Saturday, January 05, 2008

The results are in

Well on December 17th I had my first official pregnancy blood draw from the doctor's office. I NEVER test beforehand with home pregnancy tests for two reasons. Firstly I don't want to be the first to officially know if I am pregnant, I believe that is for the parents to hear, this is their baby/babies after all. Plus I have had the joy of being the first to know whether I am pregnant five times already. That is not to say that I didn't figure out I was pregnant, I knew I was, but wanted the official word. The other reason is because I belong to a surrogacy site and many of the surrogates on there take home pregnancy tests and get positives. They call the parents who are thrilled to hear the news, only to have a negative blood draw because things didn't transpire like they should have; it's a chemical pregnancy where the embryo initially 'took' but then didn't develop. It results in false positives that only a blood test can determine.

Anyway a good level at 14 days post transfer is 60 to 100. Mine was really high at 318. I returned 48 hours later and the doctor wants to see it double, so a good level would have been around 630. Mine was 810. But only the ultrasound reveals what is truly going on.

On January 3rd we had the ultrasound and although I have to admit I was disappointed to see only one little heartbeat on the screen (I was firmly expecting two!) the parents are thrilled. They have never seen a heartbeat before. The biological mom has always received a negative from the initial blood test. It has yet to sink in for them and as the mom said, "I will breathe more easily when you get to 12 weeks."

So the countdown begins for another baby to arrive into the world and help complete a family. Makes baby #9 for me!

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Wednesday, April 18, 2007

Congratulations Cummins Family

Yesterday was a banner day for the Cummins family as they welcomed little Francis Jackson Cummins III into the world. He arrived at 12:53pm weighing a hefty 9lbs 7oz, and measuring 21.25 inches. He looks just like his big sister Imara, who in turn looks like her Daddy, Frank, and her maternal grandmother Mimi (Jean). Our kids got to see Francis for a short while last night, and hang out with a very tired Imara. Here is a photo of the two families (and the pediatrician) with the baby.



Back Row, from left to right: Terry, Garrick, Carson, Mimi (Jean), Laurie, Frank, Dr. Borland
Front Row, from left to right: Hayley, Imara, Warrick holding Francis, Cori and Teagan

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