My Infertility Journey: The Beginning
I was always sure I wanted kids. I talked about it when I was a teenager as if it were a given that I would have them someday in the far off future. There was only a very brief time in my early 20's when I wasn't sure.
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My Infertility Journey: A Change of Tactics (Part 12)
With the fundraiser over and my $4,000 raised, I was able to pay
back my mother and wait for the fertility clinic to call to say the
study was starting. It was very exciting and I was eager to start.
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My Infertility Journey: Making My Own Family (Part 14)
I never imagined how important my IVF fundraiser would be to my life
when I started it. I knew it was important for raising money to get the
IVF. However, it turned out to mean a lot more than that.
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My Infertility Journey: Time to Be a Guinea Pig! (Part 10)
Shortly after I set up my crowdsourcing fundraiser for IVF, I discovered a local fertility clinic was offering an amazing proposition to interested women.
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My Infertility Journey: What a Coincindence! (Part 19)
So, I was both bummed about having to wait another month to start the
IVF and nervous about undergoing the polyp removal procedure.
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The Hardest Decision You Could Make: “Reducing” Multiples
Her elation was quickly dampened
with the doctor cautioned her about the risks of carrying high-order
multiples. She was immediately presented with the most difficult
decision she would ever be asked to make: whether to take the risk or
“reduce” her pregnancy.
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My Story Begins...
My story begins 14 years ago, when I was 31. I was married, happy and owned my own company. My husband was successful as well. The world was ours. But one day we looked around us and realized most of our friends were having kids. We took a step back and said "Ok, It's time."
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My Infertility Journey: The Pre-IVF Testing Begins (Part 17)
With everything squared away to begin IVF, I set up an appointment
with my new fertility clinic to get the pre-testing they said I needed.
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What is a Failed IVF Cycle?
There may be a misconception among men and women seeking fertility help
that all IVF cycles are complete and successful, but that is not the
case. There are several reasons why an IVF cycle cannot be completed –
often referred to as a failed IVF cycle.
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Stop Drinking So Much Coffee – IVF Tips
Ahh, the great coffee debate – this is one of those topics that keeps
coming up year after year, but today I’m taking the battle and pushing
it back into the face of every woman who stretches herself way too thin
and drinks more coffee than she knows she should.
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My Infertility Journey: Fun With My Cervix (Part 21)
As I mentioned before, the saline sonogram was actually pretty painful
even though I was assured beforehand it would be painless. This was
entirely due to me having a very tiny cervix that required dilation just
to get the catheter to go in it.
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My Infertility Journey: Could It Happen Naturally? (Part 28)
If that's how it had to happen, that was fine with me. I just wanted my babies, and I was definitely ready for them to arrive. After going through the hysteroscopy to remove the uterine polyps, I felt like their arrival was pretty certain.
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My Infertility Journey: The Visit (Part 47)
Seeing as there was no way for me to avoid seeing my step-sons the day after Christmas, other than to simply leave the house (and my husband would have been upset if I'd made such an obvious display of my resentment toward them), I had to grit my teeth and accept it.
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My Infertility Journey: The Education Session (Part 34)
Apparently, part of the IVF process at my clinic was to have an
education session with the IVF coordinator and her assistant on the
whole process.
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My Infertility Journey: The Cost of IVF Meds (Part 35)
Once I got home from the education session, I started trying to figure
out just how much all of these medications were going to cost me.
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My Infertility Journey: Some Advice from a Friend (Part 38)
While I was contemplating what to do about the costs of the IVF meds
and whether I should do the procedure in December or wait another month
till the stress of the holidays were over, I got a private Facebook
message from a friend.
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My Infertility Journey: Those Crazy Hormones (Part 39)
So far, I was only on the initial one-month pack of birth control pills prescribed by by fertility doctor. They were the same brand I took in college, though the packaging had changed somewhat.
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My Infertility Journey: First Steps at Last! (Part 31)
After being two days overdue on my period and wondering if maybe I
actually did get pregnant naturally following the polyp removal, I
started menstruating.
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My Infertility Journey: The Initial Blood Work (Part 32)
There wasn't anyone else in the waiting room when my mother and I got to the clinic, so I got called back pretty swiftly. I invited Mom to come back with me. I'm pretty sure she hasn't been "behind the scenes" at a doctor's appointment with me since I was in high school.
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My Infertility Journey: One Month More (Part 40)
It became clear pretty quickly that the finances to get all of the necessary fertility medications just weren't going to be there during the holidays. So, I called my IVF coordinator at the clinic to see if we could put it off for another month.
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My Infertility Journey: Making Room for Baby (Part 15)
While waiting for my first IVF appointment, I decided to make room for
the new child. This was both a physical and a spiritual endeavor. I've
always read that if you want something, you should act as if it has
already come to you.
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Fertility Treatments May Shorten Fetus
Fertility treatments are the only answer for some couples who want to
conceive, but cannot do so naturally. Some couples have luck with
medications that promote egg maturation and release while other women
need a more advanced intervention like IVF.
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What is 3-Parent IVF?
At the heart of the female egg is a power source – the mitochondria. If
the mitochondria do not work properly, the fetus does not develop as
intended and birth defects, spontaneous abortion, miscarriage and other
complications can arise.
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My Infertility Journey: Time to Finally Consider IVF (Part 8)
We had now been actively trying to get pregnant for nearly four years
and unofficially for seven years before that. Nothing we had tried so
far had worked. The acupuncture was the only thing that even produced a
noticeable physical difference.
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My Infertility Journey: Feeling Groovy (Part 45)
I let myself quiet my financial concerns and clear my mind for the first time in a long time. I couldn't help but feel that the financial pressure buying all of those fertility medicines was putting on me was the universe's way of saying now wasn't the time to be doing this.
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My Infertility Journey: Sperm Analysis Results! (Part 20)
A week after getting my saline sonogram, I called for my husband's sperm
analysis results. I wasn't too concerned about the sperm test results,
because they'd been phenomenal when we'd had it done for the
intrauterine insemination three years ago.
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My Infertilty Journey: The Adventure Begins (Part 22)
I decided there was no reason for me to wait until the end of October to get that uterine polyp removed. It was basically just me putting off surgery because I dislike medical procedures of any kind and try to avoid them.
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My Infertility Journey: Mommy Mode (Part 42)
The closer I get to actually going through the IVF procedure, the
more my mind and whole way of thinking is switching into what I call
"mommy mode." I'm thinking like a woman who already has children.
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Frozen Biopsied Sperm as Effective As Fresh
Infertility can be heartbreaking, especially for a couple who are trying
to have children. Thankfully though, modern medicine has given us
alternate ways to become pregnant without having to adopt or use a
surrogate mother.
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Don’t Bet on Preimplantation Genetic Screening
To ensure that you have a successful in vitro fertilization, you might have considered preimplantation genetic screening, or PGS. PGS is a procedure that tests for anatomical, physiological or genetic conditions in an embryo before transferring it into a new uterus.
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Breast Cancer Linked with In Vitro Fertilization
Unfortunately, a recent study has linked women who have had multiple
births from IVF treatment with an increased risk of breast cancer.
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Both Men and Women Should Refrain from Alcohol for an IVF
Every woman knows that she should avoid alcohol when she becomes pregnant. However, many women don’t realize the negative effects that alcohol can have on their in vitro fertilization (IVF).
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