Monday, July 8, 2013

Surro Files - My Surrogacy Pregnancy Journal

Well, we're kind of in a bit of a limbo period right now.  Not a lot going on, but a lot to look forward to.  This coming Saturday I stop taking my birth control pills and then the fun begins!  Till then, it's just wait... wait... wait...  and ... wait.  Haha!  Ok, it's really not that bad.  This week is actually going to be great!  Tomorrow I head out for Oregon with my husband and Linc and the intended mother (Belle), is heading out for Italy.  This week is going to fly by for us and our transfer cycle will be here before we know it!  I'll actually get back in town the day I take my last birth control pill so it's kind of perfect timing really.  Oh, and don't get me started on Belle's trip to Italy.  OMG!  It just sounds a-m-a-z-i-n-g!!!!! I so want to go!!!!  She's going to have a blast and I can't wait to hear all about it!

So that's my only update for the week.  What I really wanted to talk to you all about though is my surrogacy pregnancy journal.  With all my kids I was a journaling freak during pregnancy.  I love to document big moments in our lives and this surrogacy is definitely no different.  I want to document the whole thing so I will remember it forever!  It may not be documentation of a child of mine, but it is a documentation of a great time in my life.  Not only do I plan on keeping a copy for myself, but I also plan on writing out a copy for Belle and Adam, as well as their little munchkin.

So, I've pretty much been looking for a surrogacy pregnancy journal since the day I decided to become a surrogate.  I looked, and looked, and looked some more.  NOTHING!  There is nothing out there.  I even looked through some regular pregnancy journals thinking I could just use one of those, but it just didn't talk about the things that I wanted it to.  I also thought that maybe I could just do a scrapbook, but to tell you the truth, I'm just not a scrapbooking type of gal.  I try and be crafty, but I guess I'm just not paper, ribbon, and stickers crafty.


That's when I decided to just make my own surrogacy pregnancy journal.  I wanted it to look professional, elegant, and talk about all the areas that a surrogate and/or her intended parent's would want to remember.  I downloaded a program that I felt could help me do the job and got to designing.  I started with the content first and created a list of all the information that I felt was important from beginning to end.  Once that was complete I started the design phase putting it all on paper with graphics and a nice theme.  The theme I went with was "Grow Baby Grow".  There are flowers throughout the book and even the binder is green which I felt was a new growth type of color.  Last month I finished the entire book and it was perfect!  I couldn't wait to start writing in it.  Of course right as I finished creating the book I found out the transfer was cancelled.  I guess my book would have to wait to be filled in.

That doesn't mean that others have to wait though.  Despite having to wait to fill in my book, I've still decided to offer the journal to other surrogates and intended parents on my new Etsy shop, Busy Bee Designs.  Currently I have the journal for sale in three different colors and in five different versions regarding the intended parents (male/female couple, male/male couple, female/female couple, male single, & female single).  I also offer the book both with and without a binder.  I really hope the surrogacy community loves them.  So far I've gotten great feedback so I'm taking that as a good sign.

Later on I plan to offer a few more things that I'm currently working on as well.  I'm almost done with the next addition to the shop.  You might have noticed that the current journal is intended to be filled out by the surrogate.  The new version will be written so that the intended parent(s) can fill it out.  I'm pretty close to finishing them up.  Check back in about two weeks for the new version!!!  I love these little projects since I've become a stay at home mom (formerly an interior designer).  I need to keep my mind and body going going going and this has really helped.  Let me know what you think!  



4 comments:

  1. That looks great, Chana! Best of luck in your new endeavor! :)

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  2. You are very talented! The surro diaries in your Etsy shop look beautiful!! Makes me want to request a custom pregnancy diary from you just to have a unique, creative keepsake. :)

    Keep up the good work!! And best of luck on your upcoming transfer. Fingers crossed!

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  3. I want.
    Going to check it out now. I too have been ll over the internet, in every book store and even all over Etsy looking for this very thing.
    If I were you girl, I'd get an endorsement from Circle and take this to a publisher lickity split.

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  4. I've been looking too and I was about to bust out all my scrapbook supplies to make one. I think I might get one, fill it out, then surprise my IF's with it when the baby is born!

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Thanks so much for taking the time to show your support with a comment! I LOVE reading all of them and will try and answer any questions that you might have. :)