Monday, October 29, 2007

The Pumpkin Pouch

I made the pumpkin treat bag found here
for my daughter who is 2 and will be going trick or treating for the first time ever.... I highly recommend this pattern to new knitters.... its very simple and made on the blue loom.



Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket


Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

the yarn is a little darking inreal life.. pictures came out too bright... but you get the idea..I didn't use the lion brand thick and quick, instead I just used one strand of the thin jiffy and two strands of cannon simply soft pumpkin... came out awesome!@!!!


Happy Halloween everyone!

No Looming.. and a gripe

Today's post will not be about looming or the joys of surrogacy... It will be a gripe.

I try not to complain doing surrogacy, because I know my life would be way worse if I am the one that wasn't about to get pregnant.

But every now and again I feel a gripe fest coming on, I being a good wife normally take these gripes to my husband, Who I am sure never gets bored of me complaining (add snark smiley here)

So I figured since some of you are reading this with the hopes of one day being a surrogate, I won't fill this blog with only the beautiful part, but the whole part. So every now and then I am going to allow myself to complain here...


Gripe number ONE.... Lupron

Lupron is the drug we are using instead of the E2V we used last time.... in a word I hate it!
Normally the medications I take don't really effect my day to day activities and routine... But Lupron ////// oh Lupron is made by the devil I am sure of it! I take that friendly little needle every morning in my thigh or belly. Its a very small needle, same as a diabetic would use, and it sucks... it sucks BAD. It leaves lumps full of the devil juice that I have to rub down to absorb into my skin, then once this friendly little cocktail mixes with my blood I get tired... So very tired..

I had often heard of surrogates getting excited to use this drug and be "loopy on Lupron" there is no loopy feeling, just a complete wet kitten bone tired for 2 hours after I take it. Like how tired a newlywed is once the wedding is done. theres no time for sex, only sleep. so I take my lovely shot in at around 7am and I don't actually get out of bed anymore till about 10am. I hate feeling tired like this. Anyway that is my Lupron gripe. I will be so happy to move onto the big bad Progesterone shots.

here are some pics to compare sizes of the shots...

Small little Evil Lupron shot

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket
Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

Nice huge Angelic Progesterone in oil shot.

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket






how weird is it that I hate the little shots but I don't even feel the big ones?

Saturday, October 27, 2007

Knifty Knitter Long Loom Dog sweater

Ok so Yesterday I finally FINALLY got a set of KK long looms, I got them at Michaels, they are also having a 50% off sale on KK round looms...

Anywho!

I sat down last night with the smallest long loom.. the pink one and made this little dog sweater... It came out much better then the Blue round jig.

SO here is the sweater, with my shih tzu (yes i know she is shaved) Modeling her sexy new fall sweater!

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket
Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

And here is the SUPER easy way to knit this Long loom doggy sweater.. The ONLY stitch used is the ewrap!

I knit 8 rows with light brown yarn, then I made a Brim for the waist (just put the first knitted row back up on the pegs and knit over)

then I changed to dark brown yarn and ewrapped and knit 10 rows, I cut yarn and put on the green yarn, knit another 10 rows in ewrap stitch, cut yarn .,... then I tied on dark brown yarn again.. knit 4 rounds, then I picked the side of the loom I wanted to make the leg wholes,,, I choose the first 4 on each side... So I Binded off those 4.... Knit until you hit the 4 stitches... knit the first BO stitch, put that loop on the next peg, then wrap the peg again, knitting 2 over 1... put that loop on the next peg, wrap peg again, knit 2 over 1 again... until all 4 pegs are empty... then ewrap and knit all the pegs in between... stopping to BO the last 4 in the same fashion.


then I ewraped and knitted all the way around the loom, stopping at the last peg before the BO leg holes... I went back again to the other side (so just the other side without the leg holes twice.


then I attached the light brown or tan yarn to the pegs between! the leg holes and e wrapped and knit 6 rows back and forth and cut and tied that yarn... then just wrap ALL the pegs with the brown working yarn... knit the ones with two loops as you wrap the empty pegs, then I knit the rest to a total of 10 rows for ALL the brown.. so about 5 more rows.

Then I cut dark brown yarn and started with the tan again for the collar, I ewraped and knit 4 rows, then I did a chunky braid stitch, (ewrap loom 4 times, knit 3 loops over 1) then I was ready to BO all the pegs... What I did was the same as the leg wholes with one difference


Pick you first peg...ewrap it, move that loop to the next peg, ewrap and knit 2 loops over 1... then ewrap and knit one more time, then lift that loop and put it on the next peg, ewrap again, knit 2 over 1, then ewrap again knit over, move loop to the next peg... this makes a very cool bumpy braidey look.

Then once your last peg is there cut working yarn and slide it through the loop making a knot....

and put it on a dog!!! Congrats! I hope you like the sweater and the pattern.

831

Tuesday, October 23, 2007

Finger Knitting... and a baby mohawk hat

On One of my many many looming groups, someone brought up finger knitting. I love to finger knit.


So when I have just one skein and sometime, or when I am stuck somewhere without my yarn tools... I finger knit..

Yes the finger knitting your grandma or mama taught you.

So Simple but so fun, and useful,

For anyone not knowing how to finger knit... grab some yarn scraps and try it.. its a fun thing to learn and teach....

Here is an instruction page on how to finger knit.

http://yarnlady.com/newsletter/2005/endaugust2.htm

Yes its that simple.... easier then any knitting or yarn craft out there.

Little boys can do it, little girls can do it, they can use there imaginations on what to make, a thin fashion scarf?, a cowboy lasso, as much fun as playsilks and more rewarding because they made it themselves ... Christmas presents for everyone!


And adults can do it to pass time on the plane or anywhere! I do it in bed when I am awake with my daughter or puppy.

Here is last nights finger knitting Goodness

purdy feathery belt. thing and fanchy smanchy
Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

And a long coloful rope? Its made out of Lion Brand Jiffy.


Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

And I have a very close friend Who has the sweetiest little baby girl in the whole word. And Little Emma is going to be a cute little punk, in her Mohawk hat.

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

This is roughly a size 6 months... It was made on a red kk loom, I did the box stitch for the brim then just e wraps. I hope you like it.

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

I am now making an adult one... I think I will start with a half brim to make it more like a knit head mohawk hat... who knows.

Thursday, October 18, 2007

My Wonderful Husband!

Well I am just tickled pink and the proudest wife in the world tonight!

We received news. Dave's issue of Midwest Homes Magazine is OUT!!! ON STANDS!!!!

I just can't believe how far this talented man has come in the 5 years I have known him. He is everything to me and I just know he is going to be a very well known artist someday.

I love you Dave, Your the best man and artist I have ever known, a wonderful best friend and father. Congrats honey!!! You have earned this!

For those of you that just can't get a copy here is a little of it
http://www.midwesthomemag.com/media/Midwest-Home/November-2007/Fantastical-Furnishings/

For those of you that would like to see His site its
www.carpeart.com

Carpe D.M.


Grab a copy, someday soon you will be seeing much much more of this amazing man that I am so fortunate and proud to call my husband!!!!

831

Wednesday, October 17, 2007

Surrogacy the many steps to creating life in the lab.

So I usually post when I have something new. I don't right now. BUT I always feel like I am talking to myself here! No comments. But then something odd started to happen, no comments, I started getting emails! With all sorts of questions in them about my surrogacy/journey So that means some people must be reading this after all!

I will take you step by step through the process. Now first you must understand that different clinics all have different protocol and No two REs are the same or practice the same theories. So If you are planning to be an IP (intended parent) or an GS (Gestational Surrogate) do not take this as your gospel to surrogacy. Because all IPs GSs and REs are different!!!

This is going to be a novel so get get a cup of Coffee or wine or pop or whatever, cuddle up and get comfy.


With my first surrogacy, I had a friend (who is NO longer a friend to me) She did a traditional Surrogacy, and always spoke out so angrily and bitterly twards the process and how she gave up HER baby. I always just said stuff like "uh huh" and "yeah ok" always thinking to myself what did she expect to happen? And how horrible I felt for the men and women who get surrogates that end up keeping there babies, not giving them to the rightful parents the IPs.

But not knowing a whole lot about the process I decided to do some research, What I found where WHOLE HUGE sites and forums and articles and just a font of info about doing this.

to decide to be a GS over TS was simple, I do not wish to be related to the baby, I would rather the parents be related to there child.. simple as that.

I mulled everything I learned in the first week or so.... thinking about it.... I couldn't get it out of my head.... Why couldn't I do this? I am very fertile... I could get pregnant just winking at a guy. Then to hear all the stories of How this surro was taking drugs, this surro wouldn't surrender the baby. This surro taking money from people and then vanishing! And scam agency taking money from IPs to find them surrogates and taking off with the money. There are hundreds if not thousands of these "scams" going on. Giving the surrogates who do follow the rules and are in it for helping create families a very bad rap. Even talk shows have made surrogacy out to be some black market baby selling.... I have seen the pictures of one talk show guest sporting a sign that reads "womb for rent" I have read words from this women who was pretty much duped into the photo... Society needs to muck it all up, to take something that has pure intention and make it look dirty.

So I decided to just hint and feel out my husband on this . I said to him "What do you think about surrogacy" he admitted he didn't know much about it. I told him what I knew, let him search it out. He decided it was a great thing to do, then looked confused and said "we don't want any more kids, do we>?" I said "oh no, not for us, silly, But we could be surrogates for someone else" and he was like he always is... ok with it. My husband is a very laid back, go with the flow kind of man. If it was somthing I wanted to do, then he wanted it to.

So My next step was researching more.... Hours and hours spent in front of my computer deciding if I wanted to go with an agency or go indy.

The difference? Well an agency pretty much works with a clinic/IPs and GSs. They say that it takes the "paper work" out of it. So I picked an agency (who I won't name) and filled out an online application. I chose this agency because it seemed like it had a large number of Gay Intended parents. I thought it would be great to have a baby for gay parents. The things you have to decide are very important when filling out an application. Things like:

Your views on Selective reduction
Your views on Termination (abortion)
Your views on working with a same sex couple,
Your views on a multiple or higher multiple pregnancy.

Those things where easy for me. As for selective reduction, and abortion I don't feel those choices are not mine to make for someone elses's baby. Oddly enough I am pro-life. Pro Life for ME. Not for anyone else... So if It was MY baby I would be able to make a pro life choice for it. But its Not Mine, so that choice is not mine to make.

So the agency did call me about 4 hours after I filled out the application. To confirm and to chat about my life and my expectations and so on and so forth. What kidn of IPs I would like.

Then not more then 10 minutes later the doctor that we would be working with for the next 3/5 months called me. He Thanked me in a very tired monotone voice that I am sure he does for every surrogate.

And in just 2 weeks I was matched with M and J. Two very sucessful men in NY. They had one son through adoption but never went through the pregnancy stuff. I liked them right off the bat.

Then it was a trip to a fertility clinic here for a baseline hystosonogram! Big word for looking at the thickness of my uterus and seeing what happens when a small balloon was inflated in it.. or something like that. I guess I have a super star womb and they ended up asking me if they could tape the u/s to show in classes because it was well defined. I just mumbled through the whole thing. They then took about a gallon of blood (jk but you get my drift) from me and a little from my hubby.

Then I rushed home to take my MNPI test to make sure I was sane. I WAS!!!! (or so we thought)

I then had to speak with a counselor about what I was doing and why.... I met with my lawyer to discus our contract.. the contract was the longest part of the whole first faze.

Contracts are important business. You can very easily get caught up in the money aspects of surroacy. Thinking back on it today, I don't think we were learned up enough for this part of the journey, but things have been learned and life is one big lesson.

And for those reading wondering what kind of money is involved in surrogacy I will tell you what my comp was. It was 23,000.00 yes thats twenty three thousand. With more comp coming for unseeable things such as multiple births and c section as well as bedrest. average comp for a first time surrogate can be anywhere between 16-25 thousand.

You might be thinking "holy crap!! thats a lot of cheese!" well your wrong its not. The comp breaks down for fetal care... so its not like you have a baby for people they come and get it and you get this big lump sum of money. You are paid 1 to 2 thousand dollars a month. Then whatever money is left after the baby/ies are born you are given within 7-10 days after the baby is born.

SO now all that was left was to get my med cycle from the RE. My IPs already had an egg donor in place. All I know about her was that she was a Greek med student. So our cycles had to be matched. So once she had her egg retrieval then I could fly out to California for my transfer.

I got my calender about 1 week later... so about 2 weeks after I started this whole ride. I wait...wait and wait for Dear old AF (Aunt Flow) to show up..

2 days before my period starts I get a wonderful box full of pills and needles and vials.

I am instructed to take only the active Birth control pills that are in the package.

So I do.. for 3 weeks... then I am instructed to start shots of E2V injections... those are big needles but just a little bit of fluid. So i do that for a bit... things are getting closer and closer to transfer, We start to tell our friends and family. Almost all of them take the news very well and are very supportive. A few however are not as open minded as we are and have a hard time with it. That was ok with us, we where not doing this to gain favor.

We get the call that our transfer is going to be sooner then we thought and we are rushed on a plane to California where we are picked up by M. This was our first face to face meeting and it was awesome. We got to see all over California and drove through Compton!

The very next day we are in the clinic to transfer. Our Egg donor only gave us 3 embryos. One was already dieing and the other 2 looked good and strong. Each IP had fathered one embryo in hopes one would stick or maybe both! I had to start taking my Progesterone in oil shots... these are huge thick oily needles that are about an inch and a half long and you have to put the whole needle in. they hurt, but you get lumps that hurt even worse from them! But even with all that It was so exciting and I was happy to get the shots! My hubby gave me every shot needed! He is blessed with a good stabing hand, I only felt one or two stings the entire surrogacy... everything else was like a knife through butter I didn't feel a thing.

So I was loaded full of water and sat through the transfer, then the horrible part was laying on a tilted table for 2 hours with a very very very full bladder. A lot of surros can't make it, so they pee there pants and I was so terrified I would too, I was saying "oh God don't let me pee my pants in front of my IP) Thankfully I didn't!

Then it was back to the hotel, for 36 hours of bed rest. My IP made sure we got whatever we wanted, So for 3 days we had room service and pay per view on cable, besides not being allowed to get out of bed it was great!

Then after a very bumpy flight back home, the 2ww started (2 week wait) for a surrogate its not really a two week wait, because we start peeing on sticks right away. Looking for that faint positive. Well on day 5 (5 days after the trasfer) I got the 2 lines! I was so amazed

here is pic of the positive

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

its so faint but trust me its there, you get surro eyes and can detect anything, even when everyone else is saying, I don't see anything! then you download it, invert the colors and then you hear "oh now I see it"

that was one of ALOT of positive tests! everytime I took a test I would take a picture and email it to my IPs who were took shocked for words.

I scheduled and early beta with my doctor.... and my beta # was 24.. anything above 4 is pregnant so I just had to pray my numbers would double every 48 hours... and they did!

then at 5 weeks I started having horrible scary cramps, so I went in for an ultrasound... this is what I saw

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

Twins, witch meant I was carrying one baby from each father! twins with two dads! I was so excited and just couldn't wait to tell them!

everything went fine for awhile, I was doing good with very horrible morning sickness! But things where good and the babies were right on target.

Then at 14 weeks I started having horrible right sided belly pain, I couldn't have x rays or a scan so they had to only guess I needed my appendix removed. So the babies where just on the safe side of the 2nd trimester, I had my surgery and the babies made it through fine, it took me 6 weeks to recover!

Here is my twin belly with scar
Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

and here is me at 20 weeks finally up and about
Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

then everything was fine... I did well up until 32 weeks then had to go on bedrest! Fun fun, I had a trib pump in my leg because of high blood pressure. I made it to36 weeks then tests came back showing mild toxemia so they felt I should deliver the next day.

This was taken the night before the twins where born
Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

I will not post the pictures of the twins because I feel that there image belongs to there parents.

I will say that I had a planned c section, both girls where healthy and needed no NICU and weighed in at 5 pounds 1 oz and 5 pounds 12 oz. they were the spitting image of there fathers.

I do not keep in contact with them and I never find myself wondering about them. Some people I know think thats odd.... But to me there not my children and are where they belong. I don't need to know they are ok. My job was done. I know the fathers are greatful and have thanked us enough! I don't feel like having someone tell me thank you all the time. Because Its me that was thankful for the journey!!!


The babies where born october 18th 2006 and I knew before I left the hospital I would be doing this again.


If you made it this far..... thanks!!!!!

feel free to ask any questions you like!

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Chiranian

Now the kennel club calls these little hybrids Chiranians... I am not too fond of that and like the cute name of Pomchis.


So I have a new puppy! He is the sweetest little piece of fluff!

We have named him Sarge... His full name is Sargent Gunny (yay full metal jacket)

He loves it here already and the kids are in love with him too.


So here he is in all his puppy goodness.... with a sweater on.

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Pup Sweaters and the difference between him and me.

My husband is a carpenter/artist/furniture maker...A lot of stuff huh? Busy guy... thats good though, because he lives to be busy. I on the other hand, live to do the little stuff, like love on babies and animals and knit, and read.

He on the other hand is a mover and a shaker... he lives to be doing something all the time. Right now as we speak he is building someone an entire Shed today.

He makes these wonderful pieces of functional art... he does finish carpentry... ugh the man has a gift with wood and metal.

I on the other hand am a naturally lazy person. I raise my daughter and do surrogacies for people, take care of my brother and the other animals lol. But My "passions" usually are for the things that won't make me sweat or breathe hard. Like knitting. And lately the knitting has centered around Dog sweaters... I am addicted to them for the moment. I have made several and would love to show you all! But the mover and shaker has stolen my camera to build a shed.

So in other news I will bore you all with surrogacy news and info ok?

I am a gestational surrogate. Witch means I find wonderful people to have children for, I do not use my eggs so I am not related to the children I birth. My last surrogacy was for a gay couple, I gave birth to twin girls last October, the journey was so wonderful and exciting that I knew right when I saw there faces at the first ultrasound that I was going to do this again!

So Here I am in my second journey for a wonderful and deserving straight couple. They are wonderful and I cannot wait for them to be parents! We are using eggs from a relative and We are SOON to be going to OHIO to transfer 3 little embryos into my loven Oven!

We are on our second cycle, our first did not work and didn't even make it to transfer because my IM (intended mother) was attempting to use her own eggs. She was understandably devastated when our clinic called her to cancel the cycle because she wasn't responding to the medication and injections. So we were on hold for awhile trying to find an egg donor. Well we did and we are now set to transfer on November 16th. I have been on Birth Control for the last month, Tomorrow I start my injections again. I will start every morning for the next 15? weeks taking Lupron in tiny little shots into my stomach or thighs, Then in 2 weeks I get to start Progesterone Shots in my rear! Those are big huge thick oily needles, they are 1 and a half inches long and you have to put the hole needle in. I actually don't mind the big ones, its the little ones that sting badly.


Anyway thats where I am ... without a camera to show you my projects and starting a huge step in my second surrogacy journey.

:)

Wednesday, October 3, 2007

End of the camping season

Well I have been knitting doggy sweaters like mad!

I only have one picture of one sweater though, something is up with my camera!

My aunt has a lovely cocker spaniel Lexi who is old and has cancer so she gets cold a lot, so what better reason is there to knit?

I also knit two others, for some shih tzu doggies I know. One green bay packers, and the other out of some yummy rowan wool.

But here is Lexis sweet sweater!

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket