In the Beginning....

I just want to start out by saying thank you all for being here. We decided to start this blog as a line of communication for our family and friends as we begin a new chapter in our lives. It is finally official that Steve and I are going to proceed with the in vitro process and I anticipate that we will need a lot of support from everyone!

When we decided to try to start a family over 4 years ago, we never knew what we were signing up for. Infertility is a sneaky creature and something that I was not familiar with. I have since done so much research and talked with so many doctors that I realize how unfortunate and common it is. What is even more difficult in our case is that no one can tell us why we are having so much trouble. The question that laid before us is "How long do we tackle this on our own?". When I make this statement I only mean how long before we get professional help. I believe wholeheartedly that God has walked with us on this path from the beginning and that we are never on our own. Without his grace, I never would have pulled through the tragedy of our ectopic pregnancy and lived to tell about it. I also wouldn't have been able to stand here 3 years later and have peace about in vitro fertilization.

The older I get, the more the statistics change for in vitro. That is why we have decided this is our time. We have chosen a fertility clinic in Cincinatti called Institute for Reproductive Health (IRH). We visited some clincs here locally but decided that was a better fit for us. IRH is nationally known and I also hear that is where Courteney Cox went to conceive her baby!

Right now we are in a waiting game. I have to wait until my next cycle and then we contact the fertility clinic and tell them it's our "Day One" (we anticipate that will be before the end of this month). After that I have to fill some prescriptions and also have some mailed to me. I will be taking some antibiotics (as will Steve) and some birth control pills to regulate my ovulation. Then comes the shots. In case you didn't already know, I'm a bit of a baby when it comes to needles and blood. I'm also not a big fan of pain. I think I'm in for a rude awakening huh? One more reason why I need God's grace.... There will be three different shots I have to take all of which make the follicles develop at the same time and make them be the best they can be. In between the rounds of shots, I will have to go to the clinic (sometimes I can go to a Labcorp here) and get blood tests to make sure my ovaries aren't overstimulated. If that occurs, you may have to stop the process and start all over again on another cycle. We need to pray this never happens! The medication will last about 30 days and then it will be time for egg retrieval. Usually between 8-15 eggs can be retrieved. They will then fertilize them and I would return 3-6 days later for implantation. Probably only 2-3 will be implanted. The rest can be frozen for later use. Then comes the 2 week wait to take a pregnancy test. I'm sure those won't be the longest two weeks of our lives but in case it is we might welcome any distractions you could come up with!

Throughout this process, I ask of all of you to please keep us as well as our parents in your prayers. I know it will not be easy for them to always be the pillars of strength for us and they would never choose to see their children go down this road. They will probably need shoulders to lean on too!

I have faith that this is only the beginning of a happy ending for us. I hope one day our children will be able to read this and know how much their Mommy & Daddy wanted them here and how all their family and friends got to be a part of it.

With much love and anticipation,
Sara