Distraction

If anybody out there is considering IVF, I have some advise. I believe that IVF is a very personal and private decision made between couples. I would recommend getting as much information ahead of time as you can and be very prayerful about it. For us, it just felt right. We have had that feeling many times before-where something just "feels right". When we decided to get married, there was no anxiety, no questions, no worries, it just felt right. When we bought our house, it just felt right. Every step of the way in dealing with our infertility felt right (even though 4 IUIs failed). IVF felt right for us. That doesn't mean we didn't do our research, talk to our bishop, consult with doctors and family, it just means that even after all that, we decided to move forward. I understand this might not be the decision for everybody. Some people may choose to adopt, or keep trying naturally.
The only real advise I would give somebody going through IVF is to have a distraction. Work does not count. My distraction was a vacation. We planned a vacation to Boston for the fall. Due to our work schedules, we cannot take vacations in the summer, so it usually happens around October. Well, we haven't been able to take a vacation since we started our business and with everything happening, we decided to make it a priority. Although IVF is quite expensive, we decided to put a tiny bit of money away each month for a vacation fund. I started planning it this summer right as we were going through IVF (which takes about a total of 2-3 months to complete, by the way). It was great because as soon as we decided where we wanted to go (we thought it would be the perfect time of year to visit Boston), I spent my time searching for deals on tickets, entertainment, hotels, etc. It paid off, too because our tickets were only $158! I looked on Groupon for Boston everyday and booked 3 tours through that. We just got back this past week and it was so worth it. Although I was 13-14 weeks pregnant and had to take a nap a couple times, it was so nice to be able to completely relax after such a stressful summer and first trimester. Whenever I was getting down, I would look into what tours we wanted to do or what restaurants we wanted to try. And since the whole thing was planned beforehand, we paid cash for everything! No extra debt which is a huge relief. It was so nice to get away from the Texas heat and not worry about anything but what we wanted to do next.
So, if you are considering IVF, find your distraction-it makes the entire process so much easier to bear when you have something else on your mind.