The History of Me

I haven't been very clear on this, so let me take you on My Fertility Journey.

About a million years ago (7? 5? I've lost count), I didn't have health insurance, but my employer offered free OB appointments, and I took one. And the doc mumbles something about fibroids and tumors and cancer and never being a mother.

I went out and spent thousands of dollars (no health insurance, remember?) and found out that I was basically okay, (no tumors, no fibroids to speak of, no cancer) but the "never having kids" thing... scared me.

About four years ago, I met my husband, told him of the doc's pronouncement and H encouraged me to find out for sure. I went to a new Gyno (who I love) who gave me a thorough check up and could find nothing wrong... save a minor thyroid condition.

So I get put on the synthroid, and H and I keep trying. It doesn't work, and I find that when I try to use ovulation detectors... nothing happens. I try C.lomi.d, and for the first time I score on the ovulation pee test. But still no baby.

My gyno runs tests. He tests, I test. H's s.per.m is... not good. Low volume, low count, poor motility. He has varicocele-ectomy, with only minimal improvement. So we go to my (now former) RE.

Now it's time to find out everything that's wrong with me. My FSH is not good. I get put on massive doses of ungodly expensive drugs and the result is still not good. Apparently, my body is stubborn and does not like to respond to drugs. We try IUIs and nothing.

Finally, we decide to try IVF. There's a clinic where his aunt lives, and it's cheap (relatively speaking) and Aunt says that she'll help with my MIL. So I take a month off of work and we journey the ten-hour car trip out there. And I end up with three (only) fertilized embryos and implant them all. I get a positive response, but a few weeks later it's discovered to be a chemical pregnancy. No dice.

(And, in non-related-to-me-news, H and I realize that Aunt canNOT cope with her sister's dementia, so all fantasies of leaving MIL in the warmer climate for the winter months evaporate).

And then I start a blog.

Hi, how are you?