First Post

This is Ellen here with my first post...

I'm not sure how I sum up years of infertility in a few paragraphs but I'll give it a shot. My husband, Kevin and I have been trying to have a baby. The easy part for us was getting pregnant but unfortunately we couldn't sustain the pregnancies as I kept miscarrying. How do I even put into words how devastating it was for us? That's not really possible.

We had some very preliminary testing from my ob/gyn, but soon sought help from a fertility clinic. We had a few rounds of testing and they couldn't find anything wrong with either of us and told us to try again. We got pregnant that next month and miscarried again. We had our appointment with the RE and I think there was honest surprise on his face to see us back there so soon. So, the short version of the story is that we went on to do EVERY possible test and had a few IVF attempts with more miscarriages. I have had 5 in total and 1 chemical pregnancy (where my beta started out initially good but didn't double). I kept this short but I think the details give a hint to the time frame and heartache we suffered...

Fast forward to where we are now. With the suggestion of our RE, my Mom and my best friend, we turned our thoughts to finding our gestational carrier for our 4 frozen embryos. This was both easy for us and hard at the same time. We weren't really sure how this was going to work but turned to both the Internet and a family building attorney to find a GC. I'll leave out some of the details, but when I had an email from Brooke, the first thing I said to Kevin was that she seemed "so normal". That might seem like an odd thought, but when you are looking for someone to carry your baby, normal might not be the right word, but for the first time, I thought this might work out. We exchanged a few emails and then spoke on the phone. We talked the first night for a long time and it was already late in the evening when we started the conversation (Brooke had been at a baby shower for her sister-in-law). We kept talking and just sharing information to get to know each other. Conveniently, Brooke was leaving the next morning for a week away in St. Thomas...LOL! I held my breath and kept my fingers crossed and waited for her return. She did return rested and relaxed (and ready to see her family again) and we agreed that we should give this a try! It was very exciting for all of us....

I will continue this story that will gets us up to the present the next time we post. It has been amazing to both of us how even with all details and planning going smoothly, how long we feel like we have been waiting.