Our IVF journey – Part I (The Two Zees, infertility and IUIs)

As we approach my son’s second birthday, I rejoice in the fact that he is our little miracle. To celebrate the little twinkle in my heart that became our twinkle baby, I thought I would share our story of infertility, disease and PGD IVF which led to the birth of our son.

So, lets start at the beginning:

Our IVF journey – Part I (The Two Zees, infertility and IUIs)

Tall Man and I were married in 2002. In 2004 we began trying on our own to grow our family (I was 34 at the time). This was exciting at first, but after a year ovulation calendars, tracking basal body temperatures, and negative home pregnancy tests, I went to my doctor to have “the conversation”.

My OB/GYN was extremely blunt with not a warm fuzzy in sight. I caught a glimpse of my medical chart and she had written the word, “infertile” on the top page. It was then I realized we had a problem.

Tests revealed that I had an elevated FSH, which can be an indicator of diminished ovarian reserve. I had no idea a simple blood test on day 3 of my cycle could tell me that my pituitary gland was working overtime to produce Follicle Stimulating Hormone to grow my follicles each month. Who knew?

She sent me home with a prescription for Clomid and told us to get busy. We did this for three months and nothing changed.

She also recommended that Tall Man have his little swimmers analyzed to see if he was adding to our issues. Turns out we did have male factor issues (low sperm count and varicoceles).

Our chances of conceiving on our own were pretty slim, so I switched doctors (warmer and fuzzier) and we did two cycles of Intrauterine Insemination (IUI) with clomid. During these cycles my follicle growth was monitored with ultrasounds. The insemination was a simple procedure done right there in the office. Still…nothing.

After three clomid cycles and two failed IUI cycles, the wind was knocked out of our sails. We took a break from trying and re-directed our prayers.