We're Adopting!!!

Thank you so much for all of your sweet enthusiasm! We're so excited yet slightly nervous to be stepping out into the unknown with our embryo adoption! We're going to be doing a few different fundraisers but wanted to share with you guys our YouCaring website where all of our fundraising will be through, just click on the image below and it will take you there.

Additionally we're going to be doing a t-shirt fundraiser, we did one briefly our last adoption, but didn't set it up until she was actually born...in our defense she came 3 weeks early ;-). We're going to be using the same design, as we love it and what it means to our family, but will be making it a super soft t-shirt this time around! We plan on having adult and children's sizes. We'll let you know more about that as soon as we get all the details! But here is an idea of what the shirts will look like (most likely)...

Thanks for all your prayers and support!

Blessings,
The Houghtons

HELP I need somebody! Not just anybody...

So Olive says it best...she's ready for a pal, a friend, a cohort in crime, a little someone to boss around, a snuggle buddy, or better known as a sibling!

We are so excited to share with each and everyone one of you that we are starting our second adoption! This has been a long time coming (I mean I've been ready since she hit 3 months), and we're so eager and ready!  As many of you who followed our first adoption know, we don't do things quite so conventionally. Olive's adoption, from paper work to birth, happened in 4 months. It was a whirlwind, but so worth it! (I mean look at that face!) This second adoption process is also a bit "unconventional" or really, I should say, not generally talked about. 

We are excited to share with all of you that we are going to be adoption sweet little embryos! Yup, you heard that right! There are over 750,000 frozen embryos in need of homes and we are so excited that we will get to help bring that to fruition. 

What does that look like? 

Well, thank you for asking.

When many couples go through the IVF (in-vitro fertilization) process they can come away with more embryos then they desire to use themselves, and when this happens there are 4 things that can happen. 1) They can choose to keep them frozen, for further use, 2) they can choose to donate them to science, 3) they can donate them to couples desiring to adopt them.  When they choose that 3rd option, they are then taken and then given to another couple to conceive and give birth to as their own child, and the saddest of all 4) disposal. 

This is a great way to be sure each little life is given a home, and it also allows for the adoptive mom to experience pregnancy.  With 750,000 frozen embryos out there, there is certainly a need! 

What this process will look like for us though? Well, we are currently on the wait list (6th in line) at our fertility doctor's office.  There is a demand for embryos but they have to wait for the supply (or couples who are willing to donate them). When we get the call, I (Kate) will go on a number of different meds (whoohoooo) to prepare my body (very similar to the process used in IVF).  Then 1-2 little embryos (they don't know how many you will be given until you get that call) will be transferred and then...the WAIT...until they confirm if we're pregnant or not!  

So how can you help?

Needless to say, we covet your prayers.

Please pray for the waiting period. Please pray for confidence in the Lord, as we know that this is the plan that he has laid before us. Please pray for the meds to not be to draining. Please pray that we continue to be the best parents to our little girl as we walk through this next season. 

Secondly, funds.  This adoption process is far cheaper then our first, but still comes with a price.  We've been told that our adoption could be anywhere from $8,000 - $10,000 (Plus the medication).  We will be having a few fundraisers (new t-shirts) and so be on the lookout for those in further posts. 

We are so excited and cannot wait to share more news with you as the journey progresses!!! 

Love,

The Houghtons

Joy and Sorrow

Sorry its been so long since I've written, it has been a whirlwind of a 10 months (well, that might be a slight exaggeration).  We are so overwhelmed at the changes that have happened in our little girl. She has grown so much and has the biggest personality! It seems like every day she tries something new out.  She can almost walk, army crawls like a fiend, eats what she feels like, jabbers constantly (even tells her own jokes, which she will giggle at), and she adores her baby cousin!

Do you ever feel like there a seasons that you cannot quite wrap your mind around?  You muddle through, but that's about all you can muster? As many of you know, we've been trying to conceive for 3 years, and we can see clearly now that had we been able to do so, we wouldn't have our Olive. It is exciting to see how God's timing all works out, but I cannot say that I always understand it. Since adopting Olive, the desire to carry a biological child hasn't decreased.  If you have every spoken with me in person, you will hear me say that "Adoption will never satisfy the desire to carry a biological child."  I don't know that God intended for it to. Adoption brings with it its own challenges and joys, just as having a biological child would (or so I would imagine). Nothing could ever replace this baby girl. She is ours in every way. She has brought so much joy into our lives, and the Lord's faithfulness is written in every step of our journey together. She made me a mommy. 

Needless to say, we are still pursuing pregnancy, and through some wise council and prayer we decided to proceed with fertility treatment.  Because we are in the lovely 14th percentile of unexplainable infertility we decided to move forward with IUI. If you aren't familiar with it, this is "turkey baster" method as I so lovingly call it.  We started it this past month and it was quite the adventure.  I felt all the feels.  It was an emotional rollercoaster.  From injections (which my sweet husband gave me) to numerous doctor's visits, plus the many physical reactions which are loads of fun.  Once the actual procedure was complete, thus began the two week wait. During this time I was on two different medications, one of which mimics the signs of pregnancy (which seems like a cruel joke). 

The two week wait was one of the hardest things I've experienced.  Talk about stressful. We waited and tried to enjoy what we could, making jokes about pregnancy and hopes for the future.  Then two weeks passed. We went in to do the last and final step today, blood work.  I hate needles and so this wasn't exactly my cup of tea, plus I kept having this nagging feeling that we weren't pregnant. I prayed and tried to find hope, but it was so difficult. We went in to get blood work and then had to wait for the phone call.  That afternoon they called.  Immediately I knew the answer was no. Her voice gave it away.  

We are devastated. And yet our God is faithful.  He is in charge and He is good.  We are going to do one more round of IUI, and that's it.  We are confident that adoption is in our future, and we've decided we would only do two rounds.  We pray that biological children are in our future, but also pray for peace in the meantime.