Fertility...

Success!  

As many have prayed and prayed with us, suspected and/or expected...our first attempt at fertility treatment was successful.  First of all, we want to thank everyone for continuing to pray for us, ask how things are going and keep in touch on what was one of the most challenging times of our marriage.  Being told that another pregnancy would only be possible with IVF, our insurance covering nothing and needing surgery...we are eternally grateful for this pregnancy and hope that things continue to be successful.  

Now during the 6 weeks we were meeting with fertility doctors and researching the web, I found lots of comfort reading and talking to friends who have gone through the same thing.  So if you don't mind I am going to give a short description of our experience in hopes that someone will find hope that success is possible.  

As many of you read in my previous post, I was unofficially diagnosed with likely diminished ovarian reserve (DOR) back in April, which can only be officially diagnosed after one year of infertility (we had been trying for 7 months).  Our fertility doctor at PAMF suggested making a good attempt with meds before jumping in fully to doing IVF.  Of course since our insurance wouldn't cover anything, we thought this was a fabulous idea.  IVF would have put us $15,300 in a hole, if all things went well.  You would think Stanford Hospital would have good insurance....ohhhhh don't get me started on that one.  

In May we started with what felt like weekly fertility appointments, visits to pick up meds at the pharmacy and follow up appointments.  Before we got started I needed a sonohystogram ultrasound (SHG) to assess the anatomy of my "girly parts" as Hadley would describe them.  Well......just like with all these blood tests, we found out some not good news.  I had several lesions and scar tissue on the inside of my uterus which meant if IUI was not successful, I needed surgery.  I did not want to have surgery.  We decided to take the gamble and attempt IUI and just "see what happens."  In the first part of my cycle, I took Clomid 100mg on days 5-10 of my cycle then took one injectable Ovidrel at home...yes MASON gave me a shot and he took great pleasure in being able to do this (we look back and laugh at this now).  I must admit, I stalled big time when that tiny little needle was coming toward me.  IUI (intrauterine insemination) was scheduled 48 hours after the injection which was the fastest easiest thing we probably did in this process.   Then we wait.  Wait 2 weeks.  That's a long 2 weeks. 

Nearly two weeks later, I took a home pregnancy test, which quickly came back negative.  Darn.  Then, two days later I woke up at 10:30pm in the worst pain ever.  Sending me to the emergency room to be told "We found a large mass and you're pregnant."  Working at a hospital, I know that the word "mass" can mean many things, however it's totally different when it's being told to you.  Well thankfully God was on our side and that mass was 3 VERY LARGE cysts that had grown as a result of taking Clomid and rising hormones.  Come to find out, there was an additional fourth cyst that had ruptured causing internal bleeding in my pelvis.  From this point, I was put on very strict activity restriction and still haven't been able to exercise until they have reduced significantly.  As you will see below, the remaining 3 cysts are left gro.w.ing, causing lots of discomfort and frustration.  At this time, if they do not rupture again, they will cause no harm to the pregnancy.  So to be continued at this time.  Last we measured about 3 weeks ago the "smallest" was 5cm in diameter.  Our doctors don't seem too concerned about them because they should start shrinking in the coming weeks.  

Now onto the pregnancy side of things, I am due February 2nd, yes the day after Hadley's 3rd birthday.  Due to my fertility history, we are doing genetic testing this time so hopefully those continue to come out normal.  Those lesions/scar tissue on my uterus could cause pose some risks later in the game so we will wait and see.  Hadley keeps poking my bellying saying "Baby getting bigger, like Elisa" (our friend who's baby boy is due 2 weeks).  This pregnancy so far has not been easy, VERY sick in the beginning and lots of discomfort due to these dang cysts.  

Many thanks again for all the thoughts and prayers...hopefully things continue to go well.  We don't have a good ultrasound picture of the baby because a lot of the focus at these bi-weekly appointments have been following these cysts.  Hopefully we'll get a good one at my NT ultrasound in a few weeks.  Thanks for reading!