C in the City

The wonderful C had to visit the city twice during treatment: once to see how she was doing on the drugs and a second time for the embryo transfer. The first appointment she had is called a ‘lining check’. This is an ultrasound to ensure that her uterine lining is becoming nice and ‘fluffy’ with the help of all the oral hormone medications she is taking. It was agreed that she would travel by train and stay with EllaGrace and I at my Aunt and Uncle’s home (they were so accommodating, what a shame I was such a drugged-up hermit while I was there!).

There are so many different types of relationships with surrogates, but I have to say that mine with C is the best. Some surrogates would expect the train, a taxi, a hotel, restaurant meals, etc. And, to be clear, I always do my best to offer whatever C wants. In this case, she was willing to take the train, subway, walk, and then share a double bed with EllaGrace and I! Amazing! (Had I known that she was actually nervous of public transit and walking in the city, I would not have had her do all that!). Bonus for timing though, her lining check coincided with some of World Pride, so we had fun after the clinic.

Of all the things that I fear – or assume – will go wrong, C reacting poorly to the medications was not on my list. She seems to have a stellar uterus. So, she joined me for the morning trek to the clinic. Now I was more accustomed to the busy vibe of the clinic and knew how and where to sign each of us up, like an old pro! We played with EllaGrace in the waiting room (all three of us crawled into the plastic playhouse, where the air conditioning seemed not to reach, and sweated it out while we played and then crawled out when they called our names – again, C rocks!). This was the same day that Lee was arriving, so we kept our eyes open for him.

C had her ultrasound and everything was looking great. Her lining measured 11 mm and had a B pattern. The mm simply reflects the thickness, and you want a nice soft landing spot for the embryo. The B pattern – we do not know what it means, we never were given a clear answer.

That day the nurses also taught C how she would administer her next phase of medications, to be started after the embryo transfer: Progestrone shots. Kind of infamous. The progrestrone is in oil, thus quite a thick liquid. This means pushing it out of a needle and absorbing it into the body is not easy. It goes into the same targets I had been working with all cycle on my back. Poor C. I thought she might change her mind about being our surrogate right then. She knew it was coming, but she looked so white and scared. But, thank our lucky starts, she rallied and said she would ask her partner to give her the shots as much as possible. I got my doses injected for the day and then we were off to Pride and then she caught her train home again. 

xx