I'm linking up today with Kelly for her weekly SUYL series. Infertility is a hard one. Its definitely a word that defines many, yet each individual person is different. It's a broad topic.
Clint and I were married in 2000. He had two adorable kids when we married, we were a little family from the beginning! For many years, I was content with being a step-mom, my career had taken off, we built a beautiful home, and our son had come to live with us full time. It wasn't until about 2008 that I began to have the desire to have a child of my own. I assumed it would happen instantly....oh, was I wrong,
After trying for a year, I visited with my ob/gym about my concerns. She immediately put me on clomid. I completed 4 cycles with no success. My Dr. assured me everything would be ok, just be patient, yadda, yadda. I began to question the level of concern she had and after much consideration, I changed doctors. Toward the end of 2010, I visited my new Dr. Instantly fell in love with him! The first appointment he spent well over an hour reviewing my history, the lack of lab work I'd had and he had a game plan by the time I left that day. I immediately had lab work done, apparently Clomid thins the uterine lining and lab work and ultrasound is very important to monitor this. I was scheduled for an HSG. I so nervous about this exam, I am an X-ray technologists and the HSGs I'd participated in we're not pleasant! Luckily, the day I had my exam, a friend was the tech in my procedure room, it was not bad at all! I was relieved! And my results were perfect, clear, open Fallopian tubes! I went ahead and did two more cycles of clomid, no success.
So, fast forward to Fall 2010, I met with Dr. Rodriguez at Presbyterian in Plano, Texas. After several tests of myself and Clint, it was decided IVF would be our only option. We were given less than 5% chance of conceiving on our own. In March 2011, I began the medication....I can't exactly recall my exact dosages but I know I took four shots a day for 15 days....my ovaries responded very well. On retrieval day, they harvested 20 eggs, we were very pleased, Dr. R was pleased. We did a 5 day transfer of two embryo. The two weeks following were pure torture! I wasn't exactly surprised that our results were negative, I just had a gut feeling. We were devastated, none the less.
In May 2011, I had the "failed cycle" appointment, what a name! I cried the entire time we were there. It was awful. But the advice I received that day, changed my life!
Dr. Rodriguez suggested I do something to shock my body. He suggested a strict diet, reduce my sugar and carbs and he also began me on the medication, Metformin. I don't have PCOS, but we were tricking my body into regular ovulation. Over the next 4 months, I lost over 30 pounds and exercised like Jillian Micheals! I felt better than I had in my whole life! I ran my first 5K in September and after meeting with Dr. R, we were set up for another cycle of IVF to begin in December. With this schedule, I was to start birth control for one month in October. I was 10 days past my regular period start day, I really paid no attention to anything except the tugging on my heart saying, "wait." Clint and I spent much time in prayer about each step we took in this journey, but I kept this "feeling" to my self. I had come down to the very LAST day to start the pills. I reluctantly picked up a pregnancy test to take, though I knew the result would be negative... So I thought!
To say I was blown away to see the two pink lines was an understatement. I could not believe what I was seeing. God was showing off big time, His timing is perfect and He showed us He was in charge!
Kodi Reese Pierce was born on June 12, 2012. While I could go on about what a perfect little girl she is, this post is about the journey...a journey that doesn't end the same for any of the participants. It's easy for people that don't go through this pain to give advice or suggest options. The main idea is that it's painful, expensive and has no guarantee. The biggest thing I try to encourage people going through this is to have faith in HIS plan..for some its to have a precious baby, for some its adoption, and for others, it's to remain childless. Whatever, the plight that's yours, understanding the reason behind it only will only be guaranteed with HIM.
