Is April here yet? Thoughts. Funny Story

This has basically been a waiting game for us, and anyone who knows me, knows I am NOT good at waiting!  But, I sort of have a feeling I will be doing A LOT of waiting in the next year or so...  We are super excited for our vacation to the East Coast in March / April, but I am also anxious to get home and get this show on the road...basically I just want to find out if all of our "parts" work together and if this is even going to be a possibility scientifically (biologically?  I don't know), or financially. 

This whole MRKH thing is really strange to me.  I guess I dont really understand how the female body works and I am not really sure if its because I never learned or because I didnt pay attention, but my husband knows more about it than I do.  Any Dieringer School District / ARHS Alums care to weigh in on this?  Did we learn about this stuff? 

I think I have a full understanding that this MRKH thing effects Jason and me. However, I'm not going to lie, I have mostly felt like it affects me WAY more. That is, until the other day: Jason and I were driving in the car (going to dinner or something...it doesn’t matter), and he looked at me and said "You know what I've been thinking about lately?" of course I never know what he is thinking, so I responded "nope". Then he said "You know, in April, when I am going to have to go to the doctor to get my sperm (side note: from this point on I will call it "stuff" because I hate that other word) tested? I've been really worried about it because I don’t know how long I am supposed to take. What if I am in there for like 2 minutes and then all the ladies in the doctor’s office talk about how fast I was, or what if I am in there for 30 minutes and they are talking about how long it took me. How long should I be in there for? What if what I think is normal is really a short amount of time or a long amount of time? I want to be average. I don’t want the people at the doctor’s office to talk about me when I leave." I did not have an answer for him, but it made me laugh for a while.

Interesting article

I found this interesting article that is almost exactly what Jason and I are going through.  This article does a way better job explaining it!   Here it is!

Updates

I dont think I have given an update in a while, so here it goes...

I have been having lots of tests done;  ultrasounds, blood work, MRI's, more blood work...After my initial ultrasound when they couldn't find my ovaries, I started getting a little bit discouraged.  Its just a lot of information, and it was all happening so quickly.  I think I was just really overwhelmed. I am dealing with these tests and not having positive results, plus working, going to school, being married, coaching volleyball, the holiday's, and the normal stuff life throws at you.  Anyway, there is some good news...

I have ovaries, and they appear to be working. I also have eggs (although the count is a bit lower than they would like them to be, but not impossibly low), and I also have two working kidneys which a lot of women with MRKH do not have.  So, overall I feel really lucky, and pretty hopeful.  Although, a little bit freaked out about the thought of having to "hurry up" with this process due to my low(ish) egg count. 

Next steps:

I think we are going to wait until we get back from vacation in April to take our next steps, but they will be as follows:

1. Jason needs to get tested to make sure his "stuff" works

2. I will have more blood work done

3. I will have to take fertility medications (not a big fan of this idea)

4. Find someone to carry our baby.  We are currently accepting applications. :)    
5. Figure out how we will pay for all of this $$$$

A little bit about #4...We are not actually taking applications, but we are looking for someone who would be interested.  Our Dr Says its better when you know the person.  Ideally, the person will have already had the child(ren) that they want, and are willing to help us out.  He also prefers that they are in their late 20-30's. So, if you are interested, or know someone who might be...Just let me know!

A Picture I Like

I just saw this picture the other day and I really like it.  Just had to share.

Womb for Rent?

I have been thinking a lot lately about having a surrogate carry our baby.  During my research I ran across this article about surrogates in India.  I am just curious what people think about it. I am not sure that it is something I could personally do, but maybe for someone.  My Doctor, Jason and I think it would be great to know the person carrying our baby, or at least know of the person. It would be a bonus if they lived close...That being said, anyone want to carry our baby?  I am only a little bit joking :)

Youtube video

This is a great Youtube video about someone else with MRKH.  Check it out here

The Old Days

Some of you know that I am currently a college student, and have been for about 13 years. No, I'm not a Dr...I just really love going to different colleges and taking lots of pointless classes. But all of that is almost coming to an end. I will officially be done at the beginning of March!  YIPPY!  Anyway, the reason I mention this is because I have been taking a lot of woman's history / marriage / family classes and part of me finds them to be very sad.  I have read, ok more like skimmed several books that talk about woman in the old days and their roles in their family's.  Basically, their role was to be a baby maker, and take care of the family.  If they couldn't have children, then their husbands would divorce them, and no one would ever marry them again.  I just think that is so sad.  And even today in my MRKH support and awareness group on facebook, there are woman from all over the world on there.  One woman from another country said her family has basically disowned her because they feel she is useless.

What if I was born in the old day's? I cannot imagine my life like that. Those woman must have felt so alone. Anyway, I am glad I was born when I was.  And I hope that I can make other woman who maybe feel this way now, know that there is hope for them, and that they are not alone.

I did a google search for famous woman that have MRKH...here is what I came up with...Interesting :)

• Eva Braun - Adolf Hitler's longtime companion!  Awesome, I am so glad we have something in common...also, we are both German. Although, this cannot be confirmed many believe that she had MRKH.
• Amalia of Oldenburg -   I have no idea who she is, but apparently she is famous and had MRKH 

And that concludes the list...Although someday, you might be able to add Jen Irwin to that list :)