Monday, July 2, 2012

The deets! Part 1

Thank you for your patience ever since my cryptic post. Now that our contracts are signed, you get the deets. So get comfy!!

For those of you who have been around for awhile, you know my story. Two years of infertility treatments taught me that my eggs are crap. Thankfully my warm and generous best friend had beautiful ones that she was willing to share with me.  The result? This beautiful boy...



Like most lucky infertiles who manage to have a child, I laughed at the nurse who asked me what birth control I planned to use after I had E. I was soooooooo hoping that being pregnant would reset my fertility and whip my shriveled eggs into shape. However, this obviously didn't happen.

Yet at the same time, I wasn't unhappy or desperate for a baby. How could I be? In my arms every night I snuggled my little man to sleep. By day, I would soak up his smiles and read him book after book.

Meanwhile....I had posted my profile over on Miracles Waiting hoping that I might get lucky and be chosen by a couple who had remaining embryos after their family building. I had done this before after my second failed IVF cycle, but never had any takers. While I had a few couples respond to me, we never seemed to be what they were looking for. We're not ultra-liberal or overly-religious. We certainly don't live close to anyone who might want our kids to know each other as they grow up. However, the biggest stumbling block was that we already had a child. Overall, I didn't discuss this with anyone other than my husband which is rare for me.

We started discussing our other options. Before we got too far into the process, I decided to talk to an OB to discuss the likelihood that I would need a cerclage and bed rest. While my original high risk OB (who delivered E) said I could go on to have another healthy normal pregnancy, I came away from this appointment and felt like it was the death of my dream.

After that day, I decided to let having another baby go. I started to make my peace with it. I reveled in the beautiful boy that I had the privilege of taking care of everyday. And occasionally...I would visit Miracles Waiting late at night. Weeks passed. I sold and donated the final baby pieces I was holding onto.

Then one day I came across a post of a blog I follow, where the author was discussing choosing a family for their remaining embryos. She was excited and happy to donate them, but was struggling with how to choose from the many wonderful people out there who were waiting. It opened up something in me that I thought I had made my peace with. I was full of tears and hope again, so I wrote her an email and attached my profile.

Then? Then I felt like a complete jerk. Here this blogger was writing about her struggle and I just added one more person to the flood of emails she got about the profile she had posted. As I had only been reading her blog for a month or two, I wondered if she would hate that I "invaded" her blog space with my request to be considered. More than anything though, I was vulnerable by putting myself out there to be rejected again which made me feel like an even bigger jerk.

A few days later, I got an email from her asking me questions about some things she had read in my blog and in my profile. I was completely shocked that they were even considering us. However, even from just the questions that she asked, I got the feeling that we had a lot of the same core values and perspectives on life. Then she asked for my phone number. When she called she said something like, "do you want to have family in {state}?" I totally didn't get it! Here I was anticipating some follow up questions and BAM, there it was. They chose us. They wanted US.

I cried.
I called my hubby.
Then I dove onto the internet to figure out what we needed to do (so typical).

More to come...xoxo

Update: Click here for part 2!

14 comments:

  1. I'm so glad you wrote that email! Can't wait to hear the rest.

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  2. Great post! I love this. I think you were definitely inspired to contact this woman. Looking forward to the rest of the story as well when it comes :)

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  3. What an amazing story! I can't wait to hear the rest of the story. And I'm so excited for you!

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  4. 1) E is a stunner.

    2)This is beautiful and exciting, and I am ready to hear the rest of the story! Yay for donor embryos!

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  5. I am wishing you ALL the best in your journey Jenicini...Flygirl is a good Blog friend of mine and I am touched that your families will forever be connected to her and her family. Can't wait to get this party started!!

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  6. What wonderful details!! So glad you put your heart and soul out there! Your boy is gorgesmoys

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  7. Best, best, best wishes and so many congratulations!

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  8. I cannot wait for the rest of this fabulous story....

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  9. Jenn, I love you and your growing family more and more every day! I am so happy that we had the chance to be friends IRL before our blogging paths crossed. I am so super excited for you and V and Baby E ... seriously, super excited, like I just found out for myself! Yeah, Another 'Cini in the world, telling people how it is, taking no crap from no one and just generally making the people who are lucky to be called their friends a little bit luckier than the rest of the world. I can't wait!! Eeek!!

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  10. Here from Creme. I have a 3 year old from embryos donated to me by another blogger (she's since deleted her blog). Hoping 2013 brings you a BFP and then a sweet little sib for your adorable boy!

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  11. Here from CDLC. What a wonderful post! Perfectly captures that feeling of being at peace while letting the tiny sliver of hope hang out in the corner, just waiting. I'm new to your blog and hope this moment turned into even more joy for your family.

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  12. Here from Creme. It is so lovely to read about the generosity and kindness of spirit that can exist in the ALI community.
    T.

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  13. Here from Creme. It is so lovely to read about the generosity and kindness of spirit that can exist in the ALI community.
    T.

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