1 Our Journey: Advice

After over a year of walking through the journey of infertility ‘quietly,’ Nate and I feel led to share our story in hopes of providing connection, fellowship, advice, and prayer for others traveling on such a heartbreaking road. 

{start at the beginning here}

ADVICE

As I have said before, so many people have said hurtful things to me or to other friends of mine who are going through infertility. No one was being intentionally hurtful, but all the same, frivolous questions can break the heart of a woman who wants a child of her own.  With that said, I have some advice on the subject. . . 

"What NOT to say" 

* Do not ever ask anyone when they are going to start having children. If they wanted you to know, they would tell you. 

* On the same note, don't ask anyone when they are going to have more children, if they are done having children, or anything remotely close to either of those phrases. Again, if they wanted you to know, they would tell you. 

*When you know that someone is having trouble conceiving, do not say anything trivial like "if you just relax it will happen  . . . " 

"What TO say" 

* THE ONLY thing to say when someone is going through infertility is "I am sorry that you are going through this and I am praying for you." Period. End of subject. Not a word more. 

To precious friends reading this who might be wondering when do I seek a second opinion or go to a fertility doctor. . . 

WHEN TO GO TO A FERTILITY DOCTOR?

That is entirely up to you.

3 months after our miscarriage, I was at my doctor looking for answers. Although we didn't start Clomid at that time, my regular OBGYN was fully ready to prescribe Clomid and to try to figure out why we were not getting pregnant. 

One thing I would do differently looking back is that I would have gone to Dr McKenzie when we were getting on Clomid. We love my regular OBGYN and am so thankful that he will deliver our child, but Dr. McKenzie (or any fertility doctor) specializes in infertility where as a regular OBGYN does not deal with infertility on a daily basis.

God is so good. 

Since sharing our story, Nate and I both have had the opportunity to comfort and give advice to other couples going through this journey and have referred numerous people to Houston IVF and to Dr McKenzie. 

He is faithful. 

I praise Him for the journey and I praise Him for the miracle he has blessed us with. 

1 Cinco De Mayo

Cinco de Mayo is this Sunday! :-)
If you are still trying to decide what to make for such a fun holiday, I have compiled some of my favorite Mexican recipes below! 

Avocado Dip 

 Corn Dip

 Homemade Guacamole 

 Homemade Pico De Gallo 

 Individual Seven Layer Dips 

 Kelli's Salsa 

 Queso Fresco with Roasted Garlic 

Huevos Rancheros 

 Mexican Breakfast Eggs

Mexican Rainbow Salad

Chicken and Guacamole Tostados

 Quick Chicken Quesadillas

 Palomas Con Picante

Slow Cooker Chicken Tortilla Soup

Frijoles de Farmer's Wife

 Churros

Mexican Chocolate Cake

27 Our Journey: Part 8

After over a year of walking through the journey of infertility ‘quietly,’ Nate and I feel led to share our story in hopes of providing connection, fellowship, advice, and prayer for others traveling on such a heartbreaking road. 

{start at the beginning here}

Part 8

 Waiting. . .

Again a supernatural peace but still so hard to wait.

After going through so many procedures and hoping I was pregnant, I wouldn’t even let myself get my hopes up.

I just kept telling myself, if this doesn’t work, we will just do it again. It is ok.
Don’t worry. Just pray.

Finally, the two weeks were up.

I went to the doctor, had the blood work done and then waited a couple of hours. 

My nurse called,
“Honey, you are pregnant!!!”

Oh the joy

The overwhelming joy.

When Nate came home I had a little onesie, a card, and a baby Bible waiting for him.

We were thrilled.

We went and told my parents.

Tears, hugs, JOY.

The next day we told my brothers and sister in laws.

They had been praying fervently for us and answered prayer is so so sweet!

Two weeks later, we went in for our first ultrasound . .  . and heard and saw the sweetest sound in the world.

God’s hand was all over our journey. In the darkest times, it was apparent that he was there. 

Our pregnancy is a miracle. Our baby is a miracle.
God is so good! 

God has heaped blessings on us since finding out that we are pregnant!
The main one being that I am pregnant and due within days of some of my very best friends.
And that I am delivering at the same hospital as two of my sweet friends who are due within days of me!
From when we are due to the excitement people have had over this pregnancy, God has blessed us.

HE is so faithful. God is so good.
We are so thankful.
{Advice}

4 Our Journey: Part 7

After over a year of walking through the journey of infertility ‘quietly,’ Nate and I feel led to share our story in hopes of providing connection, fellowship, advice, and prayer for others traveling on such a heartbreaking road. 

{start at the beginning here}

Part 7

We met with Dr. McKenzie for a re-evaluation and she recommended that we move onto IVF.
We had so many questions for her. She was patient, answered all of our questions, and acted like she had all the time in the world just for us.

After tons of research, prayer, and educating ourselves (including having two of our doctor friends get out their textbooks and spend 2 hours talking to us), we decided to proceed with IVF.

I remember drifting off to sleep before my retrieval thinking I cannot believe we had to do this to try to get pregnant.
So many of my friends who experienced infertility say they always ‘knew’ they would have trouble getting pregnant.

Well, my body is like clockwork. . . so much so that it seems like a dream that we had trouble at all.
By saying I can't believe we had to do IVF, I don't mean that we felt sorry for ourselves.
We were thankful that we were given the chance to do IVF. If we had been in this situation a generation earlier, we wouldn't have been able to have kids, short of a miracle.
Thankfully, God gave doctors the knowledge and ability to be able to come up with such an incredibly calculated and perfected way to help couples get pregnant.
Thankfully, we had the money.
Thankfully, we had a 53% chance of success.
Thankfully, we had a patient doctor and patient 'doctor' friends who explained everything to us in layman's terms.
We went through the journey of IVF with hearts of gratitude. 

With that said, I am not going to downplay IVF.  . .
it was hard. . .
physically, emotionally, and everything in between. 

The shots, the blood work, the medicine, and keeping up with everything was hard.
In Nate's words, it was 'daunting.' 

But, thanks to the LORD, I handled it well.

I didn’t have any crazy side effects to the medicine. I was able to give myself the shots. I am organized so keeping up with everything wasn’t too difficult and I thankfully I had a peace and did not go through the emotional roller coaster that so many others endure.
And knowing that our journey could be over and we would have a child was worth all of it.

Nate and I decided at the beginning of that round of IVF, that if it didn’t work, we would just do it again. Not that we didn't have faith in the procedure, Dr McKenzie or in God's miracles, but after having gone through other fertility treatments that I thought would certainly work, we didn't want to get our hopes up. 

 Throughout the cycle I kept thinking 'don't worry, if this doesn't work, we will just do it again.' I can't really explain the peace in knowing that we would do it again. But there was also a supernatural peace. . . that was over both of us.

Some friends and I are memorizing bible verses with Beth Moore this year. My bible verse during this time was “But he knows the way that I take, when he has tested me, I will come forth as gold.” Job 23:10
I wanted to shine during this time.
We were walking through a valley and I wanted Him to be glorified with every step.
Nate and I kept our eyes on Him and I hope that others saw Jesus through me at Houston IVF. 

I remember getting ready to go into surgery .  . . and not even being nervous or scared.
I had never had surgery before.
Never been put to sleep.
And yet there was just such a peace.

TOTALLY the Lord.

To God be the GLORY.

Everything went well.
Sweet Nate took such good care of me and the recovery was much easier than it could have been. 

And then to wait the two weeks to find out if we were pregnant . . .
{Part 8}

1 Easter Ideas

I'm re-posting this from last year! :-) Easter is coming! :-)

I have this song on repeat . . . 

Thanking Jesus for the sacrifice he gave. . .

FOR ME. 

 Oh. How. He. Loves. US. . .
I pray that your Easter weekend is so special . . .
spent with friends, family and, above all, rejoicing in the fact that the Tomb is EMPTY! :-)

Appetizers

Melange of Cheeses and Raspberries

Beverages 
Lemonade Sweet Tea

Summer Tea

Salads 
Candied Walnut Salad

Jazz Apple Salad

Melon Salad

Summer Watermelon Salad with Honey Orange Vinaigrette 

Main Course 
Tomato Basil Short Ribs

Blacked Pork Chops with Pineapple Mango

Pork Chops with Apples

Sides 
The Ultimate Twice Baked Potatoes

"Easter Desserts" 
Bunny Rabbit Cupcakes 

Spring Chick Cupcakes 

Easter Basket Cupcakes 

Easter Egg Nest Cupcakes

"Carrot" Cupcakes

Easter Bunny Cupcakes 

Festive Blondies

Chocolate Peanut Butter Treats  

Carrot Cake for a Crowd

Regular Desserts that are perfect for Spring 
Berry Trifle

Easy Strawberry Trifle 

Key Lime Pie

2 Our Journey: Part 6

After over a year of walking through the journey of infertility ‘quietly,’ Nate and I feel led to share our story in hopes of providing connection, fellowship, advice, and prayer for others traveling on such a heartbreaking road. 

{start at the beginning here}

Part 6 

It was time to move onto the next step. 
A couple of our friends have loved Houston IVF, so my regular doctor wrote us a referral and we made an appointment for a consult with Dr. McKenzie.
From the second we met Dr. McKenzie, we fell in love with her. She was compassionate and explained complex scientific procedures in a way that we could understand. She also experienced infertility herself and used IVF to have her own children, so she provided a unique and special view into our journey.

I actually got the idea of the title of "our journey" from her. I referred a friend and her husband to Houston IVF, and when discussing the different avenues to go down, Dr McKenzie said, "Well, Elizabeth will tell you that it is a journey." 
And it certainly was! :-) 

Test after test after test.

I am so thankful for Nate. He led such a involved role during this process, almost hovering over me. Through every test, blood work, phone call, and results . . . he was right there. Holding my hand and just being the perfect leader of our family.

There was no explanation for our trouble getting pregnant . . .  which put us in the “unexplained infertility” category.

So the plan was to do IUI with Clomid since my body had responded so well to Clomid in the previous months.
(again, Nate completed incredible amounts of research (and there was tons of prayer) before we felt comfortable beginning this next step)

But before starting Clomid again, a preliminary ultrasound showed that I had a cyst and I had to skip that cycle.
At the beginning of our journey, knowing that I had to wait another month would have sent me into a tail spin.
I remembered taking my first pregnancy test and thinking 'there is no way I can wait another month.'
But now, everything was so different.
I had faith that God was in control. There was a plan to help us get pregnant. And, to be honest, it was kind of nice to be forced to take a break from charts, pills, ultrasounds, and everything else that accompanied infertility.

We didn't get pregnant on our month 'off.'

So we moved onto IUI.
The cyst, thankfully, went away.

Everything went perfectly.

My body did exactly what it was supposed to do. 
Again, I thought, 'this is it.' We will get pregnant. There is nothing 'wrong' with us so, of course, we won't need to do IVF. We will get pregnant doing IUI and our journey will be over. 

Two weeks later  . . .

Not pregnant.

Another cycle of IUI with clomid again. . .

Not pregnant.
{Part 7}

0 Our Journey: Part 5

After over a year of walking through the journey of infertility ‘quietly,’ Nate and I feel led to share our story in hopes of providing connection, fellowship, advice, and prayer for others traveling on such a heartbreaking road. 

{start at the beginning here}

Part 5
Prior to starting any medication, my doctor wanted me to get daily ultrasounds to make sure everything in my body was working correctly. 

A year ago this month, I started to go to the Medical Center for 7 to 8 days in a row to get an ultrasound. I was excited to hopefully fix whatever was wrong! 

But nothing was wrong and my body was like clockwork.

Our doctor said it was time to start Clomid, 

so Nate started researching. 

Nate doesn't make any decisions without looking at all the options, praying about it, and absolutely becoming an expert on the subject.  

And after a period of time, we felt comfortable starting Clomid.

I thought that 'this is it!' Our journey is over! 

It wasn't the highs and lows of earlier. . . but just confidence and faith.

Each month, I spent 7-8 days at the Medical Center for ultrasounds and 

got excited over growing follicles and prayed that one day I would be able to see a baby on that screen.

But Clomid didn't work. . .
month, after month, after month.
{Part 6}