so are yall having more? when's the next one? PART 2

Well it has been a good while since I last touched on this topic..

I have actually debated about sharing this side of our life
(it being such a personal decision we are making)
so PLEASE.. I have gone 6 almost 7 years without anyone
leaving me hateful comments and internet shaming
-- I know I am REALLY lucky sharing our life with such Sweet and Thoughtful
blog friends/followers... so please if you have differences in opinions on this topic..
please remember there is an actual human being behind your screen.
One who reads the comments & feels emotions to things people write.


If you are new to this topic I would start here

-- it will recap you on everything!

It has taken me and Tyson a good couple of years
to sort out our feelings on this topic. 

It's a topic I have thought so much about!

We have prayed a lot on whether or not we should try for another.

And even teetered with the idea of being done with two.

We both felt like we would regret not having another child..

It always boiled down to that simple sentence.

Will we regret not having another?

Things have definitely become easier..

Zoey is more independent & that for me has been a life saver..

I was actually starting to think ok this is nice, life with two kids finally feels so good.

We could just travel, live life, I'll have more patience not adding on extra stresses,
and things will be considerably easy from here on out...

I was starting to get use to the fact that maybe 2 little girls was what we were meant to have.

I always try to pry Tyson's thoughts out of him..
but he hasn't quite felt any one way on this topic.

So probably a month ago'ish.. I started leaning more towards being done with two.

Then one day in conversation with Tyson
we somehow came to the conclusion that there was one more..
we knew we would regret not trying for another.

Sooo after a lot of praying the last couple of years
and not quite knowing which route we should go..
We finally felt ready to move towards IVF PGD.

IVF does not in anyway seem ideal,
but I could not live with myself knowing i gave my child a disease
with a life full of medical problems & an average lifespan of 30.

We don't feel like our family is quite done growing so we have landed where we are..

We had our first IVF consultation shortly after Zoey was born...

two canceled (on my behalf) IVF consultation appointments last summer,

and another IVF consultation this morning,
where we discussed some more of the process, did initial blood work & ultrasound for me,
and discussed a tiny bit of the financial portion today
We left with a game plan of things we need to start doing to move forward.

IVF PGD has a different sort of game plan since it is dealing with DNA testing..

so it will take about 3-4 months minimum just for the DNA process to get sorted through.
Then you add on the actual IVF process (however long that will take)
then 9 months of pregnancy... 
if/when we get to that point..
then we will hopefully have a sweet new babe in our home!

so this is where where we are... this is our road we will be traveling!
Lots of unknowns, lots of emotions I'm sure, and lots of help from the medical world.

I have thought about all the pain & emotions I will be going through
and be putting on my family with all of this & it worries me..
(when moms not in a good mood... ya know it kinda rubs off on the rest of the clan)
but then I am always brought back to--
I would gladly take all those shots, medicine, needles, pregnancy morning sickness, bills..
all that not so fun stuff to prevent my child from going through life with cystic fibrosis.



What is PGD?

When a couple has a genetic defect in their family history, they may seek PGD in order to increase the chance of having a healthy baby. After eggs are recovered from the ovary as part of the IVF process, they are fertilized to form embryos. A biopsy is then performed to remove 5-7 cells from the embryos. The gene that carries the disease is analyzed for the presence of the disease-causing mutation. Those embryos that show normal biopsy results can then be selected for transfer into the uterus during a subsequent frozen embryo transfer cycle.

Through state-of-the-art PGD techniques, our physicians and staff are able to screen for a wide variety of diseases. Cystic fibrosis, sickle cell anemia, Huntington’s disease, and other genetic conditions can have a significant impact on a child’s quality of life. When a genetic disease is part of a family’s history, PGD offers new hope.

Here are some videos that helped me walk through understanding the process better.