This month, Tim and I have decided to join some infertility support groups in our local area. Tim was less than thrilled, but as a husband of a social worker, he is going to learn to like therapeutic support groups! SO we found a few, and in one group they asked us to write about our journey of infertility…and so we did. We wanted to share with everyone our journey of infertility thus far and where we are going for the future.
We were married in May 2009 and started trying to conceive immediately. We do have a long story, so here it goes…I was diagnosed with endometriosis in October of 2006, at the age of 20; and was devastated. I always knew my chances of having this horrible disease was high, as my mom had endometriosis for almost 20 years, having 16 surgeries, a less than 30% chance of ever having a baby…and then after 13 years of trying to conceive, her and my dad were blessed with me, and then five years later, my sister. From my very first period, at 13, I experienced LOTS of pain and discomfort to the point where I was hospitalized many times, drugged, poked and prodded and never given any answers as to why I was suffering so badly. I swear it felt like I went through ever test imaginable. I was always bleeding so badly each month and in so much pain, I would be doubled over in a fetal position, rocking back and forth, through my periods. Throughout high school and college, I took birth control pills to regulate my periods, lived on painkillers, missed lots of school and saw many doctors…no one ever had answers.
In October 2006 I had appendicitis and had an emergency appendectomy. I went for my follow-up and after being examined and ready to leave, the doctor asked me if I had ever heard of the disease endometriosis…and I literally fell of the table. All of my fears and worries had come true and I was to say the least, speechless. My parents were absolutely devastated and I was numb. We all knew the amount of problems my mom had and now I was going down the same path. I was finishing my Bachelor's degree in Social Work and nowhere near married or having children. All the doctors would tell me was to stay on birth control pills, have a period only a few times a year and have kids as soon as possible. Not nearly good enough, but what was I suppose to do?
In July 2007, I met my husband. I was completely upfront with him from the beginning and he was and still is, always very supportive. I started seeing a doctor at Johns Hopkins University that was seeing my best friend who also had endometriosis. She gave high recommendations of this doctor, who was the head of the Endometriosis OBGYN Clinic in MD and frankly the pain was getting even more out of control and I wanted answers before I was getting married. I just honestly wanted to know what the chances were of us conceiving. I had surgery January 23, 2009 and it was very successful. I was told that I have between stage 3-to-stage 4 Endometriosis, but that the doctor had burned, lasered and cut out most of the endometriosis. My prognosis was good, however, I was told that I would need surgery once per year to "clean" out all the endometriosis, and even though that sounds bad, I was ok with that. My pain did get better, so all and all it was a success. In February 2009, I started regulating my birth control pills to produce a period each month, instead of the once or twice a year. I stopped taking them in the beginning of May at the end of one cycle to see what would happen and what my body would do. It had been 10 years to the month, exactly, since I took the very first pack of birth control pills. Wow, ten years of medication….that can't be good!
My husband and I were married May 23, 2009. I continued to keep track of everything and read all the articles and books I could about fertility. I started taking my Basal Body Temperature each morning, taking Mucinex during cycle days 10-16, eating healthy (which I always did), taking pre-natal vitamins, exercising, keeping track of my cervical mucus, and BD'ing everyday or every other day each cycle. My husband was taking a multi-vitamin, 60mg of Zinc and 1000mg of Vitamin C…all of which are proven to be very helpful in trying to conceive. I wrote down ever symptom I had and was making myself crazy. Every month, we would be disappointed. I was never the least bit overweight, at 5'8/135 lbs. but after I stopped taking the birth control pills, I dropped twelve pounds almost immediately.
Since I knew I had already been diagnosed with endometriosis, my husband and I decided to see a fertility specialist in the end of July 2009. We actually are able to see the same doctor who did my Mom's last few surgeries and "got" my parents finally pregnant, even though they didn't do IUI or IVF, they conceived naturally. I was like a celebrity at the clinic; no doctor had ever had a patient's child yet. He was so nice and my husband I hit it off with him almost immediately. I was in my last year of graduate school for my Master's Degree in Social Work, and we really wanted to start a family as soon as possible. We were also concerned because I have had high cholesterol since age six due to very poor genetics (thanks Dad) and had/have been off of my medications since May. Most cholesterol medications are classified as "Category X's" for conceiving and pregnancy, so we decided I should come off of it in May, when there could have be a chance of pregnancy, however, my cholesterol and my body would be suffering. Just another issue we are facing.
In August and September, we kept doing everything we were doing and went through all the preliminary fertility work and tests. Everything came back fine on my husband, and everything came back fine on me…making us more concerned and confused. I also went through rigorous testing on my heart and body to make sure I could safely be off of medication and be healthy enough to become and stay pregnant. In November, we started getting serious and started on the progesterone after ovulation, because my period was starting like 4-6 days after ovulation. The progesterone helped greatly. December, we started with the "Day 3's" blood work/sonogram, 50mg of Clomid cycle days 3-7, "O" blood work/sonogram with the "trigger" shot to induce ovulation, timed intercourse (many times) and the progesterone from dpo 3-blood work to confirm no pregnancy. We had three confirmed follicles, and we're psyched and then nothing. January, same procedure, but only had one follicle, that probably didn't release. The doctor didn't know why it worked well the first month and then it didn't work so well next. We also got a fertility rock, have fertility necklaces from this tribe South America that my uncle brought back to my parents when they were struggling with infertility…we will try anything and everything..and of course PRAYING!
And now it is February (month TTC 10), we are on 100mg of Clomid days 3-7; waiting to see how many follicles we will have this month. Wednesday, February 24, we will see what my blood work and sonogram show. We plan to do the "trigger" shot again and the progesterone. We will see if anything else changes.
We plan to do three more "timed intercourse" months and then move to the IUI. Luckily my insurance is awesome and covers EVERYTHING, including all of IVF…yes, 100% coverage…completely unheard-of!
It is in God's hands and we will see what his plan is for us…but it's just very hard. We are now looking to talk with other couples dealing with infertility issues to help support ourselves through this roller-coaster journey.
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