This is long but I wanted to document this!

Becoming a surrogate was something I had always wanted to do and I was amazed when I finally began the process- I passed all of the requirements and eligibilities and got matched with an amazing couple in May 2021. We met them in July and then went back up to see them in October for an embryo transfer. This was their last female embryo and it took on the first try!

Pregnancy was going well (I did get COVID and the flu at the same time around Thanksgiving 😣) and I was enjoying it all. About halfway through I was told I had a complete placenta previa and they began talking to me about a c section. I had my second baby as a home birth so a c section was something I was utterly terrified of!!!

I never experienced any bleeding but the placenta budged a little- becoming low lying but not covering the cervix. But at 35 weeks I asked them to check my hemoglobin- I had been craving ice and white rice like crazy and had been feeling particularly exhausted. It was 7.5 so they wanted to schedule an iron transfusion. Everything got behind so I never received it and by 36 weeks baby had almost no amniotic fluid left 😞 I felt so bad- like my body just wasn’t taking good care of this little girl anymore! My doctor told me we were scheduling a c section for 37+2 and I was a little overwhelmed.

I cried for a good while the day before- just releasing all of the fear and tension. The day of there were a couple emergencies in front of us but baby was born on Tuesday, June 7th at 5:40pm and weighed 6lbs 14oz!

I shook the whole time during the c section- we had a doula there and the intended mom and I was scared but I tried to breathe deeply the whole time. When baby was born she just kept looking at her mom blinking and it was so surreal they were finally together!! It was a good distraction because apparently I started to hemorrhage and they placed a balloon in my uterus to catch all my extra blood. By the time we left the OR I could already wiggle my toes so I started to feel more pain at that time but they helped me. I didn’t get to see baby that night but she was so healthy and doing great!

Since I had the balloon in I was not allowed out of bed for 24 hours. The first time I got up I was so so scared but I did it- everything was sore and felt wonky. I was very weak though and the next few times I got up I knew something was still wrong.

My doctor decided to give me a blood transfusion because my hemoglobin had gone up to a 9 the day of the surgery but went back to 7. I actually felt genuinely better after the blood and some of my anemia symptoms were not nearly as bad. I finally got to go home after 4 days and baby girl left the day before me.

It was a journey I don’t regret for a moment, but the birth and recovery were pretty hard on me. Every time I see a photo of the baby girl I carried, I feel at peace with knowing everything I went through brought her to her parents. They love her to pieces and I’m happy I was able to do this but it appears I will never be able to do this all again due to the complications I had towards the end. I’ve been pumping milk for her and sent out a whole crate yesterday (thanks MilkStork!)

If anyone has questions about surrogacy please feel free to ask! The agency I went through is called Circle and I felt very supported and everyone there is very helpful.

Thanks for reading ❤️