Faith, Hope and Love….

Aaron and Carissa met in 2003 through online personal ads! On June 26, 2005, we were married in Maui, Hawaii (and fell in love with the state). We have wanted children since the day we were married! We now are in the process of adopting from Vietnam! This blog will help us document that journey as well as life in general!

Our story:

When Aaron and I got married we started trying that night to have a baby, something we both wanted more than anything. I had friends trying to get pregnant then as well, and as they started a pregnancy trend I still was not pregnant. A year came and went and I mentioned it to my ob/gyn, who immediately stated that we should run some tests on Aaron. Thus began the trips to the urologist (and someday I will tell the funniest parts of those stories when I have Aaron’s permission!). Finally we get word that Aaron has what in essence is varicose veins in his boy parts and that this could be corrected with surgery BUT this may not correct our problem. Well before I would allow them to work on that part of Aaron (he said it was ok…after some research I was not sure it was necessary), I wanted to be tested to be sure that was our only problem. I will never forget that day. I went in for a dye test to check for blockage, etc….well I had researched it and all the research said if dye came out both tubes then all was well. I watched that monitor (they wouldn’t let Aaron in) and out came the dye, I was so happy I though all was well. For that reason, I was totally unprepared for what the Dr said next. He said you have a bicornate uterus (the easiest way to explain is my uterus was split in two) and you need to see a specialist. I started crying before we even left the hospital and nothing Aaron could say would convince me that all of this was not my fault. A visit to the specialist (in another state) told me that I would have to have MAJOR surgery if we wanted to fix the problems (the tests there revealed I also have/had endometriosis and polycystic ovarian syndrome). We agreed to the surgery and a month later I came home with a c-section scar but no baby. Months later they had to do more surgery to get what was left of the endometriosis. It was hell because during that time people who were not even trying to have a baby when we got married had children (causing more than a few meltdowns), some are now pregnant with their second child or even just had their second child. Six months after the second surgery and still no baby, I was getting depressed. Aaron had agreed if at that point no baby then we would start down the adoption path, since due to the state of my uterus no doctor we talked to would do invitro or artificial insemination. So we did…and that is how we started down this path of adopting (even though I wanted to start this path prior to even having either of us tested, I think I knew deep down this would be our path to a family)! And we picked Vietnam because that is one culture I know about because when I was growing up, I had a friend who immigrated from Vietnam (she was seven at the time) and we were very close. I am still friends with her (and her family) and know that I can always help my children know their culture!