The News

The two weeks leading up to finding out if our embryos attached were long. It was all either one of us could think about. We talked about it constantly and I read into every little thing my body did. Pretty early on I started having some cramping which stressed me out to the max. After talking to the nurses at UFC though, I was told it was pretty normal and not to worry too much. Needless to say, I still worried... a lot. I had moments of panic, but most of my moments were filled with peace. I was just so grateful we were here and that I possibly could be pregnant.

Kenny and I were told that I could go and do my blood work to find out if I was pregnant on May 2nd. We told our families however that we wouldn't find out till the 7th. It allowed us a chance to actually surprise them if it was good news or to process everything if it didn't. The lab here in Vegas opened at 7am and I was one of the first in line. Kenny came with me, because my nerves were off the chart. As we sat and waited for the nurse to come in and draw my blood I couldn't stop shaking.

 

Waiting to Get My Blood Drawn

 

Both of us headed into work, but we ended up at home by 3 because we wanted to be together when I got the phone call from UFC. When we got home we tried to distract ourselves by watching some TV, but we both were so anxious. Every time my phone would ring both of our hearts would stop. Finally, around 5:30 pm my phone rang and UFC's number showed up. I put it on speaker phone and Kenny and I sat close together on the couch. The nurse on the line was very quiet and soft spoken and so my heart immediately sunk to my stomach. I thought for sure she was calling with bad news... just as I was preparing for the worst she said, "Congratulations! You are pregnant!" Kenny shot up off the couch screaming... I think the adrenaline was too much for him though cause his legs gave out form underneath him and I just started crying. I probably asked her 2 or 3 times if we really were. I don't remember much of the conversation after that. When we hung up the phone Kenny and I just sat on the couch hugging and crying tears of joy. It is FINALLY happening! We are going to have a baby together! We said a prayer of gratitude to our Heavenly Father and then decided we needed to call our parents. We Face Timed my parents in Nauvoo and luckily were able to catch them. As we started talking I told them I had something crazy to tell them... I was able to screenshot a picture of their faces when we told them we were in fact, pregnant.

 

 

We sat and cried together! I am so grateful for those sweet parents of mine and the love they constantly give Kenny and I. Next we called Kenny's parents. We tried to Face Time them, but it wasn't working very well. Kenny's Mom and Dad were in total shock and SO excited for us. They have been such an amazing support to Kenny and I and we are so grateful for them in our lives. We spent the next few hours calling around to all of our siblings and give them the good news. My niece practically burned her fingers off on her curling iron when we told her, my sister was jumping up and down and all over... We were laughing and crying so hard as we told them. My sister-in-law Jodi started screaming in the middle of the grocery store... Needless to say we felt the love and excitement from all of our family and it meant SO much to us. It is so wonderful to be able to celebrate with them our little miracle! After calling everyone I immediately did the one thing I've been waiting to do for 3 years, I took a pregnancy test. I sat and sobbed as I saw the words pregnant for the first time. I am SO full of gratitude.

 

 

Kenny and I spent the rest of our night celebrating with dinner and pedicures (yes, he loves them even more than me). Then the next day he came home with this...

 

 

We are both so incredibly thrilled and realize what an amazing blessing this is.  We know that while this announcement brings so much joy for us, we have not forgotten what it took to get here. We have so many wonderful and amazing friends that are going through what we have and our heart still aches for them to get their miracles here too. I pray constantly for them and am grateful for many of their friendships in my life.

 

I am now about 14 weeks along and we know now that there is ONE healthy baby that is growing in there. The other embryo for whatever reason did not take, but we are just grateful to even have one. Every ultrasound the heart beat has been strong and during our last u/s our little one was so active, moving his/her arms around and kicking like crazy. Thank you so so so much to everyone who has supported us along the way. Especially a special thanks to Pound the Pavement for Parenthood for changing our lives last year by picking us a sponsored couple. Thank you to our amazing family and friends that supported us every step of the way on this journey. Your love and support meant the world to us. We would absolutely not be here if it wasn't for your many prayers and love.

 

 

Baby Ward

Expected January 9, 2015

 

 



Frozen Embryo Transfer

Kenny and I headed up North on Tuesday night the 22nd. We drove up and stayed the night in Layton with my brother and sister-in-law since we hadn't seen them for a long time. The next morning when we woke up Jodi did my hair and gave me a totally new look that I love! It was great to be able to sit and chat with her to keep my mind occupied before the appointment. We arrived in Pleasant Grove at 12:30. Before we went inside Kenny and I said a prayer that everything would go smoothly and that our little embryos would be strong and healthy still. Walking in, I felt so much peace. The nerves and doubts were gone temporarily and I was just excited to finally be here.

 

Driving to Utah 



The nurse took us back to the room where my retrieval was where we waited for Dr. Foulk to come in. When he came in he let us know that both of the embryos we were implanting did great in thawing and gave us a picture of them. It was incredible to see those tiny little embryos. One was a grade A quality and the other a grade B... which is great and meant we had a GREAT chance to at least one attaching. He talked to us about the procedure and got me all set up. Once he had me all ready the embryologist came into the room with both of our embryos. Kenny and I both talked afterwards about after how the room was almost instantly filled with a calm peaceful spirit. After he was all done he sat and talked with us about the next steps and told us to stay positive because he was confident this could work. I am SO grateful that we found Dr. Foulk and Utah Fertility. The amount of compassion and love that comes from each and every one of them makes the process so much easier. After we were given my bed rest instructions they left me to lay in room for about 15 min with Kenny. I will never forget that few minutes with Kenny as we talked about the exciting potential of our babies to come. Nothing beats that feeling of making it to this point together after so much struggle. We are both SO grateful for the people who helped get us here and have supported us from the beginning.

 

After the Transfer

 

 

Our Tiny Little Embryos in Their New Home

 Grow Babies Grow!

Afterwards we headed over to my sisters where I got my sweats on and planted myself on her couch where I would be for the next two days. Kenny unfortunately had to be back in Mesquite for a work conference, so he took off a few hours later.  My sister offered to have me stay with them for the 2 days I as on bed rest and I was SO grateful to have their company. I got to spend some much needed quality time with her and my niece. They were great at taking care of me and making sure I took it easy so  ur little embryos could grow. They made me lunch and dinner every day, watched TV marathons on Netflix (I'm addicted to Scandal now) with me, and made me laugh constantly. Again, I am SO grateful for those two and the relationship I have with them. They mean everything to me and I was so happy to be with them for those two days!

Kenny's conference ended on Friday, so he headed back up to Salt Lake and we loaded up the car and spent the rest of the weekend with my in-laws up in Malad. We spent that night in Kenny's parents room watching movies with them and having some good laughs. No one can get me laughing quite as hard as my father-in-law Ken. I really do have the most amazing in-laws and I LOVE spending time with them. The next couple of nights we spent time with a few of Kenny's brothers and their families playing games and hanging out. Then Sunday morning we woke up early and headed home to start the long 2 week wait.

It is amazing to me as I look back and realize how much peace I felt those two weeks. Of course I had some major ups and downs emotionally. There's just no way to avoid it, but overall I felt calm. Fighting infertility has never been an easy road, but one thing has always remained in me... Hope. That hope that someday I will get to be a Mom has made the battle something I've been willing to fight without holding back. When the fear of this round not working started to creep in, hope was usually what brought me back to the place I needed to be to keep moving forward. Thanks heavens for my wonderful Hubby. He has been my rock and I couldn't imagine a better man to be on this journey with.