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Sunday, August 26, 2012

Faith Vs. Worry

Faith is defined as having full trust in a person or thing. So do I have full trust in God? I say that I do, I think that I do, but is the worry and anxiety a sign that I have not fully given it up to God? 

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I have CHOSEN to give it to God. Every minute of every day is my mind fighting back for that choice. I will continue to remind myself that I have faith in Him, whether I feel it at that immediate moment or not. 


 
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I will do everything in my power to make this happen, but when I feel nothing is working and our opportunity is passing us by, I will remind myself that He is in control... What will be, will be.

Thursday, August 23, 2012

THE SCHEDULE!!

I have been wanting to post so badly over the last couple days. So much going through my mind, but that is part of the reason I haven't posted.... I knew it was going to take some time to sort it all out into words.

The auction was an amazing success! We raised about $1000! Once more, thank you all so much for getting the word out on that! We had a lot of participation! The days leading up to, and the 3 days after the auction have been insane! But, it makes me want to do another one even more, because now I know the different things I will change! Mostly the behind the scenes organization of it all.

Here's the deal...
We have raised a total of  $8500... (Wow, seeing that in writing is motivating!...are are about 1/4 of the way there!)
Edit: 9/22/12: This is all wrong. See here and here to see what happened. I will insert link to correct budget.
The costs are this: Ali & Brian testing/exams/procedures/meds       $12000
                            Caryn testing/exams/procedures/meds               $  8000
                            Baby make/test/store                                        $  6000
                            Lawyer, and travel, misc lawyer requirements    $  4000
                                           TOTAL                                             $30000



If anyone has any FUN fundraiser ideas, let me know. As a reminder, there is the "Fundraising" tab at the top of the page. If you go there, it has links to all the great fundraising events people have set up for us! They are also on our Facebook page events. Stone Family Surrogacy Fund Facebook Page 
Hey... start Christmas shopping early! :-)

Hoping to get a loan this week, I am waiting for 2 callbacks. That is the only way we are going to be able to stay on schedule. But we will.... it will happen!

I am also focusing on all the things we can do to save money. I think I am going to do a Penny Pinching Post soon! :-)If you have any ideas, comment at the bottom, or on the Facebook page. I am not all knowing, so I would LOVE some extra ideas!

As far as the physical parts of the surrogacy, things are starting to move fast! I am getting blood work and an exam here in Oceanside this week, and they will send the results to Arizona. If all goes as planned, they should be doing the egg retrieval at the end of September! I can't believe it! My heart just jumps every time I think that in 30 days, we will have the baby, and all we will need is the body to grow it! ** Enter: Caryn**!!!!

At that point, there will be a chromosome testing done to make sure we use the embryos that are the most likely to result in pregnancy. The results will be back 2 weeks later, and then whenever Caryn's body says "give me that baby" then they will implant (I am horrible! I am still so bad at all the correct vocabulary for this! Sorry!). Then....drum roll please..... We will be waiting for that Big Fat Positive (BFP- Hmmm.... I do know some of the vocabulary!). So, we should know by Thanksgiving! How cool is that!?!?!?


Monday, August 20, 2012

End of Auction

Thank you so much, everyone for sharing and participating in the auction! So far, with all of our fundraising, we have made enough for the lawyer, and mine, Brian's, and Caryn's tests. So we still have procedures and baby creating/testing, medications, and travel expenses. In this auction, we made almost $1000! Please check for emails for invoices, and email me back your address so we can get your items to you as soon as possible!

I am hoping to do another auction sometime in October. Let me know if there are any suggestions you have for what to offer, or any changes that might be good. I will try to see if they work out. To friends and family that are following us through this whole surrogacy process, I encourage you to spread the word as much as possible. I don't expect people to participate in EVERY fundraiser. That is part of the reason that we have SO many fundraising options. But the best way to help when you are unable to buy from ANOTHER fundraiser is to help me spread the word.

Thank you, everyone. We are so blessed to have you in our lives.

Friday, August 17, 2012

VERY IMPORTANT AUCTION INFO!!

PLEASE! 

*Be sure to use whole dollar amounts and include your email when bidding!

*Payment must be made within 48 hours of winning or item will go to the next bidder down the line.

Friday, August 3, 2012

Making It Happen


If you have been following our story, you know the background, but just as a refresher: 
When we decided to try for a baby in 2011, we wanted to get approval since I am on medications to control my Autoimmune Hepatitis and Non-Alcoholic Liver Cirrhosis. I spoke to a number of OB/GYN doctors. All said that my situation would create too high risk pregnancy that they would be unable to handle my care. After understanding the risks of fatality for both the child and me, we agreed that pregnancy was not an option. Brian was on his second deployment to Afghanistan at this time, so we decided to discuss our options once he returned home. 

Two months after Brian's homecoming, Caryn asked me if we had looked into surrogacy. She offered to carry the baby for us for no compensation. She said she knew that I would be a great mother, and wanted to help me get there. I was in shock, then Brian and I talked about it, and we decided that we would do it!

We hadn't had an opportunity to save up for this kind of expense because we never thought it would be necessary. We want to do this while both families are stationed here together, and while Caryn is still willing to do it. The military insurance does not pay for infertility treatments, and although there is a strong community of support in the military, the income received is low. We are doing anything we can to save money, and many friends and family are helping to raise money. We are having difficulty getting approved for a loan of that amount, because of the income. We both want so badly to have a child, and we have been given this AMAZING gift from Caryn. We are so grateful to all the support we have received. We just don't want to lose this opportunity!

Our families are so excited for this process. This child that we are trying to get to, is already loved by so many! Even Caryn's family is in love already. I am so happy that we will be able to provide so much love!

Before we started on this journey, I was unaware how common infertility is. Until you are in the position, you don't realize how much of a loss you feel when you are unable to have that child you so badly want.It hurts because it feels that we have been told we were unable to have children, but it is also a choice that we have had to make. Wanting so badly to have a child, but choosing not to try. There are so many times that I get so stressed with the financial part of the surrogacy, and I just think: "Just forget this. I can most likely get pregnant (never tried) so why not save $40,000 and just do this the old fashioned way.... then the insurance pays for any complications that may come up." I quickly shake that out of my head, knowing that I do not want to go through the loss of a child. 

I do have difficulty with asking for help with this. I feel like we are undeserving, because we haven't been on this path for years like many couples. We have not dealt with the heartache of losing babies before they are fully developed. We have not been trying for so long to get pregnant and have been unable to. But, we do know that we will be devastated if this opportunity slips away because of money.  I have just been in a fog the past week with the worry of how this is going to happen. So excited for the time to be coming up, but trying to decide if we need to push back one more month. 

God is teaching me how to "give myself a cushion". Plan to get things done before they "need to be done". I can't wait till tomorrow to work on a fundraiser. I need tomorrow for the next step.  

 We are doing a silent auction August 15th through August 19th. We are looking for anyone who makes something or has a business to donate to the auction. Even if you have something around the house that is unused or gently used. Please contact one of us and we can add it to the auction. Anything and everything is appreciated. If you are unable to donate an item or service, please keep an eye out for the auction and join in on the bidding. We already have some amazing items.