Hold on for a wild ride!
I had always wanted to be a surrogate. I had 4 amazing pregnancies, no miscarriages and I loved being pregnant. I had met Amber going on a mountain climb with my church group and we started the conversation there. Fast forward 5 years later when I had the conversation with my husband about being a surrogate. He was 100% behind me in this decision so I reached out to Amber. I was quickly matched up with a man who has been trying for a few years with no success. I knew immediately that this was the person for me. We accepted the match and started the journey. I did all the screenings and blood work, and everything was a go. We had our transfer Dec 2017 and all looked great and hopeful. I took my princess days and was eagerly waiting to take a pregnancy test. I waited till the 7th day and took the test. I was more anxious with this test than with my own kids. But there it was — a faint double line. I was so excited I texted the picture to Amber and Karen (former co-owner). Things look great. So the next step was going for the actual blood work to make sure the little dude stuck (we knew the embryo was a boy). The blood work didn’t look good. The numbers were very low so we made an appointment to take another test, thinking maybe he was a late bloomer. Well the blood work showed even lower numbers. This one didn’t take. I was heartbroken. This hit me way harder that I thought it would. I felt such heartbreak, not only did I not get pregnant but I let this wonderful father who was looking forward to having his son down. But after crying for a day or so I talked with the father and the agency and we were good to try again. I know there was nothing I could have done but I was more determined to make sure this one was the one. Transfer day came in Feb 2018, and this one felt different. I felt more fatigued and just bleh! I took another pregnancy test and this one came out with two darker blue lines. I didn’t get too excited just in case something happened again. I went to my scheduled blood work appointment and the number were great. Woohooo little man, way to stick! I made sure to wear my Disney and Wonder Woman attire to the transfer for the Disney magic and the Wonder Woman attitude. Everything was great! Then about two months in I started having pain in my stomach, so my husband took me to the ER and it was really nothing but they couldn’t find the heartbeat, so they took me to do an ultrasound. There he was – a perfect little baby with a great heartbeat. I was told that I may have placenta previa, but my next OB visit would confirm. I went to the 20 week ultrasound and sure enough, that’s what I had. If you don’t know what that really is, it’s where the placenta grows down covering the birth canal. So we were proactive about it and scheduled my c-section for Oct 5 2018. Things went great with this pregnancy, other than being super tired. I just chalked that up to being in my 30’s and having 4 boys of my own. We had bought our first house and moved all while being 7 months pregnant. But little man and I did great. He would move all the time and I would make sure I sent the IF all the videos I could. One morning around 4:30 I had to go to the bathroom (shocker I know) I started severe bleeding. My placenta had ruptured. I yelled for my husband and he called 911. I was trying to stay as calm as I could for my husband and the 911 dispatch. The paramedics were a god send! I was losing so much blood that I hardly remember anything from our house to the hospital. We got to the er and the doctor took over. Baby was doing good but I was losing so much blood that it was starting to affect him. So emergency c-section it was. They pulled me back to the OR and I just remember the anesthesiologist talking me through what was going to happen and then they gave me medicine to knock me out. When I came to they said that baby was doing good, they had to take him to the NICU in Boise. The closest hospital was the St Lukes in Nampa. They rushed him to Boise and I stayed in Nampa. I thought the worst was over. Well I was still losing blood by the gallons and they couldn’t figure out why. The Dr’s and nurses at St Lukes Nampa were just beyond amazing. The Dr figured out that I had placenta accreta (which is where the placenta grows into the uterine wall). Keep in mind I had never had a complication in any of my pregnancies, so this was all new to me. They told me that the only way to stop the bleeding and save my life was to do a hysterectomy. I had my tubes tied when I had my last boy so we knew we were done. They did the hysterectomy and started pumping as much blood into me as they could. It was very close to me not being here. But with the skilled doctors and the grace of God they got me back. I remember waking up kinda knowing what had happened. And there was my wonderful husband holding my hand. After some tears from both of us he told me that little boy was doing good. He has a feeding tube and was on oxygen. I had him a month early and he was already over 7lbs. Imagine how big he would have been the full 40 weeks! But he was doing great. The father lived in Chicago so he got the first flight he could and was there in the afternoon. I was so happy that little man was doing great. They only had him on oxygen for just a little bit and the feeding tube for about 2 weeks. He loved to eat so that was a great sign. I stayed in the hospital for about a week after just to make sure everything was good. I had in total 8 bags of blood and platelets. Not the story I was imagining by any means, but it turned out amazing. Little man is almost 3 now and his dad and him have a lot of adventures and he couldn’t be more happy to have his awesome son with him. I didn’t write this to scare anyone but to be aware that weird stuff could happen. Things can happen with any pregnancy but the end result was amazing. I get updates from the dad every so often and it just makes my heart to incredibly happy to so them so happy. It was scary but I wouldn’t change it for anything. Surrogacy was an amazing part of my life. The joy I gave to someone who couldn’t have a baby is something you can’t describe.
The surro life is the best life!!
Thank you for listening to my story and I hope you all have wonderful journeys!
Chanelle Lemberg
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