I love that song. It sums up how I feel right now...and every day these days, for that matter. I figured it was definitely time for an update...so here I am :)
To start with, Jake had back surgery on July 11. I will not lie to you...I was a complete and total nervous wreck the morning of his surgery. My mother and Jake's older brother were both there with me when they took him away to the operating room. I just kept stopping and looking back, watching them wheeling him away. I started to cry and I just whispered, "He's in your hands now, Lord. Please keep him safe." What seemed like 2 years, was actually only a couple of hours. The doctor called me on the waiting room phone to tell me that everything went perfect and he was in recovery and I could see him about an hour.
Ugh. More waiting...
Then, finally I was able to get to him and he was in a lot of pain. Now, let me tell you something. There is no worse feeling than seeing this solid rock of a man who is always so strong in such a weakened state. I had to suck it up and take over. I stayed beside him every second. I never left his side. We stayed one night in the hospital and they sent him home around noon the next day. I was SO glad...sleeping in the hospital is a joke. I was exhausted and just wanted to be home, with my husband.
His progress has been remarkable. Within a couple of days he was pain free and doing fantastic. He went back to light-duty at work 2 weeks later. Then, at the 6 week mark, he was released to full duty with no restrictions. His job required him to take a full DOT physical before returning, which he passed, might I add, with flying colors!
Meanwhile, my cupcake fundraiser has now turned into a full time, crazy-busy, completely fulfilling business! I have sold about a gazillion ( ok, not really, but you get the drift) cupcakes over the past month. I have so many orders right now for bridal showers, baby showers, bachelorette parties, kids birthdays! It is overwhelming and wonderful :) I LOVE IT! We are now in the process of searching for a place to be able to open a shop where I can sell cupcakes every day. I am actually going to look at 2 tomorrow, so I'm pretty excited about that! It is the best feeling to be able to do what you love and love what you do...and make money doing it! :)
As far as the fertility journey goes, we got some pretty fantastic news. We visited a different specialist in Frisco on August 25. I actually found him while doing research on the success rates of IVF clinics in TX. This clinic has the highest in TX. So, naturally, I wanted to see what his opinion was. I had all of my records sent to him from my local OB and the RE in Dallas that I have been seeing. I can honestly say this. When I walked into the office, I already felt more at peace than I have ever felt at the other place. Now, don't get me wrong. I am in NO WAY knocking the previous RE. I really like him. I'm not so crazy about some of the staff there, but that doesn't mean that they are not good. I just am not sure they are right for ME. We have prayed. A LOT. We asked God to lead us in the direction He has planned for us. We feel like this is the right one. Anyway, this particular RE at the new clinic was SO comforting. He informed me that I am NOT at risk of never being able to get pregnant and that he doesn't think that my only option is IVF. Now, he is not 100% sure that we won't have to resort to IVF eventually. But, he said that nowhere in my chart or my lab results does it indicate I cannot carry a child...the reason I'm not getting pregnant is because I'm not ovulating. Period. He said that is because I have PCOS. (Nobody has ever confirmed that for me. Nice to know...) Anyway, he said that most women with PCOS don't respond well to oral medication (i.e. clomid, femara). However, we do respond well ( sometimes too well) to injectible meds, such as Follistim. So, he recommended us going with that course of action first. He has a program in his office that provides intensive monitoring of my ovaries starting with the first day of my cycle. This will help him know how to adjust the medication if needed...whether it be to increase or decrease...so that we get perfect eggs. Then, when they are perfectly matured, they will give me a "booster shot" that will trigger the release of the egg, and at that point, will schedule an IUI in the office. This will get the swimmers closer to the egg so they won't have to look hard for it and will hopefully dig in and create a baby :) This procedure is about 20% of the cost of IVF. If we do have to go with later, (if this procedure doesn't work) then, their IVF cost is about 50% cheaper than the other clinic...and as I stated earlier, has about 19% better success rates.
Needless to say, we are super excited about this news! I don't feel so doomed...I don't feel so hopeless.
Jake has transferred to work in Odessa. He is still with the same company, but he will now have a 2 week on/1 week off schedule. So, we will have to coordinate the procedure with his schedule. We are going to wait a month or two to be sure of how things are going to go before we go ahead. I will keep you guys posted on that.
