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Grateful

     Throughout the past couple of months, if you are friends with me on Facebook, I am sure you have seen a few fundraisers being mentioned. A couple of really sweet ladies came to me, wanting to help out through the means of Mary Kay sales and Scentsy sales. J-Meg Signs had a Paint Party Fundraiser for us also. These fundraisers not only raised a lot of money for our IVF medicine, but they blessed our hearts! It has been so humbling to know that people care enough to give of their time, efforts and even monetarily to help us as we travel down this road of IVF with a Gestational Carrier.

     We are having one more fundraiser, a Photo Session Fundraiser by my sweet friend, Mrs. Amanda Hurst of Hurst Photo. The fundraiser will be this weekend, November 2 and 3. Follow the link above or click here to sign up and reserve your time slot. If you are reading this and you have had trouble accessing the link through Facebook, try going to the webpage outside of Facebook. Sometimes Facebook acts weird like that ;). 

Amanda does an AMAZING job! Here are some of the photos she took of me, Aaron, Ruby and Bingo a few months back:

Aaron & Abby
Ruby
Bingo (She even made this little stinker look innocent :)!

     The Photo Session Fundraiser is more than likely going to be the last fundraiser we do to raise money to help with our IVF/Gestational Carrier expenses. So, if you have considered signing up or doing any fundraiser and haven't, I encourage you to take advantage of this one, as again, there will probably not be another. You will get some beautiful pictures of your family in return for helping us grow our family!

     We have been so blessed and we are so grateful for all the love and support that has been shown to us. Words can't even describe what it has truly meant. We will never forget the great kindness that has been shown to us on this journey. Never.



One Year Without Harper

One year has passed since I gave birth and said goodbye to Harper. One. Whole. Year. That doesn't even seem possible. How can a year have passed when I can close my eyes and be back in Gainesville at Shands in such pain, holding sweet little bitty Harper? Just how in the world can it be?

My mind keeps going back to the traumatic events on October 18 and 19, 2012...and I still can't believe all that took place...and that I survived all of it. And I can't believe that my arms are empty and heavy at the same time. And I know that people can't understand what I mean when I say that.

Happy Birthday in Heaven, Harper...even though it is not a happy day down here for me and Daddy. Today we are broken more than usual and hurting just as much as we were hurting a year ago. I know you and Jonah are celebrating together and I can't wait until the day that I can hold you two close and we are all together again! It is much too hard without you two, especially on days like today...

Nagging Sadness

I have had this nagging, sad feeling all weekend, including today. I mean relentless nagging. I am haunted by my experiences. My heart has been heavy with loss, heavy with longing for sweet Jonah and Harper and the child that I wonder if God will ever see fit to bless me with.  

I had every intention of not blogging about my sadness, for fear of ruining everyone's week, or at least everyone's Monday. But, on my way home from work today I heard a song on the radio with the lyrics, 

"You make all things work together for my good...You stay the same through the ages. Your Love never changes." 


It is amazing to me that no matter how broken down I am, no matter how scattered about I feel, God's Love never changes and He never gives up on me as I stumble to carry this heavy, heavy cross.

There is a sadness that follows me and it always will until the day I see Jonah and Harper again. Nothing can change that. But I know that God is using this horrible pain and sadness to bring glory to His Name. No, I would never have chosen it for myself. But in these broken days, I am learning to cling to my Father as He is the only One Who can get me through.

And seeing that my blog has had more than 13,000 views is simply God whispering to me, "I am working things out for your good, Abby...even though it hurts, even though it stings..."

    

Our Second Attempt At IVF

We decided to keep things more private during our second attempt at IVF. For many different reasons, it just seemed like the best decision for us. Now that we have completed things, we feel it is time to share the details.

I want to say that it was May 10 when me and Aaron went to Jacksonville for IVF start day #2, but I'm not positive since everything is starting to run together. Anyways, on start days, I go for an ultrasound to make sure everything with my body looks good and ready for me to start all of my injectable medications. On this day, we found that I had a cyst on one of my ovaries. So, I could not start my meds until the cyst cleared itself up. I was super discouraged :( and pretty angry. Fast forward three weeks later and I had my IVF start day on Memorial Day and I was cleared to start my meds.

This round, Dr. Winslow put me on the highest dose of meds so that maybe my body would respond better, since I have a low ovarian reserve (not very many eggs). So, it would not be a fun IVF experience if I didn't have a breakdown about my trigger shot, now would it?! I am pretty paranoid about my medicines the whole time I am taking them, just ask Aaron. When it is shot time, I act like a freak and it is on! For the trigger shot, I get all worked up because this one shot makes or breaks the whole round of IVF...that's a whole lot of pressure! So, to avoid that drama this time, a dear and special friend of mine was going to mix my trigger shot up for me a few hours ahead of time, because it is the mixing that gets me all worked up. That afternoon, I decided to open up the package that had the vial of medicine in it that would be used for my trigger shot. BIG MISTAKE! I went into a panic because it looked different than my trigger shot did the last go 'round. I called my dear friend, I called the pharmacy, I called Aaron blubbering....and I cried about it ALL afternoon, even after all these phone calls! Not until Aaron gave me the trigger shot did I feel relief. 

The egg retrieval was on June 14. When I woke up from the procedure, the nurses told me that they had retrieved seven eggs. And I cried. And then Aaron helped me in the car and I started crying all over again. I was SO discouraged that after the highest doses of medicine, they were only able to retrieve seven! That is three less than our first retrieval.

Dr. Winslow called me 48 hours later to let me know that of the seven eggs retrieved, we had three embryos. He wanted to do a three-day transfer. So, me and Aaron and Kristi went to Jacksonville on June 17 for the transfer. We transferred two embryos (this increases the chance that pregnancy will occur at all) and we were able to freeze the other embryo. The fact that we were able to freeze an embryo meant that the embryos we did have were of a little better quality than the first batch from round #1. We had to wait 14 LONG days before we could have our blood pregnancy test since our day 12 fell on a Saturday.

I could not believe it when Dr. Winslow's office called us and told us that it was positive. But, this was quickly followed by how low the HCG (pregnancy hormone) level was. So we went back two days later for another blood draw. This time Kristi's HCG level had just about doubled, but not quite. HCG levels normally double every 48-72 hours so the fact that Kristi's levels were rising slowly threw up a red flag. Kristi had to go back two more times over the next week to check her levels. On the last blood draw, her levels finally seemed to have risen like they should. So, they scheduled us for a 6wk ultrasound the following Friday. Part of me was thrilled that I might see our little baby on the ultrasound screen, but the other, bigger part of me, was scared to death that something would be wrong.

During the ultrasound, the doctor took his time, trying to make sure he didn't miss anything. At the end of the ultrasound, Dr. Freeman (Dr. Winslow was out of town) told us that he could not find anything on the ultrasound, just as we had come to figure out as we stared at an empty screen. Devastation seems to be the best word for how I felt. I felt so hurt and I wondered why God would lead us to believe that we were finally pregnant if only to knock us down AGAIN. Discouraged and frustrated and confused....these feelings seem to be my best friends as of late. They wanted to check Kristi's HCG levels before we left, because all along there was some speculation as to whether this was an ectopic pregnancy (when an embryo implants anywhere other than the uterus, but primarily in one of the Fallopian tubes). Then, we made the journey home. Bless Kristi's heart, me and Aaron were no fun to ride home with that day. We were just SO hurt and beat-down and discouraged. 

Kristi had to have a repeat blood draw nine days later, which just so happened to be two weeks ago. We were shocked to find that the levels had went up quite a bit, still not where they should be for 7wks pregnant, but they had still went up a significant amount. In the meantime, Kristi had started having some pain on her left side. Dr. Winslow's office wanted to see Kristi the next day because her HCG level meant that this really could be an ectopic pregnancy. So, this of course sent me into a panic! I was so upset, worried that something bad was going to happen to Kristi all while she was trying to do something so selflessly for us. Just so you all know, ectopic pregnancies are extremely rare, 2% of pregnancies are ectopic and it is even less than that when undergoing IVF (lucky, huh?). If an embryo implants in a Fallopian tube, as it grows, if it is not caught in time, it can cause the woman's tube to rupture, which is very, very dangerous. An ectopic pregnancy cannot result in a viable baby.

Me and Kristi went to Jacksonville the next day. Dr. Freeman did aother lengthy ultrasound and still could not find anything in Kristi's uterus, ovaries or tubes. Typically, HCG levels need to be in the 1000s in order to see anything on an ultrasound. So, since Dr. Freeman could not see anything, he wanted to run some bloodwork and check Kristi's HCG level again. Since Kristi's levels had increased a lot more since the day before, Dr. Freeman told us that we should treat this as an ectopic pregnancy or at the least, as if an embyro attached and implanted but then stopped growing. That meant that Kristi had to have a methetrexate injection. If the injection did not work, she would have to have another one in a week. If a second injection didn't work, surgery might have been the next option. After the injection we came back home. 

The next weekend after this, Kristi started experiencing worse pain on her left side. After calling Jacksonville, Kristi was told to go to the nearest ER just to make sure she was fine and that her tubes had not ruptured or anything. Now, that was a fun trip! Ectopic pregnancies are rare so that was fun to explain...and how many gestational carriers and intended mothers do you think an ER in south Georgia sees on a regular basis? Fun, fun times! Sarah, my sister, went with me since Aaron was out of town with the Youth from church, and it was a good thing that Sarah did go with me. We had met Kristi at the ER in Tifton. Throughout all of this, Kristi has had a cyst on one of her ovaries so the pain Kristi was experiencing was attributed to that. When we were discharged, me and Sarah trekked through the FLOODING rain (because there was not a cloud in the sky when we got to the ER earlier!) all the way to my car so that we could go pick Kristi up at the door. We were absolutely soaked! After we got Kristi in the car, Sarah got in Kristi's car to follow us home. We pulled out on the main road, meanwhile it is dark and flooding so hard that you can barely see the lines on the road, and I look up in my rear view mirror and see that Sarah doesn't even have the lights on! I panicked thinking how panicked she probably was since she obviously didn't know how to turn the lights on in someone else's car! So, we pulled over so that I could help her figure it out...and she did not even realize that she didn't have the lights on, she was too busy trying to work the windshield wipers :). We finally made it home around midnight that night. Kristi spent the whole weekend feeling like crap from the morphine they had given her at the ER and from the pain on her left side. Again, fun times :).

So, Kristi had two more blood draws this past week (the week after the ER extravaganza) to check her HCG levels and thankfully, her level is coming back down like it should. We are now at a stand-still as we wait for Kristi's HCG levels to get back down to zero. This could take up to eight weeks. Once her level gets to zero, we cannot do a frozen embryo transfer or our last fresh cycle of IVF until Kristi has had at least two normal menstrual cycles. 

While we welcome this break for Kristi's body's sake as well as for my body's sake, it is still hard because it feels like it pushes us further away from our goal of a healthy, happy Baby Willis here on Earth. We, and that includes Kristi, never dreamed that this journey would be so full of misery and heartache. We never dreamed there would be so many ups and downs. But we know that God has a plan and that He has led us this far for a reason. We will press on even when we feel defeated and discouraged because God never said that things would be easy when trying to glorify Him. But, like so many things, this is a lot easier said than done!

I know that the longer the process takes for us, the easier it is for people to get bored with our "story" and even numb to it and honestly, it makes it easier for people to tell us what they would do if they were in our shoes. I know people are tired of the blog posts of disappointment and of hearing of our God-given desire for a child constantly. But friends....please do not grow tired in praying for Kristi and Aaron and me! It is through our faith in Jesus Christ and through the prayers of our brothers and sisters that we can even keep going. So please do not stop praying!

Quiet Lately

I know I have been quiet on this blog lately. And, I have heard several people wondering what is next for us. For now, we are waiting and nothing much is going on. It takes time and appointments and all other kinds of things to get another round of IVF going. I am finding that this takes a lot of patience, something I do not have much of anymore! So, please know that my silence is because there is nothing to talk about. Well, besides how much I miss Jonah and Harper and how hard the days still seem to be sometimes...but, I'm sure y'all get tired of hearing all of that. 

I would like to mention something else though, at the risk of sounding mean. So, here goes: I have heard chatter ever since my last post about what we should do now. People have made comments like, "Well, maybe y'all should take a break" or "Are you sure you want to try this again?" and etc. Friends, please know that me and Aaron weigh our decisions before we make them. Please know that we pray about decisions before we make them. We want to seek God's Will for us because no matter what, His Will will prevail. Please know that there are reasons why we do what we do, even if we don't divulge those reasons here on this blog. Friends, it adds insult to injury when people question us as if we have not considered everything, or as if we have not bothered to ask God what He thinks. We are SO very grateful for all of the support that we have been given and continue to receive! But, please know that we are human and we are doing the best we can. Please know that it is not fair to make assumptions about what you think should be done if you have never been in the same situation. Please understand that words can hurt so deeply, whether they are intended to or not, when you are so broken and battered already. 

I started this blog to keep everyone posted on our journey, but most importantly so that our Christian brothers and sisters could be praying for us every step of the way. So, please keep remembering us as you pray. There are some very dark days on this journey that is long and a struggle, friends...even if I don't post about it on this blog. 



The Results

It is with an extremely broken and discouraged heart that I tell you that the blood pregnancy test was negative. There will not be a baby for us in December 2013 as a result of this IVF cycle. I have typed this post a couple of times, not exactly sure how to convey the feelings in my heart. I am not sure if I can really convey to you how devastated this news has left us feeling. We have known the results for a few days now and we have been taking it all in, wrestling with it, keeping it to ourselves.

When I got the phone call from Dr. Winslow's office and found out that the blood pregnancy test was negative, I went to a dark place...a place I have visited too often since the beginning of last year. I was hurt and confused and let-down. I am so sick of the disappointment...really. How in the world was I supposed to tell Aaron that this did not work? How in the world was I going to be able to tell everyone through this blog that despite their prayers and outpouring of love, it did not work?

Friends, please hear these words: We know God has put the desire for a child in our hearts, no one else! And, we know God has a plan and that He knows best and we are trusting in Him...but this still stings...we are still very sad, mad, hurt and discouraged. And I know God "gets" that. We are so heavy-hearted, for anyone to shrug this off and encourage us to "get over it" and just "move on" is crazy!  We have invested a lot of time, money and emotion into this process over the past couple of months. Every disappointment is just that: one more disappointment to add to our list...one more thing to make this longing for Jonah and Harper being with us even stronger. It feels as if with every negative result, our desire for a child grows stronger and stronger...this makes it harder to swallow the lump in my throat. This makes me cry out to God, "Why?!" for a million different reasons. This makes my heart hurt even deeper.  

We need your prayers. If we cross your mind, I am not below begging you to drop to your knees in prayer for us! We are hurt and broken...please pray for restoration. We are confused as to what this means for us...please pray for God's guidance in our lives.

We will be talking with Dr. Winslow next week and hopefully figuring out the details of going through this whole process again. We really thought that we only had this one chance. But, because of God's provision for us, this is not the end of our journey with IVF with Kristi or our journey to bring a living baby home! Because of God's Mercy and Grace, we still have hope. But friends...this is not easy. In fact, besides leaving the hospital twice without my baby in my arms, this is the hardest thing I have ever done.

Please, please pray for us...


Transfer Day

Dr. Winslow called me the following Tuesday. He told me that of the ten eggs that were retrieved, six eggs fertilized, forming embryos. Dr. Winslow wanted to do a three-day-transfer. So, Aaron, Eric, Kristi and I loaded up and went to Jacksonville for the transfer. Dr. Winslow talked to all four of us about the quality of the embryos. After the doctors at F.I.R.M. watched my embryos around the clock, some of them stopped growing. Ultimately, we were left with only two embryos that could be used. There were no embryos left over to be cryopreserved in case this fresh cycle does not work. I would be lying if I told you this didn't upset me. It sent chills up my spine to know that we have already spent around $24,000 just on the IVF with a Gestational Carrier part (not counting our legal contract) and this is basically our one shot.

Dr. Winslow transfered the two embryos, this simply increases our chances of becoming pregnant at all. After the transfer, Kristi had to stay laying down in the office for 30 minutes. We then loaded up and rode down the road to the hotel. Kristi had to be on bedrest the rest of the day, with her hips elevated (with a bunch of pillows) so me and Kristi hung out in the hotel room all day just talking and watching TV. Aaron and Eric had big plans :)! They went to see a movie and all kinds of stuff! Don't worry though, they brought us meals and snacks! They ended their fun that night at Dave & Buster's arcade. I am thankful that Eric was able to go, to keep Aaron company and to just let Aaron have fun. Between this past year and Aaron's job lately, he needed to get-away and enjoy himself.

We traveled back home the next day and Kristi took it easy the rest of the week and the following weekend. We have had to endure a two-week wait before we could have Kristi's blood draw to find out if we were pregnant. This two-week wait is coming to an end so please stay tuned...

The Trigger Shot & Retrieval Day

The HCG trigger shot is a shot that must be given no more and no less than 35-39 hours before the egg retrieval. This is the last step, so that the eggs can reach maturation. My trigger shot happened on Good Friday...and it was anything but good!

I was nervous all day about that dang shot! I had to take it at 10:00 p.m. sharp that night. We met Sarah and Clint at a restuarant in town to eat supper after our Good Friday service at church. We got there at 9:00 p.m. so me and Sarah sat in the car while Aaron and Clint went in to get a table. My intentions were to mix up my medicine so that it would be ready so all we had to do was go out to the car and pop it in at 10:00 p.m. sharp. Nothing ever goes as planned for me. I had a full-out melt down because I injected air instead of water, the whole time thinking I had injected water, to my medicine! I mean, I was quickly unraveling in front of Sarah and Aaron, who had ventured back outside wondering what was taking me so long. But God always provides and He has blessed me with a dear, sweet friend since losing Jonah. This friend rushed to save the day and met me in the parking lot and mixed my medicine up for me, reassuring me that I had not messed anything up. Even so, I could not stop shaking until Aaron gave me my injection at 10:00 p.m. So, if you saw me and Aaron shooting up in the parking lot of a local restuarant on Good Friday, now you know ;)!

The retrieval was Easter Sunday and to say I was nervous would be an understatement! Me and Aaron went up the night before so that we could be there bright and early. I was taken to a triage-like room and I had to get my pretty gown and socks and hairnet on. I waited probably 30 minutes after this before they took me to the operating room and the longer I sat there, the more anxious I became. I just wanted this part to be over. Once the retrieval was over and I woke up from anesthesia, the nurses around me told me that the doctor was able to retrieve 10 eggs! I busted out crying because I was so thrilled that they got more than I thought they would!

I went home to rest that day, I was in quite a good bit of pain. I also laid around the house the next day too because I still wasn't feeling all that great. I was able to return to work that Tuesday, anxiously awaiting Dr. Winslow to call me and tell me how our embryos were looking and what the plan would be. More on this tomorrow!

The Joys Of Having A Bicornuate Uterus

During one of my trips to Jacksonville, I found out some discouraging news. I had been taking injections for about seven days. Dr. Winslow came in and did the usual vaginal ultrasound to check and see how much progress I had made since my last visit. I still only had eight follicles (the eggs grow inside of follicles). I was a little bummed and confused. Dr. Winslow went on to tell me that people with uterine anomalies (which is what a bicornuate uterus is) generally have lower ovarian egg reserves. Here's a quick little bit of info for you, in case you don't know: baby girls are born with all the eggs they will EVER produce. EVER. So, if you have a bicornuate uterus, it is highly likely that you were not born with as many eggs as "normal" people. So, not only do I have a deformed uterus, but I don't have very many eggs. I mean, I went into everything thinking that it was highly likely that they would retrieve around 26 eggs. Now I am faced with the harsh reality that there might only be eight or less if some of the follicles that are there now mature too quickly. IVF is stressful and so unpredictable. We continue to covet your prayers on this hard road. 

Feeling Discouraged

The past weekend has left me feeling defeated, and this feeling has carried over to this week. A lot of different things are to blame, but they are not important to note here. I have been mulling over what exactly to post today, as this process continues to take place. But I am at a loss. The discouragement that has invaded my heart and mind these past few days begs my attention, so much so that I cannot think of anything else. Everytime I post on this blog, my intent is to be uplifting, but I find that it is hard to lift others up when you are so low yourself. I am trying to stay positive but it is SO hard for me to do after losing Jonah and Harper. Me and Aaron are tired, anxious, exhausted in many different ways and scared. I know a lot of this is just the Devil trying to invade and bring us down...and He is doing a pretty good job! So friends, please pray for us! Please pray for me and Aaron, and Kristi and Eric. While this journey is full of laughter (Aaron & Eric have loads of jokes!), it is nothing short of painful, physically and mentally, for all of us. So, please pray for us!


Medicines & Such

I know I promised to post about my medicines last week, but it has been super crazy/busy around here! I keep my promises, even if they are late :), so here is the low down.

I am taking Bravelle and Menopur daily as an injection. These two medicines stimulate my ovaries so that my body will produce as many eggs as possible so that once it is time to harvest the eggs, we will only have to do this part once (hopefully!). To take Bravelle and Menopur, I have to mix a vial of sodium chloride with however many vials of Bravelle and Menopur that Dr. Winslow tells me to. As I go to my appointments every couple of days, Dr. Winslow tells me whether to increase the amount of medicine or decrease the amount of medicine that I am taking. It all depends on what he sees on the ultrasound. After several days of taking the Bravelle and Menopur, I started taking Cetrotide once a day as an injection also. Cetrotide delays the release of my eggs until Dr. Winslow thinks they are ready to be retrieved. This all sounds so overwhelming because...it is! But, I am so thankful that Dr. Winslow knows what he is doing!

Aaron has been giving me the injections, even though I was scared to begin with. I have never been a wuss about things before, but let me just tell you about that first injection: WOW! I had a mental break-down for sure! I was in tears and it took me probably 30 minutes to get myself psyched-up enough to let Aaron give it to me! It wasn't just the injection itself, it was the combination of the injection, why I'm even having to do this...just everything all rolled into one! But, I made it through that first injection and then I made it through the second one, not much better than the first one. These injections are not too terrible but they do burn really badly as the medicine goes in.

Aaron is a pretty good stick :). Who would have ever thought that?! He is actually my favorite shot-giver. My Mama has given me some of my injections as well but I'll be honest, it does not feel too good when she does (sorry, Mama!) because it feels like she pushes the medicine in as slow as she possibly can. Sarah has given me two injections and she did pretty good, too. I know she was pretty nervous!

A lot of people have been asking me when the retrieval is and when the transfer will be. We know that we are loved and prayed for and thought of so much and we know that so many people want this to work so that we can have a living child. We are so grateful for this! But losing Jonah and Harper has made us very aware that so many things can go wrong in a pregnancy. I mean, a healthy child is truly a miracle. So, we have decided not to share with others when the retrieval or the transfer will be, we are not 100% sure when these two events will be anyways. We do plan on sharing with everyone what happens eventually, just not immediately. We do this to protect our sanity, so we hope that people will understand our hearts. When the time is appropriate, we will fill everyone in. We ask that people would please not try to pick us for information. This means me and Aaron, our families, Kristi and her family, close friends, etc. We need some element of privacy in all of this because if we do get pregnant, while it will be a happy time, it will also be a scary time for me and Aaron, this is simply what losing two babies will do to you. And if we do not get pregnant, we will be disappointed and I am sure that people could understand our need for privacy.

The process is still on-going so we hope that you will all keep praying us through this! There are many more things that still have to take place!   

IVF Start Day

Yesterday was our IVF start day and I had every intention of blogging about the day last night. But, by the time I got home I wanted nothing more than to take a long, hot bath to wash away the awful day that I had, so that is what I did.

My appointment in Jacksonville yesterday was at 9:45am. Aaron and I got up and left our house around 6:45am. Aaron drove and I rode in the passenger seat. Once we got to Valdosta, we stopped at Starbucks for breakfast and then we continued on our journey. The first thing that went wrong was my cake pop. I cannot resist the Salted Caramel cake pops from Starbucks! So, when I saw that they had them yesterday morning (because they don't always!) I had to get one. I ate it in the car and I enjoyed every minute of it :). Then, probably 30 minutes later, I noticed that I had dropped some cake pop on my pants and smeared it in, not knowing it was there. That made me mad! Here it was IVF start day and I was going to see Dr. Winslow with cake pop smeared jeans. Of course. But, thanks to some wipes I had in my car, I was able to get the smear off of my pants, so my meltdown was over.

The whole cake pop fiasco happened and then I decided to text Kristi (my gestational carrier) or text her back, I can't remember which one it was. So, I have my head propped-up on the top of my passenger side door and I am texting away, oblivious to anything around me. Aaron has been working a lot these days. He gets up every single morning at 5:45am and sometimes he doesn't get home until after 7:00pm. He stays worried about the store that he manages. When he is not there, say on IVF start day, he is worried about the store and his workers because anything that goes on in the day-to-day operations reflects on him, whether he is there or not. Add in there that me and Aaron are both so physically and mentally exhausted because of everything that has happened in the past year, and that leaves you with some pretty wore-out people. When your mind is constantly reeling, thinking about everything that has happened and everything that we have to do in order to have a baby one day, it really can wear you out mentally.

So, back to where I was. I was texting away to Kristi with my head propped on the passenger door. Aaron and I had just been talking about my stupid cake pop just a moment before. Next thing I know, I hear a crash right at my head. Aaron had dozed off for just one second behind the wheel and drifted over the line. We ran into the side of a box truck. I was absolutely hysterical! I was so upset and crying so hard I felt like I was going to vomit. Aaron was just in complete shock and he was pretty upset that he had upset me so much. We pulled over to the side of the road (all the while I am extremely worked-up) and Aaron got out to speak with the guy we ran into. The man was so nice, his truck was not hurt in any way and he was just glad everyone was okay. Aaron gave him his name and number in case he needed to get in touch with him if there were any problems and we called Robbie, our State Farm Insurance agent. My car was still driveable. The passenger side door was messed up, the side mirror and door handle had been ripped off, there was a huge gash in the side of the door/the fender area, and the door and window just wouldn't even open. We are so blessed to still be alive and so blessed that it wasn't worse. It could have been so much worse than it was.




We continued on to my doctor's appointment, even though I was an emotional wreck! I was already nervous about this appointment so when we had our fender-bender, it did not help me at all. We made it to our appointment on time and waited for awhile. Once they called us back, they did bloodwork on me, to check my hormone levels. If your hormone levels are too high, they will not want to start you on the medicines yet, so this is why they do bloodwork at this visit. The sweet girls in the lab accidentally drew Aaron's blood and made him give a urine sample. He has to do this closer to the date of the actual embryo transfer so it was just a waste. Poor guy!

Next up was my vaginal ultrasound with Dr. Winslow. The reason he does this is to look at my ovaries and make sure that there aren't any cysts or anything else going on that he should be aware of. If there is anything going on, he would not want me to start the medicines until things were quiet in my ovaries. But, everything looked great so I was given the go-ahead. We met with Nan, the IVF Coordinator, to go over how to administer the injections one more time and then my appointment was over.

We headed back to Moultrie, wide-awake, and we went straight to Enterprise to pick up a rental car and then we dropped my wrecked car off at Robert Hutson Paint & Body. When we finally got home, I just sat on the couch thinking about the day until it was time for my first injection. I was SO nervous! I will post a blog later on this week to tell you all about the injections.

So, we have "officially" started IVF! It was a whirlwind of a day that's for sure! Despite everything that happened and how mad and sad and nervous I was about the wreck and the actual appointment, I feel the prayers! I have asked you all to specifically pray for me and Aaron's relationship because this whole process as well as living with the loss of our boys is stressful on our marriage. Through the wreck we had, the appointment and Aaron giving me my first injection, I have seen just how much Aaron cares for me and how much he is worried about me.  Poor Aaron felt so bad about dozing off and crossing the line. And then, to see me struggle when it was time for the first injection (more on this later), I think it has been a little too much for him. Aaron worries about me, about all the things that has to take place with my body for the IVF and about how losing Jonah and Harper has affected me. I know it is not easy for him to watch me go through all of these awful things, that involve my body, knowing there isn't anything he can do. Please believe me when I say that I could have never found another man like Aaron Willis :). It is because of this deep love we have for one another that we wanted a child to begin with.

   

Keeping It Real

I tend to always think that people know everything about my situation, but I am quickly reminded from day-to-day that people do not know quite as much as I think. For example, I tend to think people realize that I have all kinds of anxieties or issues, if you will, but people do not.

At the hospital after we had Jonah, Aaron and I prayed and we did our best to trust God and to let Him guide us through the worst. And in the hospital, even though this was the place where I said hello and goodbye to my precious child, I felt safe there. Nothing could have prepared me for the "real world" at all. People surrounded us and did what they could once we got home, but I was falling apart inside. To be honest, I still am at times. I found myself wrestling with a million thoughts. Where did we go from here? How could I ever dream of being pregnant and sane ever again? How in the world was I sitting here, no longer pregnant and not holding my living, breathing child in my arms? Having lost my Daddy at the age of 15, I knew that bad things happen. And, I knew that I had to use Jonah's life and death to glorify God...but that is so much easier to type than it is to actually practice. Nothing in this life could have ever prepared me enough for what life is like after losing my two boys...nothing.

After Jonah, I found it hard to be in public places. I felt that everyone was staring at us, me especially, because they felt pity for us or they were being nosy and trying to figure out how we were handling things. The stares literally made me feel sick to my stomach at times. For probably three months after everything happened, I did not go out and about in Moultrie besides the YMCA, work and church. At work, I would hurry to the bathroom to have a good cry several times a day. Sometimes I would pull up at the YMCA and simply back out and go home in tears. At church, I would sit in the pew, fighting back tears, silent.

When we found out we were pregnant with Harper, we were scared. I had no idea how I was going to make it through another pregnancy without completely losing my mind. But, by the grace of God, we let ourselves hope, just a tad. And then we found out about my uterus. So, we kept it quiet for 15 weeks and we prayed and prayed that God would keep Harper strong. And God did that. Harper was so strong. I cannot begin to tell you what goes through your mind when you are loosing your second child. What sticks out the most is how I remember thinking that this was it, Harper was our only chance of having a baby and now he wouldn't make it either. We came home, back to the "real world" once more. It was just as hard as the first time.

I say all of this to say, I still have bad moments, days and even weeks and it has been 405 days since I held Jonah and it has been 146 days since I held Harper. I am human. We live our lives knowing that we will bury our parents and grandparents, but there is nothing natural about burying your child, or both of your children for that matter. Even though I know that Jonah and Harper are in Heaven and they will never have to suffer, it rips my heart into a million pieces to know that I am separated from them for now. I know people may see me smiling and laughing and think that I am doing just fine but I am not always. I still pull into a parking lot and feel a wave of panic sweep over me, not knowing how I can fight back the tears. I still can't bring myself to sing even one line of a hymn at church. I still go in Jonah and Harper's room and find myself asking why all over again, staring at their pictures and wondering how much they would have changed by now.

I know that I will always ache for my children in Heaven, even when I finally bring a living child home. So, if you ever see me and you do not understand why I am acting so strange, please know that I am having a "moment"...my "moments" do not come as often as they used to but I know I will have "moments" for the rest of my life. I am forever changed. It will never be okay that two little boys are missing from the picture for me. It will never not sting.

But, I don't want anyone to miss this part: despite everything that has happened, despite all of the shame and anxiety and loss that I feel at times, I know that God is good and He is faithful. I know that the only way Aaron and I have come this far is because of God's mercy and grace. Honestly, it is hard for me to put-it-all-out-there on this blog. It is hard because I know that unless you've been there, it is hard to understand where I'm coming from. But if we have to suffer through life without our boys, I want it to be worth something. I want Jonah and Harper's lives, our love for them, our journey with Kristi as our gestational carrier, every injection, every trip to Jacksonville, EVERYTHING....I want it all to point others to our Savior, Jesus Christ because He is why we are here and He is the only reason why we can keep going even when our hearts are so heavy and our path is so rocky. If you miss out on this truth, then my blogging has been an epic fail.  

Appointments, Injections & Ultrasounds, Oh My!

We are getting so close to starting the IVF process! I am both excited and nervous...mostly nervous to be honest. Kristi will be starting her medicines on Monday. You can read about Kristi's medicines here.

I will hopefully start my medicines on March 18, as long as my appointment in Jacksonville goes well that day. I will be taking a mixture of Bravelle and Menopur in the form of an injection everyday for a little while. After about five to six days I will add another injection, Ganirelix. I will then be taking two injections per day until the egg retrieval. And in case you are wondering, Aaron will be giving the injections to me. Please pray that this goes smoothly for both of us :).

All of my medicines, needles and syringes

I should also point out that these injections have side effects. I may not be the nicest person (more so). Please pray for Aaron as we go through this and please pray that I will not be too moody, I have enough emotional highs and lows as it is! God bless Aaron for putting up with me sometimes! It has been and continues to be tough I am sure.

I plan on taking it easy and being gentle with myself while I am on the injections. The doctor instructed me that I do not need to exercise much, no more than a brisk walk while I am building up my egg supply.

After the 18, I will have to go to Jacksonville every three to four days for an ultrasound. This will be how Dr.Winslow monitors my progress and this is how he will decide if my medicine needs to be increased or decreased. It will be a very busy and stressful few weeks but I know it will be worth it in the end.

Please continue to pray for us all. Please specifically pray for Me and Kristi as we take our medicines, that neither one if us will be too moody, or any other side effect. Please pray for Aaron and Eric, that they would love their wives right on through it all :).

One more thing: I want you all to see how much medicine poor Aaron has to take. I don't know how he is going to do it!