Welcome!

Welcome IcomLeaveWe Visitors! To warn you this is my first time participating. I will take this
opportunity to update you on our TTC history. If you want the quick and dirty version it is on the sidebar on the right. Right before Greg and I were married we came up with a brilliant plan. Shortly after the wedding, I would quit my job, so that we could travel the world, and I would manage renovations to our house. In the middle of traveling, we would start working to expand our family, so by the end of the year I would be pregnant.

At first our plan worked wonderfully, we traveled through Asia, Africa, Europe and North America. We saw fireworks in China, leopards in Botswana, vineyards in France and orca whales in Canada. We transformed my husband's bachelor pad into a liveable pad by totally renovating the top floor of our house. Everything worked fantastically, up until the trying to have a baby part.

After we returned from Africa and the malaria drugs were out of my system, we began working to expand our family. When things did not happen after six months, I decided to got see my ob-gyn to get some prelimenary testing. Everthing looked great, but because I was 35 she went ahead and referred us to the RE upstairs. From there we did an HSG on me and a semen analysis on Greg, and still everything looked good. Knowing the clock was ticking, we decided to be aggressive and began IUIs with femera. Due to slightly irregular cycles (anywhere from 27-37 days), we decided to start monitored IUIs after two unsuccessful attempts. The first month we missed ovulation on Day 11. The second attempt, my largest follicle only got to 14.9 mm. We then began IUIs with injectables. After three unsuccessful attempts, we decided to go for the big guns and I finally admitted that we had a problem. We began our IVF cycle last Fall ending with a BFN in November. We cycled so well with 17 eggs retrieved, 14 mature, 12 fertilized and 2 beautiful excellent grade 5 day blastocysts transfered with 2 more left to freeze. We were devastated!

However, we picked ourselves up by our bootstraps by taking off for Hawaii right before the holidays and then surrounding ourselves with family and friends for Christmas and New Years. We had a great time getting rejuvenated and not thinking about fertility treatments. (Proof that even if you "just relax" you will not get pregant.) Now, we are back at it. We are in the middle of a Frozen Embryo Transfer cycle. I went in this morning for my bloodwork and baseline ultrasound. My lining looked thin. I am waiting to hear about my E2 level and whether or not I should start my estrogen patches tonight. We are moving on and moving foward.

While doctor's appointments fill up a great deal of my time, I also work at two different preschools with at risk children in therapeutic enviroments, while taking a few classes. I am hoping to go back to graduate school in Child and Family Therapy. The timing is a bit up in the air with the fertility situation. However, I am loving my time working with these special children. While it can be challenging given our current situation, I find that they also heal my broken heart too. They remind me everyday that all this work trying to have a baby will be worth it one day, and everyone has their challenges. Infertility just happens to be ours.