Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Legal Clearance and Transfer date!

Happy New Years Eve! I hope everyone has fun plans and stays safe tonight!

I have a quick update: I received the legal clearance letter from my agency today, which is also sent to B&P and the RE Clinic.

Because of this, the clinic called me this afternoon and we were able to schedule my transfer date! I am tentatively scheduled for FEBRUARY 18TH! I will begin meds on January 14th! Everything is really falling into place now.

Have a great evening, and I'll post again next year! ;-) XOXO

Thursday, December 25, 2014

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas! We had a wonderful day, very laid back. Christmas was magical this year, the kids really understood who Santa is, and the look of shock when Santa actually brought everything they asked for!? Just incredible. Here they are... Growing up before my very eyes...



I hope you had a magical day! XOXO

Thursday, December 18, 2014

Signed, Sealed, and Delivered!

And just like that, my contract is complete. I have worked diligently with my attorney for the past week to get it accomplished and as of today, it has been signed by both Andy and I, and mailed to the agency. Here's the proof!



I also heard back from the clinic this week, informing me that I passed my medical screening.

So now, we wait. My agency needs to provide the legal clearance to the clinic, and then I can set a transfer date and begin my meds! Stay tuned! XOXO

Sunday, December 14, 2014

Christmas tree, oh, Christmas tree!

We went and cut down our Christmas tree today!


It was beautiful, but there was SO MUCH SNOW! We had a hard time detecting what the trees actually looked like, as they were all covered in at least 6 inches of snow. We finally decided to pick one and be done with it.
 

We thought it looked beautiful!


The kids can't wait to decorate it. I hope you're all having a wonderful day! XOXO

Friday, December 12, 2014

The Med Screening Appointment from Hell...

Ok, the actual medical screening appointment wasn't bad, it was all the traveling. At least I can let you know that I believe it went well and we can continue to move forward! 

We had to plan this trip very last minute, but I was so excited when I was able to coordinate a portion with the travel agent. Andy has never been to NYC before and mentioned just a week ago that he's always wanted to see the Rockefeller tree in person. The city in Connecticut that we travelled to is not super close to any large airport, and most of them, we would have a connection. I suggested flying into NYC and driving 50 miles to the clinic, and she went for it! I couldn't wait to tell Andy we were spending the afternoon in New York on Tuesday! 

It started snowing Tuesday morning. I was nervous, but we weren't supposed to be hit hard until Tuesday evening. With our flight departing at 3pm, I thought we would be ok. We arrived to the airport and went through security. We sat and had a nice lunch together at The Skinny Pancake and enjoyed our quiet time. I heard over the intercom that our flight was delayed a half hour. Sure enough, every time it was time to start boarding, they would delay us another half hour. Finally they cancelled the flight and rebooked us on a flight at 5:30. I asked one of the airline employees if she thought that flight would make it up and she said she was 99% sure it would be cancelled. Andy said we should just call it a day and cancel the appointment. Umm, excuse me!? I worked way too hard to get this appointment! With all the planning I just did over the last few days, there was NO WAY I was canceling this. And with that we found a car rental facility nearby that had an AWD SUV in stock and we began our journey.

.... Our journey in a blizzard. It was the first real snow storm of this winter and it was terrible. We were driving 25mph and we weren't even out of Vermont yet. Andy thought I was crazy but I kept the pedal to the metal and hands at 10 & 2. ;-) We were making it to Connecticut through hell or high water. Finally we hit the Massachusetts line and the snow started to ease. We stopped at a local restaurant to have dinner and quickly got back on the road. By the time we reached Connecticut, the weather was perfect, and about 15 degrees higher than when we left! We arrived at the hotel at around 11:30. I briefly checked facebook and my email, only to discover my attorney sent me my draft contract! I was so excited! This was a great step forward, as it meant B&P have already reviewed and approved it. I felt like things were really moving along. 

I woke up the next morning, drenched in sweat... Andy had his upper body resting on mine and you could literally see the sweat beads on his forehead. He was burning up. I woke him up to find out if he was ok only to discover he could barely talk. His throat was in so much pain and his glands were very swollen. Great... We asked Siri for directions to a drug store and found a Target about a mile away, the bonus was it had a Starbucks right inside! 

Our morning consisted of trying to comfort Andy and getting ready for our 11 am appointment. We arrived early, filled out some consent forms and were seen right away. We immediately met with Dr. Doyle and instantly loved him. We could understand why B&P used him for their fertility needs! After 30 minutes of chatting, I gave them a urine sample and was taken in to proceed with a saline ultrasound. It was interesting seeing my uterus on the screen with nothing in it! He said I had a "perfect uterus", which I took as an extreme compliment coming from a Reproductive Endocrinologist. We then proceeded to give vials of blood, both Andy and I. We spoke to the coordinator in detail for about 45 minutes and that was it! At 1pm, we left the clinic and began our journey home. 

The rental car had to be dropped off by 6pm in order to not obtain another 24 hour fee, which meant we only had 5 hours to make it to Rutland, VT. Normally, the entire trip should take 5 hours, but I knew the storm was about to begin again in Vermont. Once again, crossing over the state line, this time back into VT, the weather took a turn for the worst. It was sleeting and the temperature was hovering around 32 degrees. Once again, we were driving 25mph, however this time, I had to handle it on my own. My sick husband (it turns out he had strep) was passed out for the entire trip in the passenger seat. We ended up making it home, after picking up the kids from my moms, in 9 total hours. It was a loooong trip. BUT, we're alive we made it, and I can check that off the list! 

Thursday, December 4, 2014

If you want something done right...

Once the match was complete, my social worker informed me she needed to move us forward with the program coordinator (although she would still be available for me if I needed anything throughout this process, which I thought was a nice touch.)

With the holidays, and switching over from one person to the next, things have slowed down. My social worker confirmed the match on November 23rd, and said I would be hearing from my coordinator within a week. I finally heard from, and was introduced to my program coordinators on Monday the 1st. I received another handbook that went into even more detail regarding the next process of this journey. She said she would send my profile over to B&P's RE clinic (reproductive endocrinology) and they would contact me to set up an appointment.

A day went by, and then two, and then three. I couldn't take it any more so this morning, I called the clinic myself. I knew with the December holidays coming up, they may have a difficult time getting me in. I also knew that this whole process can't begin until I am medically cleared, so therefore, this process needed to begin ASAP.  

They transfered me the correct person, who quickly pulled up my chart. She said Dr. Doyle had availability on Wednesday, December 10th. OHMYGOSH, that's just 6 days away! I needed to get an itinerary, find child care and transportation for my children for 2 days, get time off from work, plan for my dogs to be boarded, all for an appointment in another state in 6 days!

Needless to say, I am thrilled that I called and even more excited that the ball is finally rolling, but I have my work cut out for me.