*Olivia*

Driving to see Dr. Schmitz, I felt finally ready to begin the next steps of the surrogacy process. Meeting Elena for lunch had done so much to alleviate my concerns. Knowing that she really just wanted to help people like Giovani and me made me feel much better about everything.

I didn't need to worry that she was going to try to steal him away from me or anything silly like that. I was still glad that we had taken our time in exploring the surrogacy option, but now that we were one hundred percent decided that it was the right path forward, I was all in and eager to get started.

Giovani squeezed my hand when we arrived at the surrogacy center, and I looked at him with a smile on my face. I knew he was nervous about this process as well; it would be a much different challenge for our relationship than anything we had undergone before, but it would be well worth it if it meant we could finally realize our dream of becoming parents.

We walked into the center and were greeted by the staff members who had already taken the time to get to know us. The receptionist let us back to the consultation room, and we waited excitedly for Dr. Schmidtz. Mrs. Ortiz had transferred all of the information over to our original doctor who was ready to help us.

"Are you ready for this?" Gio asked, his brow furrowed. "I've heard it can be difficult."

"I'm more than ready," I assured him. "And besides, it won't be as difficult as actually being pregnant and going through childbirth. Knowing that this will help bring our baby into the world will make it easy."

"Well you know you'll be getting the princess treatment from everyone in the house," he chuckled. "I think Dahlia might be just as excited for this baby as we are."

I laughed with him; he was definitely right about that. Dahlia had already begun online shopping for baby clothes. At this rate, the baby would have a full wardrobe before they were even conceived.

Dr. Schmidt knocked and came into the room. "Hi! How are we today?" she asked brightly.

"Great!" I told her, feeling myself sit up a little straighter in her presence. I was so full of nervous excitement I felt like I could run a damn marathon.

"Alright, let's get right into it then! This is a very exciting appointment because we are finally going to be taking the first steps toward actually making your baby. So, as we discussed at our last meeting, the first part of all of this is the egg retrieval. From there, we will fertilize your eggs to create embryos; you can think of embryos as being little baby seeds almost. Then we will examine the embryos and choose the two healthiest-looking ones to 'plant' inside the surrogate's uterus. Full disclosure, this could technically result in twins, but most likely will not. The reason we like to start with two is to increase the chances that one of them will take and result in a healthy pregnancy." Luckily Gio and I already knew what she was telling us thanks to our hours of internet research, but I still appreciated the reminders. It was easy to get overwhelmed by the whole process. I reached out to take Giovani's hand for comfort. "Okay, are you both ready to learn more about what leads up to the egg retrieval process? This will be the most difficult part of the process for both of you, so I want to take the time to explain it and make sure you can ask me any questions that you might have."

"We're ready," Giovani said, his voice confident and strong. I was so lucky to have him by my side through all of this.

"Because our goal is to be able to retrieve anywhere between eight and fifteen healthy eggs, we're going to have you on a very specific regimen of hormones leading up to the retrieval. We will start you on a medication that will suppress your ovulation, then when we get closer to the date, you will begin a medication that will trigger your ovaries to release healthy eggs. It is extremely important that you take all medications exactly when we tell you to take them, because failure to do so could result in needing to delay the retrieval process. These hormones can be a lot on your body, so we do not want to have to put you on this regimen for any longer than absolutely necessary."

"I understand," I told her. I was glad that I had decided to take a break from college. It made it so much easier to be able to focus on this full time.

"I have this chart for you with everything written out. If you have any questions at all, you call my office. We care about your success as much as you do. Don't ever feel like you can't reach out."

"Thank you." Giovani took the chart from her. "I'll keep track of this." He smiled at me, proud to be able to take at least something small off of my plate. I knew that it bothered him that he couldn't do more, but his presence and support alone was more than enough.

"We will have a few appointments between now and egg retrieval day, just to ensure that the hormones are having the right effect. I predict that this will go rather smoothly, but it's still important that we monitor you regularly. Your safety is our top priority. We don't want to risk your health for the sake of retrieving eggs."

I couldn't help but think that I would be willing to risk my health if it meant that we could have a healthy baby, but I appreciated that Dr. Schmidt cared about my wellbeing. I knew Gio appreciated it as well. The last thing he wanted was for me to get sick, or worse.

"Alright, do you have any questions for me about this process?" Dr. Schmidt asked.

"After the egg retrieval, how long will it be until the embryos are ready to be implanted?" Giovani asked.

"About three to five days, depending on embryo development," she responded.

I was thrilled to hear that it would be so soon. That meant that in just a little over a month, Elena could be pregnant with our baby!

I hoped that she was ready for such a big step. I couldn't even begin to imagine the emotions that she must be feeling knowing that she was about to spend nine months carrying another couple's baby inside of her. I could barely comprehend the fact that this egg retrieval would result in a pregnancy, let alone a living, breathing baby. I hoped that Elena was thinking about that so that she would be ready when the time came.

"Do you have any special dietary recommendations for me? Or exercise?" I asked. I wanted to do whatever it would take to ensure success.

"Really just continuing to do whatever you already do for exercise, and eat a generally healthy diet. I do recommend avoiding alcohol just because there is some evidence that it can cause hormone disruption, but that's not a strict rule. Just don't binge drink."

I nodded. I would still reduce my consumptionr right away. It would be more than worth it.

"How do hormones usually affect the person taking them?" Giovani asked. He knew I was nervous about that.

"It is different for everyone, just as everyone has different symptoms related to their menstrual cycle, but the most common side effects that people report are moodiness, feelings of bloating, and an increase in appetite. The good news is that all of that is temporary and should subside within two weeks after the egg retrieval. Of course, if any of the side effects seem extreme or worry you, definitely call the office, and we will schedule an appointment to see if I can do anything to give you some relief. One side effect that's rare but can be especially annoying is nausea, and I do have some medications I can prescribe for that. Definitely just keep us in the loop for anything that bothers you; don't worry about whether or not something is too insignificant to bring up. We are here to help in any way we can."

Her words made me feel much better. I knew that the hormonal effects of preparing for the egg retrieval were nothing compared to what I would go through if I was going to actually get pregnant, but that didn't stop me from being nervous. I just wanted to feel as much like myself as possible.

"Do you have any more questions for me?" Dr. Schmidt asked.

"I don't think so," Giovani said, looking at me to be sure.

I shook my head, my thoughts were already spinning with all the information we'd received. I needed time to process before I could handle learning anything new.

"Perfect! Then I will prescribe you the medications that you need and take you to the receptionist to schedule your first appointment. We'll see you next week!"

Giovani stood and reached out a hand to help me up. I smiled at his show of chivalry. He had always treated me so well, but I knew that hearing about how the hormones might affect me had made him feel especially protective. I wasn't even on the medications yet, but it wouldn't surprise me if he started treating me like a delicate piece of glass starting right now.

Dr. Schmidt led us back out to the receptionist's desk and helped us to get our next several appointments scheduled.

"Again, please feel free to call if you have any questions or concerns. We are here for you and the success of this process will be much more likely if we can keep an open line of communication between each other."

She shook our hands goodbye, and we were on our way. I felt like my head was spinning between the information we had received and the excitement I had over knowing that we were so close to seeing our baby start to grow.

Gio opened my door for me and encouraged me to scoot over so that he could immediately slide into the car. I had noticed that he'd kept his hands on me throughout the entire appointment and seemed to be determined to keep that up. I loved that he was so attentive and concerned, and I was determined to soak it up. Although this process would be difficult, as long as I had Giovani, I knew that everything would be just fine.

As we rode home, I snuggled up against his side and laid my head on his shoulder. He wrapped his arm around me and held me tightly.

I smiled at how safe his embrace made me feel. Nothing would ever change that.

Nothing.

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