So about 2 weeks ago it occurred to us that due to the holiday season and my company policy for how many people can get work off, if we wanted to do an IVF cycle before the end of the year we had to ask time off now. Kind of a crazy thought. So we called UFC and got an idea of what our options were.

We could definitely do our IVF before the end of the year–but we would not be able to do it with Dr. Foulk, because he’ll be at one of their other offices in St. George. We would either need to use one of the other two doctors at UFC for our actual transplant of our embryos, or we could wait until January and do it with him…but A.) our insurance deductible would start over and we’d pay more up front and B.) we would end up spending more money because we’d have to keep Jason on his medications for a few additional months.

This was a huge decision for us! And we had to make it fast if we wanted to get scheduled for one of the December slots. Talk about pressure! First, we began weighing out the pros and cons. We chose Dr. Foulk based on his experience, his ability to handle unforeseen circumstances, and we feel very comfortable and trusting of him. We chose him for a reason. We’d hate spending unnecessary money by waiting another month, but if waiting would risk the possibility for success, of course it would be worth waiting. We started researching and went to our family, close friends, and our wonderful Facebook support group that we had recently joined.

We looooove our support group. It is amazing!! The group we are in is specifically for Utah infertiles, which is really helpful because all of us are using the same doctors, offices, insurance, etc. Anyway, we posted this to our group and were overwhelmed with the responses we got

Jason and I were fairly emotional to see how many people cared enough to comment and advise us. Everyone is so kind and invested in each person’s case. Anytime we have posted to the group we have always felt love and support from these people who know exactly what it’s like to be in our shoes. It’s amazing to have them! And for this case in particular, a lot of the points they brought up were things we hadn’t thought about and really gave us a new perspective.

After a lot of consideration, we were surprised and excited with the decision to shoot for December and go for it! Finally, it’s happening!!!!!!!!! Since we jumped straight to IVF without doing IUI or anything first, sometimes it feels like the last three years of trying and waiting have been pointless because we don’t have anything to show for the passage of time. Now that we finally, officially have a set time for getting Baby Knoell here, we’re pretty giddy.

We had our IVF Consultation appointment with our IVF nurse coordinator Chelsee this past week. I could NOT stop grinning!! I was bouncing off the walls with excitement, even while Chelsee passed me our calendar and told us which shots and which pills and what labs would be drawn when etc.

Jason took a more…realistic? approach I think. Let’s just say deer-in-the-headlights. Ha! His excitement was more obvious about a day after the appointment. It certainly was a lot of information to process. But, bottom line? If all goes well, our IVF will be taking place before the end of the year!!!! We’ll share the nitty gritty details with all the fabulous injections we get to give to ourselves and all that fun stuff soon  It’s going to be a crazy adventure!