I went to the RE today for my last U/S before my egg retrieval. My nurse, RE, and U/S technician came in to see me. I knew something was up! :)

They all looked at the black and white screen and all were pleasingly nodding. I had many follicles that were 19, 20, 21, and 23. My whole right ovary was black with little white lines. Amazing how the medicines work! All of them agreed that I am "ready."

I was taken to the conference room one last time. It was the same room that my DH and I were told our only option to get pregnant was to go through IVF with ICSI. The mood this time was much more positive and exciting than our first visit to the room with the Kleenex box.

Our lovely nurse, Cheryl, came in smiling. She has been such a doll through this whole thing! She said I am "ready." She gave me strict instructions for the next two days. Tonight, I am to administer my trigger shot at 8:30 PM. I will have my egg retrieval on Tuesday at 8:30 AM.

I can't believe we are here. The thought that soon I will be more pregnant than I ever have is amazing. Thank you God!

We had an ironic morning. The appointment took longer than we thought so when we left the doctor's office we agreed that we just could not make church this morning. Right before we got home, we both thought about this IVF process and how much we endured and agreed that we just couldn't miss church and our opportunity to be in His house to thank him and pray for our new baby. We quickly got dressed and we were both running through the house looking for our shoes! And off we were to church! Today's service was amazing. We had a surprise guest speaker. You would never believe who it was!! If you are a basketball fan or watch TNT, then I think you will know him. Ernie Johnson was in our church and shared his lovely story with our congregation! What a blessing!! He talked about stepping away from the "game" and finding blackberries.

He told this story about his younger years while he played little league baseball. The ball had been hit over the fence for a home run which tied the game. The crowd was intense! However, there were not enough players on the field. They all went to the fence and saw the ball in the valley of a hill. Just before the ball, they saw two players who stopped to eat blackberries. He said this vision meant a lot to him after he accepted Christ again in his life! He talked about all of us having to stop and find our blackberries. They are out there for us to find! God strategically plants them during the good times in our lives and during some of the bad times. We have to be prepared to stop what we are doing and accept the lovely gift!

I couldn't do anything but cry. I have yearned to be pregnant and a mommy for so long. Lately, I have been having the same fears as many of you dealing with infertility have. What if this doesn't work? What then? Would I ever be a mom? Would I ever have the feeling of my baby growing inside of me? Ernie's speach reminded me that God has given my husband and me a blackberry. The opportunity to have a child. We didn't think we could get financing; we did. We didn't know if I would respond well to the medications; I did. We didn't know if we could mentally survive this time; we did. All of these things we survived solely by the grace of God. And now, we are here. We are preparing to get "pregnant" on Friday. I am just so thankful.

Thank you to Ernie for reminding me the amazing opportunity we have been blessed with. I don't think he'll ever understand what our brief 30 minutes with him meant today.

I pray that all of you will find your blackberry and good He has in store for all of us!