Thursday, September 1, 2016

Back at it again....

Well, as you all know we finally conceived after 12 LONG rounds of meds and 2 failed IUI's. Now we are trying to give our amazing miracle boy a little brother or sister. After trying naturally for a year with no success, we turned to fertility treatments again... I just finished up round 1 of 50mg Clomid - which was a failure... 🙁 Booooo! My cycle started back up yesterday and therefore I will be starting round 2 of Clomid (this time 100mg) on Sunday.

We are all hoping and praying that this doesn't take nearly as long as it did last time. I personally cannot emotionally or physically undergo another 12 rounds of medications - especially while caring for a 1.5 year old! This time around has already been much more difficult for me, but I am so incredibly thankful for my family and friends that have stepped in to help however they can. 😊

As always, I appreciate all of your prayers and support! I will keep updating you all with the happenings of my (second) infertility journey.

Monday, June 22, 2015

It has been a longggg time!

Hello everyone!  I have not posted in over a year as I have been incredibly busy between a high risk pregnancy, moving back home after my husband separated from the military and now being a full-time mommy.  My husband and I welcomed a little boy on December 27, 2014.  He has definitely become the absolute love of our lives.  He is a very happy baby that has a smile on his face majority of the time.  We are so incredibly lucky.

We are hoping that when we choose to try to conceive again (sometime in the near future), we will not have to go through everything that we went through in the past.  Hopefully, we will not have to do fertility treatments of any kind and we will be able to conceive on our own.  The journey that we traveled to get to this point was incredibly hard - but so worth it!

I am so proud of what we have accomplished.  I honestly got to a point where I never thought it would actually happen and I had nearly given up all hope.  I am so thankful that I had my loved ones behind me pushing me to keep trying and eventually all of the hard work paid off!

To all of you that are facing fertility issues, please keep in mind that you can have a happy ending!  I never imagined I would be where I am today, but I made it and you will too!


Wednesday, May 7, 2014

Finally... Some AMAZING News!

There is soooo much to talk about in this post!  First of all, I want to explain what happened with Round 12.  Round 12 did not seem very promising.  We had a 'some-what' mature follicle but nothing as big as we had seen before.  We also did not get to try artificial insemination since ovulation would have occurred over the weekend and we had no exact way of knowing when the follicle would be mature enough to release an egg.  So, we just had to take it one day at a time....

At the appointment for round 12, the doctor told me that he suggested that I have surgery at the end of May (if I did not end up pregnant).  So... I had that weighing over my head.  I know that no one enjoys surgery, but this really freaked me out!  To know that they would be going in and messing with my reproductive organs worried me...  They would go in through my belly button and "check" to make sure everything was okay.  If it was not, they would try to correct it while they were in there (as long as it did not pose a threat to me).  If there was something severely wrong - we would just have to jump to Invitro.

Now, with all of that said... I did not have to do surgery OR invitro!  We are officially pregnant!  After 12 rounds of meds and a whole year of seeing the infertility specialist, we have finally succeeded!

I promise that I will NEVER forget the journey that I have had to travel in order to get to this point.  I will always be there for any woman who may need encouragement or even just to vent.  I know, first hand, how difficult this life can be.  And I do not want my excitement to make me seem as though I do not appreciate all of the support and love that I received while going through this... And I want to make sure that I am able to give every other woman facing infertility the love and support that I have received!

With that said...  I can still use thoughts and prayers since I am not yet through my first trimester.  I am also high risk due to a blood disorder that I have.  I will be starting blood thinners soon and will have my first ultrasound on May 27th! :)

Thank you all sooooooo much for your love and support!

xoxoxox

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Got Some Catching Up To Do!!

Sorry for the delay in posts... I have not been feeling very great lately.  Not sick, just been feeling kind of down...  It is hard to believe that this month marks one year since my very first appointment with the infertility specialist.

Anyways, on to the update!

My second artificial insemination was a failure.... again...  So we started round number 12 on April 9th.  Again, I am doing the highest dosage of Femara for 5 days and also doing the hormone injections for 3 days.  I have a doctor appointment coming up at the end of the week where we will find out whether or not I have any mature follicles.  If I do, we will go forward and try another artificial insemination.  At this appointment, we also plan on discussing the option of trying invitro fertilization if this round is another failure.  I have been terrified by the thought of having to do invitro since it is extremely expensive.  But, hopefully, we will be able to figure out a way to afford it and make it all work.

I have been feeling very down about myself lately.  I feel like my self worth and self confidence is really diminishing due to the fact that my body is choosing not to cooperate when it comes to getting pregnant.  And my body is also suffering more and more with each passing round.  I know that weight is only temporary, but when you are gaining a ton of weight every month due to all of the medications that you are on, it really starts to mess with your confidence.  I barely even want to go out and do things anymore.  I have always been a very confident person but that has really all gone out the window.  Ugh... I just hope that I start to feel comfortable in my own skin again soon.  Plus, buying new clothes every couple of months is getting expensive! ;-)

Moving on...  please pray for my husband and I as we approach the end of the 12th round of our fertility treatments.  I could really use a break and use some good news soon.  I have hope that this will all work out and this will all be worth it.

Thank you all for your love and support throughout the past year!

xoxoxo


Monday, March 31, 2014

March 31, 2014

One week ago today was my artificial insemination appointment!  The procedure was somewhat painful and definitely hurt more than the last one that I had.  However, I made it out alive and went on to the two week wait!

We are now entering the second week of this horrendous two week wait.  I seriously cannot wait to see what the outcome of this round will be!  I am feeling very positive and optimistic and I am certainly hoping for the best!  

I have been feeling very tired lately.  But no other "symptoms"... I know that technically it is too soon to have any pregnancy symptoms but I can't help but drive myself crazy thinking about it!

My mother will be in town visiting me for a few days at the end of this week which will definitely help me stay calm and relaxed.  I cannot wait to spend some valuable time with her! :)

I will keep you all posted as to what happens next week - whether it be positive or negative (but it better be positive, haha!).  Please keep my husband and me in your thoughts and prayers as we continue down this long and tiring journey.

xoxox


Thursday, March 20, 2014

Some Good News!!

I know that it has been quite a while since I have posted and I sincerely apologize, I have just been incredibly busy lately! 

Anyhoo... Round number 11 started on March 13th.  I did another round of the 7.5mg Femara and also 3 days of the hormone injections.  I had a doctor appointment today and we found out that I have a follicle measuring 15mm.  They are setting me up to have artificial insemination on Monday March 24!  I am sooo incredibly excited!  It has been a really really long time since we have gotten any good news and I feel like we have really made some great progress this month!  I will be taking a pregnancy test around April 5th!  

Please keep your fingers, toes, legs, arms, eyes, and everything else that you can cross - crossed!  

Thanks for your patience and thank you all for your love and support!

xoxoxo

Thursday, March 6, 2014

March 6th, 2014

Hello everyone.  I apologize for not posting sooner.  I have had a rough couple of days.  Anyways, I went to the doctor yesterday to get my levels checked to see if I did or did not ovulate.  I will find out today what the results are.  I am hoping that I did ovulate as that will be reassurance that the meds are doing what they are supposed to do - we just aren't catching ovulation in time.  So... let's all cross our fingers for that.

I have been going back and forth with myself if I want to take some time off of all of this.  We are going on 11 rounds with only a one month break.  My body is sooo incredibly drained.  Both physically and mentally.

I have also been contemplating whether or not I want to continue with the infertility treatments.  Since we have been doing this for so long without any luck, I am starting to think that maybe it just isn't going to happen.  I have been seeing the infertility specialist since April.  Before the specialist will even see you, you have to have been trying to conceive for 1+ year(s).  That means, that we have been trying for at least 2 years at this point.  And honestly, we won't get into specifics, but it has been much longer than that.

It kills me that it has yet to happen.  I feel like we have done everything right.  We got married and started a life together, we both have college educations (my husband is currently pursuing his bachelor's degree while I am working towards my master's degree).  My husband is in the military and we have a steady income.  We deserve to have this happen for us, and yet - nothing.  I watch so many people around me get pregnant without any problems... they don't even have to try.  And it is sooo hard on me.  To know that so many people are able to get pregnant every day while I sit and struggle as much as I do.

I have always thought of myself as an extremely strong person.  But I certainly feel like I am reaching my breaking point.  I honestly do not know where to go from here.  My body is saying one thing while my heart says something completely different.  I clearly want this.  I haven't ever wanted anything more.  But I don't know how much more I can put my body through before I break.

I am trying incredibly hard to remain positive and keep my head held high.  My husband does an amazing job of helping me do this.  But sometimes, no matter what anyone says, I just feel really low.  And that is how it has been for a few days now.  But I will overcome this, as I have overcome everything else in my life.  If this is not meant to be, then it's not.  But God, I really hope that's not the case.  I have been ready and willing to try anything and everything that the doctor's have thrown at me.  Painful procedures, countless medications, and tons of tests.  I keep pushing forward because I deserve this.... We deserve this....

On that note, thank you all for reading, and thank you all for your endless love and support.  I truly do not know what I would do without my family and friends.

xoxoxo