Update #3 (..and the best News of ALL)

We are officially scheduled for our IVF cycle. Jan 7 is the first appointment. This will be a quick flight up on Sunday for a Monday morning appointment and an injections class in the afternoon then a quick flight home. We will then leave here that Friday just 4 days after we get back as my next appointment will be that Sunday Jan 13 and then a second one on the 15th. They said that at my appointment on the 15th we would be told if we need to come everyday, every other day or every third day (all depending on how my body is responding to the hormones). They estimate egg retrieval to be Jan 23rd w/ a 3 day embryo transfer on Jan 26 or 5 day transfer on the 28th. Of course we will keep everyone posted as we move through the cycle.

We are driving to DC for the second trip, this is why we will be leaving the Friday before my appointment on the 13th. We are too excited and feel very blessed because Chad was able to get us a TLF room on base that will allow us to bring the boys. They really are world travelers. The TLF is more like a little house that is fully furnished rather than a hotel room. It will just be way more comfortable and give us more space for the long 2 week trip we will be there and of course it is always nice to have the boys w/ us. They are good travelers and love being w/ their mom and dad :-). The cost is only $2 more per night for the TLF room vs. the regular hotel room. Can't beat that.

Through this whole process I think my challenge has been trying to find some perspective, anything that can help me understand or feel better or give me a reason for why we have had to endure the pain of infertility. Not that we are above hardship, I think it is normal to ask why. Maybe not right in some perspectives but normal by any standard. I would just like to share some of the thoughts and conclusions I have drawn. Let me just start by telling you that when I met Chad, I knew pretty much from the beginning he was "the one", as I got to know him better and better I was more and more confident that I had met my soul mate. However, I was very overwhelmed w/ the prospect that God could have chosen such a wonderful person for me to share my life w/ so much so that I questioned whether I deserved him or not. Instead of focusing on if I deserved him or not I took to prayer and asked God to mold me into the wife he created me to be for Chad, the wife that I knew Chad deserved (I am sure he is still molding :-) ). I say all of this because when Chad and I first made that decision that it was time to start our family of course I was terrified wondering what kind of mother I would be. Again I turned to prayer and prayed and prayed that God would mold me into the mother he created me to be. The mother that He would want me to be to the children he blessed me with. I can only think that this just may be part of the molding process as I can promise you that I will now and forever be a different mother than I would have been two years ago when we first began this journey...and how can that be anything but a blessing. I continue to pray for our little blessing or blessings and for the mother I will be to them. Thank you to each one of you for your support, love, and prayers as we have journeyed and continue to do so in hopes of fulfilling our dreams to become parents. I know that we would not have been able to do this w/ out each of you. If I could so selfishly ask that you continue to pray for us as we begin our first cycle in January. As much as we are excited it is very scary too.

Love to all you and if I don't post again before then, have a Happy Thanksgiving.

G&C

Update #2 (Nashville)

We had a great trip to Nashville this past weekend. The only downside to the trip is the Titans lost :-(. We had a wonderful time though. The boys were a hit at the hotel when they walked through the lobby in their Titan's jersey's, everyone kept asking if they were fans. Chad enjoyed being in Titan's Country and especially the stadium. The fans there were jealous of his throw back football helmet hat that he so proudly wore throughout the game. For me the highlight of the trip (besides seeing how giddy Chad was) was our trip to the Opryland Hotel for dinner. It was wonderful, and beautiful and we had a delicious meal at the Italian restaurant complete w/ wine for dinner and coffee w/ almond cake for dessert. Chad was as equally impressed w/ the hotel as I was the first time I saw it. This is a trip we definitely want to repeat in the near future.

Update #1 (Boise)

We got back from a great trip in Boise a couple of weeks ago, I have been a little lacking in my timing of posting updates but did want to get a quick note on here to say how much fun we had w/ Mom and Dad in Boise as well as w/ Uncle Bill and Aunt Terry. Chad had fun romping in the woods looking for deer. Unfortunately this year the hunters came home empty handed but had a great time none the less. Mom was gracious enough to throw a very successful stamp-a-stack for me (basically we rubber-stamped a bunch of cards). From the money I was able to earn I bought my very own craft table and organizers and now have my very own craft corner in one of our extra rooms. I am very excited and I am sure Chad is too as now the mess is confined to one room instead of which ever one I worked in last :-). Really the stuff can easily take over the house.

We also learned about the joy of DVR in Boise and now have moved into 2007 and have our very own. Which means I can record Dr. Phil and Oprah while at work. These are small victories in my life :-).

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Just a note to let you know that on the left hand side there is a form that you can input your email address and it will allow you to subscribe to our blog. That way it will notify you when we post a new message and you don't have to check randomly. Just a tool I thought I would add in case anyone was interested. We are the only ones that have access to the information so your email address will not be added to random junk mail list or anything. If you decide to subscribe you will receive an email at the address you used and you will have to click the link to confirm/complete your registration.

Hugs to everyone

Off to Boise We Go.....

...well in 5 days that is. Only 4 days of work this week wooohooo. Work has been crazy and I could certainly use the break. Chad has officially started training his replacement for the exec job that he has been filling for the past 18 months. We are too excited about that too. His hours have been crazy long for the past year and a half and I know he can use the break from that too. The down side is now he re-enters the deployment rotations.

Switching back to Chad for just a moment, he should be getting promoted to Maj very soon. We don't have an exact date for this yet but expect it to be before the end of the year. Right now it is just a bit of paperwork that the Guard has to complete. This is very exciting news for us and I know Chad has been anticipating this for awhile.

Right now we are just looking for our time with Mom and Dad in Boise w/ the guys hunting and the girls stamping (cards that is) and shopping and I am sure many other fun girl activities what more could we want...well maybe I shouldn't ask that question :-) but for now it is good :-).

Chad's Birthday

Just wanted to share a picture or two of Chad from his Birthday which was this past Wed. For those who don't know....Chad absolutely looooooooooovvvvvvveeessssss petit fours. So I went to his favorite place for petit fours and bought him 32 to celebrate his 32nd birthday. It was a lot of fun to surprise him w/ these :-).

On a Lighter Note....

We have three very fun trips coming up. First it is off to Boise for Chad to hunt w/ Dad and me to get some relaxing time w/ Mom. Which I have also heard whispers of Aunt Terry and Uncle Bill showing up for one of the weekends which I am so stoked about :-). I can't wait!!!!! After that is a trip to Nashville. A couple of years ago we went to St Louis to see the Rams and Titans play. It was a blast but it was in St Louis and of course the Rams won (wooohooo) so because Chad was such a good sport we are off to see the Titans play in their home stadium. Chad has not been to a home game, so we thought we would make a weekend of it over Veteran's Day. We've planned a nice dinner at the Grand Ol' Opry Hotel which is absolutely beautiful. I remembered going there w/ Dad when he was in Nashville for one of his conventions and I was fortunate enough to be invited to tag along. I was very impressed and thought it would be fun to go there w/ Chad. Too expensive to stay but perfect for a nice evening out :-). As if this wasn't enough fun to be had we are off to play in the snow w/ Chad's family for Christmas. They have planned a very fun ski trip to Angel Fire NM. I have heard many of stories from Chad about his childhood trips to the snow for Christmas. I am so excited to be able to share such a fond past time w/ everyone. I am not much of a skier but I am sure I will make due. I think Kallie and I may just have to hit the local shops :-).

Update

I think we owe everyone an update, we have been a bit tardy in that. Things have been pretty busy and should stay that way for us until the end of the year. Which actually is a good thing as it helps time to go by. We tried to see if there was anyway we could squeeze our way into the October cycle (which there was room for us) between our trips in Oct and Nov but there wasn't enough time between the two, to make it work :-). We basically need 3 straight weeks that we can devote to being in DC. We learned at orientation that we will go for a two day trip which will consist of a baseline appointment (not exactly sure what that entails) but I do know that we will get all of the medicine issued and have to go to a class where they will teach us how to give me shots and I say 'us' because I think Chad is going to have to be the administrator of the shots. I just don't know that I will be able to give them to myself :-). Following that trip, we will come home for 3-5 days and then have to go back and stay for 10-14 days. We plan on driving to DC for the long trip as car rental is very expensive. It will take us a day and half to drive there from here but that's OK anywhere we can save money is helpful. During the 10-14 day trip they will begin monitoring me every other day. We will have to be at Walter Reed at 0630 for the appointments and I hear it is a first come first serve bases, so you want to get there as early as possible so you can be one of the first signed in and not have to wait behind 50 other people. They batch their cycles so we will be cycling with approximately 150 other couples. I am assuming somewhere around day 5-8 they will go in and retrieve the eggs, fertilize them and watch the embryos grow and then 3-5 days after retrieval they will do the transfer.
We haven't been able to pay yet so that we can be financially cleared and actually get out baseline appointment scheduled because they are raising the prices for 2008 and they do not have the fee scheduled available yet. I hope it doesn't go up too much. I am supposed to call mid October to see if they have the schedules available yet, pay and then get scheduled. A couple of weeks go we found out that based on Chad's test results we will have to do Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI); which was a huge shock to us as based off of Chad's initial test we did not anticipate this being the case for us and of course this procedure is more expensive than a traditional IVF (about $1000.00 more). This was just another blow (at least for me) in this process. I have to be honest and say that at times this is just a little too overwhelming. I get accused by some of lacking faith and being pessimistic but all I can say is that until someone experiences this, they can't judge. In all honesty, having to do ICSI doesn't really change anything as far as the end result is concerned, they have the same pregnancy rates w/ ICSI as they do w/ traditional IVF. I think for me it is more that, this was one thing we did not think we needed to concern ourselves w/ but apparently we do. The kind of ironic and maybe frustrating thing is.... If Chad's initial results were even close to what Walter Reed's results are then we would be months ahead of where we are now. As they would have beelined us past everything else (as in the months of additional testing and fertility drugs they had me on "just in case"). Ultimately this information is irrelevant as the end result is the same (we cant get pregnant on our own and need to do IVF) but if we could have been saved a few emotional months....that would have been nice.

The Phone RANG!

The first time, it was their phone...as we were calling with a couple of questions. But on Fri morning (10 Aug, just 2 days after we left DC), Gena talked to the nurse and found out that we had been medically cleared...and that our file was over with the financial coordinator, who should be calling us soon.

That same day, the financial coordinator called to reconfirm that we had been medically cleared and was seeking payment for the Sept or October cycles. That was awesome but also tough news, as our schedules are jam-packed and January is the cycle we'll likely be in...but it was fast and we hadn't originally thought there would be room in either one of those early cycles. We are still awaiting a call back from Walter Reed on which exact days they are booking for....so there remains a small chance that we'll go back for the procedure in Nov...and most likely it will be Jan.

So we are all approved and just waiting to pay for our cycle date. We should know by Mon or Tues what the final outlook is.

Thank you for your continued thoughts and prayers.

Until the next post

In Him

C&G

Orientation is Complete

On Monday, 6 Aug, we departed Atlanta Hartsfield Intl Airport for Washington DC. Arriving just after 2 PM, we droved over to Bolling AFB and checked into our room. The view of the area as we flew in was great...from the Capitol building to the Pentagon and Washington Monument, we were amazed at the sites. Bolling AFB's proximity to the airport was great, and the base is right on the Patomac River...a nice touch. The rooms on base were adequate...and downtown was just crazy...the drivers, the traffic---WOW---a far cry from our "hodunkville" traffic here in GA. We took a quick trip downtown that first evening, and had adventurous parking and walking among the downtown area...but enjoyed a nice dinner at McCormick & Schmicks (great seafood place, if you have never been).

Tuesday, 7 Aug, was Orientation day. Our 13.2 trip from the base to Walter Reed Army Medical Center took a full 48 minutes in the DC traffic. And our initial impressions of the area were not the same as what we actually saw...the hospital being in a very rundown area of the city. Chad had another eval that morning, and then we had a couple hours off before we went back for the briefings from noon to 4pm....much of the information we already knew, but there was some other good info and definitely some paperwork to fill out. There were about 20 couples in there with us, mostly local area and predominantly Army (at least it appeared that way). We met the initial coordinator we had worked with, as well as the financial coordinator, one of the nurses and one of the two doctors that we will work with when we go back for the actual procedure. Everyone was very nice and helpful, and overall it was a great first experience.

That night, we enjoyed a visit to some of Gena's friends from her time at Wright Patterson AFB in Ohio....the Ogawa family....we shared the evening with them enjoying Thai food in a great restaurant in Old Town Alexandria....what a great historical place...even got to go by the church that George Washington attended. That was a great evening with great friends.

Our quick trip was rounded out with a flight back to GA on the 8th. Having completed our orientation, we left DC with all of our requirements finished and standing by for a call from the financial coordinator to let us know we were medically cleared and ready for payment to get financially cleared.

Overall, a safe, quick and good trip.....now waiting for the phone to ring!

Until the next post

In Him

C&G

Info Package has Arrived

We received our packet of information on Saturday. We were hoping for more detailed information regarding the how's, when's, where's and why's of our appointments and specifically for our upcoming orientation but unfortunately none of that information was in the packet. I guess I will have to make another phone call to WR to ask where we go for orientation and what time it starts (kind of important information to have :-) ). It did however, contain a list of of blood work that is required and other medical documentation that they want before they will fully accept us into the program. Most we have already completed, I just have to get the notes from my last annual check up and I had to get a few more blood test on Friday ( I think that brings me close to 30). I have become such a familiar face at the lab they know me by name now. It is very imbalanced in how much info/documentation they want on the female partner and how little they require for the male (boys have it so easy) :-). It is all worth it though. The other documents that were in our info pack were five different consent forms that we will have to sign during the orientation basically they are not claiming any responsibility for what happens either way, nothing really out of the ordinary. We got all of our reservations made and will be staying at Bolling AFB for just $40.00 a night, you cant beat that for DC. It will be a bit more of a drive then if we have been able to stay at Bethesda Naval Station, but they were booked and twice as expensive so it will all work out, plus I am kind of partial to AF facilities. We made plans to meet up with one of my former bosses from Wright-Patt, for dinner one of the nights we are in town. She was very instrumental in helping me prepare my application package for OTS so it will be a treat to see her and her husband again. Her husband is an USAFA grad so he has that in common with Chad. It should be a very fun trip. Not sure how much sight seeing we will get in as we are flying in on Mon Aug 6 and flying out Wed Aug 8 (1 day before our 4th anniversary) and of course we will be doing our appointments on the 7th. The orientation itself is 4 hours long. We will be sure to scope it out and make plans for our sight seeing for our future trips. Anyone who has been to DC that has recommendations for us, please pass them our way. I know both sets of parents have been there...any suggestions?

Until next time....

Hugs to all
C&G

HI HO, HI HO....

....it's off to DC we go!! Walter Reed called us during lunchtime to ask when we wanted to attend the program orientation, which is a requirement prior to actually getting into a cycle. Ecstatic for the call and progress, we're set for an 6-8 Aug trip to DC for the 7 Aug orientation. In addition, we'll be getting an information packet sometime next week which will spell out the process a little more....all of which will point us to a Jan or Feb cycle (we hope)....we'll know more in the next month or so. We're elated about getting going and fulfilling this requirement so we can move closer to the actual cycle....this is the first main milestone in the progress, and a big answer to continued prayers. With airline, rental car, and hotel reservations in hand, we're waiting to pack our suitcase and head to the capital. We'll be staying at Bethesda Naval Station, which is close to Walter Reed and will allow us to preview where we might stay during our two week trip there for the actual cycle. All in all, huge smiles here with this update and appointment.

Until the next post....His blessings be yours

In Him~ C&G

"Shih-Tzu Shout-out"

Hi everyone...it's Nash and Teebo on teh compooter...we just want to say that weeer wishin for wun or too little rompers (or romperettes) to chase us around and pull our tails...and maybee even give us some tabel scrapps...hope mom and dad down't seee that. And Uncle Bill...if u are reeding...what can we do for sum mor ribbb bones??!!??

Gotta go....dad is coming!

ARF N & T

"The Waiting Game"

Right now we're pursuing Walter Reed's IVF program. We have sent in our referral and are awaiting a packet of information that should be arriving to us sometime the week of 16 Jul. That will have the information we need to proceed for an orientation, which is required prior to us getting into an actual cycle. We are praying and aiming for an Aug orientation (they are avail on 7 and 21 Aug.) All along the way God has asked us to rely on patience and focus on Faith in knowing he has a plan for us....and we know He does!!

Sidenote of inspiration...check out the song at the following link...great message to us as we continue our journey towards holding a little one in our arms.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqfGqOx2iDQ

Until the next post...love you all....C&G

Our Journey

After two long year of trying to conceive we are so excited to move towards a treatment that might actually work for us. Of course this would never be our choice but we will faithfully take the journey God has chosen for us. The past two years have been filled with much excitement and anticipation that eventually turned into frustration and a simple desire to understand why we are going through this. Not even sure until May of this year as to what the real issue was. I started feeling pretty foolish for separating from the Air Force after 12 years of service (maybe I should have waited until I actually had a child before making such a decision). But what's done is done, all we can do now is look forward. As the first year went by, I dismissed my fears as all the stats show that it can take up to a year even for those w/o fertility issues. Meanwhile we were flooded with one pregnancy announcement after another. At first it was really easy to find joy for others, believing that our turn was right around the corner, we just needed to be patient. We were constantly reminded that God's timing is perfect, and we wouldn't want it any other way. As the time went by it was harder and harder to hear other's good news, often for me it brought a new batch of tears and that ever nagging doubt and wondering why this seems to be so easy for others and is quickly turning into the greatest challenge of our lives. I will always remember sitting in the doctors office being told that IVF was our only option. We were in total disbelief. I was just thinking this man can not be telling me that I will never have children (at least not naturally). I truly thought that we were going to be told that everything was fine and he was going to put me back on Clomid (I had been on it for 2 previous cycles). All of our test up until this point came back normal and we were in the unexplained category, I thought for sure that we would continue to be "unexplained". Of all the things I thought could possibly be wrong with me I never dreamed it would come down to a blocked tube. Our diagnosis brought tremendous grief and very difficult decisions to be made. We had previously thought that we would not journey down the path of IVF, of course when we made that decision we thought we would have already been through several other treatments, we had no idea that this would be the only viable option for us. So we had to do some soul searching and figure out exactly what we wanted and what emotional roller coaster we wanted to hop on first, IVF or adoption. We decided that trying IVF first was what we needed to do. Those first few days were the most difficult. All I could do was thank God that I had Chad and for the wonderful man and husband he is. We did our best to comfort one another and gain some understanding of our situation. Only when we had begun to discuss the possibility of IVF did we find some new hope and found the strength to move on and accept it for what it is. I still struggle on a daily basis trying to find some meaning in this journey, still try to understand what seems to be such a disparity in life, knowing my only option is to accept it doesn't really make it any easier. Some days are better than others. I look forward to the day when they do our first embryo transfer as that will be the closest we have ever been to having a child. I know I will be a nervous wreck afterwards wondering if those little guys will implant and then if they will stick around for the 9 months that they are supposed to. I wonder if we will be one of the 35% that end up w/ twins or if it will be a single or at all. I wonder if we will be one of the couples that don't have any obvious problems but end up with poor quality embryo's. Poor quality embryo's = poor prognosis for pregnancy. Or will we have great embryo's and be able to take them to day 5 before transfer. Day 5 transfers have a 50% implantation rate vs. a day 3 transfer which has a 20% implantation rate. At this point only God knows the answers. In the mean time we will be praying very hard.

We feel very blessed to be able to share our journey with those we love and care about. Hopefully we will have a happy ending to share.

Love,
Gena (and Chad too) :-)

Welcome

Greetings from GA; we are glad you stopped by our blog...and
we encourage you to both check back with us often for new news
as well as to post comments and share with us. We are going to
profile our journey towards the miracle of life, sharing the latest
and highlighting what's ahead for us. Your support, prayers, thoughts
and love mean the world to us! Thanks for sharing in our journey.

In Him,

Chad, Gena, Nash and Teebo