We are family!

Peter and I have been talking a lot lately about whether or not to tell our family about everything we are going through. My parents and a few select friends are aware of our situation, but that's it. Until last night. I realized that we can't do this alone anymore. I sent an email out to my family and a separate email to Peter's family. Instead of writing the gist of the email, I will just copy it here:

Peter and I have had a lot going on lately and I wanted to catch everybody up. For the past almost 3 years, Peter and I have struggled to get pregnant. Last summer, we started to go to doctors to try to find out what the problem was. We have been diagnosed with "unexplained infertility" which basically means all the tests have come back normal and they can't find a reason that we haven't been able to conceive. Since last summer, we have tried a couple rounds of hormone therapy and IUIs . They didn't work. Things seemed to fall into place when we were able to finally sell the Corolla and get health insurance (thanks to Dad). We had some extra money and decided to go see a Reproductive Endocrinologist. It took a month to get an appointment with him but they have a state-of-the-art facility in Frisco. Since we have been to him, I have had doctors appointments almost 1-2 times/week. We just did another round of more intense hormones (I took some pills and gave myself shots) and did a third IUI. We found out a couple days ago that it failed.
I went in for a doctor's appointment today and they did a sonogram and found out that I have two huge cysts on my ovaries. One cyst is normal after a cycle but they will not do treatment if the cysts are over 18cm. I had multiple cysts because of the hormones, one was 44 cm and one was 32 cm. They will not do any treatment until the cysts decrease in size which should take a month or two. The problem is that we only have insurance until July 25. 4 months from now. Our current plan is to try IUI #4 and if that doesn't work, we are contemplating IVF. I say contemplating because IVF costs anywhere from $10,000 to $15,000 and it is not covered under insurance.
We have been silently struggling with this for 3 years and have just now been able to finally open up and "talk" about it. I say "talk" because I am sending an email because if I were to talk to you in person/on the phone I would burst into tears. We have decided to tell the family now because we need the prayers. We have spent hours on our knees asking for help to get through this but we can't do it alone any more. I know this is a lot of information (although I have barely scraped the surface of what we have been through), and I understand that you probably don't know how to handle it with us. I am attaching some links that would be helpful if you would read them. I understand if you don't but it might help you see where we stand. I think it would be helpful if I just told you what we do and don't want. We don't want a pity party, we don't want advise (I have done hours and hours of research on this), we don't want stories about other couples who have struggled then gotten pregnant, and we don't want to be treated any differently-we are reproductively challenged, not dying. We do want support, prayers, and faith. If you have questions, we are happy to share. I would also be happy to email updates every now and then if you would like to receive them, just let me know.
We are still not wanting to tell the world about this. It is very personal and extremely emotional. So, please let us share our struggles with whomever we feel comfortable sharing them with.
Struggling with infertility is exhausting emotionally, mentally, physically, and financially. I know that we can trust the family to help us at this time. It is humbling to be the person asking for help, but we need it now more than ever. We love you and are very grateful for you.
This is written by a girl my age struggling with infertility. I read her blog often as it gives me strength.
This is a talk I recently came across that I really appreciate because it explains my feelings while also giving me hope.
This is for you. This link is to help you understand what to do or say to best help us.
Lastly, here is some info on IVF.
I think the letter gave them enough information without overwhelming them with all the details. I decided to email because 1) I didn't want to go over the story over and over and 2) I could make sure I said everything I wanted to say.
I woke up this morning and actually felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. My dad, brother, and sis-in-law all sent me really sweet emails in response. My dad said "thanks for sharing your burden with us". I realized that was the reason I felt so much better today. I knew I had people who love me praying for me. And thinking about me. I have been thinking about this all day and am so grateful for my family.
My family is really small and we are all very close. Peter's family, on the other hand, is very big and not as close. We contemplated telling them and decided it would do more good than harm. We still have yet to hear back from one person in his family.
Overall, I am glad we told everybody. I think now is the best time for us. It took a long time to be comfortable with being open about it, but we are finally there.
I really believe that there is strength in numbers. I haven't seen my family since everything has happened, but I really feel stronger since telling them. Thank you, family :)