!! ;)

Anonymous said...

This is so, so exciting, Annie! Nap, Jacob, and I are sending you big hugs and well wishes. Hugs, Jaime

dteslevich said...

Congrats Annie! My hormones are still a mess...this brought tears to my eyes to see how perfectly everything is working out for you. Have fun in Vegas! We'll see you tomorrow!

Christina said...

KUDOS!!!

Babydreams2011 said...

Congrats!! I KNEW they would pick you! So exciting!!

momof4 said...

Love it! I was so nervous at our match meeting, i made my husband ride the elevator up and down like 3 times before we got out! haha

Surrogate, Single Parent and Dating... said...

I'm so excited for you and to follow you as you are not far behind me!!! Good luck with that IUD removal...LOL BTW: your kids are adorable!

Loving And Loving It said...

I am so excited for you that you are moving closer and have a different agency! You are in my prayers!