Infertility

Hi everyone! It's been too long since my last post but keeping up with three mobile babies keeps me very busy! I thought I would take a minute to write a post on dealing with infertility. Many of you know that our three miracles were conceived using fertility drugs. This was not something that happened overnight. It took over two years of praying, doctor visits, blood work, injections, expensive medicine, and the list goes on and on.

I am the oldest of five and have always wanted to have children. Paul and I were married in 2005. After two years of being married we both felt the next step in our marriage was to have children. In the back of my mind I knew it might be difficult for me to get pregnant because I have never had a "natural period". That's right-NEVER! It's great until you want to become pregnant. I went to my OBGYN who discovered I had PCOS (poly cystic ovarian syndrome). Surprisingly 5-10 % of women suffer from this disorder. It can range from mild to severe and the side effects are no fun! He said if were were ready to get pregnant he would put me on clomid (a fertility drug you take by mouth). Well, I took the drug for 6 cycles and nothing. I didn't even ovulate. :( If you are reading this and you have used clomid you know it is the devil's drug! The side effects are horrid! Headaches, mood swings, hot flashes, weight gain. After 6 unsuccessful cycles my OBGYN suggested I see a fertility Dr. Well, it didn't take long to make the appointment. I was so frustrated and didn't understand why I wasn't able to get pregnant.

The first visit to the fertility Dr. was a long one. Lots of bloodwork, paperwork, physical exam, meeting with the Dr. After looking over my history the Dr. decided he wanted to do one more round of clomid and monitor me carefully to see if I ovulated. I hesitantly agreed. After another failed cycle and no ovulation he decided we should move on. Next came injections. We had no clue how expensive fertility drugs were! I'm talking thousands of dollars! I took injections in the stomach anywhere from 12-25 days. The first few cycles were tricky because they had to get my dose just right. The injections cause your follicles (eggs) to grow. Once they get to just the right size you take another injection(hcG trigger shot) in the butt. This injection causes your eggs to release. After taking this injection we would go to the Dr. where they would take Paul's sperm and using a catheter inject it into my uterus. Yes-it is quite unromantic. We did this three times and all three times I ovulated-hooray! However, no baby. The Dr. said I might have endometriosis and wanted to do an endoscopy (surgery). By this point we were extremely doubtful we would become pregnant. It was so hard for me to see friends getting pregnant left and right, and here I was trying so hard and nothing was happening. I knew the Lord knew our desires to have a baby. I prayed several times daily...why hadn't he given us a baby?

We took a short break before the endoscopy. I wanted to press on, but Paul thought I needed an emotional break. After taking a month off we got right back into the game. I had the surgery and sure enough-I had stage 2 endometriosis. The Dr. lasered all he could and felt very confident that we would become pregnant now. I did not feel the same. Yes, I had finally gotten my body to ovulate but no baby. I just didn't think the surgery was going to change much. I had even started to look into adoption but Paul was not ready for that. We had also looked into IVF but it is upwards of $10,000! What if we spent that money and didn't get the end result-a baby? Unfortunately there are no refunds. After taking a month off after surgery we started another cycle of fertility drugs. They upped my dose and after only 10 days of injections we were ready for ovulation! At 10 days I had 6-7 eggs that were ready. I realize to most people that is crazy! Why would I go ahead having that many? Well, in the past cycles I had about the same amount of follicles ready and still didn't become pregnant. The Dr. felt it safe to go ahead with the IUI. Well this time felt no different. I went in 7 days after for my routine blood test. I was cramping like I had always done after the previous cycles. I even told the nurse "no there's no way I'm pregnant-I feel my period coming". I was crushed. We both cried together. What now? Would we ever be parents? That afternoon I received a call. The nurse said "I have some bad news and good news, what would you like to hear first"? Hesitant and still telling myself I wasn't pregnant I replied "the bad news". The nurse said "well you are RH negative so you will have to get the Rhogam shot". I was silent. I hesitantly asked "does this mean I'm pregnant"? She said "YES"!!!! I couldn't believe it. I was in shock. I quickly went home and told Paul. We were ecstatic! The nurse at the fertility office told me my hormones were quite high for the initial blood work which could mean multiples. We wouldn't know for sure until we had an ultrasound several weeks later. Every 7 days I would go in for repeat bloodwork to make sure my progesterone was growing. We knew there was a high chance for having twins but we never in a million years thought we would be parents of 3! The first ultra sound showed two definite sacs, and possibly a third. Paul and I kept telling ourselves "no, that can't be a third". Well, after another ultrasound it was confirmed. The nurse said "here is baby A, here is baby B, and here is baby C!!! We were in SHOCK-but so happy! God had finally answered our prayers with not one, not two, but 3 babies! God had listened to our prayers and blessed us three times over!

The pregnancy was not an easy one. At 11 weeks I started bleeding very heavily. We went to the ER thinking I was having a miscarriage. Thankfully all three babies were ok. At 20 weeks I started having heavy contractions to the point I was hospitalized for several days and given magnesium sulfate through IV to stop contractions. At that point I was on bed rest. I went on maternity leave and thought I had at least another 14 weeks to go. That was not the case. After a routine ultrasound at 27 weeks we discovered Lyla Grace had not grown in 4 weeks. Her brothers were growing and moving but she was not. The Dr. said something was wrong and if he didn't take the babies she wouldn't survive. We were terrified. I was only 27 weeks 6 days. Would the babies be ok? How small would they be? The babies were delivered via C section on March 10. They were tiny. I will never forget the Dr. pulling Lyla grace out first. She was 1 lb 4 oz. Next came Sutter at 2 lb. 8 and last Callen at 2 lb. 4. They were immediately whisked away and put on ventilators. It turns out Lyla Grace had a blockage in her umbilical cord...she was starving. I am so thankful that our Dr., who is a strong Christian, prayed about it and decided to go ahead and do the C section. I can not imagine life without any of my babies.

I hope this post is helpful to someone. So many women struggle with infertility. I totally sympathize with you. He has not forgotten you. His timing is perfect. "Delight yourself in the Lord and he will give you the desires of your heart" (Ps. 37:4)