the contract has been signed!

Contracts are signed and we a re ready to go. There is nothing holding things up now. I wanted to thank the attorney's office who blew me off. Had they not I would not have found the most amazing, caring and passionate fertility attorney in Central Florida. Karen Persis was fast, made my case a priority and has a true passion for surrogacy and fertility in general. I'm so glad I found her.
I got everything I asked for in the contract and the IP's and I are on the same page about everything so it all went smoothly. 

HSG procedure

This is my uterus on an X-ray with dye to show if I have any blockages or issues that need to be avoided during implantation. You can see my fallopian tubes on the sides of them. so cool!

Its early June and I had to go into to get this done today. I'd heard the procedure was not a pleasant experience. Honestly it was easier than a well woman exam. I do have some spotting now and am leaking some of the fluid they inserted in my uterus but besides that and some light cramping it was easy. They wouldn't let me bring anyone in the room with me or  let me take pictures during the procedure but here is me in my surgery gear before hand.

Lots of good things happening

SO many things to update you all on. Last month Nik and I went for our psychological evaluation. The Dr. was a LMHC here locally who deals with fertility issues in families. It was so laid back and low pressure. I've been told that some couples are put through a personality profile test and a counseling session. This was just like a counseling session with basic questions to make sure I wasn't going to have attachment issues with the baby after and try to steal it, what kind of support I had with in my family and friends or that this process would make my marriage fall apart. Once we were given the thumbs up by the DR. we were ready to move on to the physical stuff. Later that afternoon Nik and I went to an IVF seminar that CRM the IVF clinic makes every family go to that use them. The IPs went too and Nik got to meet them for the first time. We sat through the boring seminar with a TON of other couples who were about to start the IVF process too. After the seminar the four of us went out for dinner. We hit it off wonderfully. I've known the IP's since December 2012 but have only gotten to spend time with them 4 times before so it was really nice getting to know each other when we are not touring birth centers, meeting specialists and going over specifics. a few days later I went in to meet our IVF specialists Dr. Jaffe. She and I hit it off immediately. She though I was a perfect candidate to be a surrogate health wise and personally since "She's a doula AND Jewish, she's perfect!" I'm quoting the Dr. who had noticed my Star of David necklace and she herself happen to be Jewish.

The month prior the IP's had come to town to find an IVF specialists and interview the midwife I had chosen. They loved her and were excited to have all of that out of the way especially after having a difficult time finding an IFV DR. who was willing to keep appointments after the IPs had driven up from Miami just to interview them. We had our IVF clinic, Midwife and birth center chosen.
Big Thank you Tree of Life Birth and GYN for accommodating me and my IPs on your day off and between births to meet with my out of town IP's. Kaleen Made such an impression on them and are looking forward to working with the Tree of life staff.