2010 is going to be a good year

So much happened last year that this year is bound to bring good news... So far I am walking into it with a good attitude, and much hope. As I told everyone in the last post we are going to be starting the surrogacy process in April. We have a family member that has been so wonderful to step up and offer us this dream of a lifetime. Now comes the hard part, trying to raise the money to do it. I feel horrible for asking donations and doing funraisers for something like this, when there are so many more deserving people then me, with way bigger problems. But.... I have wanted and tried for this for 7 years. Last year started off amazing, pregnant after all money was spent on IVF - FINALLY, found out pregnant with twins and then the world began to fall apart. I lost both within 6 months, and started right back where I was 7 years ago. There is a place on this page for donations, and I willl be sending out info on fundraisers as soon as we get word back from a couple locations. If anyone has ever gone throjugh surrogacy - I would love to hear your story... Maybe it will give me some hope. Happy New Year to everyone.

Starting the surrogacy process

Ok,so here we are. Trudging forward on this surrogacy process. We have been to the dr. and he said we look good to go and I have found the perfect surrogate, music to my ears. We started the counselors last night - which is the first step in this process. Next appt is end of Jan. In the meantime getting ready for all that is to come,we will be setting up some fundraisers and hope everyone will join the fun. More to come on that as we get word on what is available. Right now there is a fundraiser site being set up on giveforward.org. If anyone wants to spread the word I would be so appreciative. Thanks all and we will keep you updated on the progress and where we are. Thanks so much for all who has helped so far keep this dream alive. 2010 here we come!!!!!

Unbelievable News

Ok so last night we got the best news. A little angel stepped up and offered to be our surrogate. I cried and cried and of course excepted her offer. Now comes the fun part, the raising of funds. I am asking everyone and anyone out there if they have any fundraising ideas to get some money rolling in so we can start this process. I have waited 7 years for a baby and lost two in one year. This is our time, I think 2010 is going to be an amazing year, but a very expensive one. Please help if you can and rack your brain for ideas :-). There is also a paypal link on the blog for anyone who may want to give a donation.

Thanks so much

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My Story of 2 Preemie Miracles

I guess to begin this blog I will begin by telling you all who I am and my story.

My name is Erica Maniotis. I have been married for 7 years to an amazing man, who has stood by my side through some hard hard times.

12 years ago I got preganant for the first time. I always new I wanted children so this for me was a dream. Early on I got very sick and eventually diagnosed with preclampsia. The little girl I was carrying was diagnosed with IUGR. On August 11, 1997 I gave birth to our daughter Nicole by emergency c-section, weighing 1 pound 12 ounces. From that day forward I always knew I wanted to have more kids... When Nicole turned 5 we decided to try again. Things this time around were not so easy. After 7 years of trying unsuccessfully we decided to get some fertility help. We went through 3 IUI's and 2 IVF's before getting pregnant with our son. For those treatments alone after insurance covered their part we still owed 5,000. Quite a bit of month for a couple with not a lot of savings. From day one my pregnancy was hard. After specialist beyond specialist we only heard bad news. We heard he had severe IUGR, brain abnormalities, etc... It was the hardest thing to hear, but we choose to move forward and do everything possible for this little boy. Unfortunately we could only do so much when I developed the Hellp syndrome at 25 weeks. I delivered him as well with emergency c-section weighing 12 ounces. What a little fighter he was though. We were told since the time I got sick that he would not make it. He certainly proved them wrong at the time of delivery. But little by little things got to be too much, and batteling infection beyond infection we lost our miracle Mikey Jr. at 48 days. I have never felt so lost or alone as the night he passed. From that moment on I promised myself to live everyday to the fullest. My dream in life is to have children, a sibling for my daughter. And even after all this my dream still exists. I know that physically I can not carry my own child, so for us our options are surrogacy or adoption.. Which brings me to making this site. The average cost of IVF is 13,000 per cycle and many women need to undergo 2 or more. There are not many grants or funds out there to help this cause. Trying to raise this money is overwhelming. I would love to hear of fundraising ideas, or anything anyone else has in mind.... We are still trying to pay the 8 grand we owe from having Michael so looking towards the future in the "infertility" world is looking bleak.