As I get older, my mom asks more and more often when she's going to be getting grandkids. Ignoring the fact that I'm currently single, I think she also forgets that having kids takes a lot of money.
This is only heightened if you struggled with fertility issues. Treatments and procedures costs thousands of dollars, and more often than not, insurance doesn't cover the cost. Couples that struggle to get pregnant get saddled with debt, all because they want to start a family.
Jaylyn Hosburgh and her husband spent more than $10,000 on IVF treatments trying to have a child, but none of them worked.
"After every negative pregnancy test I fell deeper into depression," Jaylyn wrote in a post for Love What Matters. "Every pregnancy announcement hurt. I was jealous, jealous that it wasn't us, jealous that they "˜didn't even have to try.' Jealous that they planned it perfectly to be off for the summer. I just wanted a baby and didn't care how it happened. Jealousy is an evil emotion."
The Hosburghs took some time off and started trying again. Jaylyn went through numerous procedures to harvest her eggs, and it took a toll.
After another failed procedure, Jaylyn decided to look into adoption.
"So many kids out there need families," she wrote. "We had a home study done. They come to your house and make sure your house is good and talk to you about why you were looking to adopt. We told our story. During this meeting we were told we had to be done with the fertility treatments and I couldn't commit to that, so adoption went on the back burner."
Back to IVF they went, this time trying a different method. It was going to cost about $20,000 so the Hosburghs had to say no.
"We didn't have that money," Jaylyn says.
Not long after, Jaylyn called her mom to see if she wanted to go to bingo with her.
"She was sick and declined," a hopeful Jaylyn recalled. "She must have heard how sad I was as she called back and said, "˜OK, 1 session.'"
The duo showed up to a packed bingo hall, and almost turned around to leave. But they were already there, so they decided to stick it out. And it's a good thing they did, because that's how Jaylyn finally got her family.
"This day changed the course of our lives forever."
"The accumulator was at $24,000," Jaylyn wrote. "I called my mom to say, "˜forget it, it's so busy,' but she was already gone. Once she got there I tried to convince her to leave but she wouldn't. We buy our books and I buy 3 cards instead of my usual 2. My mom notices and does the same. This day changed the course of our lives forever. My mom won the $24,000."
Jaylyn had the treatment and five days later was ready to find out the results.
"To our surprise we saw our first positive pregnancy test EVER," the expectant mother wrote. "We cried and then my husband asked if I had any pee left and made me pee on the one that says pregnant or not pregnant. HE didn't believe the lines. Sure enough, I was pregnant. Little did we know our lives were about to change forever. Our bingo babies were conceived."
That's right: babies. Jaylyn and her husband were expecting twins!
"Then the doctor says, "˜There is one baby and here is the heartbeat, and here is another baby and here is the heartbeat.' At first I thought he was kidding," Jaylyn recalled. "Nope, meet baby A and baby B. TWINS!"
Jaylyn's pregnancy wasn't easy, with frequent hospital trips and spotted bleeding.
During labor, things got scary for Jaylyn.
"I had a postpartum hemorrhage after each baby was born and they could not get it under control," she shared. "My blood pressure was 60/30 and my heart rate was at 200 BPM. At one point I remember asking my mom if I was dying."
But a high-risk doctor happened to be on duty that day, and he saved her life. Jaylyn got to take her new babies home five days later.
She welcomed Harper Christine Beverly Hosburgh and Maxwell Richard Joseph Hosburgh, her Bingo Babies.
The kids are growing up quickly, and most importantly, HEALTHY!
