If the topics that I blogged about were what was actually pressing on my heart, I’d be talking a lot more about the baby-fever I’ve been experiencing. I’m careful not to go into it too often, because I try not to get too deep on you with any frequency. And I want to be sensitive to my ‘fertility friends’.
We’ve been keeping our readers up to date on the status of our ‘baby fund’ on Facebook and Instagram, but I’m realizing that many of our readers are new enough that they aren’t familiar with the fact that we PAINT BACKSPLASHES to look like tile!
(Full tutorial here. That’s our kitchen above, but you can see lots more of our work here! And even more here!)
And still more of our readers are new enough that we get questions like… ‘I know children are expensive, but it seems like you’ve been saving for a baby for awhile now.’ And so if that’s you… READ THIS. And know that conceiving doesn’t feel good for everyone.
This brings me to my point… we’re painting backsplashes to save money for our second round of IVF, which will be a Frozen Embryo Transfer. We have two little frozen darlings waiting for us. We hope and pray we’ll be able to meet them both, but the sad truth is that… statistically,we only have a 50% chance of being able to meet ONE. And a much sadder percentage for being able to meet both.
That just reminds us how richly blessed we were to have experienced a successful round of IVF on our first try, and not only that but BOTH embryos took.
I promise this is not a commercial for more backsplash clients. We’ve painted 12 and only have 8 more to go… and most of those are already scheduled. We just wanted to let our new(ish) readers know what’s going on with us.
Here are a handful of our recent backsplashes!
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
Now you all should feel really up-to-date on our fertility happenings and timeline for our FET. I’m filled with so many different emotions as we embark on this ‘chapter 2’ of this journey, and am SOOOOO grateful to have you all behind us, encouraging and cheering us on.
If you don’t already, you can follow along on Facebook and Instagram for more regular updates as we count down to that big day. We’re hoping for later this spring!
P.S! My friends that are suffering from infertility… would you be interested in me starting up a Fertility Forum where we can share our stories with each other and encourage one another? Let me know!
You already know this, but you were the first ever blogger I felt connected to. Your story touched my heart so much, that I can’t even describe it in words. You gave me hope when I felt like I had none. Even though we have very different fertility issues, we both had the same burning desire to be a mom. I loved you before we were friends. And after we became real friends, I loved you even more! I feel so blessed to have you in my life. I always keep your family in my prayers. And I hope with all my heart that the 2nd round of IVF is as successful as the first. You set such a great example of motherhood for me. It’s a real shame that Iowa and Utah have to be so far apart! I’m completely convinced that it will be a blogger who will invent a faster cheaper way to travel between states, due to the fact that all our best friends have to be scattered all over the place!
I would be interested in a forum (provided it was a private, log-in type).
I found your blog about 6 months ago because we are experiencing secondary infertility (and I love diy too!). We never thought we’d be doing IVF, but here we are! I think it would be great if you start a fertility forum. We are right in the middle of all the injections right now and it would be great to have others to talk to. It’s just not something you can really talk to someone else about that hasn’t been through this type of heartache. I love your honesty and openness – and all your great inspirational ideas!
I think a fertility forum would be fantastic. I am amazed at how many people struggle with this. I thought having kids would be a fairly easy venture but it wasn’t until we started trying that we realized this is SO not the case. I’m also shocked at how many people miscarry. Again, you don’t realize how often it happens until you go through it. Having support is so important and sometimes it’s just not there. It would be nice to have a place to chat with people who are going through similar things and to not feel so alone.
I’ve always admired the way you guys work toward your goal. Because the IVF price tag is exorbitant a lot of people I have known consider the whole thing an impossible dream. Good job planning, working, and sacrificing for what you want most.
On another note: where do you buy that skinny green tape for doing the backsplashes? Does it have a name?
It definitely seemed impossible for us too, but we realized this is what we wanted… and we’ll stop at nothing! 🙂
You can find 1/4″ painters tapes at some home improvement stores, or purchase it online here! http://www.amazon.com/TAPE-SPECIALTIES-15006-60-Yard-Painters/dp/B0006ITPMK/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1392770747&sr=8-2&keywords=1%2F4+inch+painters+tape
You have so many different hair styles in this post! I’m thinking about chopping my hair to the style you have in your prego picture. I saw the same style in a cheesy movie I watched recently and already told our stylist about it. Maybe I should just send her a link to this post 🙂 So proud of you for working so hard to get your new babies. Can’t wait to meet them! By the way I still think they will be twin boys!
Twin boys would be amazing 🙂
I second the idea to add a “donate” button to your website. It may feel/sound tacky, but lots of us here are rooting for you guys. I know that I can’t give much, and most are probably in the same boat. But seriously, every $1 helps, right?
I think a forum would be wonderful. We start suppression tomorrow trying for baby #2 (and maybe #3:) It is so helpful to have others to talk with about this. Our daughter was from IVF.
Exciting!!!!!!!!!!! Keep us updated!
I think I started reading your blog right before you started IVF, and my son is a few months older than your girls. I am praying that all goes smoothly this time!
Plus, if I lived closer I would be so tempted to hire you to paint my back splash. Maybe I can convince my husband to try to DIY it when we rip out the grape vine trellis wall paper (ick!).
Haha! I can just PICTURE your grapevine trellis wallpaper. 🙂 I’m sure your kitchen will vastly improve when it’s gone… what an easy fix!
I am currently 15wks pregnant from a FET. We did 2 fresh IVF cycles. The first was negative, and we had no embryos that were good enough to freeze. The 2nd resulted in an early miscarriage, but we had 2 embryos to freeze. We transferred one of our frozen embies in November and it stuck! I can’t believe how expensive FET cycles are in the USA. At our clinic (in Canada) a FET cost $1000, plus medications, so maybe a totaly of about $1500. All the best to you!!
That’s great news Angie! Congratulations on your pregnancy!!
Love it. Goosebumps with everything I read. You two are not only extremely talented but such loving parents. I do hope that you’ll be welcoming more to your family soon. I would also love to follow the infertility forum. We’ve miscarried 6 times and have 1 little boy. Its a hard road and I’ve found your blog to be the most comforting. Best wishes to your family.
Hoping all goes well. good luck. ill pray for you guys.
But have you ever thought about adoption?
We’re not opposed to adoption, but it was important to us to give our best effort to having children with our own DNA. We’ve discussed adopting in the future… who knows what the future will bring!
I would love a forum as well. I have PCOS and we ended up doing 7 rounds of AI with fresh sperm before meeting our little lady who is now 5.5 years old! She is dying for a sibling, but alas, the funds aren’t there yet. Good luck, baby and sticky dust sent your way when the time comes. I love following your story!
i would love a forum, its hard to find people to talk to sometimes about infertility and the emotions you go through. it would be nice to talk to someone who gets it! 🙂
I think you should start a donation fund online for your readers to donate. I’m sure most of us couldn’t make a substantial donation, but every dollar helps. And I’d definitely be willing to donate some. I love your blog so much and have been following your story for about a year now. And I’d love to be able to contribute to your next round of IVF. You and Nick are more than deserving parwnts.
Trace, that is so sweet that you would suggest that. This particular situation is really personal to us, and we feel it’s important to work for it and raise the money ourselves. We want to be an example for others who feel that IVF is far too expensive… if you want it bad enough, FIGHT FOR IT! So we’re just going to keep pressing on. We’re so close!
Bethany, all my hopes and prayers for you and a new little one…or two!!!
xoxo
-andi
I think a fertility forum would be awesome!!! We have went through IVF twice (1fresh and 1 frozen) Out of 4 embryos we have one sweet little boy!!!
If I were a rich woman…I’d just give you the funds..you are an awesome mom and I hope and pray that everything goes great and you are able to add to your gorgeous family.