Part 2: The Transfer

This is Part 2 of a series of posts telling the journey to our third little miracle baby. 

Part 3 will be published soon. Click here to read Part 1. 

Our frozen transfer is one week away. This treatment cycle has flown by! Last Monday I had my suppression check, which was an ultrasound and some blood work to confirm that I have no cysts and that I have low estradiol levels. I started taking baby aspirin to help blood flow to the uterus, and 3mg of estradiol three times a day. The main side effect from the estradiol that I can tell is bloat and a very small appetite. It's been so nice not having to give myself shots! The following Friday I had my SSG (saline sonogram). It really wasn't bad. They insert a catheter and fill your uterus will saline while doing a 3D ultrasound to make sure there are no uterine abnormalities. I felt like I kept peeing my pants for sometime after while remaining saline leaked out...awkward. Everything looked good, which was great!

We've been doing this completely privately again. The only ones aware of this transfer is our doctor, me, Chris, and God. I don't feel the need to tell friends and family only to have them come asking...honestly if I do get pregnant I plan on not telling anyone for as long as I can. I would wait to 20 weeks if I could. 

At the beginning of this treatment I would have bouts of doubt. All the questions would start to fill my mind. What do we do if this doesn't work? Will we ever have more kids? Why would God not want this to happen? Through many tearful prayers to my Father in Heaven I have seen this doubt fade away and be replaced with something much more powerful. My doubt has been replaced with faith. Not faith that I will get pregnant and that we'll all live happily ever after. Faith in God's will. That kind of faith is hard to obtain when we have our own desires in the way. I'm learning that if we truly desire and accept God's will, we will be okay with whatever the outcome. Yes I want to get pregnant. Yes I want this to work. Yes I hope that this is God's will. But if it's not I understand that He has some other plan for me. Everything will work out. I am comforted in that knowledge as I place full trust in Him. 

Fast forward one week to the transfer...

A few days before the transfer I had a routine ultrasound check, but was given that bad news that there was fluid in my uterus. If the fluid wasn't gone by transfer day they would not transfer our embryo. I was given some medication to help get rid of the fluid, but there was nothing else that could be done. A few days later was the big day! I had a difficult time sleeping the night before due to my anxiousness. Eventually the morning came and it was time to leave. We kissed the twins goodbye and left them in Grandma's care. Chris had asked her to watch the twins telling her that he took the day off work to pamper me and have a night alone at a hotel. I guess you could say that lounging around a hotel room all day was being "pampered" since that is what we did after the transfer.

Before we went into the clinic we each took a turn to pray. I remember writing that when we did IVF in 2014 that it was a spiritual experience for me, as if I was being watched over and carried through the entire stressful process. But this time...it's been like my eyes have opened to a whole new understanding of God. Of His love. Of faith. It has been a transformation in my life. If this transfer doesn't work I am at least so thankful for this unparalleled spiritual experienced I have witnessed in my life. Sitting in the car we prayed. We prayed that the fluid from my uterus would be gone without a trace. We prayed that our embryo would survive the thaw and that the transfer would be smoothly. We prayed for the nurses, doctors, and embryologists that have helped us in this journey.

As the ultrasound of my uterus began, I took a deep breath and held onto Chris's hand. I've had enough ultrasounds to have a good understanding of what I'm looking at. I didn't see anything. No dark spot in my uterus showing fluid. It was completely gone. Without a trace. Our first miracle for the day. With the good news, we were given the all clear to do the embryo transfer that day. I was also told to start drinking. Water that is! It helps straighten the uterus so the catheter containing our embryo will go in smoother.

It takes an hour for the embryo to thaw, so we left and walked around a nearby Hobby Lobby. Chris loves that place! We explored while I chugged a few bottles of water. When we returned we waited in a room to sign some consents and hear an update on the embryo. For a while I was pretty scared a nurse was going to walk in and say the embryo didn't survive. But...it did! Our second miracle for the day. They offered me valium for relaxation, which I almost turned down since I turned it down when we transferred the twins. I was afraid it was going to make me too loopy to know what was going on, but it didn't hit me until after we left. We got changed and went into the OR, met with the embryologist who gave us a picture of our embryo, and then my doctor came in and it was go time. It's a pretty simple procedure, but there is so much that needs to be done leading up to it. We could see on the ultrasound this teeny tiny little embryo placed up inside my uterus. Our third miracle for the day! The embryologist did what's called Assisted Hatching, where he made a small hole in the zona pellucida to help the embryo hatch out of its outer shell and help with implantation in the uterine wall. You can see the hole at about 3 o'clock of the picture below.

Isn't that amazing? Boston and Lyla's first picture looked like this. Such a tiny bunch of cells has so much potential. Can you believe that you once looked like this?

After the transfer I eventually conked out in the car from the valium. When I took valium for my HSG in 2013, I was a total nut case and obviously drugged. This time I just slept for a little while. We checked into our hotel room, and I relaxed and watched some funny shows. It was nice to get away and just focus on taking it easy and letting my body do its thing. I missed my babies so much though. After breakfast in the morning we when straight home to squeeze them.

Since transfer day it's been pretty surreal thinking of the embryo I have inside me, just always hoping that this may be our next child. While the twins nap I go sit on my bed and ponder about my family, the great blessings we've received, and the chance we've given this embryo. There is a constant prayer in my heart that everything will work out the way we have hoped and prayed. At this point I am what you call 3 weeks pregnant, until proven otherwise. That is because pregnancy is measured from the first day of your last period. By now, the embryo should have implanted and I am praying it has. I know there is a science to everything, but I also believe that God's hand can control that science. I believe that God can make anything possible. I know because of Him we had several miracles: the fluid was gone, the embryo survived the thaw, and the transfer was flawless. I know that if it is His will, He will bless us with a fourth miracle in this process...a baby.

Click here to read Part 3 

Part 1: Our Little Embryo

This is Part 1 of a series of posts telling the journey to our third little miracle baby. 

Click here to read Part 2. 

We have a frozen embryo. A beautiful "good +" blastocyst just waiting to be given a chance. When we froze it I never thought I would feel so attached.

Boston and Lyla were embryos (as everyone once was). We saw them. We have a picture. Just a bunch of cells that ended up turning into the greatest blessing we have ever received. Fully knowing an embryo's potential is what has made me so attached to the one frozen embryo we have. I am so thankful that we were able to save at least one. But I feel so bad...I feel so bad this embryo, this beginning of life, is stuck. Frozen in time. Waiting.

I truly feel a connection, like there is a perfect spirit waiting in heaven to be united with a body. A body that begins with an embryo. Our embryo.

Chris was the one that actually approached me about transferring our embryo. We want our kids to be close in age. We prayed and it just made sense. So we set up an appointment with my reproductive endocrinologist to get an idea of what a frozen embryo transfer would be like and how we need to start preparing. If Chris had his way, we would have started treatment the next day, but instead we chose a date two months later.

To be honest I'm terrified. Terrified that this embryo is our last chance. Terrified that it won't make it through the thaw. Terrified I won't get pregnant. Terrified that I won't have more children. But I know that hope is where comfort is found and hope is where miracles begin.

Fast forward one month later...

It's all happening again. The stress that comes with being infertile. The stress that comes with money and trying to work with insurance. The stress that comes with the medications. The stress of wondering if you'll have more kids. Am I being selfish? Is it selfish that I have two beautiful twins and I want more? Being a mom is everything to me. I love it.

Because I'm writing a more condensed version of this story, I'll just say we ran into a lot of problems with insurance. My fertility clinic was no longer covered and we had received no warning. With treatment already started, I was extremely stressed out. One option was to cancel the treatment, transport our embryo to a different fertility clinic that our insurance recognized and start over. I really didn't want to do that. A lot of tears were shed that day.

Long story short, we worked some things out, decided to continue my treatment and stay at my clinic. I'm so glad we were able to. Things always tend to work out, don't they?

         

Click here to read Part 2 

Infertility Is...

It's strange to look back on my fight against infertility. Your focus completely changes when you're pregnant.  Sometimes it's hard for me to remember how difficult this has been all because I'm so happy for what's to come in 5 months. Nevertheless, I'm afraid it's something I will have to battle for each precious child we are blessed with. 

It's heartbreaking how many people face infertility. It reminds me of the quote, "Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle." Infertility is real and it is hard. Many battle it privately. More people than you would realize.

This is infertility:

it's learning a second language of acronyms

it's having a spare bedroom waiting to hold a crib

it's deleting Facebook to avoid pregnancy announcements

it's skipping your friend's baby blessing
it's day dreaming 
it's comparing yourself to the pregnant teenagers, drug addicts, alcoholics, and unmarried

it's holding back tears through baby showers

it's bruises on your stomach, arms, and hands from all the needles

it's forgetting what it's like to feel "normal" because of all the hormone treatments

it's a constant prayer in your heart

it's a constant taunt in the back of your head

it's hiding the pain, tears, appointments, medications, and failures from your family and friends

it's repetitive research in hopes to find something new

it's wishing you were normal

it's  making decisions you never thought you'd have to make

it's evaluating everything you eat

it's avoiding future plans

it's incessant torture of what ifs

it's slowly opening to the thought of adoption

it's always having a tear ready to fall

it's dreaming you're pregnant only to wake up empty
it's a torment of whys 
it's bills upon bills

it's looking in the mirror and imagining a baby bump
it's seeing your doctor more than your friends

it's feeling too young for infertility
it's a test of your endurance 

it's having names picked out but wondering how many you will actually get to use
it's trying not to get your hopes up 

it's wishing you had everything that pregnant women complain about 

it's being thankful for the friend you can confide in and trust

it's being so nervous to take a pregnancy test you make yourself sick
it's feeling guilty - guilty to your husband that you can't do your part 

it's pushing your limits of hope

it's love 

it's a miracle

it's turning your heart to the Lord and trusting He hears your cries.

The Hard Side of Sharing the News

After I used to cry when I found out other couples were pregnant I always told myself that when/if I got pregnant I would make up for that sadness by shouting it out to the world. It would finally be my turn right?

As we have been slowly letting people in on the news I've paid close attention to their reactions. For example, I told a few ladies together the other day and I got mixed responses.

First was from a lady who is done having kids. I could tell she was so very excited for me.

The second was a girl my age who is married, but doesn't have kids yet. She said it was the best news she'd heard and said I was going to be a great mother (that warmed my heart). I could tell she was genuinely happy for me.

Third was another girl my age and married. She was more unexpressed and said a simple congratulations and that was it. It reminded me of myself months ago. Is she baby hungry? Is she suffering through infertility? Did I just rub salt into a wound? She's merely an acquaintance so maybe I'm just looking into it too much.

How can I be so overwhelmed with joy for finally becoming pregnant when there's so many others struggling? I want to say it's not fair, but at the same time I fought my war against infertility. After many battles I finally came out the winner. 

I'm so torn. I know I can't expect everyone to be happy for me, but it breaks my heart when I can tell that they're not. It's been an interesting situation I'm trying to navigate.

Any suggestions on what to do?

Ten Tips for IVF

They're a bit random, but here are some things I did during my IVF that helped things go smoother, as well as some things I wish I would have known beforehand. 

1. Get an electric heating pad. You will never want to take it off! It's great to help with the cramping after egg retrieval and also nice after the embryo transfer.

2. Try to relax and keep your retrieval and transfer week free. I still went to work, but I sit all day at a desk. Just take it easy, take deep breaths, and try to relax.

3. Before doing your injections, push and pull the syringe several times to make it less stiff. It will help the injection go in more smoothly.

4. Document everything. Whether it's a journal, blog, or keeping all your medical documents in a folder. You can use what you saved to help others, or to use again for reference.

5. Stay away from the infertility forums. Maybe this tip isn't for you, but I learned my lesson back in November with my first IUI. I was constantly checking an infertility board on Baby Center and it stressed me out more than it helped. If you need someone to talk to, this leads me to my next tip...

6. Confide in a friend. Whether everyone knows or nobody knows, find a friend you can confide in and discuss all the details with. It's a huge relief to just talk things over with someone you can trust. You can talk to me too! 

7. Download an app to remind you to take your medications. I used the app, MediSafe, and it gives me reminders to take my vitamins/meds/injections at the appropriate time of day.

8. If doing injections make you nervous, play a happy song! I frequently listened to "Happy" from Despicable Me 2. It helped make the situation more light and -can you believe it- fun.

9. Think happy thoughts! Just thinking positively or repeating affirmations can positively affect your attitude. By just saying phrases like "My body is healthy," and "I can carry a baby," you will start to believe yourself and your body will too. 

10. Try to schedule your transfer early in the morning. You need to go in with a full bladder to straighten your uterus and make the ultrasound visibly better. I woke up in the morning and went straight to my appointment without using the bathroom. Yes, it was uncomfortable, but I didn't have to worry about drinking a ton of water, and my bladder was so nice and full it gave my doctor a straight shot for transferring those precious embryos. 

Bonus: If you have any remaining embryos that you plan to freeze, make sure you are fully aware of when they plan on freezing them and what the odds are of them surviving until the freeze so you get no surprises. I was unaware they were doing an extended culture to six days. I was shocked to get a call saying 2 of our embryos didn't last and just 1 was viable for freezing. 

I hope these help! Let me know if you have any great tips by commenting below.

Tomorrow's the Day!

Tomorrow is the big day! I couldn't be more nervous and excited. My blood test is tomorrow morning, so we should know the results by the afternoon. Chris had knee surgery last week so we will both be home for the call since I've been working from home to help take care of him. I honestly have no idea how I'm going to react either way. It will still be shock if this actually works since nothing ever seems to go right in my body. I'm so tempted to just take a pregnancy test, but I'm too nervous! Wouldn't be amazing if I actually was pregnant with twins?! I'm sure it would be a complete shock with the amount of work taking care of two babies, but it would be so wonderful to see them learn, play, and grow together. I love all the YouTube videos of twin babies talking to each other and being each other's partners in crime. I can see the messes already.

The two week wait has actually flown by. Taking care of Chris certainly has helped pass the time. Plus all we do is watch House and StarWars as he recovers.Unfortunately they were only able to do a bone graft this time instead of fixing the ACL too, so he'll have to have surgery again this summer. Poor guy.

I'm not sure if I'm having early pregnancy symptoms or if it's a result of all my medications. Some of them are definitely not worth mentioning on the Internet. I have been tired a lot and my sleep has been awful. Waking up a ton, tossing and turning, dreams, then a night will come where I will sleep straight through. My appetite has been awful too. I'm either not hungry or I just want sweets. I can't stand the thought of carrots, almonds, lettuce, avocado and eggs (which I normally eat a lot), basically anything healthy. I made us salads the other night and I couldn't eat mine. Maybe it's from the Metformin though. 

Do you see what I did there? I try to convince myself of other possibilities because I'm so nervous that I'm not pregnant. Where would we go from here? IVF is a huge deal and I don't want to do it again this soon. I'm getting tired of keeping this a secret, but we still don't want to tell everyone what's been going on until we are good and pregnant. 

Now I'm just rambling because I'm nervous. I'm sure if this is what God wants for us, He will make it happen. I guess we will know tomorrow!

Rolling With The Punches...At Least Trying

The two week wait is already starting to take its toll. Just the day after transfer the roller coaster started. Ups and downs, highs and lows, hope and fear. 

I got an unexpected call last night. The woman on the other end was one of the embryologists.

"Good news! One of your embryos lasted through the extended culture and is ready for cryopreservation. You have one great looking embryo for freezing!"

Wait. What? One? 

"Just one made it? The other two didn't last?"

"The other two didn't make it, but the one you have looks great!" 

This seemed to rehearsed. Her cheerful tone was her trying to make up for the fact we lost two embryos. I was dumbfounded and the phone call ended. Chris could hear the conversation and immediately got upset. I just didn't understand.

What extended culture? I thought they froze them on Saturday? Weren't they going to freeze all three of them? You mean to tell me we just paid well over a thousand dollars out of pocket to just freeze one little embryo? Why did they extend the culture? No one told me they were doing that?

My mind was moving a mile a minute, but was stunned and slow at the same time. What just happened? Chris started asking me all these questions that I didn't know the answer to. I couldn't contain the tears. 

All that work just for three embryos? Two transferred fresh and just one that has a 50% chance of making it through the thaw for a frozen transfer? I felt doomed. Doomed that I would have to do this all again. The blood tests, the ultrasounds, the medications, the shots, the surgery. Doomed that there isn't enough left in our infertility benefit for another full IVF. 

How did we go from 19 to 10 to 9 to just 3? Why do I have to go through this? I'm too young. This isn't fair. I was supposed to have 3. That could be at least 2 more transfers, not just one with an undesirable chance of survival. 

All this was like a flash, and then it occurred to me. 

"Chris, it doesn't matter how many we have frozen, what matters is the two that are already inside me." 

I have never wanted twins more in my life. 

The Bachelor was about to start and I had already made plans to watch it with my neighbor. I dried my tears, covered my face with my glasses, took a deep breath, went over and pretended everything was fine. 

I couldn't sleep last night. I couldn't sleep this morning. I can't stop praying. I need this to work. My heart broke a little with the news last night. I can't handle anymore heart break. 

Please give us twins. If not, please just one.

Injections and ultrasounds and a cyst oh my!

It's funny when you're trying to conceive and doing all these fertility treatments how something so small can make such a huge difference. Before treatments I just thought about how sperm meets egg...everything goes right...baby! But now there's so many more steps to think about. The picture just got a whole lot bigger. I'm banking on these teeny tiny follicles to become the right size and then for at least one egg to grow and be released. Then I'm focused on having a good sperm count and praying that one little swimmer finds my little egg. And then for that little fertilized egg to implant into my uterine lining. Then wait for it to grow, grow, grow, and pray I won't miscarry and that in nine months time give birth to a precious child. It is all such a miracle! I cannot wait for ours. It will happen one day, right?

(blastocyst)bl

After doing 3 FSH injections the past week, today I went in for my follicular ultrasound to see if I'm ready to take my hCG trigger shot. They found a fluid filled cyst on the outside of my ovary, but it doesn't look like it will impact this cycle at all. They're going to check on it again in a few weeks. As long as it isn't growing or doing anything abnormal, they're not too concerned. Aside from that I only have one little ripe follicle on my right ovary, at about 16mm. My lining also looks perfect. I will trigger tomorrow night and have my IUI on Sunday. I was surprised when they said that, since I didn't think they would be open on a Sunday, but for time sensitive procedures like this they are. I'm really excited! Hubby and I know what to expect this time around and things just feel better than last time. That means I will take a pregnancy test the Sunday after Christmas...maybe Santa will come late this year? I'd be fine with that!

I'm a visual person, so I like this diagram to explain why follicles are so important. Before we started treatments I thought there's just an egg chilling in my ovary ready to pop out! Ha! There's more to it than that. The follicle has to mature and become bigger for the egg inside to be released from the follicle.

Keeping prayerful hearts for Sunday! 

(blastocyst)(

(blastocyst)

(blastocyst)

(blastocyst)

My First IUI

Well it's about time I post my IUI experience. It's a good thing I waited a couple days because I have been on a roller coaster of emotions, but know I can look back on the experience with fresh eyes. 

The hCG shot definitely got to me. My raging hormones have resulted in countless unnecessary tears. Some women test out their trigger to know when it's out of their system, but I'm just trying to play it cool so I don't become obsessed with it and think I should still have the side effects because it's still in my system.

So here's IUI story #1 (wouldn't it be nice if it stayed #1?!) 

For those of you who don't know, an IUI stands for intrauterine insemination also known as artificial insemination. Basically my husband's sperm is inserted directly into my uterus, creating a more direct route with less obstacles. 

We arrived at 7:30am for Chris's SA (semen analysis) to get a collection for the IUI. They wash the collection so only the best sperm remain. It's crazy to think there are millions and millions of candidates, but it only takes one.

The whole morning my emotions were running high. Nothing felt like it was going right that morning and I already lost hope before I even went in for the IUI. At 9am I got prepped and waited and waited and waited. Finally my sweet nurse came in and talked me through the procedure. They simply insert a speculum (ouch) and then guide a catheter until they find the top of the uterus and then the sperm is injected. It's simple enough that my nurse did the whole procedure while we talked about Thanksgiving to try and distract me from all the pokes and prodding going on. It only took about 3 minutes. After everything was removed, they had me rest for about 20 minutes and then they sent me on my way with good luck wishes.

All throughout that day I had no hope. I kept saying, "We'll have to try this medication next time" and "Next time I rather do this". I was already setting myself up for a negative. But that's how I protect myself. I don't get my hopes up so I'm not crushed when what I hoped for doesn't happen. Needless to say, I cried and cried and cried all day. 

Hormones. Gotta love them.
I had moderate cramping for two days and just took it easy. I am now in what's know as the two week wait. Two weeks until I take a pregnancy test to see if all the pills, injections, ultrasound, and IUI were worth it. My goodness I hope so! All the appointments, medications, and sticking needles in myself is emotionally exhausting!!!

But this is why I'm glad I'm writing this two days later. I found my hope. It's small, but I'm hopeful. There are so many little things that have to go exactly right to become pregnant. It really is a miracle. And that is where I found my hope. I've stopped thinking about the medications and how big my follicles were and if the trigger shot worked. Now I just think of the miracle it all is. It's completely in God's hands. If it's God's will, I will become pregnant. There is nothing more I want to be in life than a mother. I want to have children and raise a family with my husband. The thought consumes every spare moment. It is always in the back of my mind. It is everything to me. 

FSH Injections

Needles. Terrify. Me. 

No bueno.

Everyday I watched my Dad inject himself with insulin and it would make me shudder. I prayed I never would get diabetes and have to do the same. I should have also prayed I would never have to take anything else that required stabbing a needle into my stomach. 

When my package arrived with my injections I was overwhelmed and scared to death. I couldn't get over the 1 1/2 inch needles that were included in the box. I thought I was going to have to use those needles until I figured out I only had to use the 1/2 inch needles. Thank goodness! The box contained enough for three 113 unit injections of Bravelle (Follicle Stimulating Hormone). 

Fun fact: Bravelle comes from human urine. Thank you kind donors for sharing your pee with me. 

The package also had my trigger shot for my IUI. The trigger shot is a ginormous dose of hCG that triggers ovulation. Since I don't ovulate on my own this will certainly be necessary. 

(Sorry about the bad picture...my hands were shaking from being so nervous!)

Last night I did my first Bravelle injection. After tears and loving support from my husband I began the process. I had to mix three bottles of the Bravelle with the sodium chloride to get an amount concentrated enough for my dosage. And then I just did it. I stabbed the needle in my stomach and pushed in the plunger and took it out. I felt like a druggie. I freaked when I saw a small amount left in the syringe and stabbed myself again fearing I didn't get enough in. That probably wasn't smart, but I'm still alive. 

I'm not trying to make light of this situation, but joking about it helps me cope. 

All in all was it that bad? No. Was it worth the tears and anxiety? Not really. Now I know the next injection tomorrow will be fine and I shouldn't have to worry. But seriously though...needles are not cool.

The things I will do for an Itty Bitty Ivie!

Back to the drawing board - Month 2 Plan!

Timeline Update

A lot has happened since first meeting our doctor. I've been trying to play catch up since we started treatment over a month ago, but this blog is only a week old! Here's a timeline update: 

September 19th: First appointment with our fertility doctor. 

September 20th: My blood work came back and I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism. I started taking Prometrium to induce a period.

September 25th: Had further blood tests, thyroid exam (found nothing wrong) and was prescribed 50mcg of Synthroid a day. I will probably be taking it for the rest of my life. 

September 26th: Met with my gynecologist and got her up to date. Free Prenatal vitamins, yay!

October 3rd: After taking the Prometrium for 10 days my period started just three days later. 

October 5th: Went to the doctor for blood work and a follicular ultrasound. Everything looked great! Except my bladder was so full in preparation for the blood work that he couldn't see anything until I emptied it. I came back and my bladder was in the shape of a heart so he gave me an ultrasound picture for kicks and giggles. I got blood work done for an OAR, Anti-Mullerian Hormone, and TSH for my thyroid. My thyroid went down quite a bit which is great! Also my Ovarian Assessment Report came back and it was like I got straight A's! We're in the clear there. I also started taking 5mg of Femara today.

October 9th: Finished taking Femara. I didn't experience any side effects thankfully.

October 11th: The dreaded HSG! My next post will have all the details.

That's a wrap! Just keeping it positive :)  

 

Fertility Specialist

September 19th, 2013

Today was a wonderful day! We got up at the crack of dawn to get to our 7am appointment to meet our fertility specialist. Our doctor went over an extensive medical history for both of us and our families. He didn't have much concern for Chris, so he recommended some things for me. First off, he wants me to increase my BMI since I'm considered underweight and that is not healthy for pregnancy. He also prescribed me some fancy $85 prenatals (thank goodness for insurance!). Then he told us we could approach this three different ways, which are in short:

1. Gain weight, see if my period comes back, try naturally.

2. Do some blood tests and pop some pills, try naturally.

3. The whole show, tests, pills, HSG, IUI, IVF, etc. 

We chose in between 2 and 3. 

Our plan is as follows:

1. Induce period with Progesterone pills

2. Schedule for OAR and follicle ultrasound on day 3 of cycle

3. Take Femara days 3-7 of cycle

4. Get an HSG during days 5-10 of cycle

5. Take ovulation tests until we get a positive and come in for an IUI (intrauterine insemination)

If I don't ovulate I will do a progesterone blood draw and try all over again the next month. Try, try, try. Sometimes that word is very vexing.

I was prescribed a ton of stuff, which was a little overwhelming at first. However, it all seems simple now. After meeting with our fertility doctor, I got my blood drawn for TSH (thyroid stimulating hormone), CBC (complete blood count), and Prolactin. Fun little side story I will share about my blood getting drawn in my upcoming vlog!

All in all, we are so happy and thankful we could meet with this doctor. We have a plan in place and have already learned so much. We are slowly taking baby steps. Literally.Baby.Steps.