The Beginning….

If you’re looking for an infertility story that starts with heartbreak and ends with a baby, you’re in the wrong place!

My story does end happily though….still with no baby.

Loooooong story short or maybe long still?…I came off birth control in December 2014 in hopes to regulate my hormones and hopefully get my body ready for a baby.  Well, my body had other plans.  I was off of birth control for about 7 months when the pelvic pain started.  I have a fairly high tolerance for pain but by the end of summer 2015, I was popping Advil and Tylenol around the clock to help with the pain. (I am nurse and everyone knows how terrible we are at going to the doctor; we try and avoid it at all costs!) But by November the pain was unbearable and was interfering with my life.  When I say unbearable, think of the worst menstrual cramps you have ever had ALL THE TIME. So, I finally went to my OBGYN, and I had my very first transvaginal ultrasound (if you’re unfamiliar with what that is, google it) where they found a large cyst.  My doctor was optimistic and put me BACK on birth control in hopes that the cyst would shrink.

NOPE.

A month later we were talking surgery.  In January 2016, I had my first laparoscopy. I was then diagnosed with stage 4 endometriosis. For more on endo, visit http://www.centerforendo.com. My doc told me that my ovaries were stuck to my bladder and my bowel and that (on top of the cyst) was what was causing my pain.  She told me it would come back so we should start trying to get pregnant ASAP.

Here’s the catch…WE WERE GETTING MARRIED IN 3 MONTHS. I had waited 5 years to marry the love of my life, Chad, and I most definitely didn’t want to do it pregnant! So, we kind of half assed it until April. And by that I mean I was tracking my cycle and we were trying when we thought I was fertile. After our wedding, I got on Amazon and invested in all the ovulation predictor kits, started reading Taking Charge of Your Fertility and It Starts with the Egg….so began the 2 year journey of peeing on all the sticks and reading all about reproduction.

The pain came back by August 2016 and then I was back at my OBGYN. She confirmed I had 2 cysts and referred me to a reproductive endocrinologist. She believed I needed someone more specialized to handle my endo and fertility. So in September 2016, I was seated in my RE’s office having the talk and it was when IVF was first mentioned.  I was SO not ready for that. I advocated for myself and pushed to have my hormone levels checked, hysterosalpingogram (HSG) to check to see if my tubes were open, and to see another RE in the practice that specialized in endo.  When I eventually met with him, he recommended IVF straight away since any time you manipulate the ovaries it decreases your chances of getting pregnant. I still didn’t want to talk about IVF so we decided to use OPK’s and just have a ton of sex.

Sounds way more fun that it really is…

By May 2017, the pain was terrible and I was scheduling surgery #2.  This surgery was much more extensive as I had cysts the size of softballs on each ovary and again more adhesions. After surgery, he told Chad that it would be back again and we really needed to figure this baby thing out.

August 2017 we were back in the RE’s office talking about starting treatments for infertility.  And I guess that’s where the story really starts…..