IVF Donations | BabyOrBust

Posts Tagged ‘IVF Donations’

July 1

Wednesday, July 11th, 2007

Just like most husbands, I have failed to wish Baby or Bust a timely HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!! On July 1, BOB turned one year. It all kicked off last July with a “test” donation from my brother, Kyle, and quickly turned into more than $6,000 in donations. Unbelievable. Our goal was of course not met, but I think we never anticipated receiving that much. From perfect strangers no less.

BOB has definitely been a wild ride for Shelton and I. This was yet again one of my wild whims that he gave into. But I just knew I had to do it. Strip away the donations, I just wanted to provide a place where the average Joe, like Shelton and I, could find valid, real-life information about infertility. I knew if I were looking for it and couldn’t find it, then I certainly couldn’t be alone.

We’ve heard from hundreds and hundreds of people from right here in Wichita to Spain, Australia, Switzerland everywhere in between. I think it was less than a week that we received a donation from a woman in Madrid, Spain. It was a perfect example of how quickly the Internet unites us and makes the world oh-so small.

Shelton and I did several radio interviews, the CBS Early Show interview, made front page of the Wichita Eagle and have been featured (and kicked in the teeth) on countless Web sites. It was this press coverage that helped BOB to be as successful as it has been and we are grateful to all of the media representatives who saw in us a story worth sharing.

I’m proud of this site and I’m proud of the attention it has brought to infertility. I’ve learned that the people who need this site have found their way to it. I’ve learned that ultimately, laughing about this has been my best medicine- and I hope it’s yours too. There’s nothing we can do about it. My life is too short to waste it feeling sorry for myself and what if-ing myself into corners I can’t back out of. I’ve learned to appreciate the abundance in my life and not to take an ounce of it for granted- the support of our families, the love of our friends (and who the real ones are), the gift of two really great jobs, our perfect health, the strength of our marriage. I’ve learned the generosity of strangers- and I’m now more inclined than ever to reciprocate that generosity at every opportunity I have.

We recently renewed our domain name, so we’re going to be around for a while. This past year would not have been possible with out the encouragement and support of all of our friends and family, the thousands of visitors to our site, the overwhelming generosity of the donors and emails filled with kind words and support.

Happy Anniversary Baby or Bust- and thank you to each of you for making it possible!!

Tags: BabyOrBust Readers, IVF Donations, marriage
Posted in About BabyOrBust | Comments Off on July 1

Slight Change in Plans

Tuesday, March 6th, 2007

OK, so here goes. We are not going to have a baby this year. This was a decision that was not made easily, as none of this has been easy. Shelton and I shared a lot of tears, deep conversation, prayer and time to decide that this is the best decision right now.

As I’ve shared, and you can probably imagine, last year dealt me the worst I’ve ever seen. By the end of December I was beginning to sink into a bit of depression, I wasn’t sleeping and I felt this overwhelming anxiety. One evening I told Shelton that I just didn’t think it made sense right now to move forward with the IVF. I wanted to wait one or two more years.

Believe me, we want to start a family more than anything. But I made us re-examine the entire picture. I was changing jobs, Shelton is still in school (thanks to his company’s tuition reimbursement), we’re selling the house, and among many other reasons, we didn’t have the full amount needed. With the $6,000 in donations (THANK YOU!!!), $5000 in FSA and a couple thousand from our tax return, we were still going to have to borrow a couple thousand dollars. We just didn’t want to do that. We’d rather continue saving and have cash in hand.

Our only sound reason for continuing this year was our FSA. That is the non-refundable, pre-tax money we were having taken out of our paychecks. We were going to use that entire amount toward the IVF. It’s a use it or lose it plan. We figured we’d just have to buy a lot of glasses, bandaids and Aleve this year to eat that up. The very next day Shelton received a message that due to a mix-up on the FSA company’s part, they were offering an opt-out. So, we were SO FORTUNATE to get out of that and save ourselves that loss. It felt like a little sign from God telling us that we’d made the right decision.

I know we did. A huge weight has been lifted and I’m feeling like myself again. Shelton and I believe whole-heartedly that a year or two from now we’ll be able to walk into that clinic with a check and start our IVF class.

Baby Or Bust is not going anywhere!! I will continue to update you on our progress and share news and information I find. Please know that all of the donations are tucked away safely. We once again thank you for your support, encouragement and for tagging along on our little journey. It has definitely presented more surprises, ups and downs than I think we ever anticipated. I’m so grateful for having this site to use as an outlet for all of it. And I hope that you, whether an infertile couple or not, have gained something as well.

Tags: FSA, IVF, IVF Costs, IVF Donations
Posted in IVF Journey | Comments Off on Slight Change in Plans

Still Here!

Saturday, January 13th, 2007

Hello everybody! I feel like every post I start goes “ sorry it’s been a while.” I HAVE NO EXCUSES. So my goal is to start getting here a lot more frequently, because after all, that is the point!

We had a pretty topsy-turvy, hellacious year last year. But it’s over and gone and we rejoiced naked in the streets. Not really, but we did rejoice. Part of the reason my posts are so few and far between, as I have mentioned previously, is that we’re just in this holding pattern. Nothing is really developing and so I feel like you don’t need to keep reading about all my sappy up and down emotions.

When we started this last year, our target cycle date was February, as in next month, starting our hormones and such this month. That’s not happening. A lot of reasons really, the money isn’t there yet and we don’t want to force that, we’re not under a strict “should have had it done yesterday” timeline like a lot of couples are, and the closer we came to the end of last year, I knew we needed some emotionally boring time for a while. I need my entire mind, body and soul to be in tip-top shape, and I’m getting a lot closer. I also changed jobs at the very end of December, and so a little adjustment time was needed.

But have no fear, we are still planning to do our cycle. In fact, we are scheduled for the February IVF class with our clinic. That gives me the willies because they will teach us how to administer my shots, injections, needles in my skin!!! I know Shelton will be a pro. At this point we’re looking at the April/May cycle, but possibly the July/Aug cycle. This class will really help us make up our minds.

The topic everyone wants to know about- the moolah. Well, we’ve raised an exciting $5836!!! (I’m really behind in updating that page too. I’m so bad!) Unbelievable, and we’re just more grateful than we’ll ever be able to express. So we have close to $4000 of that, because of expenses already incurred. We have our FSAs which I discussed in a previous post. Due to expenses taken out of that for my surgery, we have the full amount of Shelton’s remaining. We expect to get a significant tax return. This leaves us only needing to borrow less than $5,000. It’s getting so close!

This site was never intentioned to be solely about the donations, and we’re so glad that so many people get that. So many of you have reached out and just said thanks for the information, for the candid stories and for stepping out and talking about infertility. That was so important to us. We’re still hopeful that we’ll be able to raise more money that we need and be able to to help out one or ten or one hundred other couples. That would just be the ultimate.

So I’m feeling pretty good these days. More like myself again and that is such a good feeling. Shelton and I are both working all the time and enjoying our time together. We feel like we’re in this weird grey zone between the married without children and impending parenthood. We’re taking advantage of the freedom while we have it, but also looking forward to not having that anymore. It’s an interesting place to be. I know we’ll have more updates more frequently and I will get better about writing.

Thanks to all of you who still stop by to catch-up. Thanks for all the donations. And we wish you all have fabulous 2007!!

Tags: FSA, IVF, IVF Donations
Posted in IVF Journey | Comments Off on Still Here!

Will Scrapbook for Babies

Monday, August 14th, 2006

I’ve mentioned that I love to scrapbook. Along with being a can’t-miss-her Oprah fan and being fascinated with Rachael Ray, I’m just a big 25-year old nerd. What can I say?

I’ve nearly scrapped all the photos I have of our lives over the past few years, I’ve kind of hit a wall. Nothing left to scrap. Weird, huh?!

Anyway, I’m offering up my services to scrapbook for those of you who would like a scrapbook (or a few) but don’t have the time, energy, interest or desire to do it yourself. They really make fantastic birthday, anniversary and Christmas gifts. Or just because gifts!!

Obviously this is a time consuming project, especially since I have a day job. But I could take on a couple of books and see where we go from there. Timing, pricing, etc. would be negotiable based on the size of your project.

I did a scrapbook-for-hire job last year and I really enjoyed it. It was of a friend’s granddaughter. By the time I was finished I did not want to return the books (three total) to her at all!! She fell in love with them and gave them to her daughter as a gift.

I know I need to find a way to earn extra money for our IVF fund. I’d like to do something that will allow me to be at home and really enjoy what it is I’m doing. And possibly help one of you fine folks out in the process.

Please email babyorbust@gmail.com if you are interested…. place “Scrapbook” in your subject line.

Tags: IVF Donations
Posted in IVF Journey | Comments Off on Will Scrapbook for Babies

Free IVF

Sunday, July 30th, 2006

We received a donation tonight from an organization called Free IVF dot com. We’d yet to hear about or find this site. They raise money and offer it to other couples facing IVF. This is one of our goals, and something we’ve already done once. Fantastic! I’m so glad to have found this site.

They also have a place where you can sign a national petition encouraging Congress to pass legislation to require insurance coverage- I strongly encourage you to sign it by clicking here.

A HUGE thank you to the generous folks at Free IVF.

Tags: IVF Donations, thank you
Posted in IVF Resources | Comments Off on Free IVF

Our Cup Runneth Over

Monday, July 17th, 2006

Since the site went up 17 days ago, Shelton and I have been completely overwhelmed with the amount of support we’ve received from not only our friends and families, but people across the globe.

We’re blown away by the number of people writing to us to share their stories and experiences, and showing off their perfect little blessings. Oh yes, lots of baby pics and we enjoy seeing every one of them! Every one of your stories has deeply touched our hearts and I’ve shed more than a few tears. The lengths at which a couple will go to finally become parents- be it IVF, other treatments or adoption- is touching. I never knew so many people were affected by this until we got in the boat with you.

Just an unbelievable thank you to everyone who has written to us and sent in a dollar… or more! We’d love to extend a hug to each of you, but we know that just isn’t possible. We’ve made so many new friends. And to our snail-mail donors, while we can’t respond to all of you, please know that you are so appreciated.

We don’t know that it’s been made clear enough- but we have no intentions of getting rid of Baby or Bust when we’ve reached our goal. We feel like the $20,000 is just the beginning of what Baby or Bust can accomplish. We hope to raise so much awareness with the site… and we hope to raise far more money so that we can offer grants to other couples and help them reach their goal to be parents.

We know the last few posts have just been about the goings on of the site and less about our journey, but we’re kind of at a stand still right now. We have a doctor’s appointment on Thursday and we’ll have plenty of news to share then.

Thank you for being a part of this with us and please keep sharing your stories, we look forward to them so much.

Tags: IVF, IVF Donations, thank you
Posted in IVF Journey | Comments Off on Our Cup Runneth Over