Options and Possibilities

Lately we've been considering ways to start our family. There has still been no luck getting pregnant. I've taken four cycles of Clomid with no results, and we've gone a couple months with out it, and again no results. So it's time we start looking at other options, which include further fertility treatments and adoption. I've already set up another appt with my dr to see what the next step(s) is. It will probably be tests to see if we can figure out any reasons for me not being able to get pregnant. That appt isn't until March 11th though, so I can't really say what will be done there. Just thinking about options though, there isn't much more we can do that the military will pay for. They will pay for tests to diagnosis the problem, and any treatments/surgeries to try and correct it, but they won't pay for any procedures like IVF and such. There are four military hospitals that will do IVF, but we still have to pay for it out of our pocket. And while it can be considerably cheaper than having it done at a civilian clinic, it still starts out costing about $4000. And that doesn't include any travel, lodging, or other expenses that may occur if we are not stationed close by. All these hospitals have waiting lists too. And depending on the place, it can be from 6 months to a year, if not longer. And from what I understand, if it doesn't work the first time you have to go back on the list and wait to try again. I may be wrong about that though. It would take talking to the actual clinic to find out how all that works. That's where our other option comes in - adoption. We know this isn't a quick fix. It can take just as long and be just as trying. But if we can't get pregnant, and we know we're supposed to have kids, that doesn't leave us with much choice. We went and talked to someone at the legal office this past week, but he didn't really tell us anything I hadn't already learned online. (Believe me, I've done a lot of research on both options. I love google!) I've also already contacted the LDS Family Services to see what we can do while we are still here in Japan. We will go through them, if we do decide to go through with adoption. We will do a stateside adoption. The process to adopt a Japanese baby is very long and time consuming, and with only having a year left over here, we would really be pushing it. It's really expensive to adopt a Japanese baby/child too. With the LDS Family services, their fees are based on your income. We figured it out the other night, and it would actually cost about the same to adopt a baby as it would to do one IVF treatment. And personally, I think I would rather go through the adoption process than IVF. It is so emotionally exhausting for me to do treatments month after month and not see any results. Which is kinda why we've stopped really trying for the time being. I've heard it all from "it will happen when you stop trying" to "it will happen when you least expect it" and all the stories of people who found out they were pregnant after finishing and turning in all their adoption paperwork. So who knows, maybe I will be one of those people. All I know is that I'm meant to be a mom, and it's just a matter of making it happen. I guess until then I just have to settle with getting my baby time from friends' babies. :)

Update On The New Job

Ben's been at his new job for a couple weeks now. And honestly, he is loving it! His is the only military guy in his office. The rest are all civilians. Overall it's a pretty easy job. Just requires a lot of attention to detail, which is not a problem for him. It's nice having him home for lunch every day, and it's great having him home at a decent hour every night. He's home before 5 almost every day. And he's usually happy when he gets home! Unlike when he was in the 623rd and wouldn't get home until around 6pm and he was always grumpy and stressed. So this has been a good change. Ok, more than good. It's been a great change. Plus, they gave him a new set of orders so he no longer has any thing to do with the 623rd. YAY!!! He is officially a part of USAR-J, which makes us happier than words can describe. They didn't change our PCS date, so it's still 5 April 2011. Which means we have right about a year left, if that. We'll get to take our 30 days "moving leave" before that, which means we'll be leaving Japan probably early to mid March. Yes, I'm already starting to count down the days. :)
Just on a side note, for those that are curious.... still not a whole lot of progress with a diagnosis for his pain. We FINALLY convinced the drs here to put him on the meds that work. And what do you know, he's feeling better. Well other than the cold or flu or something he's got now. But the pain in his side isn't as bad. And we FINALLY got another appt with the specialist down in Okinawa. We'll be headed back down there the end of March. Yeah, we have to wait another month. Apparently the dr will be on leave (again) for another month. You would think they would have more specialists down there, or at least not send their one away all the time. Ugh, it's ridiculous. Who knows, maybe someday we'll have an answer.