Why did I start Gracie Mac? My inspiration for Gracie Mac is my 2 beautiful girls Trinity Grace and Mackenzie Jo .
My husband and I Married in 2006 and I immediately knew I wanted to be a Mother. We didn’t wait to start trying to have a family. But it didn’t happen. So we made our first Fertility appointment in Nashville TN. I still remember looking down at the costs related to have IVF and thinking that’s so crazy ( I honestly felt like I was the only to ever go through something like this.) everyone I knew just got pregnant, some even got pregnant that didn’t want to get pregnant. I walked out of that appointment defeated. My husband was a Soldier in US Army we didn’t have money like that. Insurance wouldn’t pay for it.
In my true fashion I searched everywhere to figure out how how to pay for the treatment and found out the Army offered a few treatments/year at a somewhat discounted rate. ( it was still expensive). But we figured out a way and got ourselves to Washington DC at Walter Reed. We stayed there for 4 weeks. And I was so optimistic I just knew that IVF cycle would work, I would be a mother. But after waiting 2 weeks, it didn’t work. I was devastated.
I couldn’t do anything for a couple months and the Military in the meantime moved us to a different state and we went to a different Fertility Clinic(#4) after 3 treatment cycles I just couldn’t do anymore and went through depression. I questioned so much about myself, was I worthy to be a Mom? What was wrong with me? I basically needed a ( feel sorry for myself moment in time)
Well a few years went by, A friend called us and said she had a friend that was pregnant and she wanted us to adopt her baby. We would have to rush and get a home study and get all the fees paid quickly and drive to Michigan to pick up our Baby. We did get it all finished, we did pay all the fees. We drove the many hours to Michigan and arrived at the hospital, and no one by the mother’s name existed at the hospital. It was all a scam. We came home and put our name on a list to adopt and waited for months and never got chosen.
In the meantime the Military moved us once again and I was watching TV and an ad came on for a fertility clinic where I went to College (I can still remember the day) I made the appointment. We saw the prices and it wasn’t cheap but we would figure it out and we did one cycle and I was pregnant for the first time. I honestly never thought I wouldn’t stay pregnant but I didn’t. I went on to lose 3 more babies after that as well in a matter of months. I got it in my head I was going to do one more cycle of fertility and be done, I would just never be a mother, but I did get pregnant that last cycle ( with Twins) We heard both babies perfect heartbeats and then my fertility Doctor released me to a regular Doctor. It was going to work out. But at an appointment the Doctor couldn’t find a heartbeat on Doppler. I knew something wasn’t right and immediately called my fertility Doctor and drove the hour to his clinic, I will never forget that nervous feeling and then they said one baby had stopped growing but one baby was still perfect. I don’t think I truly believed I would actually hold that sweet Baby. But I did, after 24 hours in labor on August 31st, her heart rate started to drop and I was rushed in for an emergency C-section. And our baby girl Trinity Grace was Born . And this sweet girl is the Grace in Gracie Mac
Now Mackenzie, I was perfectly fine having one child after everything. But God had a different idea, because Surprise I was pregnant, no fertility treatments, nothing. A completely uneventful Birth and we had Mackenzie Jo the Mac in Gracie Mac ❤️
