We had gone back to herbal treatments which didn't seem to help as much this time, so I haven't really kept up with it. However, at work we are really putting more focus on holistic care and being able to provide our clients with a resource list of alternative treatments as well as offering some holistic services. In the midst of my research, I found an integrative medicine physician that is affiliated with our local hospital and arranged for my co-workers and I to meet with him. He has really renewed my energy at work and personally and I am planning to make an appointment to see him myself. Even though we are still working on saving up for IVF, our efforts to be healthier (and hope for a miracle) in the meantime have not stopped in our break from active treatment cycles.
Also, as much as I hate to mention it, I have noticed that financing or efforts have been such a huge theme in our journey...and my blog posts. I am hoping this will be the last time I bring it up for a long time because I hate talking about it and the only reason I do is because I know that others experience the same struggles. Treatment is a huge financial commitment when insurance doesn't cover it! I am cautiously optimistic that our prayers in the financial category have been answered. I say cautiously because I have been hopeful before, but it hasn't usually worked out according to plan.. This time, it seems more promising, but I know how the world works and I don't want to put all my eggs in one basket, so to speak. Anyway, DH received a job offer out of the blue about a month ago. He hadn't applied for this job and it involved working for a company that he had been with several years ago, but left his position shortly after we were married because at the time, it was kind of a dead-end job. In just over a month, he has been promoted to interim manager and as long as he doesn't disappoint the owner in the next couple of months (and I don't think he will), he will be promoted again to manager which will almost (but not quite) double our current household income. Although my income had been enough to support us while he has been in school, it certainly limited our ability to build our savings very quickly. This would allow us to pay off some bills that we had been slowly working on and will allow us to save twice as much as we had been. What does that mean??....that we can pay for IVF on our own! In my head, I still have this budget in my mind that would mean we'd continue to postpone IVF until December 2012/January 2013 because I don't want to wipe out our savings again, but it does mean that we have a much better financial picture right now which will really help in a lot of areas.
In other news, I can't remember if I mentioned this before or not (and I don't feel like checking my archived posts right now), but my sister is pregnant with baby #2. She got pregnant with this one without trying at the same time that I would have gotten pregnant had our last IUI cycle been successful. I am only mentioning her in this post because she is having a horrible time with this pregnancy. She was sick all the time with her first pregnancy, which is no surprise because she always had a weak stomach. This one not only has her physically sick (again), but she is having some major emotional issues as well. She hates to talk about it because it just makes her feel worse and she hates to talk to me about it because she knows my struggles and is totally sympathetic to the fact that I would do almost anything to get pregnant and haven't been that lucky. I really feel sorry that she is going through this and I support her as much as I can, but we don't talk about her pregnancy anymore because it is a sore subject for both of us. Instead we focus on my adorable niece who turned 1 a couple of months ago. She is so cute and really smart and amazing and wonderful, so she gives us lots of other things to talk about. I cannot wait to give her (and her future sibling) a cousin on their mom's side!
I will try to remember to update again soon...probably after I consult with the new doctor. Until then, I'm sending sticky baby dust to all of my friends and followers who need it.
