One Week Down...

We are officially one week closer to pregnancy test time and as I predicted...it's been a LONG week! I have stayed at home (for the most part) and tried to rest and relax as much as possible. Being at home is great...but it also allows a lot of time to THINK! And sometimes thinking gets me in trouble! I would much rather be out and about and BUSY so that I do not sit here and play out every scenario possible. Have I mentioned before that PATIENCE is not really my thing??? HA!

One thing that I will say is that I NEVER in a million years would have imagined how many people would follow us on this blog! It is CRAZY! I have heard from so many people that they are following us, praying for us, and how much they love reading the blog! It is such a humbling experience and also quite an intimidating one! I wanted to create this blog in order to share our journey with those around us who I thought would be interested in following along. I also wanted to reach out to those now, or in the future, who may be struggling with infertility. This blog has been a good way to write out my thoughts and fears and allow so many around us to pray during each step. You have been AMAZING to us during this journey! We have been SHOWERED with LOVE and AFFECTION throughout this process...far more than we ever thought possible! The blessings continue to pour out daily!

But I will admit...sometimes blogging is SCARY! I feel like I have poured out my heart and soul in this blog, not knowing if people would even read it! I know that when good things are happening in the kingdom, Satan always tries to attack and I feel that he is very skilled at the way that he does it. Right now I feel that he is attacking me by causing doubt and fear to creep into my mind...to make me feel insecure about my self worth and exposing my pain to others. It seems that the more I hear people are reading the blog, the more my insecurities set in. In the past, I held everything inside because I didn't want to disappoint those around me. I tried to put a wall up to protect myself from feeling shame and guilt about not being able to have a baby. Once again, Satan is trying to use these feelings of letting others down to break me and I really have to fight to not let those doubts come in. I WILL NOT let him steal my JOY during this time. Our prayer from the very beginning of this process was for God to be glorified throughout this journey, which I really feel is happening! I know this is the main reason for Satan's attack! No matter what we face, I know that our God is BIGGER than anything he can throw at us and that we must continually CALL on His name to help us make it through! Blessed be the NAME of the LORD!

Sorry for the ramble...I just felt the need to share my heart!

I do have an UPDATE today! We went and had some bloodwork done at Shannon to check my Progesterone and Estradiol levels. Since the retrieval, I have been wearing an Estradiol (Estrogen) patch and doing daily injections of Progesterone. This is basically to boost up my hormone level so that WHEN there is a positive pregancy test, my hormones will already be ready to help the pregnancy. My progesterone level was good, which I'm thankful for because it means we do not have to increase the amount of liquid in my nightly shot! Praise God! However, my Estradiol level was lower than they would like for it to be. My nurse assured me that this has NO INDICATION on whether or not I'm pregnant. They simply have a level that they would like for me to be at before the pregnancy test. To help this out, I am now wearing THREE patches instead of one until they check me again (next Friday). Hopefully this will help the levels rise to where they should be! I'm sure Derek is a little worried about the EXTRA dose of hormones but hopefully it won't make me TOO crazy...ha!

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE keep up the prayers! As I said earlier, we have been SO BLESSED in SO MANY ways during this process and we really do FEEL your prayers! We thank God for each of you every night and are so honored to be prayed for during this time. We have one LONG week ahead of us...but we know that we can make it through with God's help!

Here are some things you can be praying for:

1) PEACE! Pray that God continues to remove our fears and anxieties about the upcoming pregnancy test and that we are able to have JOY during this time!

2) That our precious little embryos are attaching and growing! We are praying specifically that God knit these precious babies in my womb and that He is placing them exactly where they need to be to attach and develop!

3) Derek and all the things that he has to go through during this process. I know how hard it is for him to have to give me injections every night and watch the pain that I feel the next day. He has been an AMAZING caretaker...cooking and cleaning and taking care of me! I'm so BLESSED!

4) That the Estradiol patches will do their job and help my level to GO UP to where it needs to be to help sustain a pregnancy.

5) Pray a prayer of THANKSGIVING to the AWESOME God that we serve who has blessed us SO RICHLY throughout this journey. He has been PRESENT and WORKING at every step during this process and we know that He is FAITHFUL!

We love you all and are so thankful to have such wonderful friends and family!

"I wait for the LORD, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope." Psalm 130:5