Suggestion Box

Coming out of the infertility closet right before the holidays tends to open you up to some "suggestions" on how to get pregnant from your closest family and friends. I know each and every one of them love us so much that they want to do anything to help us in this journey. So those of you that are reading this who may have made a few of these suggestions, I know your heart is in the right place!

I wanted to share the best, worst, most bizarre and most interesting suggestions that I have heard over the last 8 years. Most of which I have actually tried. I mean why not, we have the time!

The #1 most suggested treatment of all time, the one in which almost everyone in my life has thought for sure will work. It is the magic pill, the one that will instantly get us pregnant.
"Just relax and stop thinking about it". 

We have tried this the first year, then again for the last 2 years. I found that wine helps this process a lot! This is the only suggestion that makes me half crazy when I hear it. Although I know the good intentions behind it, but good lord if I had a penny for every time I  heard it we would have 4 babies by now :)                                          

These next suggestions are some of my favorites. They are sometimes so out there that we had to try it just to get a good laugh, while secretly hoping it would work! All of which have obviously failed, but its always great to laugh.

"Just drink vodka and red bull all night, it worked for me" I tried this one many many times, oddly it ended up being the opposite effect, because it turns out, an insanely awake puking girl is a turn off. Damn, I really had hoped this would do it.

"Put your legs up in the air for at least 10 minutes" After attempting multiple hand stands then attempting to do a headstand from the tripod position, while quietly scolding myself for not sticking to yoga, I realize its just my legs that need to be in the air. I did this for a whole year.. and I'm not kidding.

"Take out all gluten"  This one was the end all be all to every disease that has ever been diagnosed in the last 4 years. Hey why not try it, I could be that .0000001% that actually has a gluten allergy.  6 month attempt... fail.

"Hop forward towards a full moon" Although the person who suggested this technique stated clearly to hop toward the full moon, I took notes from Juno and decided to hop backwards as well. Attempt failed.

 

"You  should come to my house and drink my water. I'm tellin ya, there has got to be something in it cause I get pregnant if he just looks at me"  Just give me the fucking water... Fail...

"Just adopt a baby and you will get pregnant" This one we have not attempted but as soon as we hit the lottery we are sure to try it. 

"Do not think of pointy things while trying to make a baby" (No, I'm not kidding) Circle, circle, moon, quarter, dime nickle, hearts, oh damn, there is a point in that heart. Fail...

"Have you tried those tiny little needles" Uh... Huh? "You know that artpuncture, my cousins friends sister tried that after she couldnt get pregnant for 3 months and that worked" Oh, acupuncture. "Yeah, that's what I said". Still have not done this, but actually want to try it. 

"Sit on a pregnant person's chair" It can be a bit awkward at the gyno's office to ask the lady about ready to give birth right then and there to get up so I can steal her seat, but after some convincing and a promise that I would put her out of her misery if that baby didn't come that day, I completed this task. I had high hopes but unfortunately, it was a fail...

Bobby and I are really having some fun with some of these, so keep the suggestions coming (well the funny ones anyway). If your idea works, you can name the baby. Well, you can pick the middle name... On second thought lets just go with the naming of our next dog. Yeah, we can agree to that! 

Cheers,

Andrea

The F word

The F word...some hear the word and immediately cringe. Some use this word proudly without fear of rejection, not caring if others decide to cringe and run away. I am one who tends to use this word proudly, I will shout it from the rooftops and find a way to make people who cringe want to shout it too.. It will make you feel like you have never felt before! For some it gives them a purpose and meaning, for others, they do it hiding behind a computer while giggling and laughing because they may have just saved someones life or at the very least, changed it.

The F word that I am referring to...FUNDRAISER.

This word is an important part of something bigger, something that has changed me. It is the core of who Bobby and I are. We have seen the life altering effects of raising money can have on so many peoples lives. We may not always be able to give much financially, we are always willing to knock down doors to help those who need it. UNTIL one day, we realized that it is us who needed it. It was us who wanted something so badly that we even had the thought to ask others to donate to our cause. Is it fair? Is it something worthy of others to give to? Why would anyone want to help us populate the world with a little Bobby or Andrea? We have agonized over it for a long time. Why is it so easy to help others by encouraging them to open up about their situation and convince them they are a worthy cause, but so very hard to take your own advice? Bobby and I do not like putting ourselves out there for the world to see, unless it would truly help someone else meet their full potential. But here we are, 8 years into our infertility journey, desperate to move forward. Desperate to make this dream be our reality, this amazing dream, that one day our house is filled with paper, rock, scissors at 3 am to find out who changes the diaper, or roaring laughter at 9pm from their bedrooms when they should be asleep, or the sound of instant pain when I step on a Lego. These things I will never take for granted. These things that may seem so trivial, so mundane, so normal. But to us they are a dream that we are desperate to make our normal.
With that said we are finally taking the steps to ask for a little help making this dream come true. Every little bit counts and we are so grateful for the prayers and encouraging words from everyone in our lives.

We have set up a Go Fund Me page: www.gofundme.com/lemonstolemonade but have also decided to do at least one fundraiser in the Columbus area withing the next couple of months, with spiked lemonade and maybe a 50/50 raffle! We are so grateful for all of you and can't wait to see what our future holds.


Thank you

*** Our family and friends have been so supportive over the years. We are so blessed to have people in our lives that genuinely care about our happiness and well being. There were times where we thought we would never make it, but there they were, right beside us, literately carrying us through to the other side. They have helped us get to this place where we can have hope to actually get this procedure. Helping to pay off student loans and debts just to be able to save as much as we can for the life we have always wanted, we will be forever grateful!

Cheers,

Andrea

Starting fresh in Jax

I cant believe it has been 3 years since my first and last post. So many things have changed in the last 3 years. We left Tampa for a new adventure back home in Ohio, but about 6 months after moving home Bobby received an amazing job offer in Jacksonville with the Wounded Warrior Project. So back to Florida we went! Jax is much different than Tampa and I think it may take some getting used to, but Bobby absolutely loves his job, and I have an amazing opportunity in my career, to be able to make my own schedule and focus on our family, so we have decided this is where we will lay our roots!

Three years ago we started looking into adoption from foster care. We went to the orientation and then we decided at that time we were just not ready to make the commitment. With our careers in limbo and me missing home so much, it just was not the right time. It was a hard decision because we both wanted so badly to have a family but we knew it would be an emotional roller coaster that we just couldn't handle at the time.

With the new year approaching and Bobby and I, finally being the most stable we have ever been in every aspect of our lives, have made the decision that 2016 is our year to have a family. One way or another, this will happen. We have decided to maximize our chances, and we are charging full force into fertility treatments as well as public adoption! Of course everyone we talk to says that as soon as we adopt we will get pregnant because it always seems to happen that way. Our thoughts... the more the merrier! If it does end up that way, we will feel blessed to have the family we have.

January starts the process of fertility treatments. We are going to start with the cheap easy things first. Because $15,000 is not the easiest to save, but if IVF is what is needed, we are more than willing to sacrifice to do this. Lookout family and friends, I see lemonade stands and fundraisers in our future!   The other option that we have decided to start is adoption from the foster care system. I am really excited about this option as well. We start classes in February and will hopefully start our home study by the end of March!

Bobby and I feel so lucky to have the family and friends that we do and we cannot wait to share this adventure with you. Through the past 8 years there have been a lot of ups and downs, sometimes I looked at our life as being the lemons, waiting for kids so that we could make lemonade. But it took me a long time to realize Bobby and I have already made lemonade. There are a lot of things we could be angry about, but we chose to be happy and turn toward one another for support and encouragement. We are a beautiful, full pitcher of lemonade, we are just looking for the sugar to sweeten it a bit!

Cheers,

Andrea