living life abundantly in spite of PCOS
When I shared about the embryo adoption consultation, I mentioned that it would take 2-2.5 weeks for the RE’s office to get all of the results in, and then, of course, the doctor would have to review them before I could see them. Some of these tests are extremely extensive and go way over my head. This is going to be short and sweet because it’s all good news!
We’ve been in fundraising mode like crazy lately! It’s a lot of work but it will be worth it to bring home these sweet babies. The last time I shared about our embryo adoption fundraisers, we only had three that were active. You can read about those here: Our Embryo Adoption Fundraisers. Since then, we’ve added SEVEN more, and today I’m going to share them! If anything, this should help give others ideas on how to raise money for adoption, no matter what kind of adoption they’re pursuing.
Between those three fundraisers, plus the first one I’m about to share, plus the amount we are setting aside off each paycheck we receive, we will officially have half what we need by October 15! HALF! I’m so hopeful that between the remaining fundraisers and what we set aside will help us raise the second half by transfer time!
Before I share these, let me preface this by saying that we have the BEST tribe of supporters. You honestly never realize how many people are cheering you on until you start being transparent and humbly ask for help. We’ve had people come forward and offer to host fundraisers on our behalf, and not all are going to be the biggest moneymakers, but they all matter. Not only the funds raised, but the heart behind them matter so much to us! I don’t care if it’s $20 raised… that’s $20 we didn’t have that covers some part of this embryo adoption process. We are so thankful for every dollar, every prayer, every word of encouragement we receive.
Also, I have to give a shoutout to my sweet friend Blair who sent me the most generous Erin Condren gift card [use that link to get $10 off your first order!] so I was able to pick out an amazing 15-month planner to help me keep all of these fundraisers and appointments organized from October 2019 to December 2020! I hope and pray that this planner will be the one to keep forever that chronicles how we got these babies and my hopeful pregnancy! So not only have our friends and family been generous with our fundraising, but they have helped fill other needs like this! It’s been so humbling.
Okay, so I’m done rambling. 🙂 Here are our newest fundraisers for our embryo adoption:
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Now that we are officially in full “embryo adoption” mode, we currently have three active embryo adoption fundraisers that I wanted to share today!
I can’t even begin to explain how many times I’ve edited this shirt design before I finally had to say “enough is enough” and launch it! That’s the enneagram 1 in me, I’m telling you. But it’s finally here and I’m so happy with it! It was important to me that this shirt honored many different avenues of adoption, not just ours. I wanted this to be a shirt for all adoptive families. I even had an adoptee on Instagram message me and tell me she loved the shirt! That made my heart melt! This shirt design is available to print on 5 different garments, and each garment has a variety of color options. Here is a little peek!
Bonfire doesn’t have the exact same colors for every garment type they offer, which makes sense, but I wanted to make sure people understood that if they’re looking for the same color for the whole family. It can be a bit tricky. If you order a shirt, please tag me on social media! I want to see it!
Order: ADOPTION is a BEAUTIFUL Adventure
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We had our very first appointment with our new Reproductive Endocrinologist to start embryo adoption! The point of this appointment was to get established as a new patient and to identify a process for finding out if I can carry the two embryos we are adopting. While we know nothing is ever a sure thing (the embryos could not survive the thaw or the transfer), this appointment gave us so much hope.
What I particularly loved about this appointment was how supportive this doctor was. He didn’t try to convince us to do IVF with our own eggs and sperm, he didn’t push an agenda that benefits him and his clinic, he listened to us, encouraged us, and it was very clear that he supports us 100%. He personally knows the individual who has chosen us for this embryo adoption and thinks the world of her (all the staff there does!) so it was blatantly obvious that we were in the right place for this whole process.
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Today for National Infertility Awareness Week, I’m participating in a collaboration hosted by Caroline over at In Due Time. If you are going through infertility and need encouragement, this post is for you:
Disclaimer: I received the Modern Fertility kits free to try out in exchange for a review. However, like all of my reviews, all comments and opinions are my own, are honest, and not swayed in any way, shape, or form. Read my full disclosure policy.
When Modern Fertility reached out to me in October 2018, I didn’t have any plans to check my hormone levels or pursue additional fertility treatment of any kind. However, when I saw all of the levels they could check with a finger prick in my own home, I decided to just go for it. At this point, I had nothing to lose, but only hope to gain.
The Modern Fertility test checks these hormones, as long as you’re not on any kind of hormonal birth control:
Here’s how the process went:
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The infertility community is full of incredible and supportive women with so many different stories. Whether trying for a first, second, third, etc. child, there is someone who everyone can relate to. However, it gets tricky when you’re in a position like me…
Last summer, after 5.5 years of waiting, we caught a glimmer of hope that the blue room was going to become a nursery. I couldn’t believe it! Finally, after all these years of waiting and my daughter begging for a sibling, I was pregnant. All of those Pinterest nursery ideas I had saved on “what to do with a bedroom with two closets” were finally going to be put to use. It was finally going to happen!
But then, it didn’t…
Photo by Xavier Sotomayor on Unsplash
“Never give up!”
“Don’t stop the fight!”
“If you’re done trying, are you going to adopt?”
“When are you starting treatment again?”
How about never…
What happens when you’re just tired? Tired of fighting. Tired of waiting. Tired of hoping. Tired of disappointment. What happens when you’ve reached the max number of years you’re willing to hold on to the wait for babies?
I knew that the anniversary of becoming pregnant and miscarrying would be hard, but it’s almost like I forgot it was coming.
Suddenly, this deep ache within the pit of my soul has resurfaced. I’m feeling this agony that I haven’t felt in months, and I’m angry for it. I’m bitter. Summer is no longer my friend.
