A Summer Recap + All Aboard the IVF Train

Here we are! Its the end of August and Jamie and I have had a very busy summer, but nonetheless a GREAT summer! Jamie is loving his new full-time accounting job and is balancing still working his part-time job pretty well, though sometimes working 60 hours a week every week does get him a little tired. I am in full swing preparing for the Chic Chateau Designer Showhouse that opens to the public on Friday, September 19th and continues through the last two weekends of September. I have been painting furniture and sewing pillows like a mad woman. I can't wait to show off the bedroom to everyone! Everything in the house is all DIY projects that are for sale at very reasonable prices and proceeds go to ARC of Greensboro, which is a non-profit that helps people with various disabilities in the Greensboro area. For more info about the show visit https://www.facebook.com/ChicChateauGSO.  Anywho...besides that I have been enjoying teaching a very full load of classes along with working part-time at the kitchen and bath showroom. Jamie and I are still amazed at all of the work we have and feel so blessed to have jobs we love.

Fall is quickly approaching and my head has been filled with lots of fall daydreaming. You know pumpkin spice lattes, trips to the mountains, watching the leaves change, and...BABIES! Yes, lots of daydreaming about babies. After many months of planning, we are excited to begin our IVF (in-vitro fertilization) cycle this fall.

A lot of emotions have filled this summer about IVF. Back in June we went to an IVF seminar that informed us about what our chances would be of getting pregnant and what the whole process would be like. Essentially, my chances were based off of my age and what is called your Anti-Mullerian Hormone (AMH). Essentially, your AMH level predicts the amount of eggs a woman has left. At the time of the seminar, we believed that based on my high AMH level taken last year would put us in extremely high chances of success with the highest possibility of having frozen embryos. Well life threw us a curve ball when I got back an updated AMH level that showed our chances for IVF had been reduced and that we have less than 25% chance of having any embryos to freeze. In the IVF world, almost all couples hope to have frozen because it means that you don't have to necessarily go through all of IVF again if you don't get pregnant the first time and it is much much less expensive to use frozen embryos than to do start a whole new IVF cycle (like at least a 1/4 of the cost).

Before this test result, I was so positive that IVF was going to work and that we would get the joy of being pregnant this year. But after I got those results, I started preparing my heart for the worst...going through all of this, not getting pregnant, and not having any frozen embryos. My mother-in-law really came in handy with some great advice. She reminded me of stories in the Bible where God purposefully reduced down peoples chances of success in various circumstances so that when He performed a miracle it would be even more glorious! Thank God I was blessed with great in-laws! Really! This was just what I needed to hear. She also assured me that she had a good feeling that it was going to work. Even though that seems like a small thing, I love to hear peoples intuition about how this is going to work for us.

Last week, I took some advice from a friend and started a countdown on our chalkboard in our kitchen to our IVF cycle. Next to the countdown, I put Jeremiah 29:11:

  "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, 

"plans to prosper you and not to harm you, 

plans to give you a future and a hope."

It seems small, but counting down every day and seeing that verse has started me on a path of cautiously hoping again. Well ...that and pinning lots of baby room ideas to a secret/hidden Pinterest board.

Last week, I received two very large boxes of my IVF medications. This is not an exact picture of my meds (actually I think I have more than this if you can believe it), but it can kind of give you an idea on the crazy amount drugs I will be shooting myself up with soon. I was really worried about the shots, being that I am pretty afraid of needles, but I decided that if I got nervous before taking a shot that I would play Christina Aguilera's "Fighter" song. Ha! Beat that nerves!

In all seriousness though, Jamie and I would love your prayers. Prayers that we can be transparent about this journey God has us on and that it will speak to others about His great amazing love. Prayers for the surgery I will undergo during this process. Prayers that Jamie and I can remain hopeful no matter what the outcome. And lastly...bold prayers that this would work!