Labor day!

Another summer is done! No complaints here- we had a lovely summer and I am kind of itching to get back into school.  I have a full class this year- 8 students! We had four kindergartners pop out of the woodwork, and they will be joining my already awesome group of 4 (one moved at the end of the school year and one was moved across the hall, as I normally have 6). We are going to be super busy, especially since we are rolling out a new curriculum.  Lots to learn this year, and this first month is sure to be a doozy.

B had a rough end to summer at work.  His boss passed away and her son took over the office.  He has done an awesome job though, and hit a higher quota than ever before!  I am so proud of him and the way he has powered through all of these changes.  He is so much stronger than he often gives himself credit for, and I am glad I have him in my life, even when we disagree on chores :P

But as it is Labor Day weekend, or rather, the end of Labor Day weekend, it is time for me to be grateful again.  I am often grateful in my day to day life, but a moment today humbled me.  B and I received a generous gift that will help us meet our goal even faster.  We were so excited when we met the IVF goal earlier this month, but still knew we had a bit of a way to go to hit the $3500 in meds that are left (we bought $1150 of the meds at the end of last year with my FSA and will be putting the $1228 left from my FSA towards this cost), as well as the ICSI portion of $2400.  That means we are still looking at about $4700 left to save at this point.  And there are still some rebates for meds that we should be receiving which will be less than $300, but believe me, every.cent.counts. and I am absolutely NOT complaining!

So grateful is probably an understatement.  B and I were shocked, as it was very unexpected.  And the awesome people wanted to give this gift on Labor Day because, well... they hope I'll be having my own "labor day" sometime next year.  I won't lie.  I cried.  Those were the first tears I have allowed myself over IVF in the last year.  But I am proud to report that they were happy tears, not tears of desperation.  I cannot even find the words to express how wonderful it is to cry happy tears over all of this, especially with waiting so long after our last attempt. Thank you for this wonderful gift... the money means everything, but the love in which it was given means even more.

So, enjoy these last few hours of Labor Day... I know I am cherishing every last moment.

The Endless Summer

It's never really endless though, unless you are working hard on saving money for something you really, really want!  B and I have had an amazing summer thus far, and I am finally ready to get back on track with everything here.  I have thoroughly enjoyed my summer "off" this year, and feel confident in everything I (we) have accomplished.

School ended well, and we immediately left for our annual trip to HHI (that we have missed the last two years due to saving for IVF two summers ago and buying our house last summer- all in all, good reasons to miss vacation, but still sad for us!).  We had an amazing time with my parents and brother, SIL, and nephew.  It was well worth the two year wait, though we are hopeful we won't be missing vacation again in the future! After vacation, I went right back to work with Summer School- ESY.  I had a lovely summer working with my favorite people and children.  We had some wonderful visits with friends and family and even did some more work on the house! Our guest room and guest bathroom have been repainted (thanks for the help mom and dad!!), and we are having the furniture refinished for a more updated look.

So, onto the IVF front.  In July, I met with my doctor again, and we came up with a plan after an ultrasound revealed another cyst had formed on my right ovary.  Previously, the cyst on my right ovary led to laparoscopic surgery to remove it (back in 2008), so I have been pretty worried about that stupid cyst. The doctor wanted me to do Day 3 blood work and a saline sonogram somewhere between cycle day 5 and 15. So I had my blood work done last week, as well as my blood draw for the HIV test (relax, we get it done every time I have IVF, it's just a precaution). Then yesterday, my mom joined me for my saline ultrasound as moral support since last time the pain was pretty intense.  I won't get into the fun of a speculum, ultrasound wand, and catheter shooting water up your hooha, but it was a BLAST! The really cool part was watching everything on the computer screen, even mom was impressed!

The doctor declared my uterus looked perfect- finally some good news- and then took a look at my ovaries.  The cyst is still there, but is shrinking, so she is confident it will not cause any issues with starting IVF.  YAY!! I had a bunch of follicles on the right ovary, while the left side was chilling this week.  Under medication, the left side always seems to pop up for action, but on a normal basis, it is lazy as crap! All in all, the appointment went really well and we are very pleased with the outcome.

On another note, we have fully funded our account for the IVF portion.  B and I were so excited when the last payment from ESY came in and we were able to put the money in our IVF savings fund.  We still need to save up for the ICSI portion, which is another couple thousand, but it feels great to know that we are paying for everything completely out of pocket and not charging anything or creating more debt.  This is HUGE for us, and I am very proud of how hard we worked to make this happen.  So, hopefully, in a couple more months, we will be planning our next round of IVF and paying for it free and clear!

Thank you to everyone who has continued to follow this blog, even though I have been slack as my left ovary.  I am working on more posts, though many may not be about IVF because I truly do not want to be defined by this struggle.  There is so much more to me and my family than this journey, though this journey has been a huge part of our life.  I really appreciate the responses and even the comments about why I haven't updated!  I'm sorry, and I will do better! Have a lovely Tuesday and best wishes to everyone.