2022 in Review

Looking back on our fertility journey, I am always amazed by the way we see God in it! Sometimes when we are going through hard times, it is difficult to recognize that God is there because we are overtaken by emotions, etc. Not long ago, our ABW group reflected on the question that if we knew what we were going to have to go through to get to this point would we have aborted the mission? My first thought was yes, this has been so hard and difficult to handle and process. However, now that we have been through it, I wouldn't change it. God has allowed our story to be used over and over again to show His goodness and glory. It has led to relationships that I would have never had otherwise. It has led me closer in my relationship with the Lord. So here is our fertility journey recap for 2022! 

January

- Embryo transfer, positive pregnancy test, numbers dropped, negative pregnancy test, miscarriage #2

February 

-Joined A Blessed Womb Small Group, made the decision to go through IVF again 

March

-Follow up appointment, baseline appointment

April

-Birth control, blood thinner shots, celebrated Brandon's birthday, saline ultrasound #2

May 

-Shots, all kinds of meds, monitoring appointments, egg retrieval, 3 embryos frozen

June 

-Rest/Recover, Celebrated 7 years of marriage

July

-baseline appointment for transfer, diagnosed with COVID, monitoring appointment, celebrated my 31st birthday, embryo transfer

August

-Positive pregnancy test at 4 days past transfer, beta rising from 55 to 5,000 plus, subchorionic hematoma

September

-Graduated from fertility doctor, had my first regular OB appointment at 10 weeks

October

-Started leading a Blessed Womb group virtually with 4 amazing women

November

-Gender Reveal (Landon Dale Owens), hit the halfway point

December

-Anatomy Scan, Celebrated Christmas with family and friends! 

As always, thank you for the prayers throughout this journey! We will continue to keep you updated on our pregnancy journey in 2023! Only 16 weeks until we meet Landon! 

Halfway Update!

 We have made it to the halfway point!!! Over the weekend, I turned 20 weeks! I am just overwhelming thankful for making it here! We have 20 weeks left to go and I could not be more excited that we are getting closer to meeting Landon Dale! We have finished our registries on Amazon and at Target. I have already been asked about baby showers, and as many of those that I have been to in my life, I am so thankful that some will be hosted to celebrate Landon coming into this world! 

On Friday, we have our anatomy scan. Please be in prayer that everything goes well. Also, my feet have already started swelling, and while they are way worse symptoms or things that I could be going through right now, my feet simply just hurt! I pray that they won't be like this for the next 20 weeks, but people have told me they probably will be. 

Update on my Blessed Womb group: I cannot believe that our semester for this group is almost over. This journey has been long and tough, but it has led me to being able to meet these amazing women and hopefully help them through their journey as they seek the Lord through this hard time. 

Love you all! 

Katey

Wake up Sleeper

As of this past weekend we are at 18 weeks! I am so incredibly thankful that we have made it to this point and I pray that baby Landon continues to grow and be healthy! Our next scheduled appointment is on December 2nd for an anatomy scan. 

We had a scare last week and it really threw me for a loop. I went to bed Thursday night fine, then I woke up in the middle of night just feeling like something wasn't right. I go to the bathroom, and I am bleeding. Not heavily, but enough to make me worry. I couldn't go back to sleep. I decided to let Brandon sleep, and I would just tell him what was going on as soon as his alarm went off at 6:15. As I am in the living room on the couch, cramps start to come too. Of course, I googled and I shouldn't have. So Brandon finally gets up and I tell him what's going on. Then I called the doctor as soon as they opened at 8, and the nurse told me I could come in at 11:00. 

On the ultrasound everything looked good. The sweet lady doing the ultrasound didn't see a bleed or anything that concerned her. It was so good to Landon on the ultrasound and know that everything was ok! And in case you haven't seen the gender reveal video...we are having a boy! 

I think that I needed to be woken up! Woken up, as in Katey what have you been doing? You fought hard in prayer for this gift, but now that it is here..where are you? Well, I have been struggling with my quiet time between leading a group, attending a group, and everything pregnancy related. However, this week so far, I have felt so much better physically and spiritually. I've done my daily studies for the Wednesday night group that I attend, and I've gotten prepared for my group on Thursday. I can only pray that God continues to press on my heart to meet with Him every single day! 

If you are struggling with your quiet times/personal time with the Lord, there is no day better than today to get back at it! Find someone to hold you accountable if that's what you need! Pray for guidance, strength.. God knows what you need! 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwijX74r7tk 

Baby Update

Well I wasn't really able to get someone to share their story on short notice. I apologize for that! 

So I thought I would just give y'all a baby update! Baby's heart rate was at 155 last week! We get to find out the gender really soon! We are so excited about that! I'm defintely team girl and Brandon is team boy! We shall see! 

Thank yall for the continued prayers and support! Love you all! 

Miscarriage and Infant Loss Awareness Month 2022

We are back to October. October normally represents fall and halloween, but for many of us it is a month dedicated to remembering the babies we lost too soon. The ones that we never got to meet or that weren't with us for long. For us, this year brought our second loss. In January when we did our frozen embryo transfer, we found out we were pregnant, but not many days later we weren't anymore. A loss in 2020, a loss in 2022, but now pregnant with our rainbow baby in 2022 that will arrive in 2023. 

National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day is on Saturday, October 15, 2022. 

Click here to read more: National Today - National Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day

I normally have people share their testimonies, and my hope is to do so for the next two weeks after talking and seeing if these ladies are willing to share their story. Just pray they open their hearts and will view this as a way to help others in their grief and struggle! 

Results

 08/01 -- 4 days past transfer

Well, I decided to take an at home test, and I could not believe my eyes. On the test was a super faded line. I was so excited, and hoped and prayed that I wasn't just seeing things! 

08/02 -- 5 days past transfer 

I took the same brand I took yesterday, and it was positive again. It didn't look any darker. It was still pretty light. Then I decided to take the same brand that showed up for us last time. This brand showed a much clearer pregnant line! We are still 3 days out from our blood test. However, this gives me hope knowing that it is already positive now. I just pray the lines continue to get darker each and every day. 

I also decided that I couldn't keep this from Brandon. I just did something simple this time. 

I used a party of three sign that I had actually bought a few weeks prior. This is the only time I have ever purchased something previous to knowing if we would be pregnant or not. 

08/03 -- 6 days past transfer

Well another cheapie test, another positive. It got a little bit darker. I didn't have to squint as hard to realize that it was positive this time! Today was also the first day back to school. We had our institute in Montgomery, and the speaker was actually really good! He was engaging and everything! I also had to get up in the middle of his speech to go take my progesterone shot. I am so thankful for some great coworkers that are willing to do this for me! 

08/04 -- 7 days past transfer 

So I decided to take a first response today. Now, the last time, when we our HCG beta was low, we never saw a positive on the first response test. Well today, we did! It was so exciting to know that my HCG would be higher than last time, but the question remained how much higher? 

08/05-- 8 days past transfer (HCG beta #1) 

7:00 AM I get my blood drawn. 

12:00 PM Nurse calls! I guess my tone of voice was excited, and she asked me if I had already taken a test. I told her yes, I just wasn't sure where the level would be close too. My HCG was level was at 55! She tells me I am pregnant! There was no borderline or we are worried about this, etc! This is the highest my HCG has ever started at! She says I can wait until next Friday to go back or I can come back earlier. I told her I'd rather get it checked again sooner than later. My next HCG check in on Tuesday 08/09. 

08/09 -- 12 days past transfer (HCG beta #2) 

7:00 AM I get my blood drawn. 

I had continued to take test to watch the lines get darker, and they had been getting darker over the next few days. 

1:00 PM Nurse calls! Your HCG is at 312! It had doubled just as it was supposed to over those 4 days! We are just so thankful that the Lord has allowed us to make it to this point! Until today, we had never made it past a 2nd HCG. It has always dropped, until now! She asks again when I want to come back, and I said how about Friday! Appointment is set for Friday 08/12. 

08/12 -- 15 days past transfer (HCG Beta #3) 

7:15 AM blood work

Now previous to getting my bloodwork done, I decided to take test at home. These were some dark lines and I was over the moon about it! 

Here are the test from that Friday! 

11:45 Nurse calls, HCG is 1,140. Again, it has risen as it was supposed to! We are just so thankful. And continue to thank God in our prayers for making it to this point. 

So as of 08/12  I am 4 weeks, 6 days with an approximate due day of April 15th. 

My progesterone has also gone down some at this point. So we swap to taking the shot at night to see if it helps. I am so thankful that I will not have to take them at school anymore! 

Now, my next appointment is set up for Wednesday 08/17. They will do bloodwork and an ultrasound. I did ask what to expect to see on this ultrasound because I know it is still super early. So, they said just to see the sac. They want to make sure it implanted in the correct place. Now we wait until Wednesday! 

08/17 -- 20 days past transfer (beta #3, ultrasound #1) 

I am unsure of my bloodwork results because I had an afternoon appointment. However, we did get to have an ultrasound. On this ultrasound they said to expect to see the sac (aka Baby's home). That's exactly what we saw on it too! Getting to this point, even thought I am only 5 weeks 4 days is such a miracle in itself! We are praying that the bloodwork comes back normal tomorrow. 

08/18 -- 21 days past transfer 

Our bloodwork was good. My HCG was almost at 5,000 which is in the normal range. My progesterone had gone back to 20, which was an answer to our prayers! 

08/21 -- 24 days past transfer

Today has been scary. I have been crying on and off for the past 2 hours. I started cramping. I have had a little cramping throughout the past few weeks, but not like this. Today's felt like period cramping. Go to the bathroom, and bleeding. I call the on call nurse.. she asks be to give her all the details (which I won't give y'all). She gave me directions of what to do, and if it got to a specific level of pain, etc to go to the emergency room. Luckily we haven't gone to the emergency room. However, I am so scared. We approximately turned 6 weeks today. And it is the furthest we've made it. We have just been praying this afternoon that God allows us to keep this blessing. That he or she will continue to grow, and that my body can do this! We are just so scared. I want to share this so much just so we can have more people praying for us! At this point, I am so thankful for the few people that do know and that I know they have already prayed over us. All I can do right now, is sit and listen to worship music. 

08/22 -- 6w2d 

It took a while for someone to get with us today, but luckily we were able to get into the doctor's office! Everything is ok. We did have a sub chorionic hematoma and learned that it is common with the medication that I am on. Good news today is that I also graduated from having my HCG level checked. Now I only have to get my progesterone checked when I go! I am so thankful that everything was good, and that God continues to be for us in this process! We go back next Monday! 

08/30 7w2d

Over the weekend, we got some incredible news. So I always thought because Brandon and I were later having kids that our kid wouldn't have any kids growing up right beside them. However, that is not true! Some good friends just told us they are also expecting. And they are 3 weeks ahead of us! I'm so excited to have a friend to go through this with! 

09/04 8w 

Well we have officially made it to 8 weeks! We are so thankful, and are just continuing to thank God daily for this opportunity. We are hoping to hear a heartbeat on Tuesday at the doctor's office! 

Do you know what I am counting down though? Taking these progesterone shots and estrogen pills! Only two more weeks! Thank Goodness! I have been taking these shots since July 23, and they are just so painful when you don't have many spots left to inject them. However, I am very grateful for all the people who have helped me do them through the past month and a half! 

I am also preparing to start my own Blessed Womb small group. I am very excited for the opportunity and can't wait to see what God does through it. My only thing is, I haven't had anyone sign up yet. So I am praying that women will be open to it just as I was at the beginning of the year. 

09/08 8w4d 

I am so ready to let this news out. Holding it in is so hard! Our plan is around 10 weeks to announce, but I wish it would come faster! 

9/19 10w2d

Today was our first appointment with our regular OBGYN! We were released from the fertility doctor last week, and it was so crazy! We are so thankful to have made it to this point! We are counting down until Saturday to announce! 

Here We Go: Transfer time! Updated

07/01/2022

Cycle starts, and because it is the last field trip of Summer Reading Camp there is no way I can get into the doctor. Monday is holiday. So, my appointment is set for Tuesday, July 5th. Now, this would be cycle day 5. Normally, you are seen between days 1-4, but because of the holiday I will be seen on day 5. According to the nurse on the phone, it is a possibility that we will be able to do it. I wasn't sure since it is a little bit later than normal! We are praying for the best at the appointment and then we will go from there! 

07/05/2022

I had my appointment today! My ultrasound looked great and my bloodwork levels were right where they are supposed to be as well. I spoke with the nurse and received my calendar for the cycle! Our transfer is approximately on the 28th! For right now, I take estrace (estrogen) and the blood thinner shots, and then I go back to the doctor on the 21st to check my levels and lining! 

07/06/2022

Well, I thought we were going to have to cancel our cycle. We are so thankful that we did not have too! We are able to continue even after the past 24 hours that we have had. I will tell you all about it at a later date. 

As always, thank you for the prayers! We are excited about moving forward and we are trying our best to let God continue to guide us through it. Love y'all! 

***This specific post will continue to be updated throughout our transfer cycle. There will not be a new post made. ***

07/21/2022

I had my lining check appointment. Everything looked great including my bloodwork. Transfer is set for the 28th. Also while I was there, I asked if my thyroid has gotten check while I was there last time. It had gotten check and had gone down a lot with the upping of my medicine over the last few months. Now I start progesterone shots on the 23rd! 

07/24/2022

Well Today is my birthday! 31 came so fast! I had a great time with my Church family at One Big Day yesterday morning and with my family Saturday evening! Today we are going to play Top Golf and will probably make a fool of ourselves. It should be fun! 

07/25/2022

Today I had my check-up at the hematologist. The hematologist checks bloodwork for my blood disorder, but also checks my iron levels. Unfortunately my iron levels have gone back down again. Not to where I have to have another infusion, but it was pretty close. So I have to visit them in two months. 

07/27/2022

Today is the day before transfer! So far I only have one knot from the progesterone shots, so thats not too bad. Please just keep us in your prayers that everything for the transfer goes well tomorrow and that we will find out in a couple of weeks that we are pregnant. That's it for now! Thank y'all as always for the prayers! 

 

Faith Over Fear

 The past four weeks in my Journaling Small Group, we've been going through a series called Faith over Fear. Faith has been an essential part of our journey and I do not think we could go on without it. Fear has crept in many times too. However, God brings us back with a stronger faith and ready for what He has next. 

This weeks lesson, that we will be doing tomorrow, is about a fear of not hearing God. He stills speaks to us today through scripture, the Holy Spirit, others, and our circumstances. In the lesson it asked this question, " When is a time that you have clearly heard from God?" I had a few instances comes to mind, but the first one was when I heard him tell me to share our story. I go back and think about when this all happened (during Covid). I knew that writing wasn't necessarily my strong suit. I could have used that as an excuse. I knew that there would be weeks where probably no one would read my post. I could have used that as an excuse.  I am so thankful that I listened and started this blogging journey along side our fertility journey. I can't imagine where we would be without the support we've gained and the connections that I have made with some pretty incredible women facing something hard in their lives. 

Don't only take time to pray and talk to God, but take the time to listen. Take the time to ask Him to show you what he has for you. Do we always get the answer we want? No. Do we always get an answer in the way we thought we would? No. But our faith comes into play because we believe ALL things are possible with God. 

Another time that I can remember God clearly speaking to me is when we went to Haiti. And I had the opportunity to go twice. God used the first trip to prepare me for the second where we go to do one of my favorite things: VBS! 

There are times in this journey that we are in now that I wonder if I heard God wrong? Or if I listened to myself and not Him? Or we just jumped in because that's what the doctor's recommended? I will say these past couple months I have been inconsistent with my quiet times and prayers. That is a personal thing that I am trying to get through right now, and I hope that I can get it together. 

John 10:27 My sheep listen to my voice, I know them and they follow me. 

Psalm 34:4 I sought the Lord, and He answered me. He delivered me from all my fears. 

Let your faith be bigger than your fear! God's got this! You got this! 

Three

Well I've really had a hard time knowing what to write again, which is why I haven't. 

We ended up with three embryos. Now, the first couple people that I told my words were "we only got 3." And it only took one person for me to realize that "only 3" was the wrong mentality. I was so disappointed when I got the call and immediately took our news as a negative. 

Not long after a few conversations, next was "We got three embryos!" We could have easily gotten two, one, or none. I think one reason I was so upset was not necessarily because we got only three, but we also lost 16. Now we were prepared for some not to make it, but our hearts were just broken.  

I am so thankful to the ones who helped me see the positive of the situation. Now we wait until our Frozen transfer cycle. Will we transfer one or two? We don't know yet, but we are looking forward to starting the process. So we wait for now! 

Dear God, We are so thankful for the three embryos. Thank you for the friends and family that helped us realize the good that was done! I pray that we continue to follow where we believe you are leading us. Amen 

IVF Update Round 2 Part II

On Thursday, May 12th, I had my egg retrieval in Birmingham and everything went well! They retrieved 28 eggs, 25 were mature, and 19 began to fertilize that first day. We will know the final embryo count later on today! Please be in prayer as we await that news! 

This weekend though, I have felt absolutely terrible. The overstimulation of my ovaries had me sick most of the weekend, with a big scare Saturday afternoon where I had to call the on call nurse at AFS. I ended up taking Monday off of work just to make sure I was good before heading back to work. 

We are so hopeful, and as always cannot express how thankful we are for each one of you and your prayers! It has been a long journey, but God's got it! 

Love, Katey

I will probably create a new post with the final count! And isn't this verse of the day perfect for today! 

IVF Round 2 Update

 We have been rolling right along with our IVF cycle. I honestly just haven't had much time to update on the blog. Last week I started my monitoring appointments. I came out of the first one really bummed. It was not what I expected especially after my medicine dosage went up from the first round. However, God showed out and the second monitoring (Thursday 5/5) appointment was so good that I didn't even have to go over the weekend as they had planned. My next monitoring appointment is Monday (5/9). 

As of right now, the plan is for the egg retrieval to be on Wednesday (5/11) in Birmingham! I will probably be back next week to update on how it went! We won't know until next week anyway how many made it to be frozen. Just continue to keep us in your prayers! We are so excited, but nervous at the same time! We have to continue to trust that God has us during this process! 

Update 05/09

Well you know plans can change in an instant. So I went for my monitoring appointment this morning, and I have to go back tomorrow. So egg retrieval will probably be on Thursday (5/12) now! 

Update 5/10

Retrieval is set for Thursday morning at 8:45! We have to be there at 8 in Birmingham! 

National Infertility Awareness Week

This week is National Infertility Awareness Week. Today was specifically celebrated by many around the country by wearing orange! I didn't even think about asking people to participate in it, but I will definitely try to remember to next year! So let's share some facts about infertility awareness: 

• It was founded in 1989 by the National Fertility Association. 
• 1 in 8 couples face infertility
• It is no ones fault
• The color orange promotes a sense of wellness, emotional energy to be shared: compassion, passion, and warmth. Helps to recover from disappointments, a wounded heart, or a blow to one’s pride. Studies show that orange can create a heightened sense of activity, increased socialization, boost in aspiration, contentment, assurance, confidence and understanding. 
• About 1/3 of infertility cases are attributed to a female partner, 1/3 is attributed to a male partner, and the final 1/3 is either a combination of problems in both partners or is unexplained. 

Today was the finale of the Blessed Brokenness Group! These women have been such a blessing to be around the past few months! I thought it was a perfect ending for our last meeting to be during NIAW. 

Our update: 

Tomorrow, I go to the doctor for my baseline before starting STIMs! Please be prayerful that all goes well and we will get to continue on with our plan! By the time I write next week, I will have gone back to the doctor again for a check. Thank you all for the prayers! We are so thankful for the group of people we have praying for us! 

Love, Katey

IVF Round 2

Yes, you read the title right! We have chosen to go through another round of IVF. And I apologize that I didn't post this when I said I would. These past few weeks have been crazy! 

So we've gotten started and I am still in the suppression month. I am currently taking birth control along with the blood thinner shots daily. 

On March 31st I went in for my baseline appointment where they do an ultrasound and blood work. Everything looked great! Then last week I finally got my IVF calendar and finished getting quotes for our IVF medicine. So when we first started talking about doing IVF again we estimated that meds would be between 5,000 and 6,000. Our first quotes were 7,000 and 13,000. I was like oh my goodness! Well after some crazy phone calls about insurance and a discount program, the medicine quote from one company went from 13,000 to 11,000 to 4,000! So we were confused as to how all of this happened, but thankful that God is watching out for us! We were able to get the medicine ordered today, and it will be delivered tomorrow! I won't actually start the medication until April 29th. 

I went to AFS for my saline ultrasound and blood work. The ultrasound looked good, and I will probably get blood work results tomorrow. Praying those results come back great! 

That is kind of where we are right now! So prayer request would be for blood work results to come back in the normal range, medication to arrive safely, and for when I do start the meds that I don't have any crazy side effects from them! 

With the calendar our approximate egg retrieval will be the week of May 9th. We are not sure what day yet, and we won't know until closer to time. 

Thank you all for your love and support! I will probably not be consistent with updates, but will try my best! 

 

An update, but not really...

Good evening! We have made a decision about what we are going to do next in our journey! It will be posted next week!!

Be on the lookout for it! 

Just continue to pray that we are heading down the path God wants us on! 

Katey

Anything

Have you ever prayed to God that you would do ANYTHING to make something happen? or prayed that you would do ANYTHING for Him? Then you were presented with an opportunity that you didn't follow through? Maybe we didn't recognize that it was an opportunity from God, or maybe we ignored it because we thought there is no way God would ask me to do that?

I ask these questions to tell you all about a new book that I have started reading. The book is called Anything: The Prayer that Unlocked my God and my Soul by Jennie Allen. It was written in 2011. Allen is also the author of many books, but most recently, Get Out of Your Head. It is also on my list to read.  

I haven't finished Anything yet. Jennie tells the reader at the beginning about a prayer her and her husband prayed together. "God we will do anything." She says, "In saying anything, it meant we were handing Him everything." So far the book is telling about events that lead up to that point, and then will move on to how it changed their lives. I tell you all this because it has one part so far that I really would like to share with you. There is a part where she is in a brief conversation with a friend battling infertility and I related to it so well. 

She shares that her and her friend have lunch, and the friend battling with not getting pregnant shares that she is wrestling that God makes babies, but hasn't given them one yet. One question led to something much deeper. Jennie asked her "What's the hardest part?" Her friend's reply, "I just feel so different from everyone, from all my friends moving on with their lives." 

"This different feeling, this different path God had for her and her husband was extra difficult because it was different. She was hurting and felt alone in her life." 

All I could think of when I read this was that I have been there, had those feelings, and every once in a while they resurface. Infertility is a path that God has chosen for us, for some reason. Yes it is difficult and yes it different than most of our friends. But yes, it has brought my relationship with the Lord closer- yes, it has brought Brandon and I closer- yes, it has made us build friendships and relationships with people we would have not otherwise met. 

What is it about being normal or like everyone else? Let's just be what God created us to be! 

Jennie goes on to say, "What is it about norms, about sameness, that feels so good? There are of course rebels who would rather die that be the same as anyone else, but deep down most of us feel most safe, most at home, with people to whom we are similar." 

A lot of the times we have a hard time relating to most adults conversations. Why? Because what do most adults talk about... their kids or grandkids? Please do not take this as we don't want to here about your kids or grandkids, that's not it. I am just saying we don't have a way to relate to it, but we hope and pray that we can one day! We are so blessed that we are not alone on our journey. It felt lonely at first, but now it isn't. We have educated others, we have so many people praying for us, groups that we know we can talk to when times are rough, and so much more! 

Instead of just saying we will do anything, let's give him EVERYTHING! Surrender... what do you and I need to give over to Him today? 

Here are some more of the Promises of God's Word: 

The Lord hears you (Psalm 34:17) 

God will make you paths straight (Proverbs 3:6) 

You are under grace (Romans 6:14) 

You are chosen and dearly loved (Colossians 3:12) 

*No update on a decision this week. I think we are leaning towards going through another round of IVF. However, we are still praying and just wanting to feel peace with the decision. Thank you for all the prayers! 

Much Love, 

Katey & Brandon

Name Above the Grave

Finding Peace in the Storm

I hope and pray that everyone has had a great February and beginning of March. 

These past two months have been a lot of ups and downs, but I want to just share some updates with you all before I share about Finding Peace in the Storm. 

    I was honored to join a group from the ministry Blessed Brokenness. This group is for women who have or are going through infertility, miscarriage, or infant loss. It has been such a blessing in my life so far. All of the women in the group have different testimony's but our love for the Lord through this tough journey has brought us all together! I can't share anything specific from the group, but just wanted to ask you all to join me in prayer for this group of ladies and their families. 

     In February, I had the opportunity to lead our Journaling Small Group. When I first started blogging about this journey in March 2020, I shared the story of Jesus calming the storm. For our class, that is the scripture that I chose and made a little note portion for the points that I wanted to share. I also had never shared my testimony with this group of ladies, so I was able to do that by sharing this scripture. Here is picture of the journaling and the notes. Just ignore my handwriting and scribbles in the notes. 

   Brandon and I had our follow up appointment on March 7th. Honestly, the appointment did not tell us anything new other than the fact that if you do IVF a second time within a year you get a 15% discount. Now, this is a lot when it is expensive, but we were hoping and praying for some other news that might be helpful. It was recommended for us to do IVF again and we were expecting that to be said. I just ask for your prayers as we make a decision. Do we go through all of this again or turn to other options? As we are praying, I really just want to seek what God wants us to do! I don't want to jump into another round if I don't feel like God is leading us to it. The crazy part is, financially, even though we complain about it, we could probably handle another round. And help has already been offered by others to help us if we decide to go that route. Again, I just ask that if you are praying for us, to ask for us to have clarity about what decision to make. That is really where we are in the fertility journey. 

   Also, if you know me well, you know that I LOVE VBS! I was asked to assist on the Montgomery Baptist Associational Team again to teach about Backyard Kids Club! Then I also got ask to be a big part of the planning for Journey's VBS as well! It is a big difference in how I have planned in the past, but I am looking forward to it so much! 

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    So, I have had people ask me how we have been after going through everything with the transfer.. and a month ago I would have told you that I was still struggling. I wasn't necessarily angry, I just was at a place of not understanding and it made it really hard. But the past few weeks, I have really been in a good place. I honestly am at peace with everything that happened and am ready to move forward with whatever we decide. Does that mean that the pain isn't still there occasionally? No. It means that I am relying on God and finding peace in the great plan that He has for us. I've said it since the beginning that I don't know what God's exact plan is for us, but I know that this journey is supposed to be used for His Glory no matter the outcome. I got to this place of peace just by drawing closer to Him. The book I just finished in one of my other groups is called A Confident Heart. It is about leaning into God's promises, who He says He is, and who He says we are! Then in my BB group last night, our leader gave us a sheet with 100 Promises of God from His Word, and it was like this all came together at perfect timing! I also want to share it with you all as well! 

Here are some of these promises that I have had to remember through this journey! I really want to focus on these promises the next few months - on learning them and hiding them in my heart! 

1. The Lord will fight for you. (Ex 14:14) 

12. You have review grace and peace. (Philemon 1:3)

22. God is good. (Psalm 145:9) 

38. God works for my GOOD. (Romans 8:28) 

67. Jesus will give you rest. (Matt. 11:28) 

91. God will finish the work he began in me (Phil 1:6) 

Dear God, 

  We just thank you so much for what you are doing in our lives! I pray that as we continue to seek you in our decision, that we are patient and have our ears open to hear and listen to you. I thank you for all the supportive people we have in our lives. It is such a blessing to have those people surround us in love and in prayers. We love you! Amen

If you haven't heard this song, please listen to it. It is beautiful about how powerful it is when we pray for each other in Jesus Name! With Him all things are possible! 

In Jesus Name - Katy Nichole

  

FET Diary Part 2

If you didn't read part 1, please go back and read it before you start this one. 

https://ourjourneywithgodinfertilityandlife.blogspot.com/2022/01/fet-diary-part-1.html 

 January 14th

Well today is day after transfer! Everything went perfect yesterday! The worst part of the whole procedure is having to hold your bladder until after it is over. If you know me well enough, this is a difficult task. 

Yesterday, I took a good nap after getting home. Today, I've just been trying to take it easy. 

January 20th 

Today is the day before our HCG test! I have restrained from taking any home test. So that's a great thing. 

Current symptoms: cramping, sniffles (cold), and super exhausted. I have been in the bed by 8 each night this week. I normally am a grandma, but not that much of one! Here is to tomorrow! Let's see what God has in store! 

January 21st

God has some great things in store. After I came home from getting my bloodwork done at 7AM, I asked Brandon where he hid the pregnancy test that we had at the house. Y'all will never guess where he hid them: UNDER THE COUCH. Goodness gracious. 

Just in case you can't tell what that digital pregnancy test...it says

PREGNANT! 

Dear God, 

The excitement in my heart is so great! I cannot thank you enough for your timing, and for the resources we were given to make this happen! We thank you for this great gift! We pray our little one continues to grow Lord! Continues to grow into a healthy girl or boy! Thank you again for your faithfulness, and forgive us for when we have doubted you! AMEN

I heard back from the doctor's office around 1:45. My estrogen and progesterone were perfect. My HCG was borderline. Meaning, I am pregnant, but it is low. Yes, this is scary, but I asked the nurse to be honest with me. She said that because my estrogen and progesterone were at really good levels that she more than likely thought it would rise. But that it was also possible for it not to rise. So I am set to go back to AFS on Monday to do another blood draw. Here are the pictures from telling Brandon! 

We decided to go ahead and let our parents know that we are pregnant! It felt like the right thing to go ahead and do because we have so many people that have been invested in our journey! Right now the plan is to tell them, my sister's family, and a few other close people. Here is us telling my mom and dad! 

You can't read the picture very well backwards, but it says, "Promoted from dog grandparents to human grandparents, Coming Sept/Oct 2022!" 

We told Brandon's parents by giving them the same frame! We just didn't get a picture. 

January 22nd: 

We decided to go ahead and tell my sister and her family! Now, why did we share this so early with our parents and my sister? Well to be honest, when you've been going through this for as long as we have you usually get bad news more often, and to get this news was the BEST! We are confident in what is to come on Monday! We just pray it is all in God's plan. 

January 24th:

Today is the day. The day we've waited patiently for all weekend! 

2:00PM 

AFS calls, "do you have time to go over your results?" My heart dropped. "Katey, I'm sorry, but your HCG has dropped since Friday. Go ahead and stop all your meds, and the Birmingham office will call to set up your follow-up appointment." All I could say was ok. Thankfully one of my coworkers just happened to be in the room with me, and I just cried on her shoulder. Then my other coworker comes in and I cry on her too. These two have been with me for this journey, just praying and always checking on me. I am so thankful for Ms. Phillips and Mrs. Bruce! I honestly don't know what I would do at work without these two! My heart is just so broken and the thought of calling Brandon makes me sick because once again my body wouldn't produce what he (and I) have been longing for. I call Brandon and my words just couldn't even come out. All I could say was my level dropped and they told me to stop taking my medicine. 

After I got off the phone with Brandon, all I could do was quote my mentoring groups Bible verses over and over to myself. I sat at my computer at school and just cried and cried until it was time to go home. 

Next, was mom. Oh, and I just knew that I was going to have a hard time telling her too. And I did. I got it out, and then I asked her if she would let dad, my sister, and my cousin, Kellie know because I couldn't make another phone call. I couldn't voice it again. 

Once again, we went from a positive to a negative so quickly. 

Memory Verse for Dec/Jan: Consider it pure joy my brothers and sisters when you face trials of many kinds because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work, so you may be mature and complete, lacking nothing. James 1:2-4 

What's next? We don't know. And I politely ask that if you see us out and about please don't ask us. We have a follow up appointment on Monday, March 7th. 

Now to box up all the meds, all the announcement things, etc... 

It may be a little while before I write again, but I'll end with a prayer because God will get us through somehow. 

Dear God, 

I am not quite sure what to say. I am not quite sure why we are in this position. I just pray that you help us make it through it. We are so thankful for the things you have done in the waiting, Lord. I just pray for you to wrap your arms around us as we move forward! Amen

January 25th:

Last night was tough. It was like Brandon and I couldn't even find the right things to say to each other. Over and over again, it was just we don't understand and I'm sorry. I cried a little bit more. And then I woke up in the middle of the night..crying and I could not go back to sleep. Were we too confident in this process after Friday? Should we have been more cautious? Should we have not been excited? Should we have not shared with others? I am not sure. All of this just hurts so much, and I don't even know what to say. 

As this will for sure be the last post in part 2, I just ask that you pray with us and for us! For those that aren't sure how you can help because you don't know what this is like, I'll refer you to a previous blog post called: How to support my friend going through infertility 

Love you all and thank you for supporting us in our journey! 

Brandon and Katey 

FET Diary, Part 1

Sunday, December 26th: 

 Brandon and I hope that you had a very merry Christmas! 

Over the break, Christmas brought more than just celebrating Jesus, family time, presents, etc.... it also brought my cycle 10-12 days earlier than normal. I'm so thankful to have friends at the fertility office that I can ask questions too. Today's hope is that I can get into the doctor either tomorrow or Tuesday. Then we will go from there. If I calculated correctly, our FET would fall around January 13th-ish. Again, not sure how everything will fall because of the holidays, but we are excited this has finally come around! 

Dear God, 

Today I pray that this is your timing, and it is your will Lord! Help guide us through the process as it can take a toll on both of us. I pray that we seek you in all decisions made, and that we continue to be each other's rocks as we start this all over again! Thank you for what you have done for us in 2021, and we look forward to seeing you move in our lives in 2022. AMEN. 

Tuesday December 28th: 

I was able to go to the doctor today, and my ultrasound looked great! 

I did have to get my thyroid rechecked today, and that could play a big factor in whether or not move forward with the FET. My bloodwork came back great! No problems, except my thyroid is still a little elevated, but not too much. My medicine is just being adjusted for it. So we officially are scheduled for January 13th at 2:00PM for our FET!!!!  

Medicines for now: Thyroid, lovenox shot, estrogen, daily vitamin, folic acid, and eventually we will add the progesterone in oil shot (the terrible ones). But we have to do what it takes! We are just so excited to be moving forward in the process. I go back to the doctor for a check on Thursday, January 6th. 

Dear God, 

We thank you for good results and levels today! We pray that as we continue we will get results necessary to move forward with each step Lord. Thank you for not letting us walk alone Lord. We know you are with us always! AMEN 

Tuesday January 4th: Happy New Year!

Over the past few days, we've had some really great things happen! First, we received our bill for the transfer...and I know you are thinking, why is this great? It is great because it is around $2,000 less than we were expecting to pay! YAY! The second thing, is after reflecting on the first thing, I had this crazy feeling and I am not really sure how to explain it. I was doing my Bible Study yesterday and a voice popped in my head that Brandon and I needed to gift someone with part of the difference from what we expected to pay. I was like, did I really just hear/think that? Well after talking to a co-worker about it, she was so supportive just saying that it was definitely meant to be. Brandon and I have been so blessed with financial support throughout this process. Between us and the people who have given - at least $25,000 has been spent during our journey.  So, how are we going to gift this money? I am not sure. We have a couple in mind that we might give it to or we might just do it randomly through the fertility office. Not sure yet! I am not telling you all this to take the glory either, I just really want to follow what I believe my heart and God is telling us to do! 

Thursday January 6th: 

Today was appointment day. This morning my ultrasound went really well. Throughout the day today, I had to speak with insurance multiple times about the progesterone in oil shots. Apparently my insurance will let me order one time through a normal pharmacy, but then it has to be sent to a specialty pharmacy. I called the doctor's office and left a message for the nurse, but I have heard anything back yet as of 2:30. I am also waiting to hear back about blood work from this morning. Blood work came back great! So we are one step closer to the transfer! One week to go! 

Saturday January 8th: 

Today we started progesterone shots. This is one of the worst things, in my opinion. However, I just have to remind myself that I have to do! The funny part about it is, is that I have to take these shots at exactly 10AM everyday. So, while at church, while at work, while Brandon is working.... Good thing I have some really great people in my corner that I trust to give me these shots! 

Dear God, 

I thank you that we were able to move to the next spot in the process! We thank you for blessing us financially, and for putting on our hearts to give! We ask that it is blessed as it is given to such a worthy couple Lord! We pray that we continue to follow and trust in you as we go through the next step! We pray for our precious embryo to thaw perfectly and be ready for transfer when we get there! We love you! Amen! 

Monday January 10th:

Well today, I had to give the progesterone shot to myself for the first time. It was not fun, but at least today was a day for my dominate side. 

We are counting down the days! Only 3 more to go until we are PUPO (pregnant until proven otherwise)! And it is CRAZY exciting to think we will know on January 21st! 

Dear God, as we go through this week, we thank you for getting us here! We are so grateful for our friends and family who have been praying for us. We pray that you continue to keep us stress free, and that the devil would flee with his negativity. AMEN

Tuesday January 11th: 

 2 days until PUPO! 10 days until test day!

Wednesday January 12th: 

1 day until PUPO! 9 days until test day!

Please be praying that everything goes as planned and that it is in God's plan for this to work out! 

Part 2 will come soon! 

Reflecting on 2021- the Battle of Infertility

2021 was a hard year, but God was right beside us through the ups and downs of not only our fertility journey, but in our everyday lives too. 

I feel like it is important to recognize that even though the results didn't turn out like we prayed, that God had other BIG things happen in our life! This is a reflection of our journey just through 2021.  As hard all of this was, it has led us to where we are now. An update on all of that will come soon! 

January - Fundraising for IVF

               - IVF Consultation 

February - Fundraising for IVF

               - Blessed with all funds needed for IVF 

March- Baseline appointment for IVF

           -HSG Test for the 3rd & 4th time 

           - diagnosed with hypothyroidism

April - Hematologist appointment 

          - Factor V confirmation (was originally tested in 2015) 

          - diagnosed with low iron 

May - Baseline #2 for IVF 

June - Birth Control 

        - Saline Ultrasound Procedure 

July - STIMS & lots of other medicines

        - Egg Retrieval

        - Fresh Transfer of 2 embryos, 1 frozen 

August - Failed Transfer 

             - one year mark of our miscarriage 

September - Follow-up appointment with the fertility doctor

October  - ERA biopsy 

              - Fundraising for FET 

November - ERA results: receiving level 

December - Baseline appointment for FET (frozen transfer) 

                  - Thyroid medicine adjusted 

                  - 4 year mark of facing infertility 

Some big positives that happened over 2021: 

-finished my 3rd year at JSE & began my 4th

- We joined Journey Church in February! 

- Started serving in the Children's Ministry with some awesome people! 

- Brandon and I joined mentoring groups & a small group! 

-Every penny that was needed was provided for our fertility journey (past and current)! 

-Continuing to share our testimony has been a HUGE blessing!

-Our faith continues to grow each and every day! 

-Celebrated 6 years of marriage!

-These are only some, but are big ones in our book!

Happy New Year to everyone! Love y'all!

-Brandon and Katey