GOOD NEWS!! So everything is lining up just right for my surgery next week. Praise God! Seriously, thank you for all those prayers out there.
I spoke with the doctor's office yesterday and Dr. L is approved by my insurance company (just in the nick of time!), so she will be doing my surgery. I spoke with the nurse from the hospital and my surgery time is 9:30am - I'll have to arrive at 7:30am to get all checked in. Apparently the only instructions she had for me was to fast starting at midnight - oh, and I'm not supposed to wear my contact lenses. I hope I remember that morning to not put them in! I have one more appointment with Dr. L on Wednesday morning to finalize all the paperwork and do some bloodwork. Ironically, they have to make sure I'm not pregnant! Plus make sure I don't have any infections.
Other than that, all I have to do is wait! And if I haven't already mentioned it, that's not something I'm very good at. :) Thankfully things are still super busy around here, so the time is flying by. Today is my last day of school for the week. I'm REALLY looking forward to a nice, long, relaxing weekend at home. We're not traveling at all and that is fine by me!
I'm actually planning to "unleash" the Christmas decorations and get a jump on my Christmas cards. I even took out a few things last night - I can't help it! I just get so excited. Last night I took out my Nativity set and started putting it together. It's so beautiful and I just love it. (It's the one by Willow Tree.) Once it's set up I will post a picture. I got it two Christmases ago and obviously I only get to use it for a couple of weeks each year. I really try to keep with the Liturgical calendar and not skip Advent. I think it's so beautiful to celebrate all the seasons with the Church. (I did take out the Advent wreath last night too!) But since we always travel around the holidays, the time is even shorter for us to enjoy the Christmas decorations around the house. This is one area where I completely cave. Although I refuse to start playing or listening to Christmas music yet! Even though at church we have been rehearsing Christmas music since October. :)
I have a question for all you IFers out there... how many people in your life know about it? Just curious because I know everyone handles these things differently. I am struggling with whether or not to mention our IF in my Christmas letter this year. It is such a huge part of our life right now that I can't imagine NOT mentioning it. This year in particular I have shared our IF journey with more people. And the more that time passes, the more I want the world to know what we're dealing with. Especially since when we were engaged, my hubby and I told the world that we were hoping for eight kids at least. It became this joke and of course we opened ourselves up for comments from our friends/family. Now 3.5 years later I'm sure people are starting to wonder what's going on...
Ok, enough rambling for now. During this week of Thanksgiving I want you all to know how THANKful I am for our blogging community and for each of you. I remember you in my daily prayers.
Oh my goodness!!!! I'm SO happy that the insurance stuff went through and you're all set!! Yay!!!! You must be so excited.
ReplyDeleteAs for who knows in my life...everyone - both our entire families, all of our friends, and our co-workers. And we've been members of two parishes since we've been married, and for different reasons we've been public at both. And I mean really public - my name is listed in the bulletin for a couple weeks each month for the support group, and at my last parish there was a write-up about us in the bulletin for a "family of the month" type of thing and we talked about it in that.
For whatever reason, we have just both felt called to not keep it a secret. It has sparked amazing conversations that allow us to witness to others about our experience and has allowed the prayers for us to increase dramatically! Openness may not be for everyone, but we really feel blessed because of it.
I'm typically not one to be too public about the whole thing... I found that whenever I DID mention it to someone (not immediate family, they always knew) out of necessity (co-workers when I was having my surgery and would be out for 2 wks), they would say the lamest, insensitive things, like "Oh, I have the opposite problem. I got pg on my honeymoon!" I felt that not a lot of "outsiders" could really understand or empathize.
ReplyDeleteBUT, as the years have passed, I have felt more open about it lately. Like AYWH, I think that God has been calling me to be a witness to the faith through one of the toughest situations one can face as a Catholic. So, I've told old friends who have inquired "any kids?", and I'm considering telling my aunt on Thanksgiving, which will be a HUGE step. I have a big, loud, Italian family (mom's side), and none of them know yet. I can already hear the unknowingly insensitive remarks, but I figure it's good for them to know NOW, because when we DO get pg, they will understand how much of a miracle it truly is for us.
It's really a personal decision, though. You have to weigh all of the options along with the possible repercussions. We're obviously not telling everyone about our latest diagnosis, because of the horrible connotations that go along with it... but I think it will be good for our extended families to know just what we've been through medically the past 2 yrs+.
I haven't kept this a secret. I do feel people out before I share the beauty of infertility with them. Never share pearls with swine. :)
ReplyDeleteSo excited about the surgery I could bust! It will be here before you know it! Literally! :)
I am so glad you don't need a bowel prep! God is good! :)
BTW-I am so jealous you are so close to the Shrine! :( I miss it so much! You have much better conservative churches up there then we do down here in the South. My mom used to take us to the shrine once a month for confession when we were little.
ReplyDeleteFor us, it was pretty darn obvious that we had infertility. After all, on our wedding night, we rode off in a vehicle where people had drawn a baseball team of stick figures, which said, "the "(our name") baseball team.
ReplyDeleteIt was a joke among our family and friends that we'd have 10 kids.
So ... as all our other Catholic friends got busy growing their families, and we are still a family of 2, it is no secret.
However, I HAVE learned one thing. As open as we have been about things among true friends and family, this is NOT the business of just anyone and everyone we encounter. Sometimes I think we feel we are "supposed" to tell someone if they inquire about kids. But really, many times people are just trying to make conversation and don't mean to open up a can of worms, so I have learned to keep that can closed during those times.
I can simply answer, "No not yet."
I think infertility has opened many doors to minister to others, but also to be ministered to. (for me it's probably more of the latter!)
On a different note-- PRAISE THE LORD for these wonderful developments for your surgery!!!
I am SOOO happy and excited for you!!! And no bowel prep??? Hey, no fair, no fair! Don't you want to be in the bowel prep club? Ha ha just kidding.
Thanks ladies for all your comments. As always, it helps to hear about how you're dealing with it all. :)
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