Surro-sister Get Together

Back:  Me, Amber, Kayla G., Vanessa, and Allyson (5 wks-Litter-LOL!)
Front:  Meredith (10 wks-Singleton), Beth (37 wks-Singleton), Kayla E. and Kristina

Oh my! This was probably one of the most fun GTG's so far. It was so nice to visit with the ladies I've met before and got to meet a couple of new ladies too. We met at Saltgrass in Grapevine.  I had left in plenty of time, expecting there to be traffic and there wasn't any. Since there wasn't any traffic, I stopped at Nothing Bundt Cakes in Southlake on the way. I LOVE their cakes, so picked up a dozen bundtinis.  They are so yummy and I knew the preggo ladies would especially appreciate them.  Oh, come on, you can splurge a little when your pregnant.  Hehe  They put the box together for me and I headed on my way.  I still made it 20 minutes early, sat in my car for about 10 minutes and then headed in.

I wasn't there long before Beth arrived and shortly after that, our table was ready and we headed back.  We were there for several hours and had a great time.  I actually had a drink at this one (other than water of course) and it was yummy!  I hardly ever drink, but one of the girls said their Pina Coladas were really good, so figured I'd have one.  We had some pretty conversations and it was a really fun get together.  We (mostly Vanessa) teased Allyson that she is having a litter because her BETA numbers have been astronomical.  They actually only did an SET (Single Embryo Transfer), so in reality, it either split and is twins or it is a singleton really producing A LOT of Hcg.  Her ultrasound will be in another week or so, so we are all waiting to see what that shows. 

Austin Surro-sister Get Together

Beth (32 Wks-Singleton), Simi, Shannon (8 Wks-Singleton), Kate (?), Christi and Me

Well, due to the incentive trip for work to Mexico, hubby and I both needed passports.  We haven't been out of the country or on a beach vacation since our honeymoon, over 8 years ago.  Apparently, to get a passport these post 9-11 days, you have to have a "long form" birth certificate.  Luckily for me, my Mom had mine.  DH wasn't so lucky.  His parents only had a copy of his, which doesn't work for these purposes.  That meant that I would have to travel to Austin to get his long form directly from the Department of Vital Statistics.  Since we were born prior to 1983, they are not kept at the local level. 

It all worked out, as I was off work today anyway, but the Vital Stats office was open.  Woohoo!  Road trip!  My surro-sister and friend Beth volunteered to be my co-pilot since she wanted a bit of a break for the day too.  It was so nice to have a travel buddy.  (Thanks Beth!)  I had posted in our FB group that we would be in Austin for the day and we were blessed to have a few surrogates in that area that were able to meet us for lunch. 

We went to the Vital Stats office first and then met everyone at Chuy's in Round Rock on our way out.  It is always great to meet other surrogates that are part of such a wonderful community.  We had a good time (although I can't say the same for the service), but we all made the best of it.  Several of them brought their kids too and they were all so well behaved.  After lunch, Beth and I stopped at IKEA since they have some great glasses that DH likes and have unfortunately broken several of them.  It was a quick trip, but really was a great day.  Rain and all.

DFW Surro-sister Get Together

Amber, Me, Beth (32 Wks-Singleton), Kayla (28 Wks-Twins), Kristina (25 wks-Twins), Meredith (5 Wks-Singlton), Mitzi and Vanessa

I'm very lucky to live in an area with so many other surrogates.  It is a great support system and it's good to be able to get together with them to be able to put names with faces.  We are able to coordinate GTG's through some Facebook groups and message boards.  This one was a GTG on my side of town at the Cheesecake Factory in Southlake.  It allows us to celebrate and vent with those that are going through/been through the same things as each other.  We always have a great time seeing each other and usually spend at least a couple of hours visiting. 

The funny thing about this one is that the way the seating at the Cheesecake Factory is, there were people directly on either side of us and we had fun looking at their expressions every now and then to some of the things being discussed in our conversations.  Since we are all surrogates, we have no fear discussing all aspects of pregnancy (how we got pregnant, issues, delivery, etc).