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