Blessed

There are so many things I've wanted to blog about in the past few days. In all honesty, Cam has had to physically restrain me a couple of times because things are just so exciting! We both wanted to wait to spread the news until we had a solid plan in place, though. Yes, both of us.

The past week and a half has been unbelievable for us. We have laughed, cried, let our jaws completely hit the floor more than once, and made phone call after phone call. We have felt your prayers, thoughts, love, and support more than ever these past few days. You're really not going to believe this. Let's start on Thursday of last week.

Thursday: We were going in for our 3rd (and last) IUI before IVF was on the table. We knew it wasn't going to work, but we had to do it before our Dr. would consider us for IVF. We had to do it in order to move forward. In the middle of the treatment, I was sitting in the waiting room and the nurse called me. She didn't know I was in the clinic, but she wanted to let me know that the Dr. had looked over our charts and wanted us to know that he didn't recommend us doing this 3rd IUI because our chances were so low. He said we could go through with it if we wanted to, but that he recommended us saving our money for IVF. We spent the next hour meeting with a nurse and asking all of our questions about IVF. Scheduling out everything, learning about medications and procedures, and asking about how everything works. We left the clinic and stopped at Cheesecake Factory (Free slice of cheesecake with purchase of $30 + $25 gift card = AFFORDABLE!) to celebrate actually being able to move forward. We were thrilled!

Friday: Because we were both fully and completely on board for this expensive procedure ($25,000 minimum), we decided to pull out all the stops and really organize our resources money-wise. At work, I got an e-mail letting me know that it was the last day to add money to a tax-free medical account that is put into the account at the beginning of the year and is paid back throughout the rest of the year. It's like a tax-free cash advance. Love it!

Saturday: We went to support Pound the Pavement for Parenthood. It was my first 5k ever and I was nervous! We were friends with the couple that was being sponsored and they asked how our the treatments were going. We told them how the Dr. stopped our last IUI and recommended us for IVF. They stopped the conversation right there and told us to talk to Jill, the race coordinator. Jill had received an e-mail from a fertility specialist in pleasant grove who was donating 50% off IVF to anyone who ran the race and needed it. WHAT?! We ran really, really fast that day. And this was when I wanted to blog so SO bad!

But we didn't know the details of the 50% off offer. Both of us thought it was too good to be true, or some sort of scam or something. We had to wait. Jill met with the Dr. (Dr. Foulk) on Saturday. She called us with the details on Sunday night. I will never ever forget what it felt like for me and Cam to be up in the second bedroom hearing about this man who was going to change our life while we had company playing games downstairs. Dr. Foulk is an extremely successful reproductive endocrinologist who has opened practices in Reno and Boise. He is ranked among the top 6 RE's in the nation. He was at the point of his life where he could retire, go golfing, go  on a mission, etc. He decided to send himself on a medical mission to Utah County in order to help the people here have families. I've looked over his statistics and success reports for the past 5 years. 60% of the IVF cycles he has done incorporate a procedure called ICSI that we will need. He is a specialist for our specific type of infertility. Because he's on a medical mission, he does all of his procedures at cost. He doesn't make a dime. This is his passion - helping people. So....the amount we put in the account last Friday? It just happens to be exactly the amount for the procedure and the medications.

We are floored. And we've been really thinking about what to do with our auction. The support and excitement it has generated is too much to pass up, but we would be incredibly ungrateful to keep it for ourselves. We don't need it. We want to help another couple reach their dream of parenthood. I asked Jill if her and her husband were taking Dr. Foulk's 50% off offer. She said they'd like to in the future, but they are still paying off a failed IVF cycle. I can't imagine the emotional turmoil a failed IVF cycle would cause. My heart hurts for this beautiful, selfless couple that, regardless of their own dreams of parenthood, have started an organization to help raise funds for other couples to have children. Especially when they have a huge debt to pay off from their past cycle before they can move forward and try again.

I asked Jill if, as a way of saying "Thank You" for this amazing offer her organization brought into our lives, we could change routes a little bit and do the auction for her and her husband. We're still working out the details, but we are so excited to get this going for them. To make things even better, Cam got a phone call on Friday from the insurance company. Remember when our car got totaled? Over 5 months ago? They wanted a fax number so we could sign a form for them to send us another check for our "pain and suffering."

Yesterday, the lesson in Relief Society asked the question: "How has God provided a way for you to be obedient?"

We have seen his hand, so clearly, in our lives the past 10 days. We're so stunned that things are moving so quickly, but we couldn't be happier. There are days when I look at Cam, just terrified and say, "What if this doesn't work?" and then minutes later I look up at him just as terrified and say, "What if this DOES work?"

What if it does?!