We had our second appointment on Friday 9 November to meet with the surrogacy team. The week before, we went up to the hospital for my ultrasound for them to look at my womb and ovaries and see where they are and what condition they are in. I didn't realise it was an internal ultrasound! I went behind the curtain, stripped off from the waist down and wrapped myself in a sheet. It was uncomfortable and a very strange feeling when she turned the camera but Josh was there watching the screen very interested and holding my hand. I was told my womb was fine (typical - as I clearly wont be using it!!) but they were unable to see my ovaries. She said this was common as it depends where you are in your cycle and other reasons so I would have to have another one when we came back for our appointment to try again.
At our appointment the consultant didn't say too much because we can't move on any further in the process until we hear about the funding. We are still waiting for an answer as they are getting more information and putting it to a panel who will meet and discuss the case. We have our next appointment on 28 December so we should definitely have an answer by then. If it a 'yes' then we will be so happy, however, if it is a 'no', then we won't be able to continue on until we save £7000-8000. We are currently about to get our mortgage in principal to buy our house so we will be unable to save this amount. A few close friends have mentioned fundraising which I would like to do if we get turned down. We will just have to sit and wait with everything crossed. I did get my blood test results which were good and told us that I had 16 eggs. He said a bad result would be 5 so he was more than happy with my number.
Josh got his results from his sperm test, but, because it will be over 3 months since he gave them the sample, he will have to do it again before our December appointment in order for it to be the best it can be ready for creating the embryos. The percentage they like to see for sperm is 4% and Josh's result was 2% They said this was ok and that there can be many reasons for it being slightly lower such as stress, diet and when he did the sample. Like I said, he has to do it again anyway so the results don't matter too much now anyway. I know he was annoyed that he has to do it again but we both want the best and freshest result so it needs to be done!
After our appointment, I went over to have my ultrasound again. This time, she managed to find both ovaries. The left side was perfect and showed 5 follicles but the right only showed 2. She said this was perfectly fine. I was more relieved than I realised I would be. My body has let me down during most of my life with many parts of me not working or functioning properly so I just assumed that may be the same. I've even previously spoken to Josh about the 'what if' I don't have good eggs or they can't use mine.... at least the baby will definitely be mine and Josh's. Such a big positive for me at least.
We asked the nurse a few questions about what to expect for the next steps after the ultrasound for me. She has told us that, at our next appointment in December, if we have been given the funding and we get Josh's sperm sample done and ready, then I will be seen by a nurse who will teach me how to do injections. I already do plenty of injections daily because of my CF-related diabetes so I'm sure I won't need that much training! These injections will be for 10-14 days and will help make sure my eggs are in the best conditions ready for them to be fertilised once they are removed. While on these injections I will have to have scans practically every other day and travel up to the hospital each time as they need to keep a close eye on things. So this next step will happen in January IF the funding goes ahead.
So that's it until we get a letter through the post with our funding decision. We are slightly upset as we built up this second appointment and were very excited but not much has moved on. We are stuck until we get that decision. I'm sure we will hear during November. I'm just happy that my body hasn't let me down in this area so far and that the baby will be both mine and Josh's.
