Keeping The Faith, Not Giving Up Hope & Staying Thankful

Today was my second beta blood test and the results were not as I had hoped. My number dropped from a 16 to an 11. This means my pregnancy was a "chemical pregnancy" and I will soon miscarry our two embabies. I had felt something was not right with pregnancy mainly because I have been pregnant before and if I was indeed 20 days along- I would certainly know it. I had taken a pregnancy test the night before and it was negative again. After doing my research I learned that if your HCG is above 20 it will show on HPT so I felt like I was prepared for the number not to have risen. I was very calm this morning and even though I cried the entire way I had a peace about it.

Yes, I feel like breaking down, staying in bed for days and crying a river. Well maybe I have cried a river and I did stay in bed for most of the day today- until my sister rode in on her white horse and gave me some comfort- sometimes just sitting with someone in their grief is all you can do and I am thankful she left work early and barged into my house and did just that. I know I insist that I like being alone when I am sad, mad or down but really we all need somebody. Being alone is not always the answer and it helped to cry to her and talk about it and get my feelings off my chest. I am truly heartbroken, sad, disappointed and struggling with my self confidence right now but I am not giving up hope. I am not letting go of the dream to have a child with the man I love more than words. I know God brought him into my life for a reason and everyday with him I consider a gift from God. I believe God has a plan for us and I know having children is part of this plan just not at this time...in God's time I know it will happen.

I am trying to stay focused on the positive things from this experience. Here are just a few things that are keeping me going right now:

* I know now what to expect from IVF and I know what questions to ask and things to say and do and when to say and do them. The anxiety and uncertainty of the process has faded away and I am totally prepared to do it again!
* We know we are still good candidates for Micro IVF because our testing was all perfect and having a positive pregnancy at all is a good sign for future IVFs.
* We are NOT giving up hope- we are planning to do another IVF as soon as we have saved enough money to do it- we will be going in for round 2- in Dallas at the Sher Institute- we will hopefully do it this summer and the kiddos can come along and we can make a vaca of it!
* I walk with the Lord and I am confident in His plan for my life and my family. I know he will not forsake us and even though this didn't work as we had planned- He has bigger plans for us and when it's His time we will have what we so desperately want the most.
* Times like this make me thankful for the hard, sad, hurtful, sorrowful times from my past- because of that- my armor is strong and I even though I am sad, disappointment and my heart hurts I am not broken. I will move on a wiser person with a new story of courage to tell and hopefully help others.
* I am so thankful for the people I have met- through my blog, online discussion boards or the Sher Institute that are fellow IVFers- women made of steel! What a blessing those friendships have been and hopefully will continue to be for many years! Also the women who I am friends with or even related to that I had not known struggled with infertility until I shared my journey and they reached out to me and shared theirs. What an amazing blessing those women have been. They have touched me in so many ways. I am thankful for them- there are just not words here.
* I have an awesome hubby and for reasons I will never fully understand he knowingly married an infertile woman and he loves me even through this struggle. He is amazing. We have certainly grown closer in a different way and I admire his willingness to give me my 12048508347 shots and never complain and always be a comfort.
* I have two beautiful healthy children who keep me going and who love me even at my darkest saddest hours. They are a joy and a blessing to me each and everyday of my life. I am proud to be their momma!

I am not questioning and asking why. I am not mad and I am not bitter. I am not even going to think one second about the cost and months of saving we incurred. I am going to be still and have faith in God's plan. I am going to praise Him for allowing us to go through this even if the ending was sad. I am thankful for the struggle, the sorrow, the pain, the tears, the sacrifice...all of that has to make me a better person, friend, wife and mom. As a Christian it would be a shame for it NOT to.

At the end of the day this scripture keeps me going as it has many many times before:
""We rejoice in our sufferings because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope." Romans 5:3-4

Bless you all and bless all you IVF women out there...you are my heroes!

I Believe

I love this! SIRM's new Theme Song! So inspirational for all the couple who have, will, are battling infertility! Keep believing!

It's SHER to be a Baby!

When looking for an RE (Reproductive Endocrinologist) or for betters terms baby making doctor or IVF doc, your choices can be very overwhelming. Let's face it the infertility business obviously is booming because these RE's are everywhere!

One very cool thing that made our search easy is that the Center for Disease Control monitors all IVF clinics and their SUCCESS RATES! Not only do you get an in depth look at how successful their IVFs are but you also get to see how many IVFs they do each year. In my opinion, the more experience- the better.

Being the blogging, discussion board, online junkie that I am and always will be my curious brain and fingers descended upon the internet. I read, discussed, searched and studied all the ins and outs of IVF doctors all across the country. I would print out materials pertaining to each doctor and clinic and the hubby and I would discuss what we liked or did not like.

At the end of the 3 year research span it all came down to one man and one man only- DR. GEOFFREY SHER founder of the Sher Institutes across America. We had pondered staying a little closer to home by using the Dallas Sher Institute but Dr. Sher was in Las Vegas so that was where we needed to be. In addition to his 16,000 successful IVF procedures he also has perfected the art of Micro IVF which is a perfect for couples like the hubby and I!

Dr. Sher will be the man to make our Bryant Baby. I could not be more confident in a successful outcome being in the hands of a world renowned IVF expert!

He writes an awesome blog I encourage all infertile couples to visit www.ivfauthority.com you will find all the answers to your questions, doubts and concerns. He covers all the bases for infertile couples and keeps it real when he talks making babies! This man is a genius and I cannot wait to meet him face to face on November 8th!