Where do you begin a story like this…..how do you create a page like this…..this is not like us…..to ask for help.
Kelly and I have been trying to fulfill our dream of becoming parents for 3 and a half years now and because of infertility we’ve been unsuccessful and we need your help.
Most of the friends I grew up with and have worked with over the years have kids that are grown and out of the house, but a long time dream of having a family and a baby was never in the plans for me until I met Kelly. And now I can’t wait.
Let me tell you a little bit about us and what’s been going on. Neither one of us were looking for love when it found us…. But our two souls were destined to be together. It was July 2006 when we started dating. I asked her to marry me 5 months later. We celebrated our wedding with friends and family on April 9, 2010. Just recently the state of Florida would officially recognize our union so on our 5th wedding anniversary (April 9, 2015) we were able to make it legal. It was a bitter-sweet day, as we shared tears of joy in making this recommitment we also found out our first IVF (in vitro fertilization) cycle was unsuccessful. The hard work, the sacrifices, the excitement, the good news, and the belief in our hearts that the day was finally here was not going to happen…..and it was heartbreaking.
We first started trying to get pregnant 3 and a half years ago. Our first year and a half trying to conceive we spent using a close friend as our donor and our very first insemination ended with a positive pregnancy test! We were overjoyed. We miscarried at 6 weeks. We tried 10 times over the next 16 months, each time believing this was going to be it.
September 2012, was our first infertility treatment. Lab work and ultrasound tests revealed endometriosis with an endometrial cyst on Kelly’s ovary. Endometriosis is a disease in which tissue that normally grows on the inside of the uterus grows outside the uterus. Its main symptoms…..pelvic pain and infertility. Kelly’s ovarian cyst was the size of a softball and needed to be surgically removed. Ovaries are usually the size of a walnut.
The plan was to start Clomid (a medication that supports the growth and release of a mature egg) after surgery and to use a sperm bank for the best chance possible. From December 2012 to April 2014 we tried 7 IUI’s (intrauterine insemination), 5 with the OB-GYN doctor and 2 with an infertility specialist. All unsuccessful.
So in June 2014 we made the decision to do IVF. After months of saving we were finally ready to start the process in March 2015 - The medications for IVF are intense, Kelly had to withstand 4 shots a day plus several oral medications. Bruised, swollen and tender she endured…….all for little “Jackson-Katie”. Jackson Cooper or Katie Marie whichever God blesses us with. March 26, 2015, they drained 5 follicles and retrieved 4 eggs! 4 eggs! We were so excited. More medications after egg retrieval to get ready for embryo transfer on day 5. Day 3 – all 4 eggs looked great and continued to multiply their cells. 4 eggs! Day 5 – Embryo transfer day – only one egg survived the journey and continued to grow…. but it only takes one! Our sweet Jackson-Katie. Tears of joy streamed down our faces as we believed and trusted God would give us the desires of our hearts.
(photo: 3/31/2015 Day 5 Embryo Transfer day)
The two week wait………
April 7, 2015 – a positive blood test! Pregnancy is looking good. Will repeat the blood test in 2 days to see if hCG levels continue to rise, the hCG level should double every couple days.
April 9, 2015 – our 5th wedding anniversary and the day we “legally” married. The day we found out Jackson-Katie wasn’t going to make it.
You know, you believe and trust so much that when the devastating news comes you don’t expect it and it crushes you. We mourned our loss and got back up again.
Now we’re ready for round 2 of IVF and this is where you come in. When someone you love suffers a loss your heart goes out to them and somehow, someway you wish you could do something. Unfortunately we have exhausted most of our savings and need to build our IVF bank back up. This is why we have created this go-fund-me account. We haven’t borrowed or charged a dime of our infertility treatment and don’t want to start now. One IVF cycle is about $12,000-14,000. None of which is covered by insurance.
We want you to know we understand this is not your responsibility and that this is a choice we are making not a necessity. We know we are blessed beyond measure and all our needs are met. We know there are many people who have nothing or very little and in no way do we ever want to take away from people who are in need. It’s not easy to donate money and not really know where it’s going, so we promise to you that EVERY donation we receive will go directly towards our infertility treatment and our dream of having a child. And ANY unused funds at the end of our journey (if successful or told we can no longer continue) we promise to pay it forward and re-donate to another couple with similar needs.
We believe God doesn’t give us more than we can handle and we believe for some reason, we may never know, that this is the plan He laid out for us. We praise God through all circumstances and unanswered prayers. Throughout this whole process we have never stopped believing that God will bless us and one day Jackson-Katie will be with us and this experience will just be memories of how we grew to be a family.
From the bottom of our hearts….thank you for taking the time to read our story. We know and understand that our family and friends, or even strangers, who read our story might not be able to donate financially……please know that we appreciate you sharing our story, encouraging thoughts and prayers as much as a monetary donation.
Thank you so very much,
Kim and Kelly Raymond
Kelly and I have been trying to fulfill our dream of becoming parents for 3 and a half years now and because of infertility we’ve been unsuccessful and we need your help.
Most of the friends I grew up with and have worked with over the years have kids that are grown and out of the house, but a long time dream of having a family and a baby was never in the plans for me until I met Kelly. And now I can’t wait.
Let me tell you a little bit about us and what’s been going on. Neither one of us were looking for love when it found us…. But our two souls were destined to be together. It was July 2006 when we started dating. I asked her to marry me 5 months later. We celebrated our wedding with friends and family on April 9, 2010. Just recently the state of Florida would officially recognize our union so on our 5th wedding anniversary (April 9, 2015) we were able to make it legal. It was a bitter-sweet day, as we shared tears of joy in making this recommitment we also found out our first IVF (in vitro fertilization) cycle was unsuccessful. The hard work, the sacrifices, the excitement, the good news, and the belief in our hearts that the day was finally here was not going to happen…..and it was heartbreaking.
We first started trying to get pregnant 3 and a half years ago. Our first year and a half trying to conceive we spent using a close friend as our donor and our very first insemination ended with a positive pregnancy test! We were overjoyed. We miscarried at 6 weeks. We tried 10 times over the next 16 months, each time believing this was going to be it.
September 2012, was our first infertility treatment. Lab work and ultrasound tests revealed endometriosis with an endometrial cyst on Kelly’s ovary. Endometriosis is a disease in which tissue that normally grows on the inside of the uterus grows outside the uterus. Its main symptoms…..pelvic pain and infertility. Kelly’s ovarian cyst was the size of a softball and needed to be surgically removed. Ovaries are usually the size of a walnut.
The plan was to start Clomid (a medication that supports the growth and release of a mature egg) after surgery and to use a sperm bank for the best chance possible. From December 2012 to April 2014 we tried 7 IUI’s (intrauterine insemination), 5 with the OB-GYN doctor and 2 with an infertility specialist. All unsuccessful.
So in June 2014 we made the decision to do IVF. After months of saving we were finally ready to start the process in March 2015 - The medications for IVF are intense, Kelly had to withstand 4 shots a day plus several oral medications. Bruised, swollen and tender she endured…….all for little “Jackson-Katie”. Jackson Cooper or Katie Marie whichever God blesses us with. March 26, 2015, they drained 5 follicles and retrieved 4 eggs! 4 eggs! We were so excited. More medications after egg retrieval to get ready for embryo transfer on day 5. Day 3 – all 4 eggs looked great and continued to multiply their cells. 4 eggs! Day 5 – Embryo transfer day – only one egg survived the journey and continued to grow…. but it only takes one! Our sweet Jackson-Katie. Tears of joy streamed down our faces as we believed and trusted God would give us the desires of our hearts.
(photo: 3/31/2015 Day 5 Embryo Transfer day)The two week wait………
April 7, 2015 – a positive blood test! Pregnancy is looking good. Will repeat the blood test in 2 days to see if hCG levels continue to rise, the hCG level should double every couple days.
April 9, 2015 – our 5th wedding anniversary and the day we “legally” married. The day we found out Jackson-Katie wasn’t going to make it.
You know, you believe and trust so much that when the devastating news comes you don’t expect it and it crushes you. We mourned our loss and got back up again.
Now we’re ready for round 2 of IVF and this is where you come in. When someone you love suffers a loss your heart goes out to them and somehow, someway you wish you could do something. Unfortunately we have exhausted most of our savings and need to build our IVF bank back up. This is why we have created this go-fund-me account. We haven’t borrowed or charged a dime of our infertility treatment and don’t want to start now. One IVF cycle is about $12,000-14,000. None of which is covered by insurance.
We want you to know we understand this is not your responsibility and that this is a choice we are making not a necessity. We know we are blessed beyond measure and all our needs are met. We know there are many people who have nothing or very little and in no way do we ever want to take away from people who are in need. It’s not easy to donate money and not really know where it’s going, so we promise to you that EVERY donation we receive will go directly towards our infertility treatment and our dream of having a child. And ANY unused funds at the end of our journey (if successful or told we can no longer continue) we promise to pay it forward and re-donate to another couple with similar needs.
We believe God doesn’t give us more than we can handle and we believe for some reason, we may never know, that this is the plan He laid out for us. We praise God through all circumstances and unanswered prayers. Throughout this whole process we have never stopped believing that God will bless us and one day Jackson-Katie will be with us and this experience will just be memories of how we grew to be a family.
From the bottom of our hearts….thank you for taking the time to read our story. We know and understand that our family and friends, or even strangers, who read our story might not be able to donate financially……please know that we appreciate you sharing our story, encouraging thoughts and prayers as much as a monetary donation.
Thank you so very much,
Kim and Kelly Raymond