Success Times Two

Before we started our doctor had reassured us that with one egg retrieval we would be able to have atleast 10 kids, if we chose. We were so excited to get things going and move past this hard procedure. Unfortunately the whole invitro process was nerve racking, with surprises and anxiety around every corner.

Probabley the biggest fear I had going into all of this was my fear of needles. We won't get get into it, but let's just say I had had some tramatic experiences with shots and getting my blood drawn that would freak anyone out. 

Each day Tom gave me 2 to 3 shots in the stomache. I also had my blood drawn every couple days. After all was said and done, I was poked 30 times.

Tom and I both, were put under for simple surgeries in preparation for the embryo implantation. It was funny to watch Tom wake up after his surgery, those drugs really make him silly!

As the doctor monitored our egg growth we were sad that I wasn't producing as many as expected. When the time was right, 7 eggs were harvested. After fertilization only three eggs became healthy embryos. 

With only 3 healthy embryos, a chance for 3 or less children, my hopes of never dealing with all those needles again faded away. I knew I'd have to do all of this again to bring more kids into our family. Who knows, maybe I'll be content with three kids. 

The doctor then encouraged us to only implant one embryo which would give us a 65 percent chance of success. She left the choice up to us, we could implant one or two embryos.Tom and I prayed about it and we both felt the same, we wanted to increase our chance for success to 75 percent with implanting 2 embryos instead of 1.

10 days later did a blood pregnancy test and were positive. Then we went in for an ultrasound at 6 weeks to see if one or both of the embryos had took. To our surprise they both had! We got to see them and hear their heart beats. What a special moment. Tom was on Skype because he was our of town during the doctor visit. It was so cool and exciting!

I surprised my parents with this fax: 

At our 8 week check up we were excited to see one baby moving a ton. We were also able to hear their heart beats again. Our excitement continued to grow.

At 13 weeks, on July 13th, we made our official announcememt on facebook: We are excited to announce that we are 13 weeks pregnant with twins! Thanks for all the prayers and encouragement as we have gone through invitro to bring these little ones into the world!

Wednesday we are going to our new doctor in Washington, we will be 15 weeks along. I really miss our babies. It feels like forever since I last saw them, 7 weeks. Who knows, maybe we'll find out their gender.

So excited for this new adventure. Can't believe it's really happening! :)

The Time is Here

So I bet everyone is wondering how things have been going for the last 4 months???... The answer would be crazy...and amazing!

Between earning extra income, being apart for two months to make that extra income, being a full time teacher who enjoys putting on plays and other time consuming activities, doctor appointments, minor surgeries, and mental stress... well it suffices to say,  that it's been a daily struggle!

While coping with this ever evolving sacrifice, to have children, I was unable to bring myself to keep up this blog. Sometimes, even on a daily basis, I was eondering if this would ever work out. A blog is a lot like a personal journal and I'm the type of person who loves to keep a journal. That is.... until life gets rough, then it just isn't fun for me to re-live my stress by writing it all down. I wanted to be positive and push forward, not dwelling on the struggle.

But things are going really great right now :) I dont have a lot of time right now, but I wanted everyone to know that we started IVF! This is all finally happening!

April 14th was our first day. Tom has given me shots daily, and I've had doctor appointments every couple days. Our egg retrieval will be this week, then one or two embryos will be implanted the following week. We hope to be pregnant in May!

So much has happened! We have seen real miracles take place, and we are so excited for the results. We know that God's hand has been the main reason why our journey to baby has moved forward so quickly. We are so grateful!

I promise I'll write more details soon. Until then, keep us in your prayers. These next two weeks will be really important.

Tom and I Snowmobiling this winter 

with the Pratt Family

Snowman Fundraiser

I handmade some really cute Sock Snowmen, perfect for a holiday decoration or gift (visiting teaching even).  Proceeds from these sales will go to our baby fund. I will be in Idaho Falls till Saturday, then off to Kennewick. So let me know if you want yours brought with me to Washington. Prices posted on pictures. 

Here we go!

I meant to post this last weekend...
Tom and I had the opportunity to go to Tom's preprocedure appointment in Salt Lake last Friday. It felt good to be making progress.

Our doctor journey all began with some questions to my family doctor over a year ago, who suggested Tom visit his doctor, who referred Tom to a Urologist,  who confirmed his condition and led us to meet with a fertility doctor, who then had Tom go to a male fertility specialist for his retrieval procedure. 5 doctor appointments later and still a ton more to go.

Our goal is to have our embryos implanted March or April 2016. We are so grateful for all the donations that have made these doctor appointments possible.

Stay tuned for more updates.

The Crazy life of a Teacher ;)

This week I have parent teacher conferences! Ugh... how I very much dislike the horrible nightmares I get during these weeks! Here are a couple examples of what I'm talking about; my classroom being a disaster with no time to tidy up, parents hating me and wanting their kids out of my class immediately, the principal asking me to no longer teach at the school due to my poor teaching abilities, forgetting all the papers I've prepped for the conferences so I have nothing to show parents, etc.

Only teachers can truely understand the way this feels, which is very stressful and exhausting. I hear it doesn't get much better with time or experience... lame.

So a little update on our Saving for the Stork campaign, we have raised a little bit more in the last couple days. Unfortunately, I'll have to give you a more detailed update, as soon as this week is over! :)

Happy Parent Conference Week!

Last Day to Shop While Contributing to our Cause

Today is the last day of our MyThirtyOne fundraiser. Make sure to take a second and look at all the great deals. 20% of each sale goes to our baby fund.

To place an order, go to www.mythirtyone.com/charitymiller then click on my parties, our parties is titled Saving for the Stork. Let me know if you have any other questions.

Saving for the Stork, MyThirtyOne fundraiser

This fundraiser goes through the end of November, so only 2 days left! 20% of each purchase goes straight to our baby fund! Please take a look online and help our cause if you can. 

Day 35

Ok, let me just say that... at times being a teacher makes crazy life, even crazier! I was putting in grades for a week, had family (7 people) stay with us 5 days, and then thanksgiving road trips and family events for another week. Let's just say that each night I fell asleep before my head even hit the pillow!

I'm happy to have time to blog again!

Tom and I have been really blessed! I think we've raised about $5,000. (I'll let you know the actual amount once we get back to Idaho.) Thank you to all who have contributed!

Tom and I are currently getting close to done with some of our car projects. We were given a 1990 Volvo station wagon for a very small price, so we could clean it out and sell it for our campaign. Tom is almost done fixing up a 90 something Monte Carlo, that he has been working on for the last year. Lastly, we bought a crashed car that Tom fixed over Thanksgiving break, to replace my Suzuki Aerio which we are selling for baby money.

This Thanksgiving, I am so grateful that Tom has car fixing abilities! This talent of his, is making a huge impact on our money saving efforts. He is able to buy wrecked vehicles and give them a second life. This has been such a blessing!

I may not be able to rebuild cars, but I do have a talent with crafts. This week I made 30 sock snowmen. I plan to sell them to help our cause. I've even made some of them into cute little families :) Keep an eye out on facebook, I'll be posting pictures soon!

Thanks to the donations, we have recieved, we have been able to begin our medical journey. We have met once with fertility specialist, both of us are going to get bloodwork done, Tom's first doctor appointment is Friday, and then he will have his retrieval procedure done. It is so special to see things progressing, when a year ago we were fearing the possibility of being parents at all.

At this Thanksgiving time, our hearts are full with a love and appriciation for the many blessings that have come in our time of need. We are so excited to become parents through the generosity of others and support from our heavenly father.

Until next time, our hearts are full and we feel love to all our supporters.

  Below is an example of sock snowmen :)

A white wonderland in Idaho before Thanksgiving this year! Funny that I wore sandals to work. I had no idea it would snow so much! 

This is the Volvo we have up for sale :)

Day 16 and we met our first goal!

Today we passed our first goal!!! Yay!!! We have raised $1523! Tomorrow we will be scheduling our first procedure, on out Invitro Journet. I feel like "thank you" isn't the right words for my gratitude, but I can't think of anything else to say, so THANK YOU!

Now we are on to our next big expense. I think it's $9,000, give or take $1,000.

On our end we have a few car projects that should be wrapped up by Christmas. That will bring in hopefully $4,000. With that and a few other things we have planned, we will still not be able to reach the $9,000 procedure costs until 2017.

Please donate what you can, and help our dreams of getting pregnant in 2016 a reality.

Day 15

Today we have reached $1,423, thanks to 25 generous donations! We really appriciate the support. 

If you haven't donated yet, it's not too late ;) Below are three different ways you can contribute. I wonder where we will be by next Sunday. I am feeling so thankful and blessed!

1. Mail or give us a personal check or cash donation.

2. Visit our GoFundMe site at gofundme.com/4f7353zw, then use a credit or debit card to contribute online. 

3. Donate to our PayPal account using tom2007@yahoo.com

4. Go shopping for the holidays or just for fun on our My Thirty One online fundraiser!  A percentage of every purchase goes straight to our baby fund! Just go to MyThirtyOne.com/charitymiller and click on the party tab. Our party's name is Saving for the Stork.

Below are two photos of us turned into Charlie Brown charactors! So fun! 

Day 13 and all is Well :)

On day 13 we are at $1,273. Our progress has slowed down, but still we continue to move forward.

I know we are not the only ones struggling with infertility, and my heart goes out to all those other couples. I feel so fortunate that Tom and I have a high chance of pregnancy with Invitro Fertilization. Tom's brother, who shares the same genetic condition, has four healthy children from three pregnancies, and compliments of Invitro. 

Tom and I always wanted large families, but we will just have to see what God has in store for us. Honestly, we will be happy to even have one little biological baby.

As I was browsing the Internet today I came across a few Infertility Quotes that really stood out to me. I thought I'd share them.

Quotes:
“If a door closes in your face, kick down another one. With a little humor and hope in your heart, the path to parenthood may not be how you envisioned it but you will have the family you are destined for.”
–Candace

“Trust God’s word. Have faith even when it doesn’t seem easy. While you wait, enjoy the time you have now, with your husband and with the Lord. Share your story with others. Ask for prayer. Attend healing services if you can. Share your testimony.”
–Caroline

Thanks again for all the monetary support we have recieved thus far in our campaign! It means the world to us. We with forever be grateful for your generosity.

Below is a photo that was recently draw of Tom and I in Las Vegas, on a Titus Family Trip. Besides the added cleavage, I really like it. I look forward to telling my future children all about our adventures before we knew them. :)

Day 11

With GoFundMe and personal donations we are now at $1,223. Almost enough for the first procedure which is $1,500-1,600. Please be generous with your donations. We still have a long way to go till baby :)

I am also hosting a My Thirty One, bag party online. A percentage of all sales will go to our baby fund. Take a look on www.mythirtyone.com/charitymiller. Make sure to click on our party link, under My Scheduled Parties.

Day 9

Exciting to see our GoFundMe account go up today, thanks to an old college roommate. Please donate what you can preferably by check or PayPal. You can also make donations on GoFundMe.

Also, today starts another fundraiser for our cause. Its called MyThirtyOne and it's a great website with lots of fun bags. A percentage of all the sales will go straight to our baby fund. How awesome would it be to buy Christmas gifts and help a good cause at the same time! To learn more, visit this link: https://www.facebook.com/events/802304953225205/

Day 7

As the night of day 7 draws to a close, no new donations have been made. For the last six days we have really been on a roll. We are so appriciate of the help and support thus far. Next week, we will be starting another fundraiser to go along with our GoFundMe account. Stay tuned for more information on that. Happy Halloween!

Mrs. Pratt, 2nd Grade Teacher 

Witch for Halloween!

Day 6

We are at $1,065 on GoFundMe, and $1,115 total. We feel so blessed. I'm at a friends house holding her sweet baby boy. I am so excited to hold a baby of my own. Thank you to all who have contributed!

Day 5

Today we have past $1000 on our GoFundMe account! Now only $14,000 (or more) to go. We are so grateful for all those who have contributed!

All together, including personal checks, we have raised $1,073. These contributiond have come from 14 angels. Thank you so much!

Wether large or small, your donations can make a difference. Please consider contributing what you can today.

This is a photo, taken last December, with three of our neices. We are excited to add one of our own to this lovely froup we call our Pratt Family!

On Our End

In addition to our GoFundMe account, Tom and I are working to earn money. Currently Tom is completeing a couple car projects.

Tom has a talent for rebuilding wrecked cars and is currently working on two. The car projects are in Washington and we live in Idaho, so its only on select weekends and breaks from school, that he can work on them. It'll be atleast two months before we get that money. Luckily we should be able to raise a few thousand dollars on the two cars.

We appriciate all that has been donated to our cause, and are working hard to earn money of our end as well.

This is a photo of my baby nephew, when he was only days old! I look forward to holding my own baby very soon!

Day 4

Today we are excited to see that we are only dollars away from $1,000! With contributions from GoFundMe and personal checks we have recieved, we have raised $965.

Once we reach $1,600 we can pay for the first procedure!

Please contribute what you can, maybe we can do the first procedure before Christmas!

Day 3

I was blown away today when I saw that a friend from high school had made a big donation on GoFundMe. It brought tears to my eyes, to think that someone I haven't seen or talked to in years would be so generous. Whether large or small, we appriciate all those who have taken the time to donate for our cause. With each passing day our hope and chances of having a family grows. Thank you everyone!

Day 2

We have now raised $540. Thank you to all those who have contributed. If you haven't donated yet, please consider. With only a $15 donation from a couple hundred, we would be able to meet our goal.