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Meet our Bexleigh Grant Recipients!

We made an announcement a few weeks ago regarding the awarding of our 1st Bexleigh Grant from Starfish Infertility Foundation!

And Now…. it’s time for you to meet the recipients!

Meet Tracey and Casey Hightower!

We fell in love with them after reading their application regarding their struggles and heartbreak from their infertility journey.  That they have been so open with the road they are traveling melts my heart because I know how easy it can be to post the “great news” but how hard it can be to post the setbacks and negative results. Instead of being able to grieve peacefully you have to explain to a couple thousand people how disappointed you are, while fielding questions of why it didn’t work, what happens next, etc.

Tracey and Casey just recently went through an IVF cycle that was unfortunately unsuccessful.  The good news is that they have some frozen embryos, and will be doing another transfer in early 2016.  Starfish Infertility Foundation is so excited to announce that we will be able to cover the entire $3850 they needed for the procedure!  With the service Casey has given to our country in his 4 deployments, and the sacrifices Tracey had to make standing by his side, I cannot put into words how grateful I am to be able to give something back to them.

More about this Couple in Tracy’s own Word

 Never in a million years would I have believed that I would struggle with becoming a mother. I was born to be a mother. Casey was born to be a father…but here we are, filling out this profile and asking for help from you.

Let me tell you our story.

In 2013 I started working for an OB/GYN in Hendersonville. I LOVED it!! I was constantly around pregnant women, beautiful babies and I was learning so much. It was the perfect job…at first. Roughly a year after being at this job Casey and I decided it was time to start our own family and I was more than excited! I faithfully tracked cycles and peed on countless pregnancy tests, but it just wasn’t happening. I cried everyday on the drive home from work because what was once a fun job, was now a constant reminder that I wasn’t getting pregnant. Soon after I left the OB/GYNs office, my heart couldn’t stand all the pregnancies around me any longer. After 8 months of trying to conceive, my doctor agreed (after a small amount of begging on my part) to start me on fertility medications. I remember him saying that if the medication did not help in getting me pregnant, then he would have to send me to a specialist. Well, needless to say the Clomid didn’t help and I still could not shake the feeling that something else was wrong. I was desperate and finally requested to have an HSG performed, although I had no reason to think that anything should be found on the scan. Something was found though. My tubes were completely blocked in multiple places and were beyond repair, so out they went. I will never forget the doctor telling me that I would never be able to get pregnant naturally and that IVF is our only option. I am now 2 months post op and we are about to dive deep into IVF.

To say that we are overwhelmed is an understatement. In addition to the fertility struggles, we have recently lost our first born, our gorgeous English Mastiff, Kitty Fan-Oodle Hightower. She was our baby and without her we are completely lost. It probably sounds ridiculous, but we are “crazy dog people”, at least with her we were. I had been getting more and more nervous about the injections, egg retrieval and transfer, but with my sweet Kitty…my nerves were easily managed. She kept me calm and she couldn’t wait to sniff baby butts and be the other little momma to my babes. After a lot of discussion, Casey and I decided to post pone IVF for a month to get our hearts back on track, after all, our worlds were rocked when God took that precious fur baby from us.

I recently posted something on my FaceBook account that read “Infertility: a medical condition which diminishes self-esteem, your social life, as well as checking and savings accounts. Causes sudden urges to pee on sticks, cry, scream and fear pregnancy announcements: treated by a medical specialist who you pay to knock you up (this does not always work).” This quote PERFECTLY describes how we feel.

** For more information on how to donate to our grants or apply for help, click below:

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