Campaign Story

My name is Barb and my husband is Travis. This is our story.
TRAVIS AND I MET IN AUGUST 2008. WE WERE SET UP ON A BLIND DATE THROUGH MUTUAL FRIENDS. I WAS 18 AND HE WAS 23. WE FOUND EACH OTHER AT VERY LOW POINTS IN OUR LIVES, AND WE HIT IT OFF RIGHT AWAY, SOON BECOMING INSEPARABLE. WE WERE MARRIED THE NEXT AUGUST, I WAS 19 AND HE WAS 24. SO MANY PEOPLE DOUBTED US, SAYING WE WOULDN’T LAST EVEN A YEAR. WE HAD PLANS TO ENJOY BEING JUST A COUPLE FOR A FEW YEARS BEFORE STARTING OUR FAMILY.

I FOCUSED ON GETTING A GOOD JOB WITH GOOD BENEFITS AND FOUND MY CALLING TO BE IN HELPING PEOPLE. I GOT A JOB AS A CNA AT OUR LOCAL HOSPITAL’S LONG TERM CARE UNIT. I SOON FOUND THIS TO BE A BIT TOO MONOTONOUS. I WAS OFFERED AN OVERNIGHT POSITION ON THE INPATIENT UNIT. I’VE GOTTEN VARIED TRAINING, EVERYTHING FROM POST SURGICAL CARE, ASSISTING IN DELIVERIES, EMERGENCY ROOM CARE, AND MOST RECENTLY PATIENT REGISTRATION.

TRAVIS HAS WORKED SEVERAL JOBS, FROM FARM HAND, OVER THE RAOD TRUCK DRIVER, A BRIEF STINT AS OVERNIGHT STOCK AT OUR LOCAL WALMART. FOR THE PAST 3 YEARS HE HAS WORKED AS A SANITATION WORKER DRIVING THE BIG TRUCKS.

I BEGAN HAVING SOME ISSUES WITH MY CYCLES AND IN SEEKING TREATMENT WAS TOLD THAT I WAS YOUNG, JUST RELAX, IT’LL HAPPEN IN TIME. WHEN I WAS 22, I FOUND OUT WE WERE PREGNANT, ONLY TO HAVE THAT HOPE RIPPED AWAY 2 WEEKS LATER. WE MOVED ON, HURT, BUT REBUILDING.

AROUND THAT SAME TIME MY MOM SUFFERED A HEART ATTACK AND SUBSEQUENT BRAIN INJURY. I BECAME HER FULL TIME CAREGIVER WHILE WE HELPED HER HEAL. WHILE THE BRAIN INJURY HEALED, SHE WAS PLAGUED WITH CHRONIC PAIN, SEVERAL HOSPITALIZATIONS, INTENSIVE CARE UNIT STAYS. IN THIS SAME TIME FRAME, MY DAD’S HEALTH BEGAN TO DECLINE AND HE EVENTUALLY HAD TO RETIRE. WE HAVE HAD OUR FAIR SHARE OF STRUGGLES, AS ANY COUPLE DOES. THIS HAS BOTH BEEN HELPED AND AT TIMES BEEN EXACERBATED BY LIVING IN A MULTI GENERATIONAL HOME.

IN THE PAST 10 YEARS WE HAVE OFF AND ON SOUGHT INSIGHT INTO WHY WE WEREN’T GETTING PREGNANT, AND WHEN WE WOULD, WE WOULD LOSE THEM. WE WERE TOLD, OVER AND OVER AGAIN THAT IT WASN’T THE RIGHT TIME, RELAX…. ETC, SAME ANSWERS OVER AND OVER AGAIN.

THIS PAST JANUARY MY FATHER-IN-LAW PASSED AWAY UNEXPECTEDLY, 2 WEEKS LATER I FOUND OUT I WAS PREGNANT AGAIN. ONE SHORT WEEK OF BLISS LATER, THIS HOPE WAS ONCE AGAIN RIPPED AWAY FROM US. AFTER THIS LOSS I WENT TO A VERY DARK PLACE, DEPRESSION AND ANXIETY WERE WORSE THAN THEY EVER WERE. I WAS ABLE TO SEEK THE HELP I NEEDED MENTALLY AND FINALLY GOT REFERRED TO A LOCAL OBGYN TO BEGIN TESTING. IN BEGINNING THIS TESTING, WE DISCOVERED THAT MY OVARIAN RESERVE WAS ALMOST UNDETECTABLE WHICH GOT US REFERRED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF IOWA CENTER FOR ADVANCED REPRODUCTIVE CARE.

DURING OUR INITIAL APPOINTMENT WE WERE INFORMED THAT IVF WOULD BE OUR ONLY OPTION, BUT WE WOULD NEED TO USE EITHER DONOR EGGS OR EMBRYOS. THIS KIND OF FELT LIKE A KICK IN THE GUT AT FIRST, KNOWING THAT MY BODY WAS FAILING AT THE ONE THING IT WAS DESIGNED TO DO.

COMING JUST A FEW SHORT WEEKS LATER, ONE OF OUR BIGGEST FEARS CAME TO LIFE. MY MOM UNEXPECTEDLY PASSED AWAY, WHILE SHE HAD HER HEALTH ISSUES, SHE HAD BEEN DOING SO GOOD RECENTLY. SHE WAS SO EXCITED FOR US TO BE ON THIS JOURNEY, SO EXCITED TO BE A GRANDMA AGAIN.

WHEN WE GOT TO MEET WITH THE IVF TEAM ON NOVEMBER 17TH , WE FOUND OUT THAT OUR INSURANCE IS AMAZING FOR INFERTILITY TREATMENT, HOWEVER IT DOESN’T COVER EGG DONATIONS. IT IS CONSIDERED TISSUE DONATION, AND THEREFORE ISN’T A COVERED SERVICE. WE TRIED APPLYING FOR FINANCING THROUGH THE EGG BANKS, BUT THEY DON’T FINANCE TO PEOPLE IN OUR STATE.