Getting pregnant for me was not easy. The trying to conceive process for me was filled with surgeries, tears and lots and lots of prayers.
My husband is nine years older than me and he already has a son so we knew we wanted to grow our family right after we were married in June of 2009. I had read all about my cycle and knew my body the best I could. We ate right, cut out the caffeine and had lots of sex. I had a cancer scare the year before we were married but everything seemed to be on the up and up.
After a year of trying I began to have horrible pain associated with my periods. So bad that I ended up in the ER for pain. The doctors did their very best to manage the pain for me but nothing worked. I had a CT and ultrasound and it was decided my gallbladder needed to come out. So I was first one on the operating table the very next morning. The surgery was a "success" in that it was removed perfectly but my pain did not go away as expected. Over the next few days in the hospital the pain subsided as it always did and I was sent home with a narcotic RX and a follow up appointment.
A month later the pain was back. So I was than treated to an Upper Endoscopy and a Colonoscopy. Joy. The new diagnosis was an ulcer and was given a new RX to manage it. Well what do you know the pain came back again. :( So I took matters into my own hands and went to Dr Google. I searched my symptoms and guess what? It did not tell me I was dying. I found that I had Endometriosis. This was devastating to me because everything I read said it would be very hard to conceive a child if I was able to at all.
Everyone was getting pregnant. I had three close friends and other woman I knew were making babies the old fashioned way. I felt like I had no one to relate to. No one to share the pain and guilt I was feeling.
So armed with this new knowledge I went to meet with my GYN. I explained my symptoms again and everything I had been through with the other doctors and told him we had been trying to make a baby and he agreed that Endo was the most likely cause. So we made a plan. My very supportive husband went and had his little swimmers tested and I was to have another surgery but this time it was exploratory because Endo is diagnosed by symptoms and the only sure way is to have laparoscopy surgery and remove what is found.
During this lap the doctor removed "junk" (my word for it) from everywhere in my belly :( one of my tubes was so covered in it that it took longer than expected to "clean me up." I felt great after recovering and the pain was gone! So back to the business of baby making we went!
Just a few months later the pain was all back. My GYN than referred me to a specialist 3 hours away. He also happened to deal in infertility.
This new doctor was great and totally understood everything I told him. He also informed us that given my issues we only had a 3% chance of conceiving on our own. So we made a plan and it started with another LAP surgery for me. This doctor also removed a ton of junk and was surprised how much had come back in only six months.
The next step for us was medication and an IUI. I was put on Femera (to grow more and better eggs) and when the doc ordered I was to give myself a HCG shot (to let my eggies go free). We were so hopeful. Two weeks after the IUI I took a pregnancy test and it was negative. Now keep in mind the infertility treatments are not covered by insurance so it was a huge financial gamble for us. I cried and cried and cried. I AGAIN felt my body had failed me. I had failed my husband.
But Steve was so very supportive and we decided to go again! So we went! Made the drive three times a week for one week and twice the next. He made his deposit, I took my meds we had another IUI. Two weeks later.....negative. This was now the end of February 2011 and we were still not pregnant.
We began looking into adoption and fostering to adopt but it was even further out of financial reach than what we were doing. What about IVF, well that was also way too much for us. So we decided to try IUI one . more .time.
So March we did it all again. The meds, his deposit, the long trips and the IUI. Two weeks later...negative.
I was done. He was done. Our family and friends were just as sad as we were. I even had a friend offer to carry a baby for us. We needed time. Time to breath.
In May Steve was involved in a bad accident at work and had spent much of the month home on workers comp. June came and I had not gotten my period. I KNEW there was no way I was pregnant so to be sure something else wasn't going on I took a pregnancy test so when the doctor asked if I was, you know, I could say nope. Well...it was a very faint positive. The kind where you wonder if you let it sit out too long or maybe it was just an old test or a lighting issue. So I told no one because I had a false positive before and I could not put anyone through that hope again. I waited a week...June 6, 2011...my third wedding anniversary. The test was with out a doubt, scream from the rooftops, slap your mama POSITIVE!!!
Steve and I met for dinner that night after work. I waited till we were done eating and walking to our cars to tell him "I think I'm pregnant!"
The next month we went to the doctor to confirm and given everything we had been through they did an ultrasound and sure enough we were having a baby!! Due February 10, 2012!!!
