update on cycles, and kiddos!

So, I went to the RE today, and got some good news. He thinks we should be able to conceive relatively naturally, considering all of our problems.
Here is the protocol for the next few months: continue the MASSIVE doses of folic acid and B vitamin cocktail, and continue baby aspirin. Natural cycles (no clomid, no injectibles). U/S on CD12, trigger shot (Ovidrel) on that day (hopefully) (no IUI, just timed fun) 5 days later I start heparin to keep my blood from clotting too fast, and prometrium just to cover our bases.

Hopefully this will result in a little brother or sister for our little munchkins in about 9-12 months. It will give them some more time to adjust, but our age difference between our youngest (now) and our new addition won't be too big. (I am not a fan of big age gaps and 5 years is a bit long for my liking). I think after having been here for well over a year, the kids will have had time enough to adjust to being here. I talked to a fellow foster mom (who has 10 bio kids too! wowie!) about how her kids deal with having a new baby in the family, and she had nothing but good stuff to say, like how much more they feel like they are part of the family when brought into the mix of prenatal appointments, the excitement of preparing the nursery, the talk of baby names, talk of them having a new brother or sister, etc. She said they have all adjusted just as typical children do, some with difficulty and some w/o but all in all, it had been a good experience for her and all her foster children once they came out of the post-baby jealousy phase. She said she felt like it had really brought them closer as a family each time. That really solidified my thoughts of brining a baby into the mix, hearing it first hand from some body who has done that before, and often at that! (10 bio kids, oh my!)

Hopefully this post finds everyone doing well and recovering from the holidays. The kids had SOOOOO much fun this Christmas. My family when a tad overboard, but it was great seeing their faces, and watching them stay busy with all their new toys since then is nice too. It's nice to have plenty of toys to play with especially since we don't do cable TV. They took quite a while to adjust after the holidays, but school starts tomorrow, and the routine will be back in full swing tomorrow come 6am, so I know things will get even better then! The kids have all picked new names, and those I can post here, so no more confusion of trying to distinguish them by their initials any more.

Their new names are: (oldest to youngest)
Parker
Emma
Drea

And yes, these names will be official once we finalize the adoption. Which, speaking of finalization, our new adoption worker seems to think that the appeal should be going through closer to a year, not two, so we're hoping to finalize this calendar year! WOOO! I am going to call the attorney sometime in the next month and get the paperwork ready for that so we can finalize as soon as the appeal goes through since the 6 month post placement visits have already ALL happened! woo hoo!

More later when I think to write a better update on the kiddos! They are just growing like weeds (well, all except for Emma, and we're going to have that checked out, but that's for another update..) and turning into sweet, loving kids. Today, when they found out Papa was sick at home, Emma wanted to bring him something that would make him feel better. I love seeing the fruits of my labor come through in the form of compassion for another. Such rewarding work this parenting business is. Also SUCH a tough road of sanctification on my part. The Holy Spirit is working in me each and every day, refining me, preparing me for the work that Christ has already called me to. Praise the Lord!

-Megan