Jonathan D. Blundell

One year ago today, Laurie and I were looking into the face of Our Storm.

Struggling with infertility for a year and a half and not seeing any answers in the future, we were losing hope.

It wasn’t long after that that we began a series of IUI treatments, along with starting the foster to adopt process.

By early November we had completed our classes and by mid-January we were approved as state licensed foster parents. It was starting to look like adoption would be our path for becoming first-time parents.

February 1 brought the addition of two wonderful boys into our home. A two-year-old and a one-year-old — both nearing their next birthday.

These boys brought their own “storm” with them and the challenges for us in going from no children to two toddler boys who really needed someone to love them and care for them. The month was filled with ups and downs and added stress as we went through the cycle of our 4th (and likely final) IUI treatment.

By the end of February, the boys were placed in another home and we were still left questioning if we’d ever find resolution or peace in our storm.

Then, only a few short days later I received a text message while at work, with a picture I thought I’d never see… a positive pregnancy test!

Several weeks later the test was confirmed by sonogram and we discovered that not only was one baby on the way — but two!

And today… Laurie’s reached her third trimester (as of yesterday) — 28 weeks and 1 day — and we’re anxiously awaiting the arrival of two boys — H-Diddy and I-Diddy (although not too anxiously as they still need some time to finish cooking :-)).

What a crazy, blessed journey.

Of course I wish I could tell many friends of ours who we now know are dealing with their own infertility issues that their issues will work out just fine like ours.

But I would never ever say that to anyone.

While we ended up being one of the lucky ones — not everyone else will. Some may never experience what we’re experiencing. And I would never want to give them false hope.

But I will say this — we’re always available as a listening ear and a shoulder to cry on.

Because let’s face it — infertility sucks.

There’s no doubt about that — but it sucks even more to try and carry that weight on your own.

Even if you don’t confide in us, find people you can confide in and share your hurts, pains and struggles with them. It won’t solve your problem, but it will make the weight a lot easier to carry when you have someone else carrying it with you.

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Speaking of growing families…

I hope you’ve noticed the new “ad” on the sidebar of my blog — the yellow-brown one that says Just Love – Fair Trade Coffee.

Do us a favor and go click on it now.

And once you’ve clicked on it, order a bag of Fair Trade Coffee.

Not only will you be supporting a farmer and helping him earn a decent wage, but by ordering through Just Love, you’ll be helping our friends as they raise funds to extend their own family through adopting a child from Ethiopia.

In fact, since those are both such great causes — rather than just buying one bag, how about subscribing to the coffee club? They’ll send you a fresh bag of coffee each month. Even if you don’t drink coffee yourself, you could purchase several bags (or a subscription) for your office or community of faith.

Imagine if every office place and communities of faith served coffee for their members that was not only ethically grown — but helped unite a child with their forever family… Awesome!

We do truly thank you for your prayers and support over the past year+. It’s been great having friends and family that we can count on to help carry our weight. And it’s been amazing to see how so many of you have rallied around our two boys as well. Thanks again — and many blessings to each of you!