One week ago, Aaron and I were waiting on our daily email update from our Fertility Clinic on how our embryos were doing. It had been 2 days since they were removed and fertilized…we had great news the day before (6 out of 8 eggs where now embryos!), and we were anxious to see how the update would look. I carried my phone all over the house with me, and kept updating my email feed, waiting and waiting. Around 10:30 (half and hour later than the previous days email, ugh!…every minute is an eternity.) it popped up. I ran to the living room, so Aaron and I could open it together…the next minute to the end of the day became a blur...

The email read that we had 2 embryos that were healthy and mature and ready for transfer. First of all, we were expecting more of the embryos to make it, we started with 8 eggs. Secondly, we thought the transfer would be on day 4 or 5, not day 2. We continued reading. Both embryos were strong, healthy and growing quickly, and because of this, there was no reason to wait for the transfer, it would be best in the cycle time frame, to do it…TODAY. So, please come in at 1:30 it said.

There were so many emotions…SO MANY. It was hard to control. We were excited (we had 2 embryos), shocked (this is happening this afternoon), empty sadness (we had 6 embryos yesterday…now they are just gone), worried (I wasn’t quite ready, I had a battery of questions ready about the next step).

It was 2:30am in the US, so we didn’t want to wake our parents, so we sent them texts. The procedure would be taking place around the time they would wake up, so we were hoping they would get them before we went in. Thankfully, they did! We were able to talk or text with both of them before the procedure (thank God for technology)!

We were so flustered, that we weren’t sure that we should drive ourselves. The clinic is located close to downtown, so there isn’t any parking next to the facility. We usually park in a parking garage close by, and walk about 10 minutes to the clinic. We were so appreciative to have our missionary family here, and they were able to be our “chauffeur". Hey, if I am ever gonna have a chauffeur, this was the time! 😉

Upon our arrival, we were greeted by our favorite receptionist (who at that point deemed herself, "our receptionist"), then headed back up to the third floor. We went in with another doctor who was entering, and waited for our coordinator. Karolina arrived, and escorted us to our room. She said it was a “crazy Friday", lots of clients in, she is one of the only English speaking coordinators, and so she was quite busy. She seemed to enjoy that though. She asked Aaron if he would like to come into the room for the transfer, he excitedly said yes. She went to get him a gown and mask. She asked me to put on my “night dress", as well. Aaron and I laughed a bit because I was just wearing a sundress I brought from home, but he needed to be in a gown, hat and mask.

As we entered the procedure room, we had a very nice nurse. She was funny and spoke great English. She pointed to a tv monitor on the wall, and said we would be able to see the embryos on the screen that were in the lab. We waited, we saw a dish, then the microscope zoomed in…and we saw our 2 embryos! Wow, it was quite amazing to us. We saw them suck them into the tube that they would use for the insertion, and then the doctor came in to get ready. We were a little giddy and excited…we were, holding onto hope and anticipating joy! That is when…the doctor, reminded us, were weren’t in America. Ugh, …that doctor. He was quite rude and spoiled a wonderful moment…let’s just say, I had a nervous giggle-to which he responded, “do you think this is funny" (in a very harsh tone)? He was having a little trouble finding the correct area for the insertion, so he was frustrated, and my giggle didn’t help. Aaron replied, that when she is nervous sometimes she will giggle…his reply, “Well, it is not helping"…to which was followed by ALOT of heavy sighs and eye rolls…banging instruments on the table. In the end the procedure was completed. Aaron was able to watch it on the ultrasound screen, he kept smiling and squeezing my hand and nodding…so, I knew it was good. They gave us a little print out to show us our two embryos being inserted…they were two little glowing specks in the picture. They were beautiful!

And now, we wait…we wait two weeks! TWO WEEKS! Today is the end of the first week…let me just say these seven days have taken foooorrrreevvvverr! We have had some anxious days, we have had some peaceful days…we are praying constantly for our two embryos, that they are attaching to the lining and digging in for a long, nice, warm and growing journey. Will you agree with us in prayer for this, that these two good things will grow, strong and healthy!

There are times that we fear we won’t become pregnant …and worry about what that means for us as future parents. We are asking the Lord to remember us…like Hannah,

1 Samuel 1:19 “the Lord remembered her plea."

He is giving us peace and reminding us of His promise and our trust in Him!

Romans 15:13 “I pray that God, the source of hope, will fill you completely with joy and peace because you trust in Him. Then you will overflow with confident hope through the power of the Holy Spirt.".

-Julie