A Long Awaited Ending

So much has happened since my last post! I'll go ahead and spoil the surprise to say it's all been fabulous news. Hopefully our pain in affliction is a thing of the past and only joy awaits......

Everything checked out great with Katie's lining and bloodwork so we transferred two sweet little ones on December 10, 2020. We haven't transferred two embryos in such a long time that it was so fun to imagine both could take again! I was so blessed to get to go back with her because I know many IMs aren't allowed due to COVID restrictions. 

Luckily when you transfer embryos you can test at home starting on day 4 or 5 past transfer date. You know it may not show up that early so you try not to get discouraged. Graham's first positive showed up on day 5 so when we didn't get one that day both Katie and I were sad but also knew his was a little bit further along so we needed to give it just a little more time. And after waiting only a day this is what we saw!

If you aren't sure how to read these, that is a faint POSITIVE! We anxiously awaited the tests the next few days and they started looking darker and gave us some definite confidence for our fist beta on December 21. 

And so on our 18th wedding anniversary we got the call that Katie is pregnant! Anything over 100 is good and we felt totally blessed with.....

Katie and I predicted this exact number so it was amazing when we got the call. I thought this number was my beta with my second pregnancy (when I looked it up it was 211)  so that's why I chose it originally and Katie had a connection to this number too. The nurse probably thought we were crazy when we both said "WHAT?" when she gave us the number. God is good! The number has to double so we were thrilled when it did at 588 two days later. It sure made for a Merry Christmas this year knowing our baby was growing.

This was the best family pic we could get with a distracted toddler who only wanted to play with his new toys!

His new baby cousins! And me dreaming about what our family could look like next year! One baby or two?

Graham announcing to the world his big news!

We couldn't do the third beta two days later because of the holiday but our nurse said this number was perfect and we could schedule our first ultrasound. 

One proud big brother!

So we booked our plane tickets and I ordered a few neck gaitors that I possibly could breathe through and we headed to North Carolina on January 7. We wanted to take Graham but the new policy is masks for toddlers so it just wasn't worth it to us. Never traveled quite like this before! 

We arrived at Katie's house late that night and headed to the doctor's appointment the next morning at 10:30. Brad isn't allowed in but they did let me FaceTime him which was almost as good. As soon as the ultrasound tech got started I was looking at the screen to see how many took! Katie has more experience than me and thought she saw an empty sac so inside she was panicking! ONE sweet baby was hiding in the corner and I grabbed Katie's arm as we anticipated the measurements and heart rate. 

Her mask: Worth every shot #surrogacy
My mask: One or two? Pink or blue?

Baby measured right on track at 6 weeks 6 days!

141 beats per minute. Always my biggest fear

The news could not be better! Of course we wanted to see two babies since we transferred two embryos but the Lord is in control and we trust His plan. The ultrasound tech also saw a small SCH but said it most likely won't even cause any bleeding because it's on the side and so tiny. But we would still appreciate prayers that it reabsorbs on its own.

We went to eat lunch at a Japanese restaurant then back to Katie's house to make these pictures to share with everyone! I realize it's early. I know the risks of sharing before the "safe zone." But this is my child who deserves to be recognized no matter how short his/her time is on this earth. And this sweet baby is Graham's long awaited sibling and hopefully completes our family as Baby Davis the Sequel. We praise You Lord for this gift to our family. You changed our mourning with Graham but gave us complete joy by continuing the dance. And thank you to Katie for sticking with us literally. This last try was so much more difficult for her physically and we are so grateful she never gave up on helping us complete our family. May the Lord bless the many people who were involved in the creation of our little miracle and that includes all of you who prayed this baby here!

Talk about STICKING with us!

Patience in Affliction

It's been almost a year since I've updated here but everyone in the entire world knows what's been going on in 2020. Luckily the pandemic hasn't changed our lives too much since I stay home with Graham and Brad has mostly always worked from home anyway. Some of the highlights of this year were:

• Celebrating Graham's birthday with friends and family in May
• Watching him be a ring bearer this summer in his cousin's wedding 
• Going trick or treating in our neighborhood after stopping by our local station first. 

Overall we've had a great 2020 despite all the madness out in the world. We will certainly never forget our sweet boy's second year of life and have been fortunate to stay well all year.

Rehearsal dinner

Because of Covid it has taken us quite a while to get back on the saddle again with ttc but we are finally here! Katie has been a trooper with all of the many delays and she finally had her suppression check from Lupron yesterday and she is good to start her estrogen shots on Thursday! We wanted a nice thin lining yesterday with low estrogen and that's exactly what we got. We are so thankful she is still willing to go through this again with us. We are praying this transfer leads to the end of surrogacy journeys but we have certainly made a friend for life through this process. 

Things look a bit different this try! What a story to tell this baby(ies) later. 

Nice and thin!

The next lining check is November 30. If that looks good then the transfer is scheduled for December 10! Our transfer this time last year was on December 12 so I'm assuming the beta will be December 21 which is our 18th year anniversary. Please God let this be the right timing for us. We would love nothing more than to give Graham a baby brother or sister (or both!) We are able to transfer two embryos at once this time so we are praying that both will take of course since we believe in life at conception but one healthy baby is always the goal. We are still taking Romans 12:12 to heart but we're praying that our patience in affliction is coming to an end for an incredible Christmas gift this year!

ERA complete!

Katie had the ERA test done this morning and it went perfectly. The sample will get sent to the company today and we should hear the results in about two weeks. Either it will tell us that she needs more progesterone or it will say she was in the receptive time to accept the embryo. Either way it should be great information to know and will get us one step closer to Baby Davis the sequel. She is able to go ahead and restart all the medications at about the same time we get the results back so there is no wait time.

Graham is hoping to be able to announce his new big brother status sometime around Christmas and he decided he would start believing in faith that God will say YES! What a wonderful way to celebrate the way Jesus was sent to us by God giving us another child to love on and give Him all the glory. We are praising Him already for what He is about to do.

Almost ERA time!

Katie started estrogen shots on Saturday, September 28th to help build up her lining for the upcoming ERA test. These did the trick last cycle rather than the estrogen patches she used before so we were hopeful this time would be no different.

She had her lining check ultrasound and bloodwork today to see if her lining was thick enough and if the estrogen was high enough to proceed with the ERA test next week. Here is the gorgeous tri-layer 14mm lining. Some of you girls out there know what I mean. For others of you that don't, just trust me that this would be a cozy spot for a growing embryo to dig in! But also remember that we are just doing a mock cycle and no little sweetie is going in just yet. We are hoping to recreate this same environment next cycle so this is a good indicator hopefully!

Praise God that everything was just as it should be. In this process you can never take any steps for granted and we are trusting that this is just the next step that the Lord is allowing for Graham's sweet little sibling to come to live in the bedroom next to him! Before each nap and every night we pray for his baby and he points to the empty room across from his. It's so precious and I pray that his prayer will be answered soon! I think we want this more for him than us. Will you join Graham in his prayer to become a big brother? Thank you all for your continued support as always.

Mock Cycle Begins

It's not been easy since the failed transfer. When I take Graham to his favorite hangout, the splash pad, all he wants to do is play with the other kids and I wonder if he will get that chance to have a baby brother or sister. I know only children are just fine but I wanted that for him. And honestly I wanted that for me and his daddy too. I'm trying to trust that God knows what's best for our family but it's still very hard.

Our RE called and said everything seemed perfect so since we only have one embryo left he suggested an ERA. This is a genetic test that determines the exact time to transfer the embryo according to your endometrial lining. You do what's called a mock cycle where you take all of the meds exactly like you would in an embryo transfer but instead of transferring you do the test. So Katie has been on birth control for a while and today she started shots!

They are estimating the test to fall sometime in the middle of October. Then we will be ready to go right into the real transfer cycle as we wait for the results. I can't say I'm completely ready. I'm still grieving from the failed transfer but I am 41 so I feel like going ahead with it is probably best. We are hoping the timing works out so that we will transfer in the middle of December but it could be January due to the holidays. Please pray that the test will show us something and that a newborn baby will enter this world next year!

Love, Science and Pineapples: Sweet Sibling

Why are we wearing and eating pineapples you ask? Well there is a theory in the infertility world that eating pineapple core can help with implantation of the embryo and since Katie had her last lining check/ estradiol draw this morning we thought we'd get in the baby making spirit a bit early! Well not sure if it was the food, shirt or the socks but look at this!!!!

We were so afraid her lining would be too thick since it was thicker than they would like at her baseline appointment but it was a gorgeous tri-layer 13.3, a perfect home for our next little embryo to snuggle in for 9 months. The estrogen level was over 900 so again everything is completely ready this time around for baby Davis the sequel. We are praising Jesus over here and so thankful that we waited until the conditions were just right. The rest is up to God of course but we also know prayer changes things so we are asking for your's for JULY 8th at 11:00 eastern. This baby is already so precious to us and we want nothing more than to make Graham a big brother. He said he's ready!