I cannot wait for them to be ready for #2! Yes, at 8 months postpartum I cannot wait to be pregnant again! Let me just be clear that I mean for someone else!! A few weeks ago I had my tubes tied, my bio-baby maker is officially closed! I have a feeling that it will be a little while longer until they are ready though since they have the hard part now!
I am feeling pretty much back to normal. I have lost just about all of the baby weight. Ok, the scales say that I am still holding on to 10 pounds, but the scale does not adjust for how ginormous my pumping boobs are. Seriously, they are still out of control. If I go by how my pants fit I am there if not a little smaller. Although I am not as toned as I was. I have not been able to find a spot for exercise in my 3 kids and work schedule, but boy do I miss it. Don't tell my mom ( because she will nag the shit out of me :) ) but I really miss running! I tried it at the end of the summer but it was too much.
One would think that I would have a good routine down by now and have spare time but the reality is that work, kids and pumping is my life. Yes I am still pumping. My milk has now fed 8 babies! I send most of my milk to a little boy is San Francisco that is only about 2 weeks older than Isaac. I have sent over 110 gallons of milk to babies and still have over 3000 ounces in storage.
Pumping isn't that hard! Yeah, if you thought that you obviously have never done it!! Pumping is a bitch. Almost every time I hook up I have to ask myself why in the world I keep doing it. Here is what my day looks like. I get up at 5, pump for a half hour, take a shower, get kids ready and to school. Pump on my way to work. Yes, I pump and drive. Then I pump in the middle of the day and on my way to pick the kids up. I pump while I make dinner and my last pump of the day is around 9. Every day I pump 5-6 times for a total of 2+ hours. If I am going to be gone more than 2 hours or so I have to take my pump and ice chest with me. I even pumped at a Luke Bryan concert. I also have to bag, store and ship milk. My boobs are a huge part of my life!
Then there are the physical demands of pumping. My nipples hurt. If someone told you that they toughen up and it stops hurting after a while they LIED! I also have to think about everything I do to my body. Every time I go to a doctor or the dentist I have to check any medication I am given and then answer a ton of questions about "my" baby, why I don't have one and where all of the milk goes. If I want to eat something I have to consider what it may do to a baby's tummy. If I want to have more that one drink I have to consider that I may have to dump the precious milk that I pump. Oh God, and food. I am hungry ALL THE TIME! Breast milk burns about 20 calories per ounce so I burn almost 1000 calories a day just by being a cow. Great for losing weight EXCEPT that if I do not eat enough my supply drops. If I exercise to much it drops too. When I nursed the girls it was not as stressful because I never knew the exact amount that they were getting. Now I have an app that tracks how much I produce and when it drops I stress!
But then I remember all of the benefits to the babies and me. I can't forget the medical uses for milk too. The kids love to tell me that they have some ailment because they know I will always suggest milk first. So far my friends and family have used milk to treat sore throats (that was Noah and he didn't know it was boob milk ;) ) eye irritation, ear aches, acne, burns, dry skin and even a scratch on my dog. It really does work miracles!
I am still getting questions about how I am doing emotionally. I am ok. I am stressed as ever and overwhelmed with life stuff but surrogacy is not one of the stresses. It is still one of the best things I have ever done. Growing Isaac changed my whole family. We got to truly experience love and acceptance and as a result our family grew by 3 boys!! Surrogacy is not for everyone. There is a lot to it both physically and emotionally, but I am finding more and more women that do it. Just locally I have connected with quite a few surros. Let me tell you, we are an interesting group of women! But I am grateful to have found others who KNOW what it is like and who support each other through the whole process. I have even had the opportunity to talk to a few women who have considered maybe helping another family have a baby. Recruiting a new surrogate has become a goal for me. It has been such a great experience for us all that I would love to help someone else experience it.
Here is a new picture of sweet Isaac. The other one is one of the 2 freezers that my boobie buddy's family has. They are both packed full of my milk, he currently has enough to last him past his first birthday!
