The Johnsons

The best part about going to our specialist in Sioux Falls, is the welcome we get at the front door.  No need to check in.  No need to fill out a form.  Just a big HELLO from the front desk.  Then, its almost always, we get in early or right on time. We are never left waiting.  And when the nurses do come out, they yell, "Hey Johnsons".  It gets us giggling EVERY.SINGLE.TIME.  We are always greeted with "It's the Johnsons, or Hey Johnsons" in our every day life.  Since Eric and I work together we are ALWAYS together, therefore the common theme is The Johnsons. When it overflows into our doctors office, its kind of EXTRA special.

On June 2nd, it'll be a year of seeing our Reproductive Endocrinologist. It will have been a year of NO pregnancies.  It's been a full packed year of reciting how many miscarriages we have suffered and its been a year of people understanding our losses and our struggles which may seem weird, but its almost been calming in that sense.  Over the course of the year we have learned many things about ourselves.  We've learned more about our bodies then we could have even ever imagined we'd ever have to learn.  We've also learned that no topic of off limits.  Nothing is embarrassing.  Nothing is weird, in fact this is all just very normal, day to day stuff for us now.  It's not weird to get pricked with a needle.  Its not weird to pee on a stick. Its not weird to have a pregnancy test accidentally fall out of your purse. It's not weird to pull up your most recent Amazon purchases and it all be fertility related. Its not weird to have a folder you carry with you everywhere that has every single detail of your reproductive history.  In fact, this folder sits on my work desk every day.  It goes home with me every night.  Its tucked away on every trip out of town.. just in case.... just in case anything were to happen even the slight bit off schedule.  In the last year we've had several "down" moments, but we've also had lots of "ups" and have moved in the direction we need to.

Since we are approaching another year of no luck in this department combined with our age factor and our history of miscarriages, Eric and I have decided to move to IVF.  (In Vitro Fertilization)  This process involves the fertilization of eggs, retrieving a sperm sample and combining an egg and sperm in a dish.  If the embryos are healthy, then they can be transferred to the uterus.  Along with this for Eric and I includes Genetic Testing.  The Genetic Testing helps to determine if our embryos are healthy, if they have all the chromosomes necessary, etc.  The Genetic Testing part of this is a no brainer for Eric and I.  With the amount of losses we've suffered, this may answer some questions as to why I've never been able to carry a healthy baby to full term.  We hoped and prayed and crossed all of our fingers and toes that it wouldn't come to this, however we are here and this is our time. We'll make the best of the whole procedure, all the needles, all the testing, the procedures, the medicines, surgery, trips to Sioux Falls, missing work; all of it.  It will all be worth it in the end.  We know many couples with in our family and friends circle that have gone through very similar experiences and have elected for IVF and have been successful.  We are also not blind to the fact that it may not work.  THAT my friends, is the worst fear of all, but if we don't try every single thing we could possibly try, then Eric and I feel like we didn't do everything we could to start our family.   We understand there are other options beyond IFV, procedures combined with IVF and adoption, but for right now in this slice of time, this is our path.

We appreciate the prayers, hugs, well wishes, emails, PM's, letters, texts and phone calls through out all of this. We've been pretty close lipped about this final decision on IVF because its a big decision.  A big one that involves lots of emotions and a pretty big physical toll.  We could have continued to go month after month and try medicated cylcles and one unsuccessful IUI after another, but its time to move forward. Its extremely stressful already deciding on what is right and what is wrong.  What options do we need, picking the right pharmacy, figuring out our hectic schedules, getting together the financial information, etc.  We also understand that IVF isn't the right decision for everyone fighting this awful infertility world.  We also understand it doesn't line up with everyone's beliefs and religious views, but for us, 100% this is the route we have chosen and the route that hopefully brings us a healthy baby.

This summer is going to be a very busy one! Please cross your fingers and say some extra prayers for "The Johnsons!!"


THANK YOU to our HUGE support group! We love all of you!