A Christmas Miracle ... No really!

Life has an amazing way of working out! I am absolutely stunned. I am shocked. I am thrilled. I am speechless. The only way to share the story is from the beginning. When we did ivf back in 2007, I was my wife's surrogate. We used donor 1913 from Fairfax and even joined the donor 1913 yahoo group and got to meet some of the other couples who used him as well. I was disappointed in 1913 because all the children didnt look latino. That was very important for us considering I am very latina looking. So, after I miscarried with our first ivf try (which devastated me) and then had the same outcome with ivf transfer #2, Andrea decided that since we were going to try again that we would find a new donor. And so we found donor 3794 at PRS. We fell in love with his profile and he even looked like he was a part of my family! Although I am not Colombian, like the donor, he is tall and part spanish. He has dark  latino features and personality wise he is a blend of me and my wife. We loved his essays and his family background. Since there were plenty of vials of 3794, we bought one vial and had it shipped to our clinic.

After my two failed ivf attempts, I passed the baton to my wife. We used 3794 and on the first try, she got pregnant with our little man Javier. We always knew we wanted another baby, so when PRS called to let us know that our donor was about to be fresh out of sperm we bought a 2 for 1 vial and a regular vial.  Fast forward 2 years later, we decided to have another baby. We used an RE at Kaiser Permanante in San Francisco. I picked up the 2 for 1 vial from PRS San Francisco and dropped it off at the dr's office. With one good egg, our RE inseminated. Once again Andrea got pregnant on the first try.  9 months later, we had Giada. 

Life took over and my job moved us to New York, where we met another couple from the DSR who used the same donor as us. They have a little girl 2 years younger than Javier. They decided to try for baby #2 and since they were out of donor 3794, we gave them our last vial at PRS because at the time we had decided that we were done having children. Unfortunately, they did NOT get pregnant. 

Well, as life would have it,  I decided I wanted to try for baby #3. A dna offspring. We were troubled because we had to find a new donor. PRS said that 3794 was all out and there was no way we could get more. That troubled us, but we went on the search for a new donor and we found one from fairfax like the first guy we used, but this guy was polish and colombian just like our children. My wife is polish and well that makes the kids polish and colombian and spanish. So, we once again we fell in love with another donor profile. We were excited. We did ivf again. My eggs and my wife's belly. If you have been following my blog, then you know we didnt get pregnant. It's totally okay, because everything happens for a reason. No really! 

So here is the kicker! My wife got a call today from Kaiser Permanante. The woman on the other line, said that they weren't storing sperm samples for patients anymore and that they had been trying to get a hold of my wife for a while now. My wife was baffled. She was like, what are you talking about? The woman elaborated that we had a vial of donor 3794 in storage at Kaiser. Andrea said that wasn't possible. Last time we did ivf we used the 2 for 1 vial sample. The woman replied with "Donor 3794. One vial. We have it in storage for you." 

Well hot damn! When we did our insemination that resulted in Giada, they only used one of the vials. No wonder the damn sperm sample was lower than expected. We thought they used BOTH!! Unbelievable, considering there was only one good egg which resulted in our baby girl! Talk about a miracle!!! 

So now we have another vial of donor 3794! When Andrea called to tell me the news, I started crying!! What a miracle. Thank god we didn't get pregnant! I can't imagine how we would feel if Andrea was pregnant and we had gotten the call. OMG, now we can try ivf again. My eggs, Andrea's body and the same sperm donor that helped create the two beautiful children we have NOW! OMG! Life is amazing and works in mysterious ways! Not sure when we will try again, but more than likely it will be in 2014!  What a sign. What an amazing miracle for us! unreal. I am floating! 

I needed some time to think

So our IVF back in October was unsuccessful. It broke my heart like it always does for women in my situation.  Its taken me some time to heal, but everything happens for a reason doesn't it? Yes. I kept asking myself why? And well, we got our answer just a few weeks after our BFN. I was let go from my position at the radio station I was working at for two years. Trust me, I was more upset that I wasn't pregnant .... I enjoy what I do on the radio but I was not happy at work. I am grateful the company honored my contract and honestly I can't say bad things about radio station I worked at... I wish everyone I worked with all the best. Honestly, I left with two gleaming recommendations.

Right now, I don't know what I am going to do. Well, I should include my wife in this shouldn't I? We don't know what we are going to do. Our goal is to stay here in NYC and make a go of it. I am considering a new career path and perhaps want to leave Radio all together because accepting another job in radio would probably mean leaving NYC and up rooting our family. Our children are so settled here and I guess frankly we are too.

My wife and I have one more paid ivf cycle to use with our insurance and we would like to try one more time.  My wife is more apprehensive than I am.  She says she is happy we aren't pregnant right now.  she doesn't say it to be mean. I am after all unemployed. I have to agree with her.

If we do another cycle our RE suggested we go for quality and not quantity. He also suggested we follow a different protocol. Femara for the first five days, then injections like Bravelle for a few days followed by Ganurelix and 2 ovidrel shots. He also suggested that we find a new sperm donor. I have to say I like this protocol. It's cheaper on the pocket book, but whats important is that we get 4 or 5 excellent eggs.

So, I am going to do my best and update on whats happening with the Gamez family. My wife's belly is open for business, its just not the right time for a grand opening. Cheers to hoping 2014 is the year!

xo,
Mick