This Day is Special

Autumn will always be one of my favorite seasons.
I am pretty sure I've mentioned that before.
But this year, and every year to come,
it will have a very different significant meaning.

It was one year ago today that Tessa was placed inside of me.
That little embryo who was just bursting with life.
I often think back to that time...
Micah and I started the IVF process here in Montana.

Weekly visits to the doctors, which then turned into visits 2 or 3 times a week.

Daily hormone shots (IN MY STOMACH!!) which a friend came over every night to give me.

And all of that was just leading up to the big stuff.

After 4 weeks of doctors appointments and two weeks of daily shots, we headed off to Seattle.

The drive was literally one of the longest drives of our life.

Seattle is only 8 hours away and we have driven it MANY times,

but because of the excitement and anticipation of the reason why we were going,

8 hours literally felt like 800 hours!

We were blessed to be able to stay with a lovely couple

who will always hold a special place in our hearts.

They not only made us feel completely at home as we spent the next two weeks with them,

but they also took such good care of us by giving us the

companionship, prayer, and space that we needed...

they even unexpectedly cooked meals for us!

The day after we arrived in Seattle, we were headed off to our first appointment.

We met our doctor and did a routine check-up, and thankfully everything was looking perfect.

So, they scheduled our first agenda item... the egg retrieval.

You see, in the IVF process, the doctors must first remove the (MANY) eggs

that they have been growing inside of you.

And to do that, you must go through a minor surgery.

I won't go into the details of that here, but lets just say that it's not a pleasant thought

and thankfully they put me to sleep while removing them. ;)

After the surgery, I was able to rest for 5 days.

And believe me, I needed it!

Maybe it was just me and my body, but after the surgery I felt like CRAP!

For the next few days I'm pretty sure I ate minimal food and slept/rested the whole time.

Oh and did I mention that I still had to have shots in my stomach each night...

only this time, Micah (who has a fear of needles) had the honors of administering them.

Talk about being a nervous wreck each night.

After 5 days, as the doctors did their magic,

we were finally able to make our last trip for the final procedure.

I am pretty sure I prayed every single moment of that day.

From the moment the doctors put Tessa inside of me,

during the 20 minutes I had to lay on the examining table

and wait for the timer to go of indicating when I could move again,

as Micah and I enjoyed our lunch of Mac&Cheese at Pike Street Market,

and throughout the rest of the day as I tried to relax and read, my continual prayer was...

"Lord, please make this work".

And on November 1st, two hours after taking a blood test, we got the call.

I was pregnant.

Best phone call of my life. 

 

So yeah, the Fall will always hold a special place in my heart.

 

 (The first picture of Tessa)