#atozchallenge - Yes!

My Y post is another one which I've changed my mind about when the time has come for actually writing it. I planned my list of posts so long ago now that things have kind of changed when I've come around to writing them, some I've kept even though I've changed my mind, but others I've kind of written about in earlier posts, so I've gone with my gut and changed them.

Y was originally going to be for Years, but as with my idea for U of Uncertainty it's something that I've kind of already covered, particularly in the Waiting post from last week. There's no sense going over things that I've already talked about. So instead I've decided that Y is for Yes!

When I started this challenge I was on the waiting list for NHS IVF treatment. I had been for almost a year and I knew I had a year to go. I thought that blogging about the experience for a month would be a good way to pass the time and might help me get my head into a better frame of mind about the whole thing, mainly because I couldn't help but feel negatively about the hospital we'd been sent to.

Ever since we'd visited it we'd discussed going private but it never seemed like something we would actually be able to do. Obviously, that would be really expensive and people like me just don't get to do things like that. We tried to put it out of our minds, but whenever the subject of it came up, we couldn't help but hope that there would be some way we could make it work. The thought of going back to the hospital in Glasgow just depressed me so much, whereas whenever I read something about the Nuffield it just sounded perfect.

I think taking part in the A to Z Challenge has helped the way I think about these things. Thinking about why we don't like the Glasgow hospital and what we could do to change the way we feel has made us realise that if we don't feel comfortable with one place, and do feel comfortable with another, maybe there's not too much thinking to actually do. We'd been saving for a while and trying to sell the van to fund our maybe-IVF treatment.

So I investigated a loan. It turns out we don't need that much money, we've already got a bit saved up and we're hoping to sell the van (but obviously can't rely on that). I punched in some figures on my online banking and everything seemed positive for getting a loan. Meanwhile the Nuffield sent us a couple of dates when we could go for an initial consultation. Everything just came together at the right moment.

The bank said yes to the loan and the savings account is suddenly looking a lot healthier. We've booked (and paid for) our first consultation at the private clinic at the end of May. Everything is coming together. Even if the round of IVF doesn't work out there, I think I'll feel happier having gone there first, and we'll still have our three free cycles on the NHS.

It's funny how much closer we are to having a family now, compared to when I started this challenge at the beginning of the month!