The Good and the Bad

Life has been busy posting flyers and trying to get golfers. We had a little bit of a disappointing week one of my very close friends and her husband will not be able to attend.  Also other friends of ours have commitments for that weekend as well.  On the bright side Delany Dental has been overly supportive.  They have donated two in office bleaching sessions.  Dr. Shapira put together a press release in sleep and medicine journal.  Bless his heart he has more on his plate then anyone can imagine and yet he still found time to do this for us.  Dr. Amidei is also very busy being the general contractor for our new office in Gurnee and he has been busy spreading the word as well .  He took flyers to the Gurnee Rotary.  I always knew I was fortunate to work with two dentists who are superior in their field and truley care about there staff but they have gone above and beyond for me personally.  We are hoping that all these leads will produce some golfers for us.  That seems to be the area we are struggling with.

Emotionally I have had a rough week.  I tend to be a pefectionist as well as a worry wart.  I am worried the event won't be a success.  People won't donate etc....  Plus I think it really hit me that we are going to be going through fertility treatments again and that is always a stressful time.   I am also feeling like I am not giving Travis the attention he needs as well.  One lesson I learned from previous treatments is I get all consumed with whats going on with me and forget about him.  I am trying to be very mindful of his feelings and not deserting him as a wife. I am trying to balance work B4b and being a wife.  It is very exciting don't get me wrong but stressful as well.  I just keep reminding myself to enjoy this because before I know it will be over.  It kind of reminds me of a wedding tons of planning and stress and then the day comes and you wish it could last longer.   

We are headed done to Tamarack today to meet with Todd.  It was difficult to find a time to meet between his schedule and ours.  We live an hour and half away from each other. He graciously accommodated our schedule. I am hoping he can put some of my fears at bay.  I will keep you posted!  Tommorow we are headed to the Brewers vs Cubs game.  Don't care who wins just looking forward to spending some time with Travis and family should be fun.  One of my favorite parts is when Bernie goes down the slide into a mug of beer.  Have to rejoice in the simple things in life some times. 

Thanks to Jandee Salons, Dr. Freund and staff, Lake Forest Hospital and Salutos. 

Secrets told

So here are the things that you need to know about me. I am not a great social media person at ALL.  I am learning and experimenting as I go.  I apologize in advance you will find spelling mistakes I am a terrible speller.  So everytime I write I sit with my dictionary because I haven't figured out if this blog site has spell check yet.  I'll have to talk to Katie.  But the good news I think I figured out how to post pictures so lets see if it works. 

Let the word be spread

Now that the shock has worn off it was time to get down to business.  We needed to make this event a success.  I enlisted the help of my mom Beth and dad Bob to help brainstorm where we could start to hanging flyers and possibly ask for donations and sponsorships.  Both my mom and I made special frames to hold the flyers so that it looked a bit more professional than just a flyer hanging.  Hopefully I will be able to put them in as a donation at the event.  I have to say they turned out really cute.  Once I get better at this maybe I can post a picture so you can see them. Of course that will require the help of Katie last years winner.  I have only spoken to her once but from that fifeteen minute conversation I can tell she is someone I want to get to know better.  It is funny how sometimes you just get the right feel.  I definitely get that from eveyone I have been in contact with so far!  I was pretty proud of myself  for the picture frames and had fun doing it.  I also ordered cards that would go next to the flyer so that people could have the information to take with them.  For the places I felt it was appropriate I hand wrote a story about my journey.  Little did I know that each one of those books would take me two hours to write.  I felt it was important for people to know my story if they were going to donate to Birdies for Babies.   I have been getting very little sleep because I am constanlty thinking of ways to promote the event.  Any suggestions are certainley welcome my brain is getting tired.  So we would like to thank the people who have allowed us to promote the event in their businesses.  Dr. Wells, Dr. Wascow in Mundelein, Delany Dental Care in Gurnee, Weichs Inn in Mundelein, Graffeti Cafe in Lake Bluff and Lake Forest OBGYN and Bella Babies.  Your support means the world to us.  Thank you to those of you that offered suggestions and tips fom past outings.  Didn't know if you wanted to be mentioned by name but you know who you are. 

On Friday FCI called to use two of my quotes for their newsletter so you can watch for that as well.  Travis has been great. I can tell he is getting more and more excited about sharing our news.  My husband is a very private person so this was a huge thing for him to share.  I on the other hand have no problem sharing our story and helping anyone that needs advice, words of encourgement whatever I am here to help.  I apologize that my posts are not as frequent as I would like but there is a lot of work I must do for the event I will keep you posted as much as I can.  Feel free to visit www.golfinvite.com/bfb to sign up to golf or donate. 

Chance of a lifetime

Hello My name is Brooke Rice.  Many of you have probably read my story if you are visiting this site.  If not I will give you the shortened version.  As you all know four years of infertility is a very long journey.  My husband and I having been trying to conceive for four years.  We have suffered three miscarriages multiple rounds of Clomid, 2IUI, 1 IVF and 1 transfer of two embryos.  The emotional devestation this disease places on you and your family is undescribable.  After all of these treatments we were left with a huge debt because we have no coverage for infertility treatments.  We had reached a point where we no longer could afford to pursue our dreams of having a child.  Everyday I brainstormed of how we could pursue more treatments.  I checked into clinical trials, searched multiple websites and applied to any grant avaliable out there.  Nothing was materializing.  Out of sure desperation I called my OBGYN Dr. Heiberger begging for more rounds of Clomid.  We had conceived once this way.  It was our only hope at this point.  Dr. Heiberger gently and kindly informed me that we could not continue with Clomid.  She suggested that I look into Birdies for Babies.  I went home immediately and tried to fill out the application. I am not the most computer literate person and couldn't figure out how to fill out the application so I emailed Todd with an informal application.  Plus they gave you 5 lines to describe your history.  I laughed how could I begin to describe four years multiple fertility treatments and three miscarriages in 5 lines.  So I started to write.  11 pages later I had my story on paper.  Todd emailed me back with the application the next day advising me he needed a formal application.  I was on vacation the rest of that week so I didn't get his email till Sunday night.  Monday I received another application from Todd stressing he would like to have my essay and my application because the committe was making their decesion tommorow.  Without his email on Monday I would have missed the deadline.  Once again I couldn't figure out the application.  I called my brother desperate for help.  He was able to walk me through the process.  Thanks Ben wouldn't be here without your help.  I love you!

Birdies for babies is a golf outing that choses one couple who has suffered from infertility and can't afford to pursue their dreams of having a child to be the beneficiary of the proceeds from this event.  I didn't have much hope we would be chosen.  I had filled out tons of these types of things in the past. Truth be told I had briefly mentioned it to my husband.  At this point it probably went in one ear and out the other cause he probably thought the same way I did.  Another oppurtunity that won't come true. 

On Aug 2 at 5:58 our lives changed.  Todd Trader called to let me know that we had been chosen be the committee to be the beneficiaries of the 2011 Birdies for Babies outing.  I think no I know I was in shock for two days.  In an instant I went from not being able to be a mother to having a chance again.  My head was swirling.  I couldn't seem to believe that this was really happening to us but it has.  So here the next chapter of our journey begins.  Follow along for all the excitement that follows.  It's gonna be a fun and busy 6 weeks.