We were so excited! We thought we were soon going to find out that we were having a baby. Well month after month went by and there was still no positive pregnancy test. We went to the OBGYN and I was started on a medication called Clomid. This medication assists in ovulation. We would go into the office and have Ultrasounds to see if I had any good eggs maturing. Month after month we were told nothing looked good and we would try again next month. We quickly became discouraged. Because of my extensive history with gynecological issues Jared and I knew before were married we knew that we would have problems with pregnancy. We knew I would have a hard time carrying a baby to full term and possibly having a few miscarriages but we never knew we would have a hard time conceiving.
So going back to before we were married when I was 19, I was having some very painful heavy periods. I went to my OBGYN and she decided that using birth control would help with these issues. I chose to go with the NuvaRing because I am not very good at remembering to take pills everyday. I went home and filled my prescription and tried to put the NuvaRing in. It kept falling out, I called the office totally embarrassed and told them of my problem. They had me come back in to see if they could help me learn how to place it and I would be on my way. Well the doctor was not able to get it to go in either. She then referred me to her partner who ordered multiple tests to figure out what was going on. I first has an ultrasound that looked as if I had a bicornuate uterus. Nothing that I would need immediate treatment for. I then went to the hospital to have a test called a hysterosalpingogram (HSG), where they insert a catheter up through the cervix intro the uterus and then inject some die to see if there are any uterine defects or abnormalities of the female reproductive tract. After about an hour of trying they were not able to insert the catheter through my cervix. So the test was canceled. My doctor then ordered a MRI of my abdomen and pelvis to see if we could see anything that way. The MRI was done and left us with no answers still. They were able to see that something was wrong and I remember the Radiologist, my doctor and my mom and I looking at a textbook comparing my images to the ones in the book. It was then determined that I would need to have a diagnostic laparoscopy, a surgery so they could find out exactly what was wrong with me. While in surgery the doctor found that I had a complete septate uterus. My septum went all the way from to top of my uterus to the bottom, through my cervix dividing it into two separate cervix and then halfway down my vaginal canal. During surgery he asked permission from my mom to remove the vaginal septum so I would be able to have intimate relations in the future. He did not feel comfortable doing anything else so I was referred to a reproductive endocrinologist. The closest one to where we live is 4 hours away. I went to see the specialist as soon as I had recovered from my previous surgery and the decision was made to remove my uterine septum to decrease my risk of miscarriage in the future. So now I just have a heart shaped uterus, and 2 cervix is my only abnormality. I am so grateful that I found the most amazing man that loved me for me and the fact that I would have a hard time bringing him a child into this world.
So back to our story of trying to have a baby. After 5 months of unsuccessful Clomid cycles we switched to an OBGYN specializing in infertility and we were started on a medication called Letrozole. This medication was supposed to stimulate my body to release multiple eggs every month to give us a better chance of the baby implanting in the uterine wall and not the scar tissue in the uterus which would cause a miscarriage. I would have my blood drawn on a specific day of my cycle to see if the medication worked by raising my progesterone levels. The exact opposite happened and my levels dropped drastically. In the mean time our doctor ordered a sperm analysis on Jared to just make sure that nothing was wrong with him. The test came back and his count was good, motility was good but the morphology had only 5% good sperm. This meant that only 5% of his sperm would have the ability to penetrate the egg if I ever releases one. This news crushed us! I don't think I stopped crying for days. Our options at this point was to undergo In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) to have our baby.
We then were sent to another specialist that performs IVF. He has diagnosed me my Poly cystic Ovary Syndrome and microscopic endometriosis as well as the uterine abnormalities. Jared has the bad morphology of his sperm as well. Becoming pregnant will be a challenge for us but we have been given an 80% chance of becoming pregnant by undergoing this procedure. We are ready for this challenge but the only downfall is the cost of IVF. One cycle costs $16,000. So we are working as hard as we can with 2 jobs each so we can hopefully become expecting parents soon. This is where we are at in our journey to parenthood. Thank you for your love and support on this emotional and personal journey to becoming parents.
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