NEDC!

I'm shaking and have tears in my eyes as I write this. I'm in awe. I just got a TOTALLY unexpected call from the embryo coordinator at NEDC -- the Christian donation center in Tennessee. Remember, that was the one we wanted to go to in the beginning -- felt led to go in the beginning -- but their wait list was SO long, it didn't seem like the right option. The coordinator was calling to tell me that due to cancellations, unexpected pregnancies, etc., they have an opening for our first appt with the doctor on June 3! (The original date she told me was September at the earliest!) She said they could even do a transfer as early as July!

I immediately called Tygh and we agreed to pray about it and talk about it tonight. I need to let her know tomorrow if we are not going to do it. And, if you remember, I almost got off the NEDC list because of the long wait time, but my stubbornness refused to let me do that because we'd already paid $200 to be on their list, so I figured, why not. Oh, Lord, how you humor me.

The timing of this all does not seem coincidental. First, we are only invested in Bethany's program $150. (And the NEDC program is less expensive). No skin off our backs. Second, Bethany has been dragging their feet for a MONTH to get me the final application (it keeps getting revised), which is the next step of commitment for us with the Bethany program, as I think that costs $500. And remember how in the beginning they told me their process would move so quickly? It's not their fault. GOD was at work! Third, everything else we've done -- setting up care with a fertility clinic here, doing the homestudy, etc., is all in line with what NEDC also needs us to do. They've been parallel tracks for the most part. Now, I'd just need to change my fertility care here to just being nurses instead of the doctor to do the transfer.

The coordinator is sending me a packet of all the info, because on June 3 (6 weeks from now!), they would do a huge medical evaluation of me, including a trial transfer. They also do a huge counseling session with me and Tygh. Then, the matching process begins. Once we have a match, we go back to the clinic (either July or September as they only do transfers every other month), and stay in Tennessee for a couple of days.

I asked her how long she thought the matching process could take. She said that because we want to do open, it will be much less time. Apparently, more people want to do anonymous. Remember this dispute Tygh and I were having about that? I wanted to do anonymous and he wanted to do open? And we agreed on open. It seems God has been directing all of this all along! She said she was looking at two bookshelves FULL of open donors just waiting to be matched! Our genetic family could be in there! And, because all of the embryos are frozen at the clinic in Tennessee, there is no need to have any of them shipped. And, if for some reason, none of our embryos survived the thaw, we would have a back-up family, and they could still do the transfer right there!

I was in tears as I was talking to her and just blurted out, "You have no idea how much of a tailspin you've thrown us into. We were NOT expecting to hear from you til at least July or September! The timing of this seems totally providence." And then she whispered, "It's God, isn't it?" And then I just gasped, "Yes, I think so." And she said, "We believe that, too."

Wow. Thank you, Lord, for allowing me to see some of You working today!!!!

In summary, Tygh and I will talk more tonight, and an option is always to proceed with NEDC, and still stay on Bethany's list until they ask us for more money, then we can proceed from there to choose just one track.