Meet the egg donor!

This is a very special post as I will introduce you all to A & M's egg donor, "J"!

I hope that you will enjoy reading this as much as I did. 

And to "J"...I thank you for taking the time to be a guest blogger. This blog post will forever be treasured by many...

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Hi, my name is "J".  I am 21 years old and from North Alabama.  Roll Tide.  I am a full time student.  I am an Accounting major with a minor in International Business.  I come from a military family.  Both my parents, both grandfathers, and even my little grandma have served.  I love the idea of myself being in the military, but honestly feel there are more ways for me to help those who need it.  I am a huge animal lover.  I have been a vegetarian for 8 years.  I feel it’s so important to be the voice for those who have none.   I have been an egg donor 3 times, two were anonymous one was open.  I am looking forward to seeing the families I have helped and watching them grow. 

I first was informed of egg donors through a friend of mine who was struggling with infertility.  She and her husband were looking into every possibility and she was telling me about their options.  I have never wanted kids.  I really felt bad that I am capable of it but don’t want it when there are people who want kids but can’t have them.  I went home after an afternoon with my friend and started researching.  I found Peas in a Pod website, and filled out a quick registration form and added some pictures.  I literally forgot ALL about it, then over a month later had a voice-mail saying I had been picked by a couple.  I didn't return the call for about a week.   I finally did and planned on just hearing what she had to say, Similar to my friends story, I heard of the couples struggle and decided there was no way I couldn't do this.  


I have donated 3 times, all different couples.  The first time I did was in August 2011, to a couple who just went through the adoption process.  It was an anonymous donation and I haven’t had any contact with them.  I was told from the donor agency that they now have a baby girl.  I donated in November 2011 to a same sex couple in Australia.  They were using a surrogate in the states that also gave birth to a little girl.  That was an anonymous donation also.  And as we all know, in February 2012 I donated to A & M and they are having a little boy.

When thinking of the med process I always roll my eyes and think ‘oh lord’.  It was terrible!!!  Worse than terrible, I literally would cry and just say “I’m done.”  Seriously thought I would have to call it off at least once during all three cycles.  I took Lupron, Menopur, and Gonal F.  I took the Lupron for 13 days, 10 units the first week and 5 units the last week in the morning.  The needle for this was tiny and had no problems with it.  The Gonal F actually wasn’t bad either; I took it the last week at night.  It was a prefilled pen that had two doses in each pen.  The Menopur was the terrible one.  The needles were HUGE and they stung so badly!  I took one vial every night with the Gonal F for the last week.  I had to ice the area until it was literally numb before I could do this shot.  The cycle for A & M was probably the worst.  The night I was scheduled to start the Menopur and Gonal F I was sitting on my couch and happened to be watching Intervention.  I can’t remember what the girl was addicted to, but whatever it was she shot it up in her upper thigh and that’s where I was supposed to inject the Menopur!!!  I literally cried and that was my I give up moment.  I was supposed to do the shot at 6 pm, after a few hours my leg was frozen enough I just did it.  There’s a Peanut, so I obviously got over it.

My retrieval process was great.  I have read so many terrible experiences and was so scared.  The first cycle I woke up laughing and joking with the doctor.  He told me how many he retrieved and I yelled “shut the f*** up”.  (Really embarrassing)  I went to the hotel for an hour then went to the beach. Second cycle I was on the plane back home 7 hours later.  Third cycle, with M & A I remember pretending to be asleep because I didn't want to talk to the doctor so my companion had to take the instructions.  (he wasn't too happy about that)  As soon as we left I demanded we go to Ihop.  I now LOVE hot sauce on my eggs and hash browns and Boysenberry syrup on my pancakes.  I think it’s safe to say I've now experienced the munchies.  I was told each time to stay in bed but I’m not a stay down kind of person, I like to be moving.  Especially didn't want to be in bed on vacation.

The day of the retrieval I got a text from the donor agency saying another couple had chosen me to donate for them.  I declined, and asked her to only contact me for previous families.  Something about meeting A & M made this donation so much more real for me.  I didn't just feel like I was helping build a family, I saw the family being created.  Peanut is special, and I just felt, for me, donating again would take away from that.  I feel a little hypercritical saying that because if I had that “feeling” the first or even second time Peanut wouldn't be here. 

If Peanut wants to meet in the future I would be completely ok with that.   I already love seeing pictures of him on FB, I hope to be able to continue following A & M building their family.  Like I mentioned before, I am not a kid person.  I like to be the fun Aunt "J".  I get to have fun, spoil, and create messes but then get to give them back. I enjoy being friends with everyone on FB so I can witness the experiences without having to go through them myself. 

I do stay in contact with A & M.  We are FB friends and we email every now and then.  With it being so close to the due date we haven’t spoken lately, I’m sure they have so much going on right now...