We're back...and we have news! I know, I know I am a terrible blogger.

As much as I tried, there was no way we could make the June or the August meeting that would take us to the next level with the adoption process. Jake and I were both slow going with the paperwork and neither of us had really any motivation to get it done. With work schedules, etc it was going to be impossible for us to get to either of the meetings.

Sometime during this period I realized it was time for my dreaded yearly appt at the ob/gyn. Fun, Fun! I had no intentions of really pursuing any kind of infertility treatments at this appointment. Sidenote: I went to Dr Royal in Beaufort for the first time and love, love, love him. Once he asked my history, etc he asked if I wanted to hear some more options. I obliged. He wanted to do yet another round of clomid. I was not thrilled. However, he said our chances of getting pregnant if we did a round of IUI(intrauterine insemination) were great and he thought we should try it. For those of you who do not know, IUI is the procedure which they get a sample from Jake..pick out the best from the varisty swim team, wash them, etc and insert them into my uterus. With prescriptions in hand and directions to call back to make an appt for an ultrasound on Day 12 of my cycle I left feeling excited.

Day 12 came. I went for my ultrasound. My appt was for the afternoon and Jake had been working so thankfully my mom went with me. The ultrasound was quick and pretty painless. I like the fact that they have a huge screen on the wall in front of the table so I could see. I didnt know much of what I was seeing but I knew I saw a lot of little follicles (cysts, eggs, what ever you want to call them). After the ultrasound, Dr Royal came in and said I had 14 eggs on my left ovary, 6 eggs on my right and IUI was CANCELED. Even though he had just broken my heart, he made it even worse. Dr Royal didnt think IUI was the best way for us to go and wanted us to go see a reproductive endocronologist at Southeastern Fertililty for possible IVF (invitro fertilization). Much more invasive- iv sedation and everything. He was nice enough not to charge me for the visit..how sweet!

I made it to the car..and that was it. My mom asked how it went and I lost it. This was really the first time I cried about this to anyone. Including my husband. It has been emotionally draining but for peace of mind I knew I wanted to pursue this.

We had our appointment with Dr Patton on Tuesday. Im just gonna say it. He is OLD. He was the first Dr. to ever do IVF in SC if that tells you anything. We had our consultation with him then went in for an ultrasound. Jake had never gone to one with me but I am so glad he did. Im still not sure they ever visualized my ovaries, but WE HAVE A PLAN.

Currently- waiting on my cycle.

Day 3 of my cycle- bloodwork, ultrasound, start taking Femara (which is actually a breast cancer drug but works with infertility also). will continue taking this Days 3-7

Day 7- i think? I will have to start injecting myself with a medication called Follistem which will help my follicles grow to the size they want them.

I will have ultrasounds every 2-3 days to monitor the size of the follicles. Once the follicles are the size they want them to be, Jake will give me a shot...in the booty to trigger ovulation. Once this is done they will be able to tell us the day and hour I will ovulate. They will do the IUI 30 minutes prior to when they think I will ovulate.

Dr Patton and our nurse coordinator both said they would put bets on us! So we are both encouraged! We were going to wait until January to start because I didnt want to have to pay a 2,000 deductible now and then in January again. However, we got a nice surprise. Our deductible is only $350 and we've already met that.

So, that is where we are. We are hopeful that this is going to work and baby Herrington(s) will be here soon! The process can be so consuming at time and I have to make myself stop looking up things on the internet.  Just because I thought this was cute, I will share- While at the beach on vacation last week Kim and I were sitting at the table talking about the whole process while Leslie was coloring. Out of the blue, Leslie looks up at me and repeatedly says "You have to wait, Abby." So I am trying to be still and just listen for the voice of God throughout the whole process.

I promise to try to keep the blog more updated throughout the process.

Jake and I have been married 3 years (next month). Since about 3 months after we got married, we have gotten the question "When are y'all going to have kids?" over and over and over. Jake is great with kids and I have always wanted to be a "mommy" since childhood so we both knew kids were in our future. A few month after getting married we decided it was time to start trying. I had it planned out GREAT. If we got pregnant that month, we would have the baby late May and I would be out of school for the summer. Well, almost two and a half years later, here we are. It has been rough, to say the least. I have felt every emotion possible during this situation. I have cried, and cried, and cried. I have been mad at friends when they tell me they are pregnant, and honestly mad at God. I thought my plan was the best. It has taken a lot of praying and seeking God's will to realize that His plan is awesome and far better than anything I could have imagined. Jake and I went through a few months of fertility treatments with no results. However, we felt God was calling us to something better. Even after a few months of not being able to conceive, adoption was always on my mind. I began praying about it, not knowing that God was already preparing Jake's heart as well. We know, beyond a doubt that God is calling us to adopt. So here we are. We have chosen Bethany as our adoption agency and are in the process of filling out our formal application. It is such an exciting process and I am brought to tears to think that this very day our baby could be conceived. We know the process won't be easy and I know the possibility of "false alarms" but I know God has a plan and I know it is going to be AWESOME.

We had our first meeting with Bethany last Friday and Jake and I both felt it would be great to video our entire journey through the adoption process.

I am not a blogger..by any means. Being a nurse, I document everything in incomplete sentences..so bear with me. I hope to get Jake to write some things as well along the way.

I hope y'all enjoy the ride....