With the fundraiser over and my $4,000 raised, I was able to pay back my mother and wait for the fertility clinic to call to say the study was starting. It was very exciting and I was eager to start. While waiting for the clinic to call, I decided to start fulfilling my promised "perks" for donations.

Most crowdsourcing sites suggest, but don't require, the offering of perks for different levels of donations. These are things you can do for them, make for them, or share with them. I had a lot of thank you notes, poems, and songs to write to people who had claimed those perks when they donated! The promised sonogram pictures of the baby would have to come later.

The new clinic I was using was running an IVF special through the end of August that was separate from their medical study. The IVF special price was $6,000, which was still amazing. As August wore on and I still hadn't heard back about the medical study starting, I began to think that maybe it would be better to get in on the summer special pricing while it was still available.

After all, the clinic just thought they would get final FDA approval to start the study in August. They weren't 100 percent sure it would come in then, and I was getting impatient to begin. I didn't want to risk losing out on the summer special price if the medical study didn't come through in time.

So, with another loan from my very awesome mother, I added another $2,000 onto my pre-paid account at the clinic. This would lock me into the summer special price no matter when I started the IVF treatments. It also gave me some extra money for any additional testing I may need if the medical study did, in fact, come through.

Finally, on the last week of August, I decided not to wait on the medical study anymore. I called and made an appointment for a saline sonogram, which would get the IVF process started, for the 10th day of my next menstrual cycle. I was using the summer pricing and moving forward with IVF at long last! My husband and I were now firmly on track to making a baby (or three!).

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