The Journey to Our Family

I've had the privilege of talking with so many women over the past few years about my infertility, adoption, and most recently my pregnancy loss. I am thankful that the Lord can use our story to somehow encourage others. I am always willing to share our journey and talk about the things that led us to where we are now. As I am getting older :) and a little more removed from our original TTC (trying to conceive) days, I am starting to forget some of the specifics. I wanted to go ahead and write down the timeline of our family that has been in the making for over 5 years now. Most of you probably won't read through the whole thing and that's okay because it is long, but for those of you in your own TTC journey I pray this gives you hope and information. I know when we were trying to get pregnant I just wanted to read anything and everything about it!

• August 2001 - Jeff and Rachel get married:)
• December 2002 - get off the pill
• March 2003 - start actively trying to get pregnant (this goes on for 11 months and nothing happens)
• February 2004 - annual exam...talk with OBGYN about not getting pregnant. She orders semen analyis for Jeff...all checks out normal according to her.
• March 2004 - start clomid to regulate my slightly irregular cycle (6 months and still nothing) August 2004 - see new OBGYN because we move to new town
• August 2004 - HSG to check tubes...all looks good!
• September 2004- IUI #1 - failed
• October 2004 - IUI #2 - failed
• November 2004 - IUI #3 - failed
• December 2004 - IUI #4 - failed
• December 2004 - nearly 2 years of TTC...start looking into adoption. Talk with Lifeline Children's Services about their domestic and international programs
• January 2005 - move on to Reproductive Endocrinologist (fertility specialist) in Atlanta...do bloodwork...all comes out normal. Ultrasound on ovaries shows some chocolate endometriomas (cysts) that could indicate endometriosis.
• February 2005 - IUI #5 with 150 mg of Clomid...at time of IUI do another semen analysis on Jeff
• Early March 2005 - failed IUI...talk with RE about results on Jeff's analysis. The results are grim...only 1% normal morphology (this is the shape of the sperm). RE recommends we move on to IVF (in vitro fertilization) as he thinks that is our best option as they can actually pick out the few good sperm to fertilize my egg(s).

• End of March 2005 - decide to adopt from Ukraine! We talk about possibly doing IVF in the future but timing is not right at this time. Feel much confirmation from the Lord about this decision.
• April - October 2005 - adoption paperwork, paperchase, and waiting....very stressful but very exciting to know we are closer to having a child! During this time we do not prevent pregnancy.
• December 2005 - come home with precious Samuel...what an answer to prayer!!!!

• April 2006 - with a huge tax refund (from the adoption tax credit) in hand, we decide to try In Vitro Fertilization. It has now been 3 years and no pregnancy so we decide this is our only option at having a biological child. Again, we felt much confirmation from the Lord and decide before hand that we would not destroy any embryos during the process.
• May 2006 - start birth control pills to shut down my reproductive system. Get an ultrasound to make sure all is quiet.
• Early June 2006 - start injectibles to stimulate my ovaries to produce an ungodly amount of eggs. 2 shots in the AM and 2 shots in the PM and ultrasounds galore to check my ovaries for growth.
• June 15 2006 - trigger shot to mature eggs
• June 16 - egg retrieval in Atlanta at my clinic...we got 14 eggs! Start progesterone shots (these are huge shots and not fun at all...but totally worth it of course)
• June 17 - 10 eggs fertilized through ICSI (basically they get the good sperm and inject it straight into the egg)
• June 19 - Embryo Transfer...we transfer 2 beautiful embryos into my uterus...I got to watch through ultrasound! Very cool. No other embryos continued to grow except these 2 after the initial fertilization.
• June 28 2006 - positive HPT (home pregnancy test)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I took one each day until my beta hcg test at my clinic and they all continued to be positive
• July 2, 2006 - positive BETA of 384!!!! I'm finally very pregnant!!!
• July 14, 2006 - first ultrasound shows a healthy growing baby! Must continue progesterone shots until 8 weeks and then move on to suppositories until 2nd trimester begins.
• February 23, 2007 - our 2nd miracle, Elizabeth Kate, arrives weighing 7 lbs 7 ounces!!!!

• August 5, 2007 - a very big surprise...positive HPT...WHAT!!!! Our very first naturally occurring spontaneous pregnancy...how did this happen?
• August 23- ultrasound shows a healthy growing baby! We see and hear heartbeat.
• September 12 - start spotting at 9 weeks 2 days
• September 14 - ultrasound confirms our baby stopped growing at around 8 weeks so this is considered a missed miscarriage
• September 15, 2007 - At 9 weeks 5 days, I had a D&C at the hospital for the OB to clean out my uterus so I didn't have to miscarry naturally at home.
• October 2007 - OB thinks we can get pregnant again. Jeff sees a local urologist in town for a new semen analysis. Shows his numbers have increased to a somewhat normal level!

• March 14, 2008 - another miracle...positive HPT!!! Did this really happen again? We are guardedly excited
• March 23 - ultrasound shows a healthy growing baby
• April 15 - ultrasound #2 shows baby is continuing to grow
• April 29 - we hear the baby's heartbeat via doppler at 11 weeks...we have made it past the point of our last loss! Still guardedly excited and trusting in the Lord's sovereign plan.

Edited to Add:

• November 6, 2008 - Our precious 4th miracle arrives...Abigail Marie was 8 lbs 3 ounces and 20 1/2 inches long!
• January 19, 2012 brought another miracle into our family with the birth of Anna Mitchell who was 8 lbs and 20 inches longs.  Her life was a big surprise to us and seems to have completed our family!  Years ago, I would have never imagined the full girth of this journey.  I have just about experienced any and every path to having a child:)....infertility, IVF, adoption, natural pregnancy, and a surprise pregnancy!