On Your Mark, Get Set...

I can't believe it has been close to a month since I last wrote a post. It makes sense. Not much has happened over the past few weeks since we have just been waiting for the doctor to "reset" my surrogate's cycle. Now we are eight days away from the embryo transfer.

I decided to look for some quotes to add to my blog and sum up some feelings that maybe I couldn't express in my own words. At first I decided I would write "Michael's Soliloquy" and start off with "To birth or not to birth" or something clever like that. Then I remembered I hate Shakespeare and don't understand him so spoofing him wasn't going to work. Instead, I just have a few quotes I found online.

Parents are often so busy with the physical rearing of children that they miss the glory of parenthood, just as the grandeur of the trees is lost when raking leaves.
-Marcelene Cox

I have no idea who Marcelene Cox is. I tried googling the name and all I got were her quotes. But I liked this quote because I hope that I will remember this when I am frustrated or angry or stressed. I'm not at the rearing part yet, but I'm at the making part and so far this hasn't been a walk in the park. There have been times when I have forgotten the goal because of the heaviness of a certain part of the process. I have to remember that the good will far outweigh the bad when my dream comes true.

Ah! what would the world be to us If the children were no more? We should dread the desert behind us Worse than the dark before.
-Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Last time we did an embryo transfer I was scared to get my hopes up. This time, my hopes are up. I know I will have a child and I will be a dad. That is the only option in my head right now. A few weeks ago my surrogate went in for blood work and an ultrasound (I think of her uterus...I'm not sure. I don't pay attention to girly parts) and everything was fine. Yesterday she went in for a check of her uterine lining. The nurse called me to say it's at 12.5 mm which is great. The doctors want the lining to be at least 7 mm so she is well above that threshold and this is better than it was last time we did the transfer. Things are looking good. My parents are flying to town today. If we have time we plan on looking at baby furniture. My parents said that they will buy me a crib. A few months ago I wouldn't have agreed to do this, but now I want to start planning. I'm trying to put it out to the universe that I'm ready for this baby!

Always be nice to your children because they are the ones who will choose your rest home.
-Phyllis Diller

Just had to add that.

In other news...

Chloe's friend did make a short video of the surrogacy process. He submitted it to a one-minute film festival. There were 26 entries and he took 3rd prize. I hope I get to see it. I asked Chloe is she wanted her friend to film the embryo transfer this time. Maybe that's why it didn't work the first time. Maybe we need my child's very first few minutes of life to be on video. I asked Chloe if she minded having her uterus on film. She didn't. She's so easy going. Plus she mentioned she just watched "Whip It" and wants to go skating. Derek loves the movie "Whip It." Maybe that's another sign I have the right surrogate!

Also, Neil Patrick Harris still has not posted on my blog. I don't care if he has newborn twins, it's not hard to write "Good luck Michael" on my blog. Can we all agree to boycott his show?

On the plus side, my friend who is going through surrogacy is moving along. I just wrote her a note and said that we should arrange a play date for our kids. She lives a few thousand miles away, but I think our kids should meet. Maybe February 19th, 2012? Can I pencil you in for that, "Michaela"?