When you work hard to achieve something, and you try every possible method to make your dream come true then it just has to work. Right? The only time this doesn’t apply is with unexplained infertility. Even writing it out seems funny. It’s the 21stcentury, how can you have a diagnosis such as “unexplained”? I had to learn that the hard way. You grow up thinking there is a cause and effect for everything. If there is a problem, you find out the cause and you work to fix it.
During my 2 year TTC “journey”, I literally went on an emotional rollercoaster. First you start off hopeful and excited. You both decided it’s time to add this new little person to your family. You’re finally ready! I have no health concerns, he has none either. At this point, I’m already planning my maternity wardrobe, a nursery, and a push present (don’t act like you didn’t think about it.)
First 6 months, I’m not stressing about it. We’re both working on our businesses, and tracking my cycle. It’ll happen when the time is right. Then, 8 months goes by to no avail, and I’m like “hmm this is weird, maybe there is something wrong?” Let’s run some tests, blood work, sonohysterogram, tadpole check, etc… all NORMAL. Just keep trying. Oh and the best advice you’ll receive, “just don’t think about it, it’ll happen.” Okey dokey… thanks for the tip, Karen.
I didn’t want to allow it to consume me. There was always work, vacations, outings, and friends keeping my mind occupied. But, after 12 months of trying, I decided to get the Ava Fertility bracelet. You wear it when you sleep and it tracks all the necessary patterns to predict your ovulation such as body temp, amount of sleep, pulse rate, etc. (Note: I do not recommend this product. I didn't find it to be very accurate for that price point.)
A year and a half has passed, and now I’m letting it consume me a little bit. I tried OPKs, fertility acupuncture, eating healthy, exercising, going to a fertility clinic, doing blood work every day to ensure accurate ovulation, and NOTHING. I’m not supposed to put this much effort into anything and not receive a return on investment. OKKAAAY..
Finally, we switched fertility clinics based on a recommendation. We used One Fertility where I found the staff to be extremely friendly and inviting. If this process will work for you, then you have to have good vibes when you step into the clinic that will help you so much during this sensitive time. Every clinic & doctor won’t be for everyone. I highly recommend One Fertility, but you have to do your own research and see what works for you.
We decided to try the medicated IUI method, it is less invasive than IVF and a great first step for unexplained infertility. After a bunch of blood work and ultrasounds, I started injecting a dose of 75iu Gonal-F daily into my juicy stomach fat so that I can produce more eggs, which equals more targets for the spermies to hit. On the 10th day of your cycle you go in and do blood work + ultrasound to see how many eggs you created. At that point I had 3 follicles (sizes 18, 14, 11) – these sizes will only make sense to women who are going through this. It used to mean nothing to me too and now I know everything about fertility! The following day I got the trigger shot to induce my ovulation and my IUI was performed the day after. I had very minimal pain, the procedure took 5 minutes.
Then the dreaded 2 week wait begins where you have to try not to google every symptom. I had LOTS! Extreme headaches, terrible cramping on day 3, insane mood swings, & major fatigue. This must be what pregnancy feels like. I’m convinced that I’m pregnant. The day before the BETA test (blood work to determine if you’re pregnant), I did a home pregnancy test (HPT) it came back positive! I was so happy.
However, I still wanted the blood work to confirm before I got ahead of my self.
I was driving home from work when I got the call. I pulled over immediately because I had a feeling that I’d be celebrating and it was probably safest to do that while not operating a vehicle. The blood work came back negative.
Disappointed and heartbroken would be an understatement. I didn’t cry, I just asked what we do next.
(photo: We went boating to cheer up. This was a perfect day.)
Part I.5 coming soon.
Always,
Unik
