We have a date!

A transfer date, of course!

For the first time in a while, Charmaine and I left our last clinic appointment feeling like we were walking on air!

Looking back over my last few posts, I admit that I haven't been completely honest about how stressful the last few months have been. It wasn't that I doubted we would get the clinic's approval, but more that the waiting and the uncertainty was slowly doing my head in!

For every test we completed or hurdle we jumped, each conversation with the clinic was a repeat of "one step forward, two steps back". I understand that the clinic is trying to do the best they can to ensure we are all in the best possible situation before we proceed. It's only been a few months delay, but when we've waited so long to get to this point ... what can I say? It's hard!

Charmaine has been an inspiration to me over the last few months (even more than usual!). She has been jabbed and prodded and scanned, and she has done it all with a smile and plenty of laughs, even though I know that the delays have been as frustrating for her as they have been for us. It confirms what we already knew - that we could not have found a better, braver or stronger person to trust our hopes to.

And now I can see that, as fantastic as it would have been to have been medically cleared after our very first appointment and proceed straight to transfer within a few weeks, the last few months have meant we've spent a lot of time together, just getting to know each other better. Not just Charmaine and I, but our hubbies and kids and wider families. We've formed a real friendship and a bond that feels stronger with every get-together.

And now all that patience (who am I kidding? I wasn't patient!) has paid off! 

At our latest appointment, our FS helped us plan out a transfer date (and an inevitable due date!) that would suit us all. With a first transfer planned in early September, Charmaine's due date would be ... exactly one year away, to the day! 

Feels like fate!