We married in December 2004, sold his house in N.California and relocated to Denver, CO.
When we married I was 26 and he was 27. We weren't ready to start a family. We got married only a year after we met, we still wanted to get to know each other, spend time together...just the two of us, go on vacations, meet new friends, get settled in Denver, he was finishing his MBA, I was trying to find a stable career.
3.5 years later, I had just turned 30, we were finally feeling settled in Denver, I had a stable career and had been with my company for 2 years, he was finishing up his last semester of his MBA...we were finally ready to start a family! We started trying in June 2008....we were so excited!! I just knew I'd be pregnant by the time fall came around that year....I wasn't.
In December 2008...I finally started charting, temping and attempting ovulation predictor kits (though I bought the internet cheapies and never did get two lines!) By the time March of 2009 came around the following year I knew we needed to investigate why we still weren't pregnant. I made an appointment to see an RE in April 2009. A semen analysis was done which came out pefect, a hysterosalpinogogram was completed which showed my tubes open, multiple hormone tests were run which showed no major problems. During 2009, we did 4 clomid cycles (2 with IUI,) and I used a clearblue fertility monitor for the months we did not do IUI...we did not conceive. I started this blog in August 2009, during our first IUI cycle. I started this blog from many reasons: to track our progress through the scary world of infertility, to document all of the things that are happening along the way, to share how I am feeling not only about those things, but the things that are going on around me and how those things affect me, to connect with other women going through a similar journey, to support and get support from these women, to be a diary for my children, one day....so that they will know how much they've always been truly loved....even before they were mine.
At the end of 2009, we adopted our first baby. A perfect 2 year old Italian Mastiff, Cooper:
In January 2010, we switched to another fertility drug...letrozole. We did 4 letrozole cycles (2 with IUI,) we did not conceive. In March 2010, we decided to take a break from treatment (we did do two medicated cycles in May and November, but no IUIs,) and focus on acupuncture, "natural remedies," trying naturally, mending our hearts from our IUI failures, and mentally preparing ourselves for a baby (something we were told by the acupuncturist we should be doing)....we did not conceive. By August of that year I was frustrated that I had gone through 8 months of acupuncture and still had not conceived. I did not blog during this time mostly because there wasn't much to blog about. I was working through a lot in my head and in my heart, but kept most of my feelings private.
In September 2010, I made an appointment with a new RE for additional testing and to start moving forward with IVF. After the new RE ran some additional blood tests and did an ultrasound at the very beginning of my cycle I was diagnosed with probable PCOS. I had well over 60 antral follicles (in the typical PCOS pattern,) and my anti-mullerian hormone was a 16. But, I really have none of the "tall tale signs" of PCOS like irregular cycles and weight issues, so my doctor is still not 100% sure I have it. However, I did start taking metformin in October 2010. Around this time, I also started blogging again and started getting my mind wrapped around doing treatments again. In December 2010, we completed all of our pre-IVF procedures (trial transfer and sonohysterogram,) ordered our meds and were ready to go...mentally, emotionally, physically and financially!
In January 2011, we started our IVF cycle. We chose to go with the 6-try (3 fresh and 3 frozen tries) shared cost program ($26k.) My baseline ultrasound showed a non-estrogen producing cyst and well over 60 antral follicles. The stimming was very difficult for me because all of my 60+ follicles were growing even though they tried to "starve" some of them off. I had to go in daily for nearly a week for ultrasounds and blood tests, and pray that each day my estrogen did not go up too high. I ended up triggering after less than a week of stimming. We found out on the day of trigger that we would not get to do a fresh transfer due to the high risk of OHSS...I was bummed out but I understood that it was not safe for me or the embryos. We were able to retrieve 50 eggs, 38 were mature, 32 fertilized normally. On day 5 we had 7 perfect blastocysts to freeze.
We waited 3 long months and during those 3 months I really worked myself up...I was desperate to get the show on the road, and I kept telling myself.."this HAS to work, we've waited patiently, this HAS to work!" We had our first frozen embryo transfer of 2 blastocysts (embryos) on April 21, 2011. The 2WW was especially difficult on me...I was overly emotional, stressed out and anxious. The end result was a chemical pregnancy. We were devastated. In May 2011 we had additional testing done....some immune tests and an hysteroscopy to check the inside of my uterus. The hysteroscopy showed that my uterus is "perfect." The blood tests showed that I had the MTHFR mutation as well as a slightly elevated anti-cardiolipin antibodies...a blood clotting issue caused by the immune system.
We had our second embryo transfer on June 21, 2011. We transferred 3 perfect embryos. After YEARS of waiting for this day....our dreams FINALLY came true! We are pregnant!!!!
Our precious twins, Landon Matthew and Andrew Mason arrived on February 2, 2012. They are perfect in every way!
Along the way, we've also tried hundreds of potions, lotions, natural remedies, predictor kits, Chinese herbs, acupuncture, read all the books, supplements, quit caffeine entirely, changed my diet, etc. We've tried it all!
Our expenses fertility:
$7k in the first 2 years of treatment which included
-4 IUI's (ultrasound and blood monitoring, drugs, sperm processing and actual IUI's)
-4 rounds of drugs and monitoring with no IUI's
-Consultations and RE appointments
-Initial testing (sperm analysis, HSG and blood work)
$2250 for 8 months of acupuncture
$5000 for our pre-IVF testing (ultrasounds, sonohysterogram, blood work) and consultation
$500 for anesthesia for egg retrieval
$5000 for our IVF meds: $4k for stims and $1k for OHSS drugs
$26k for shared risk 6-try IVF program
$500 for FET #1 Meds
$1000 for embryo freezing
$2500 for immune testing and hysteroscopy
$1000 for FET #2 Meds
$250 for Lovenox for 2nd transfer
$2500 for pregnancy care through fertility clinic
Total = $54,000
Bringing Home our Twins = Priceless
