Round 2: IVF

Yesterday March 28 Dave and I made our way to Center for Women’s Imaging at Vanderbilt 100 Oaks for the baseline ultrasound.  This first ultrasound is a pretty big deal.  If this ultrasound shows any cysts or any other problems the entire cycle is canceled until a later date when those problems have resolved.   It’s a bit nerve racking even at this point so early in the cycle because we’ve already invested ourselves in going forward with it.  I’ve already taken several oral and injectable medications and it’s just mentally exhausting to have to think we would have to stop when we’ve mentally prepared ourselves to move forward.  I arrived at Vanderbilt first to have some baseline blood levels drawn.  Then Dave arrived to meet up with me for the ultrasound.  We finally get called back and they proceeded with the ultrasound- the tech spent a good 15 minutes taking pictures and clicking buttons on her machine never saying a word to us.  I’ve seen this done multiple times now but I still don’t exactly know what they’re looking at or seeing.   She finally finishes and tells us the radiologist has to read it.   I was slightly frustrated because that’s the whole reason Dave came was to provide moral support when we found out if we could proceed with the IVF cycle.  We left with no answers so I headed to work waiting for a phone call most of the day to hear back from them.  Luckily we were busy at work and I didn’t think about it too much.  At 4pm, I had still not heard from the doctor so I had Dave call and get some answers.  Because this cycle is different in that we will be traveling to Colorado for the final stages of the cycle, all of my results have to be faxed over to their office and then they call me.  It’s a lot of little steps.  

Dave took the information down from our IVF nurse in Colorado and they said we could move forward.  The ultrasound didn’t appear to have any cysts or any other problem areas.  We will fly to Denver on April 3 to proceed with the rest of my monitoring prior to the egg retrieval and then embryo transfer.  I am so excited!   I prayed today for peace and whatever the outcome was of the ultrasound it was in God’s hands.  I feel ready to move forward and go to Denver.  We are praying for our little miracle to happen soon!  We’ll keep you posted as we arrive to Denver and how the monitoring is going.  Please continue to pray for a miracle baby for us.  Our faith in God has gotten us through this all but your prayers continue to give us hope, strength, and encouragement to press on.  Thank you! 

Let’s Paint This Town

Our friend Autumn Potter started a business called “Let’s Paint This Town”.   Check out her website:  http://letspaintthistown.com/home .  She hosts private parties in the comfort of your home, workplace or even church for you and your group of friends.  She provides all the essentials (canvas, paint, brushes, palettes, aprons, drop cloths, tables).  Then she helps everyone create a fabulous piece of original artwork all while having fun together!   Autumn was gracious enough to host a party for us in our home to help us raise money for Baby Stanley.  She charged her normal costs but only kept the fees to cover the supplies and gave the rest of the money to us to put towards the Baby Stanley Fund.  We had 22 people come to paint with us today!  It was so much fun!   We feel so blessed by the friends that have surrounded us on this infertility journey.   The support, the prayers, the encouragement, the donations have all meant so much.  We will continue to keep you updated on our journey and you better believe when we get our good news you will know!!!  Thanks to everyone who came out to support us today and paint a lovely cross.  I have posted the pics on facebook and am working on a youtube video to capture the event.  Will post soon!

Lately we’ve been busy with well, starting the adoption process.  Paperwork seemed non-ending for about 2 months, but we got it done and turned in.  We just completed our home study individual interviews with the social worker and they went very well.  Our social worker is very laid back and helped the process seem easy going.  We then completed our home inspection on March 8.    It went very well.  We are also having an adoption profile created for us which is a little story book of our lives and gives birth parents an idea of who we are and the type of life we can provide for a child.  We have also been exploring a few other fertility venues out there including grants offered to couples like us that provide money to support IVF costs. 

Lately I haven’t updated our blog mainly because of the business but also because we’ve been exploring so many options out there.  I feel like we’re in a bit of a tug of war.  We desperately want a child, but we desperately want to have a child.  Ultimately in the end, we know God will make that happen.  People that go through this experience it so differently and we have found that for each couple God brings an answer in his timing.  I believe a couple must reach that place of being ready to move forward- it can’t be rushed, nor should it.  For Dave and I this is knowing we have exhausted all of our fertility options.   We feel like there is a peace in knowing we did all we could to have a biological child and if God chooses to close those doors then we pray for a peace and acceptance of his will.  This doesn’t mean we are considering adoption a less best option for us, because we know that a child through adoption is one of God’s biggest blessings in this life.  Starting the adoption process and moving in that direction has been wonderful and we will continue to pursue that.  But we have not stopped pursuing fertility just yet.   

Since our home inspection is completed we are officially ready to accept a child once we were to be matched.  This can happen as quickly as 2 months to as long as 2 years.  You can’t really predict timing, we know that’s in God’s hands.  Dave and I have explored a lot of options however and for us, adoption may come in the form of embryo adoption- where we adopt an embryo  that will be implanted in my uterus and carried for 9 months just as a normal pregnancy.  Although this child will not genetically be linked to us, I will get to carry the baby for 9 months and Dave and I will get to experience the whole pregnancy journey and labor and delivery process.  There’s such a big desire in my heart to be a mother, but God has also placed a huge desire on my heart to carry a child and feel it grow inside of me and deliver that baby.   I can’t explain the yearning for that, but it has never faded and I know God places those desires in us. 

More on embryo adoption:  Again this option would actually still allow me to have the babies and experience pregnancy.  It’s actually really appealing to us in that I would carry the babies we’ve adopted.  Let me explain……….  So, there are many couples out there that go through infertility like us.  They go through with IVF and they’re successful but they actually end up with a surplus of embryos.   Those couples are than faced with deciding what to do with their excess, unused embryos that are both morally and ethically acceptable to them.   Many people choose to maintain their embryos in storage indefinitely, hoping to put off an eventual decision.  For people who do not view life as beginning at conception, thawing and discarding the embryos, or donating them for scientific research are options. For people who dislike these choices, however, embryo adoption constitutes the sole alternative.  In this option the couple donates their embryos to the clinic to give to another couple (like us) who is struggling to get pregnant.  We are excited about this possible option!!

Dave and I also recently visited one of the best fertility clinics in the country in Colorado.  We kept hearing from different people to check it out and after several referrals to this clinic and a very in depth phone consultation with the doctor there, we felt we had to go and give it a shot! While there we met with the doctor, had a full work up and discussed our treatment options.  The doctor gave us hope that they could help us!  They have the best embryologist and the clinic is ranked nationally for successful pregnancies.  Since our visit and a lot of praying, we have decided to move forward with another IVF cycle at this clinic.  Dave and I both want to do everything possible to try to have a baby and we feel a tug in our hearts to try this last option before we close this door.  We feel incredibly blessed and surrounded by our family and friends during this time as so many of you have offered to fundraise, support us, and most importantly pray for us.  We are incredibly blessed by your friendships and we know that God hears each and every one of your prayers.  We ask for your continued prayers during this time as we are so excited to be going to Colorado at the beginning of April to proceed with the IVF procedure.  Please pray for safety, good health during the cycle, patience as we wait for God’s plan to unfold, God’s timing, clarity and direction, and most importantly for His will in our becoming parents.  We know God has a plan and cannot wait to see that unfold however he chooses to do so.