Friday, January 27, 2012

The Pregnancy Chronicles: How I Got Pregnant

This is not the post for readers who are not fond of female medical terminology and/or info about infertility treatment. If you fall into that category, kindly skip to the next post. If you want to know my story, are up for a long read, and can handle moments of t.m.i., please help yourself...

I was on birth control for 10 years prior to trying to conceive, the last 2 years of which, I used implanon and took a very low dose of progestin. I knew that it might take a while to begin to have a cycle again after all those years of various hormone cocktails. So, I waited to have the implanon removed until we had been married for about 2 years in the summer of 2010. It took 3 months for my cycle to return to normal. I read everything I could get my hands on about fertility, conception, and pregnancy. After a few months of no success, I made up my own non-detailed charting system. I tried the temperature charting for one month and being that I am not at all detail oriented, I was really terrible at it. Instead, I just used ovulation test strips for about six months and they were always positive right around the expected time of the month. I was also very regular. I couldn't imagine that everything wasn't fine, but we started getting a bit nervous that something wasn't right. So, since boys have it fairly easy in the fertility diagnosis department, David agreed to go ahead and be checked. He was fine - sigh of relief. Armed with all of this information, I went to see my gynecologist in May 2011, fully expecting some diagnostic tests to be ordered. No such luck. I was told to come back in about 8 months if I still hadn't gotten pregnant.

We were both frustrated, but we carried on for the next couple of months. I started getting antsy, so I researched fertility clinics and called one to find out if I needed a referral. I did not, so I went ahead and scheduled the next available just in case. My appointment was three months away. I imposed a "trying to have a baby break" until then. Although we were both really ready to be parents, we focused on enjoying our time as a family of two. It was very nice to not think of anything fertility related for a while and get ready for the journey that was ahead.

By divine intervention, everything fell into place for November 2011. We heard from close friends about acupuncture to treat infertility. When I called a local clinic, their next opening was the day before our fertility doctor appointment. Crazy good timing. So, I went for it and did 1-2 acupuncture treatments per week for the entire month. The fertility consultation was very interesting and not what I expected. We met with the doctor in his office and he spent an hour with us getting a detailed history, explaining a lot of basics about the true miracle that is conception, and filling us in on our options. He recommended that I have a series of diagnostic ultrasounds, bloodwork, and a fallopian tube test. If all went well, I would take a half dose of Clomid, give myself a trigger shot, and have an IUI procedure. All of this would happen within the next two weeks.

Wow, what a busy couple of weeks that was. It was determined by ultrasound that one of my ovaries had an abnormality, possibly endometriosis. A true diagnosis couldn't be made without some sort of invasive scope procedure, so they wanted to try the IUI at least 3 times if needed before doing the scope. Sounded great to me. Other than that, all the other tests were normal. The fallopian tube test was very painful, but I was lucky to have a dear friend come along since both David and my mom couldn't make it. I had a stressful, yet comical experience giving myself a trigger shot in the belly in a coworker's office because I share my little office with 6 people. Everything ended up working out fine and I had the IUI in the middle of November.

Then we waited. No doctor appointments until I took the pregnancy test exactly two weeks later. We were staying at my parents because our house was being painted. David had to stay at our house the night before, so it was one of the few mornings we weren't together. At first the test appeared negative, but another look showed a very faint second line. I almost had to squint to see it. But it was for real. I immediately called David and then told my parents as well. My blood test the next day confirmed the home test results. Since I was going to a fertility clinic, I was monitored twice a week to make sure my hormone levels were rising at the correct rate. It was nice to have reassurance that everything was going well so far.

Even though it wasn't always easy, we have always kept an open mind about whatever direction our life takes. For years I have been unnecessarily worried about how I would handle pregnancy and childbirth. Would I be able to get pregnant? Could I sustain a pregnancy? Would I get morning sickness, stretch marks, other scary sounding side effects? Would I dread going through labor for the entire pregnancy???? I can be a bit of a worrier at times... The reality is that once I made it another week and then another, I found myself relaxing more and more. I've been really tired at times, bought groceries I was craving and then couldn't eat, and cried over very strange and not sad things. I am definitely not a crier, so that part is weird. But, I'm no longer scared of this life experience. Bring it on, baby :)

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Poppy

At the end of November, we found out that I am pregnant! It took 17 months, the last of which included seeing a fertility specialist. The good news was that all it took was one month of fertility treatment and all I needed was a relatively minor procedure to achieve pregnancy bliss. I also went to acupuncture. It was quite a unique experience. I'm planning to write "Pregnancy Chronicles" on the blog, so I will do a more detailed post on the fertility treatment/acupuncture experience for those who are curious. The baby's nickname is Poppy because when I found out I was pregnant, I was only 4 weeks along and the very tiny bundle of joy was only the size of a poppy seed.

We are very excited. It took me a few days to believe that this was real. Even though we are anxious for Poppy's arrival (official due date is August 6th), it is nice to have about 9 months to prepare for the transition into a whole new life experience for our family.

A lot of folks are sharing in our feeling of joy. This will be the first grandchild for all of mine and David's parents, and also the first great-grandchild for all three of my grandparents. Both sides of our family haven't had a baby around in about 14-15 years, so I'm pretty sure the lucky little one may be a bit spoiled. David's step-dad has made some sweeping proclamations about his plans to spoil :) We also have some fabulous friends who are equally pumped. While we didn't really broadcast our journey to conception, we didn't keep it a big secret from close friends either. We are so grateful for all of the kind words, encouragement, and congratulations over the past few weeks and months.

Hooray for Poppy!!!