January 2013
A new year is upon us and with that we have so many changes happening in our lives. I haven't written since September because life has been quite a whirlwind! But, I will try to catch you all up now on where we have been in our journey over the past 4 months and where we are going in the next few months!
September:
I participated in the 5K Run/Walk to Break the Silence on Ovarian Cancer in Dallas on September 22. It was so inspiring to see the thousands of people that came out to support ovarian cancer research and survivors. It was an amazing feeling to wear my teal survivor shirt and know that I am lucky to be where I am in my journey. My sweet friend Ashley and her husband Jeff came out to walk with me because Jose had to work. It was a great day!
October:
I got to go home the second weekend in October for a Florida State football game! I flew in on Thursday night and got to eat dinner with MaMa, Amy (& Kyle), and mom. I always love visiting MaMa. Kyle spent the evening in front of the television while mom, Amy, MaMa, and I talked, laughed, shared, reminisced, and made many happy memories.
Friday mom and I went to Dothan for Grandparent's Day at Emma's school.
After that we headed over to Thomasville for the night before the football game in Tallahassee on Saturday. I got to catch up with Jess, Suz, Harry and Patti for a bit on Saturday. It was a great reunion but made me miss them all so much more. Sitting in the stadium watching the pregame show brought back so many memories from my college years. I am so blessed to have had the opportunities I did in college and am so lucky I made the most amazing, lifelong friendships.
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| I love Florida State football!! |
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| Me and Suz |
I also got to enjoy some time with Ryan, Lauren, Emma, Anna, and Lily while I was home. Emma was on fall break the following week and since I didn't fly out until Tuesday I spent all day Monday with them in Panama City. We went to the zoo, had lunch, and then I brought the girls back to Crestview to spend time with Lauren's family.
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| Lily loved the ducks:-) |
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| Sleepy girls after a fun day at the zoo! |
I also had a new job opportunity present itself in October. I loved my child life job with every ounce of my heart but I knew the that the salary would always make meeting our financial goals for surrogacy/adoption so far away. I applied and interviewed for the open Lactation Consultant position at Parkland in October. I worked so hard to become a Board Certified Lactation Consultant and was hoping to finally make that hard work pay off. Plus, this would open more doors for me to get a job closer to home in the future. It was bittersweet because if I got the job that meant I would be saying goodbye to my child life job which I loved dearly.
November:
I can't believe how quickly the holiday season arrived. November brought SO many unexpected changes to our lives. I received a call from Parkland HR at the beginning of the month and was offered the Lactation Consultant position. I was elated and heartbroken at the same time. I could not wait to start in my new role and I knew it put us one step closer to baby! But, I was also torn up at the thought of walking away from child life, my heart and soul, my "baby" for the past 8 years. My start date was November 28.
Mom and Susie came back to Dallas in November for some Christmas shopping and fall fun. We went to the harvest tea at the Dallas Arboretum, shopped at the Chi Omega holiday market, and enjoyed a Dallas Cowboys game. We each took a night to cook for everyone else.....Susie recruited Jose for her team and they blew us out of the water with their beef fajitas on the grill, homemade guacamole, and butter flour tortillas. It was such a great week! I appreciate Dallas so much more when I have family/friends visit. After their visit was finished, we all drove back to Florida together for Thanksgiving.
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| Mom and Susie at the Arboretum enjoying the Chihuly exhibit. |
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| Dallas Cowboys! |
Thanksgiving at mom and dad's house was wonderful again this year! Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday and it was everything I dreamed it would be again this year....minus the missing monkey bread:-) I spent the whole day before playing with Emma, Anna, and Lily at mom and dad's house. We went hiking in the woods, played hide and seek, made turkey place setting cards, took silly pictures, played on Susie's swing set, went on a hayride, jumped in the bouncy house, and laughed lots.
Thanksgiving Day was perfect weather. We set up all the tables/food on the patio and enjoyed the beautiful sunshine and cool breeze. The kids all had a blast playing in the bouncy house, riding the four wheeler, wading (swimming) in the creek, feeding the deer, and going on a hayride. It was an absolutely perfect day in every way and I was so thankful to be able to enjoy a wonderful day with all of my family. I am so thankful to have my health and I am hopeful that on the road ahead we will enjoy watching our own children run and play with their cousins on Thanksgiving.
Saturday morning came quickly and as I was getting ready to go meet Amy and her friend for breakfast I started getting a little excited and nervous all at once. I had tried to keep a lid on my emotions but I have never been very good at that. We met at Cracker Barrel and I instantly like her. She had an infectious personality (sweet and sassy all at once) and was so honest and open about who she was. We went to look at Christmas decorations after breakfast and I remember thinking the morning was too short. I wanted to know more, to ask more, to box her up and bring her back to Dallas with me so she wouldn't "get away". We left the conversation that day with her saying...this is something I want to do for y'all and I'm excited!
December:
As soon as I was back in Dallas, and settled into my new role as Lactation Consultant, I started trying to put things in motion. The doctor we had begun using before my cancer did not have the egg donor program up and running yet at his practice so he referred me out to another doctor. I set up an initial consult appointment and left feeling more hopeful then I had in almost 2 years! He could/would help us and we were closer than we thought from the monetary standpoint since we had a known egg donor (Amy) and known surrogate (Alysa). Things were finally falling into place!
I also had another check up with the oncologist the same day. I always get such high anxiety sitting in the waiting room. But, my appointment went well, my blood work was normal, and he said that I was doing so well he was going to move me from every 4 months to every 6 months appointments!!! Another hurdle cleared.....
Jose's sister welcomed a new baby, Julian, into the family this month. Visiting him was so exciting and we talked on the way home about how maybe it would be our turn soon!
The month flew by. I could not believe how quickly Christmas approached. I barely had time to enjoy my Christmas tree before the season was coming to an end.
We started a new tradition this year with some of Jose's nieces and nephews this year. We went to the movie and watched Rise of the Guardians then drove around Highland Park looking at Christmas lights. It was so much fun to enjoy the Christmas spirit from the eyes of children. We hope to continue this tradition with our own family one day.
It was a tough Christmas for me because I had to work. It was the first time in 30 years (my entire life) that I was not with my family on Christmas Day at MaMa's house. But, as soon as work was over on 12/25, Jose and I packed up and headed to Florida. It snowed on Christmas day and many of the roadways were frozen over so our 12 hour commute took about 17 hours.
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| Our house on 12/25 just before we left town for Florida. |
But, we made it and Christmas started for us the second we got HOME (Florida). We enjoyed lunch and presents at mom and dad's house, we fed the deer, walked down to the creek, played, and enjoyed time together.
The rest of the week was full of family and fun. We ate lunch with MaMa one day, sipped wine and chilled out with Susie one evening, and played at Destin Commons with the girls.
At the end of the week we went to Panama City Beach to the condo we rent every New Year's Eve. Lauren and the girls were there with us and Ryan stayed for a few hours when he dropped them off. After that he went to the hunting camp with Dad.
It was a little cold on the beach this year but we still had a blast.
We spent New Year's Eve at Pier Park. We rode the rides, watched the beach ball drop (kid's drop at 8:00) and enjoyed the fireworks. Then we headed back to the condo for fondue ("fundoo" in Emma's words) and sparklers. It was a happy end to the year 2012.
PIER PARK
January:
New Year's Day we all packed up and drove to Louisville, AL to Dad's hunting camp. We made a pit stop at Publix to get all the fixings for black eyed peas, collard greens, and fried chicken for the whole hunting camp gang plus our family. After we ate we played in the back yard for hours. Emma and Anna hosted a funeral (not sure where that came from), we picked up pecans, played volleyball and soccer, and dad built a bonfire. It was a first for us to celebrate New Year's Day there but might be a new tradition for our family. It was a fun and relaxing day....a great start to the new year as the day was filled with laughter, family, and friends.
January 2: We headed back to Dallas. But, we did not head back alone. We had my sister, Amy (egg donor), and Alysa (surrogate) with us. We had doctor's appointments to get a baseline and figure out what to do next. The 12 hour drive that normally seems so long did not seem that long at all. We played Scattergories, talked, laughed, and even made a pit stop at Santa Land.
Thursday was appointment day. Overall everything went well. We had a few small setbacks but nothing we will not overcome. Amy was diagnosed with PCOS...of course, my first thought was NO this cannot happen again. I do not want Amy to go through this. I know that PCOS does not mean cancer but it can be hard to see it differently when you have been through it. Amy had a large cyst on one of her ovaries. The doctor was great about reassuring Amy that her ovaries and egg reserve look great and that her cyst did not resemble mine AT ALL (it was blood filled). The cyst, which he said occurs often in women during ovulation, does need to heal before she can start the hormones but everything else looks good. We have come so far and are hopeful that we are on the road to becoming parents!! It is a surreal feeling to be this close. Alysa and Amy stayed until Saturday morning and then they headed back to Florida. Jose and I cried after we dropped them off at the airport.
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| Amy and Alysa on the plane leaving Dallas. |
If all goes well, Amy's cyst will be healed by next month, they (A&A) will begin their hormone stimulation medicines, and hopefully come back for egg retrieval and implantation mid to late March! Oh my gosh!!! We can hardly wait. So, we are almost there. We are just busting our chops now to come up with the money. We have $12,000 right now which should cover the procedure down to the penny. We just need the $4,000 to cover the lawyer fees and surrogacy contract. We are scrambling to pull the money together so we will be ready in March. It can be a bit overwhelming but we are confident that God has brought us this far on our journey and will not leave us now. We feel so blessed to have 2 amazing women (Alysa and Amy) that are helping us through our journey and we are sure God will help us meet our goals to get where we need to be.
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| Amy texted me this picture the other day. She is growing us some good eggs:-) |
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