I'm so excited for this guest! She does a great job of introducing herself, and how we know each other so I'll just turn it over to her! Yay Kristi!
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I "met" Ashlee through a mutual friend. I'm always amused how people think that those of us who struggle with infertility would automatically be BFF's.... in most cases, though, they are right! It's such a relief to find another person who can simply relate. Thanks BC ;) Secretly, I found Ashlee's blog on my own and became an instant loyal reader and even added her button before I received the e-mail. I love her sense of humor through the crazy, emotional roller-coaster of reproduction! Thanks for making us smile through the tears, Ash! Muah!
When my husband and I started trying for kids our 2nd year of marriage, I thought "Oh this will be easy peasy!" You see, my identical twin sister had 2 kids and they were both conceived within weeks of trying. A month dragged by.... then another...and another. By the 6th month I knew something was wrong. I saw my OBGYN who told me I was "too young" at the age of 23 and not to worry about it. By a year he had started me on 50mg of Clomid for 3 months. Nothing. He advised me to wait 3 months to try again "naturally." After 3 more rounds on another 50mg, all I had experienced was weight gain, moodiness and clusters of cysts on my ovaries. He told me a higher dosage would mean more cysts, thus preventing pregnancy altogether. I began to wonder if this MD knew what he was doing; I ovulated precisely on the 11th day after my cycles, which were exactly 28 days apart. Why was I on Clomid again?! Without his blessing, I made an appointment with an RE at the same facility that tested my husband's sperm count (good, strong swimmers, btw!)
It turns out, after an HSG test (Hysterosalpingogram) that my ovaries were clear for take-off and were a good candidate for an IUI (Interuterine Insemination.) "Oh boy! Progress!", I thought. A round of Femara and a nice pokey shot later left with a depressing visit from Aunt Flo. I was never so angry to see her! We had done everything we were suppose to do. This was approaching our 4th year of marriage and we were already out a couple thousand dollars. Another two identical, disappointing IUI's left us confused and frustrated with the negative results, all on our dime. Our RE told us we were then a good candidate for IVF. Hold the phones! Not for us. It was too much work and money with no "proof" it would work. There's nothing wrong with us, remember? Well, except for the fact that I couldn't get pregnant ;) We decided to take a break and enjoy our time stress-free of charting, timing and all the other craziness that follows seeing an RE.
After another year of seeing our closest friends continue to add to their families (my twin was up to baby #4!) we decided on adoption rather than continue with more treatments. With a diagnosis of Unexplained Infertility (is that even real?!) we knew that adoption had a more concrete ending for us. We both had peace with this decision. 6 months after we were certified for adoption, we welcomed our son and couldn't be more thrilled. The best things really are worth the wait :)
*******************************************************
I "met" Ashlee through a mutual friend. I'm always amused how people think that those of us who struggle with infertility would automatically be BFF's.... in most cases, though, they are right! It's such a relief to find another person who can simply relate. Thanks BC ;) Secretly, I found Ashlee's blog on my own and became an instant loyal reader and even added her button before I received the e-mail. I love her sense of humor through the crazy, emotional roller-coaster of reproduction! Thanks for making us smile through the tears, Ash! Muah!
When my husband and I started trying for kids our 2nd year of marriage, I thought "Oh this will be easy peasy!" You see, my identical twin sister had 2 kids and they were both conceived within weeks of trying. A month dragged by.... then another...and another. By the 6th month I knew something was wrong. I saw my OBGYN who told me I was "too young" at the age of 23 and not to worry about it. By a year he had started me on 50mg of Clomid for 3 months. Nothing. He advised me to wait 3 months to try again "naturally." After 3 more rounds on another 50mg, all I had experienced was weight gain, moodiness and clusters of cysts on my ovaries. He told me a higher dosage would mean more cysts, thus preventing pregnancy altogether. I began to wonder if this MD knew what he was doing; I ovulated precisely on the 11th day after my cycles, which were exactly 28 days apart. Why was I on Clomid again?! Without his blessing, I made an appointment with an RE at the same facility that tested my husband's sperm count (good, strong swimmers, btw!)
It turns out, after an HSG test (Hysterosalpingogram) that my ovaries were clear for take-off and were a good candidate for an IUI (Interuterine Insemination.) "Oh boy! Progress!", I thought. A round of Femara and a nice pokey shot later left with a depressing visit from Aunt Flo. I was never so angry to see her! We had done everything we were suppose to do. This was approaching our 4th year of marriage and we were already out a couple thousand dollars. Another two identical, disappointing IUI's left us confused and frustrated with the negative results, all on our dime. Our RE told us we were then a good candidate for IVF. Hold the phones! Not for us. It was too much work and money with no "proof" it would work. There's nothing wrong with us, remember? Well, except for the fact that I couldn't get pregnant ;) We decided to take a break and enjoy our time stress-free of charting, timing and all the other craziness that follows seeing an RE.
After another year of seeing our closest friends continue to add to their families (my twin was up to baby #4!) we decided on adoption rather than continue with more treatments. With a diagnosis of Unexplained Infertility (is that even real?!) we knew that adoption had a more concrete ending for us. We both had peace with this decision. 6 months after we were certified for adoption, we welcomed our son and couldn't be more thrilled. The best things really are worth the wait :)
