One Things For Certain: Nothings For Sure

Since Taylor and I have been married we have wanted a baby. For the first year we weren't exactly "trying," but we weren't preventing either. We figured that it would happen when it was supposed to happen. After we had been married a year, I was started to get concerned that something wasn't right. I had a yearly appointment  with my OBGYN and I thought that would be a good time to discuss our concerns. My doctor asked me to have an ultrasound done, so I made an appointment and had my ovaries checked. The ultrasound tech didn't say too much about what she saw, but said that the doctor would call me in the next couple of days. After 2-3 days I was so anxious to find out what the results were, so I called and talked to my doctors nurse, she told me that my doctor was out of town, but said that she could tell me what the results said. She went on to tell me that the papers said, "multiple follicles seen. PCOS?" That's all that she could tell me and I hung up more confused than when I called. I had no idea what PCOS was or what that mean for Taylor and I. Thankfully, my good friend google helped me out. PCOS stands for Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. I found out that it was the leading cause in infertility blah blah blah. I cried and cried because whatever this "syndrome" was, I knew I didn't want it. I called back the following week to talk to the doctor about what this meant because we were ready to start a family. The nurse called me back again instead of the doctor and basically just said, "the doctor has confirmed that you do have PCOS and you can make an appointment in three months to come in if you still haven't conceived." I hung up the phone a mess. The only information I had was what I had read on the internet. I felt like my doctor wasn't informative and wasn't explaining things that should have been explained.Taylor and I talked about what we should do and we decided to get another opinion. A lot of people told me to get an appointment with Dr. Torres, so I called to make one and he was booked up for three months. I knew I needed answers ASAP because I am a very anxious person. The receptionist told me great things about Dr. Haraway who was in the same office as Dr. Torres. I decided to make an appointment with him and he got me in 2 weeks later. (July 2011) We met with him and he sat down in the room and talked with Taylor and I for 45 minutes about what he "thought" was going on and what his suggestions were. He told us that he looked over the same ultrasound that the other doctor had me do and he did NOT feel that I had PCOS. (praise the Lord) He said that he felt that from past records he saw from the other doctor that he thought I was anovulatory. (which basically just means that I do not ovulate on my own) Dr. Haraway told me that he wanted me to try a drug called Clomid. He explained that it is a pill to help women conceive and that it also helps women ovulate. He explained that it does not work for everyone and after taking it I have my blood drawn every month to see if it had worked or not. Our main concern at this point was multiples. We had heard that clomid could cause more than one child. Dr. Haraway told us that the chances of twins was 12% higher than someone not on clomid. He also said that there was a chance of triplets, but he said in his 20 years of gynecology he had only seen 3 sets of "clomid triplets." We went home and discussed it in private. After many prayers and discussions, we decided to give it a shot and see how the first month went. Taylor was bound and determine that we would have a baby without the medicine, but after talking about it, we decided to try it one month and see if it worked. After the first month, the nurse called and confirmed that I had ovulated, so we decided to keep trying it. We did 6 months of clomid and every month I ovulated. ( By this point in my life, I was no longer terrified of needles like I was prior to our clomid experience) My doctor called me himself and said that he usually didn't have people take the clomid any longer than 6 months. He said if ovulation occured for 6 consecutive months and there was no contraception, then his next option would be to send us to a fertility specialist in Little Rock. He asked me to have my tubes checked in December of 2011 before we were referred to the specialist. This procedure is called an HCG and I was more than dreading it. (because of google) I was told to take the clomid one more month (the 7th month) just to increase the chances that particular month. (sometimes even if the tubes are open there are minor blockages that are "flushed" out during this procedure, so the clomid was taken just to make sure I ovulated) I went in for the HCG and it was not a pleasant experience, but I dealt with it. I was willing to do whatever I had to do. Once it was over the doctor confirmed that my tubes were fine and that I more than likely wasn't the problem. He asked for Taylor to get "checked." We talked about it, but considering that he already has a child and knowing that Christmas was coming up, but weren't ready to put out the expense of it. (because insurance wouldn't cover any of it and it was $350) Throughout the last 7 months Taylor and I held each other close and did a lot of crying and a lot of praying. We kept our faith knowing that God had a plan for a family, but we were starting to wonder what that plan was. 

                                               I love this picture. Living on a prayer!

Our Story

When Taylor and I were in the 5th grade, we both went to different elementary schools. He went to North Main and I went to Westwood. (that's where all the cool kids went...haha) Taylor played football for the white pittbulls and that is the team that my dad and Phil Hicks coached together. Taylor and I met at football practice. I would always go with my dad and through the ball around just like one of the boys. When 6th grade started our school district decided to combine the schools, so from then on we went to the same middle school, junior high, and high school. Taylor and I were always friends, but never great friends until our sophomore year of high school. We planned out our schedules together and we had 5 out 7 classes together. We liked hanging out with each other and it also helped to do our homework and study together. Our junior year we took a few classes together again, but not as many as our 10th grade year. As we became seniors we sort of went our separate ways. We didn't hang out much our senior year or the summer following. On August 4, 2006 Taylor became a daddy to one handsome little boy. (Peyton Cole Sterling) During the fall of 2006 all of our friends started college. Most of them stayed at UAFS like Taylor and I did. After a few months I decided that college wasn't for me and I started going to Designer College to get my license to be a hairstylist. At this point in our life Taylor and I started to become friends again. He came to the beauty college several times to get his hair cut by me and we would also hang out at Coti and Diamond's apartment every now and then. Once I finished beauty school, I began working at Mitzi Dunavin Salon in Greenwood. I worked there for a year and Taylor would still come to get his haircut and he will also bring Peyton. In August of 2008 I got a phone call from DeNise, the owner of the beauty school, asking me to come back and be an instructor. I willingly agreed thinking it was a good opportunity. As I started getting my instructor license Taylor started to come around quite a bit. He would come by my parents house, just to hang out and he would also bring Peyton. (who had just turned 2) After a few months of "hanging out" Taylor and I decided to see if we could make it work. We became facebook official in October of 2008. Taylor was still going to school to become a mechanical engineer and was also working for Center Point Energy. On May 11th 2009, Taylor asked me to be his wife. The same day my sister bought her very own house. (She will say we stole her thunder, but it's Taylor's fault) I moved in with Amber  and lived with her for a year, before Taylor and I tied the knot. We got married on May 15, 2010 and it was the absolute best day of my life. Five of my best friends were standing beside me and five of Taylor's best friends were beside him. Phil Hicks (remember Taylor's little league football coach?) was the officiant. We were so honored to have him marry is because we both grew up around him and we think so highly of him. It started raining at 6:00pm that day, but thankfully it stopped at 6:25pm, just 5 minutes before I walked down the isle. Normally I would have been upset, but at that point I knew there was nothing  I could do about it, and it turned out wonderful. The raindrops made it even more romantic. We read our own vows to each each and my wonderful cousin Heather sang, From this Moment on, as we poured our unity sand. Ok, I guess that's enough about our wedding day; even though, I could go on all day. We left the next morning for our honeymoon in the Riviera Maya. (specifically Puerto Moreles, Mexico) As we came back from our honeymoon we moved into a little 2 bedroom apartment that we thought was wonderful. We barely had enough room for all of our wedding gifts, clothes, and Peyton's toys, but we were tickled to death to be living together in that tiny little apartment. At this point in our lives, Taylor was still  going to school and working really hard. He got an internship at Baldor Electric and I was still working for DeSigner College as an instructor. We lived in our apartment for a little over before Taylor graduated from college with a Bachelor's in Mechanical Engineering. He got hired at Baldor as an engineer and I we were more than excited for him to have a "real" job. After graduating we got a pre-approved to buy a home and on July 1, 2011 we closed on our VERY OWN home. Well I'm sure this is long and boring to most people who read it, but it gives me butterflies in my tummy to remember how blessed we are to have each other. That's all for now.. until next time.

Our honeymoon in Mexico!

Our Home!