Is there a restroom near by?

Just as nurses told us, the first few weeks of the process would be slow...and boy have they been.  Of course our life is not slow but waiting to begin the real journey of meds, doctor appts and fun are all a couple weeks away!

Today, however, is another step in the right direction...Dad, Phil, my amazing husband is doing his portion and getting his pretest done. He's so adorable with his excitement. Here he is outside of the building with his paperwork. Gotta love that smile!

Love this guy!

Phil went in expecting to just pee in a cup, which he was totally fine with since he hates needles....but oops I was wrong. Come to find out he also had to have blood drawn.  He of course asked the nurse to pause so he could grab a picture but said it's amazing how easily he gets queasy by the needle! Gotta love it! And this is the guy who will be sticking me with needles for the next few weeks. He says that's not a problem just watching them go into him is. Ha ha. 

Next step comes next week, when our meds all arrive. Then the fun will really begin with medications for the following few weeks before egg retrieval and transfer. It's all for the exciting news we hope to hear, "you're pregnant!"

Blood Draw!!!

I'm sitting in the chair waiting to have my blood drawn for the start of an exciting journey. My nerves are a little anxious but wow is all I can say!

I arrived here at 830 am, it is now 930 am and I still have not had my blood drawn. The lab has had to call my RE nurse to ask about certain labs and then my doctor office to verify one test that was left off. It's funny, usually it could be slightly annoying waiting in a doctor's office for this long but yet I am still smiling and feeling gitty!

The journey will of course be quite lengthy but we are ready to conquer it with smiles and love. I can't wait to share the outcome with everyone. We thank God for even offering up this opportunity.

As I walked out of the office the lab technician told me thank you for being patient, this journey is all about patience. I'm not sure where we will end up but I'm learning that there is so much to enjoy along the way!

Look at all of these viles they had to fill!  My arm is still sore a couple hours later.

Here we go...

Here we go...

Today begins the newest adventure in the Bardos Bunch saga! My husband and I embark on the start of our IVF journey. This decision of course was not made over night, it has taken almost 3.5 years to get here.

Our family began 5 years ago when we were married; at our wedding we had the Brady bunch song edited and re-done to be the Bardos Bunch. We have a beautiful family that consists of my husband's 4 children, 3 daughters and one son, and my 2, one son and one daughter.  We love all of our children as if we had created them together and have always longed to add at least one more to their list of siblings!  Three and a half years ago my husband underwent a vasectomy reversal.  This was a very invasive surgery that my dear husband powered right through so that we could expand the family.  Here we are 3.5 years later and the pipes just didn't connect.  There is no way of knowing why the surgery was not successful the doctor's just assume it scarred over. 

In the last 3.5 years, we anxious hoped that just one little guy would slip through and we would have a miraculous discovery but that has not happened.  Along the way we have prayed and enjoyed the life that God has blessed us with.  Of course, in that there have been so many ups and the normal downs of life.  We had spoken to our doctor about looking into IVF.  The IVF journey is of course expensive and with a large family it was something that we really had to think through.  In 2011 we started the journey with the first set of testing; then life happened and we had to postpone.  Then once again at the end of 2012 we were ready to try again; and yet again life happened!  We are so thankful for the man blessings life has given us that we have just tried to always roll with the punches. 

We now find ourselves in such a great time of our lives, our kids are getting older and becoming such amazing human beings.  Our oldest (21) has married a strong and loving military man and lives life in CO where she is so successful and brave while her husband is in Qatar working for our country.  The second oldest daughter (17) is getting ready for her license test, almost done with her junior year and finally connected that if she really works hard her grades stay exactly where she wants them A's & B's, college ready.  Our oldest son (11 going on 12 this month) has a heart of gold and loves to share that with everyone even if he is pushing into his teens and others are too cool for their families anymore.  The next one down is our other son (10), such an independent, loving child that always shares his affection with his dad and I.  Going from there we have two more girls (9 & 9), nope not twins, his and hers.  These two are either best friends or enemies, keeping us on our toes with their sassy little ways but always there to help out the family when they need to.  We have just purchased a new home and hoping to officially go into escrow this week.  This beautiful home will take some time to transform but will be such a great place to grow our family and family owned/operated business for the many years to come.  Being in such a positive place in our lives my husband and I decided to jump into the IVF thing once again!  I know, we're crazy, trust me we have been told that many of times. 

This brings us back to adding to this beautiful family and going for an "ours" sibling to share with the rest of the family.   Each week they kids will ask if I am pregnant or touch my belly hoping that they will have little one to play with, we were very open about the VR with them because we wanted to share our journey.  Now as we embark into the next step of IVF we hope that they are just excited as we are.  Of course some of the kids are too young to know the journey but they will be the first to know when I am pregnant!