Where did we leave off in this journey? I had completed my first transfer in May and we were hopeful for a quick, painless success. My intended parents have been through so, so much that I so badly wanted this to be easy for them. I hadn’t had ever had a problem getting pregnant in the past (3 out of 4 babies were surprise blessings!) and I had never had a miscarriage. Failure, honestly, wasn’t on my radar at all…

I have always considered myself to live a pretty healthy lifestyle. I eat vegetables, I exercise regularly and drink one cup of coffee a day. I have also considered my beauty regimen to be pretty low maintenance. I take a shower, apply body lotion afterward and face cream. Then I usually call it a day. If I’m headed out somewhere special, I may put on a little make-up, nothing too fancy. So, imagine my surprise when I started learning about harmful chemicals being used as ingredients in most of my personal care products. There I am going about my daily life thinking I’m doing the best for not only myself, but my family (husband and two little girls), only to find out that the personal care products I’m using may be causing more harm than good, especially in the long run…

The surrogate pregnancy process has been both more stressful than I ever could have imagined, but also more rewarding and meaningful to me too. It has been such a blessing to know that I am growing a person for another family to raise. A family that, without me, wouldn’t have had this chance. That feels pretty amazing. I will update once the baby is here and my emotions are all sorted out, but I’ll leave off with this quote that I love regarding surrogacy: “I make families! What’s your super power?”