Thoughts on the way to DC

by Sarah Jones on Saturday, November 12, 2011 at 8:24pm On the plane, I used my phone to write out our story to share at the banquet...but ended up just sharing from the heart.  I didn't want to just delete what I'd written so I'm sharing it with Facebook.  :)       About five years ago, I was excited and figured within a few months I'd be pregnant and we'd be on our way to building our family.  About 6 months of hope and heartbreak, I was starting to worry a little.  After Waiting a typical year before seeing the OB and starting down the tangled road of infertility treatments.  With each test, procedure, Clomid and IUI we rode the ups of hope and optimism coming back to disappointment and frustration.  Working in a high poverty school, anger began to surface when I saw others getting pregnant, having five kids, and not being able to support the ones they kept having.  While I love working with at risk kids, it made the angry phase of infertility pretty tough.  Joe was always patient and comforting, letting me vent, cry, yell...whatever needed done.  As I was learning about what possibilities could be in our future, I found out that Stacie had received some grant and was going through fertility, too.  A relief came in realizing we weren't alone or freaks of nature because we couldn't get pregnant on our own.  The infertility forum Stacie and Nick held was when I really learned about the Cade foundation and what a blessing it was to people in our same boat.  We met with Dr. Bopp, and came up with a new plan...shots and IUI.  While the thought of needles scared me, I figured it couldn't be worse than the Clomid crazy! Being a teacher, we decided to embark on this adventure during summer when I was less stressed and wouldn't be in tense teacher mode.  Two cycles with no luck, it was back to school again.  Teaching kids with emotional disabilities was emotionally and physically draining so we opted to try cycle 3 over Christmas break. Stress was at an all time high for me so it may have been a hidden blessing that our furnace went out and IUI would have to wait.  At the time, I was heartbroken faced with 'something always goes wrong' mind frame.  While we were going through our journey, stacie had three miracles and was a constant reminder of hope and Support.  The  cade foundation had become our cause to support.  Stacie and Nick had a few events and we were happy to support such an amazing foundation.  In  April of this year,  we received a chance to try IUI.  At this point, I had decided that I was done putting school first and needed to do this for us.  Road block again- I went from not responding to 9 follicles over night- no IUI for us, but we were given a shot to try on our own.  Again, God knew what was best and that the month before school got out was going to be bAd and not the time for us.  The voice of reason, joe, always knew what to say to bring back to reality.  We met with doc again and decided we were ready to try IVF.  While our insurance covers a lot, fertility treatment isn't covered and the cost of IVF was overwhelming.  We left knowing what we wanted to do next but weren't sure how we would go about financing it.  It was around time for the Cade application due date.  Our hearts went into the process and hoping we may be blessed with a grant.  Application was sent off and all we could do was hope and have prayers that if this was meant to be it would happen.  Meanwhile, my job at school was changing to a less stressful and demanding job.  A couple weeks into the school year, I was amazed at how this simple switch had lifted my stress and spirits. One Sunday, Stacie posted in the afternoon that she was rejoicing for the families were receiving the Cade grant- I wasn't sure what to think, because we hadn't heard anything.  We went about our Sunday afternoon- lesson plans, football, and a nap.  A little after 7, my phone rang with a blocked number...insert racing heartbeat. It was Camille from the Cade foundation and she wanted to talked to both of us.  We were chosen.... I was shaking and joe was speechless.  That phone call was truly an answer to prayer.  Once I quit shaking, we called our parents to share the amazing news.  Quickly we started planning our trip to DC.  We were anxious and eager to meet the people who were helping us making a cycle of IVF a reality.  We were humbled and even more grateful when we found out the number of applicants and that we stood out.  With the Cade grant, and the support of our family and friends we are again hopeful as we look toward IVF.  In the past month, God has shown me that He led us down infertility for a reason and in my heart I feel our journey will be complete thanks to the Cade Foundation.  Words can't express our gratitude as we move forward and have the chance to help others.