Our Infertility Journey- National Infertility Awareness Week 2013

I shared this painful part of mine and Cody's journey last year for National Infertility Awareness Week, and I felt I was able to help a few people feel less alone, so I wanted to repost again for this year's NIAW.  Feel free to comment below or send me a private message via Facebook.

Cody and I got married in September of 2009. A few months later (January of 2010) we decided that we were ready to start trying to expand our family. I wasn't naive enough to think that we would get pregnant right away, but after a while I was starting to get impatient. I have always had a history of crazy cycles, and I was going through another weird spurt, so I decided in October to go see my OBGYN to figure out what was going on. She did a series of tests that led to a diagnosis of Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS). Basically what that means is that I have many cysts on my ovaries at all times (last time I was checked there were over 20 on each ovary). The way my body responds to PCOS is by not ovulating (releasing an egg), which makes a bit of a road block in trying to conceive. 

I tried for about 7 months to try to get the PCOS under control by taking meds and tweaking my diet a little. I knew that it is very common for it to take even a perfectly healthy couple 12 months to concieve, so I wasn't too worried. In June of 2011 I finally (after 1 yr and 5 months of trying to have a baby) decided to start the testing process to see if there was anything else going on. Through a series of tests, my OBGYN decided that it would be best to refer me to a Reproductive Endocinologist/RE (also known as a fertility specialist). We met with the RE that same month, and discovered that along with PCOS, I also had a polyp that was blocking my right fallopian tube and a uterine septum. Those two things create a not so lovely environment for a baby to live in (which could be the reason for a very early miscarriage that we had before we were trying to get pregnant), so we scheduled surgery for the following month.  After the surgery we had to wait about 2 months before being allowed to try again so that I could recover fully. We also found out shortly after that that I have a genetic blood condition called MTHFR. It is a condition that causes my blood to clot easily, which when trying to conceive a baby causes the tiny little capillaries to clot of before being fully formed, which cuts off the blood supply to the baby and causes miscarriage. Thankfully this condition is easily treated with pills, but it was still another speed bump that we weren't aware we were going to have to deal with.

We tried our first medicated IUI (intrauterine insemination) cycle in September of 2011.  My body didn't respond well enough to the meds to go forward with the cycle, so we ended up cancelling the IUI. We were able to do our first actual IUI the following month, after adding weeks of injections to the treatment. We found out at the end of October that the treatment didn't work, and I was devastated. We decided to wait a few months before starting another cycle, both so I could have a mental break, and so we could pay off the previous cycle so that we wouldn't just be going into debt.

We tried our 2nd IUI this in March of 2012 and found out 2 weeks later that that cycle did not work as well. We decided as a couple that we aren't going to pursue any more treatment options after a year of multiple tests, diagnoses, surgery, ultrasounds, meds, injections and treatments.  

Even before Cody and I were aware that we were going to have any issues trying to conceive we had talked about eventually adopting because there are so many children in need of homes and loving parents, so we spent the last year getting certified to be foster parents and we will hopefully be growing our family through that process.

I hope as you are reading this that if you are struggling with trying to conceive that you would find someone to talk to, or even just find comfort knowing that you are not alone in this journey.