Happy Monday friends! First of all, thank you all so very much for the encouragement, prayers and love you sent me after my last post. Man, I was having a tough day and we suddenly felt surrounded by an army of prayer partners, lifting us up and clearing our minds and hearts. I simply cannot thank you enough for that!

This cycle so far has been going beautifully – almost too perfectly in fact. My body is responding like never before and for once, my hormone numbers are where they are supposed to be, when they are supposed to be. We really have felt His peace and presence in a whole new way. It’s not easy and there’s a daily need to cling to Him for strength, clarity and hope and isn’t that right where we are supposed to be anyways? My heart has been filled and I am really hopeful for the future.

Speaking of the future – guess what tomorrow is!? Our egg retrieval! YAY! I was on stim meds for 9 days and triggered last night with a low dose hCg shot and then 2 Lupron injections. We are to report to the surgery center tomorrow morning with a 10:30 am retrieval planned. YAY! This is it! Time to get these eggies out of me! (Not that walking around with 2 ovaries the size of grapefruits isn’t fun, hehe! OUCH.)

As we go into tomorrow, we would love your prayers! Again, we couldn’t do this without your support. We can feel those prayers storming the gates of heaven and backing up in a nearly tangible way. Simply put, you guys rocks.

Here’s how you can be praying!

1. For a smooth surgery. Pray for the wisdom and leadership of our doctor and anesthesiologist.
2. For the quality of my eggs. We know roughly how many follicles I have, but we don’t know about the eggs that are potentially inside each one. We would love prayers for the eggs to be mature, viable and healthy. We know God already knows the quantity!
3. For fertilitization. Yes, that happens tomorrow! We are so trustful that God knows exactly what He is doing here. Fertilization and life can’t be forced, no matter how much science tries. We know He manages the sun, the moon, and tomorrow, our fertilization. We ask for prayers that God breathes life and viability into these embryos. We would love for you to pray for our embryologist working with our eggs and embryos tomorrow as well.
4. For embryo development. Our little guys (and girls!) will start developing right away and we pray that they stay healthy, viable and develop appropriately over the next 6 days. After day 6, into the freezer they go, where they will wait until we do a frozen embryo transfer.
5. For healing post retrieval and protection from ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome. (OHSS). This retrieval and days following are tough. I will be in much need of your prayers as my body begins to heal from a pretty rough 10 days. All of that said, it’s incredibly worth it, clearly.
6. For His peace, strength, hope and ultimately, that glory be brought to His name. None of this is possible without Him. He has written the story that we have the opportunity now to live out. Our emotions are steady as we trust in Him and we pray that our faith and eyes would be secure on Him like never before.

I will do my best to update here as much as I can, but likely will only be feeling up to minimal updates on Instagram (@chels819). I am so thankful for each one of you!

With our love and incredibly gratitude,

Josh, Chelsea, and Cali

Post-appointment Thumbs up! This cycle has been a steady report of good news!

Josh is working hard at getting this puzzle of ours assembled! The black and white 1,000 odd-shaped puzzle has been a tough challenge, one that represents our journey well, haha! A special thanks to our family that has helped us with it too. I am an awful puzzler but a determined tryer. :)  We have only a small handful of pieces left without names – if you haven’t already and want to, you can claim a piece today! (Link below)

To claim your puzzle piece: **DONATIONS CLOSED AS THE PUZZLE IS FULL**