Step six...IUI

So got the IUI today, everything went fine. Counts looked good, we are hoping motility is okay as well.  Was a much better experience then the tube test for sure!!!  Probably the easiest thing we have done to this point.  If you want more detail then that you can ask, but for most this will be enough info :).  However, it has been a stressing and tiring week with three trips to the doc, medicating, and timing things just so. I am glad to just relax for a bit other than taking the progrestrone. So at this point its the waiting game. If it works, we will know for sure in a few weeks, if not, we will have to wait a month or two then try again. So until later....

the needle...

So I did not want to inject myself with a needle. I don't mind needles, I am never bothered by getting a shot, however, giving myself one is not my idea of fun. So Michael gave it to me. That was not a great experience either.   He did fine, but its just the thought. I much rather people that don't know give me shots...

Step four...another ultrasound

So we are in the insurance no longer covers this phase, and payed our first $190 today for an ultrasound. Fun fun.  However, there was some good news.  There are three potential eggs, two on the left side and one on the right. There are two viable ones, and one that has no potential as it is not a mature egg.  This means one on each side. This is good because we are not sure which one of the tubes really works!  So friday morning they do the insemination. This means tonight I get to give myself a shot in the stomach of HCG to trigger the eggs. (it is very cool they can see them before they come).  Then early morning on friday we go in. It is about 1/2 hour process, after bringing the sperm in to get washed.  They wash the sperm so that they are pure and the good ones are the ones that get through. They hope to have five million.  So any rate, after all this, I still have only the normal 20% chance of becoming pregnant if at least one tube is functioning.  At most I could possibly have twins, but it is pretty rare still. With artificial insemination they usually get just one, but there was two cases of twins in the last year.  So we will see.  Wish us the best!

Step Three...HSG

So for those of you who have done the HSG before you know it is not a pleasant experience.  They put some dye up in the uterus and tubes, it is supposed to darken them up.  Then they take pictures and you get bad cramps the rest of the day...fun!
The news however, was not exactly what we wanted to hear.  However, we are still not giving up hope! :).  The left tube is open, this is good. However, the shape and the way the dye filled in was not normal, which means there could be issues in relation to that they just don't know.  There are surgery options, etc, but they would not fix this problem.  We are out of luck in that area. We just hope it in't bad enough to create problems.
 The right tube would not allow dye into it at all. This means one of two things.  First, the tube is blocked or diseased.  This option would not allow for getting pregnant at all when the egg comes out that side. The other option is that the tissues down there contracting to squeeze off the tube so it would not allow the dye through, and the tube is normal. They said chances of either are 50-50.
So what now? Well, unless we get a call from our doctor directing otherwise we will go through with the IUI as planned.  This means on Wed this week when we go in we are hoping the egg decides to come out on the left side.  If it does they will proceed with the plan. If it comes out the right side they may not choose to try it since we don't know if the right side is blocked or not. This means another month of waiting and pills and hoping it comes out.  We will just have to see what the doctor says.  Anyway, just keeping your updated.  Again, we appreciate your prayers and concern.
Oh, and one more thing, knowing this we are even more greatful for our dear little Matthew who seems to be more of a miracle baby  anytime we get more tests done!

Step two...nastiness

So Clomid for those who don't know is only taken 5 days. It is one or two pills a day depending on your situation.  There are a lot of possible side affects of it, nausea, cranky moods, insomonia ,spotting, and increases chances of mulitiples to 4-5% up from the normal 1%. So far no side affects...hallelujiah!  However the stuff is NASTY !  Even with swollowing it with water quickly, it melts within seconds in your mouth. I have never tasted anything so awful!  I don't recommend it! Anyway, finally done with that stage.  Next week we see the doctor three times. First time is for the test where they dye to tubes, which I've heard is so not pleasant. Next an ultrasound, followed by the IUI. After that a little bit of a waiting game, probably another ultrasound, etc.
  I am not a huge fan of doing things artificially. So this was definatly not my first choice to go about getting pregnant this way, but still we feel good about at least trying it.  More info after the testing next week to see where we are!

Step one...

 This blog is to document our experiences with infertility for our friends and family. Wait, we already have a child....yep we do, and that's where we will start, with our miracle baby! 

We tried for a little over a year and a half for our dear Matthew.  After we had been trying for six months I had a strong feeling out of the blue one day that we would get pregnant and it would be a miracle.  It was comforting to me that this would happen.  After we got to the year mark we started to wonder, it was then we started going in for testing.  We went to a regular family doctor (anyone who needs testing done for this I would defiantly recommend starting with an OB by the way!) The going was slow, but we were started. We got some necessary testing done, and yes a problem surfaced. This didn't make it impossible to get pregnant, only very very difficult.  This was on Michael's side of the deal.  So a few months of more testing did not bring any more problematic news.  I was starting to wonder when this miracle baby would occur. We talked with Michael's grandpa who was an OB about the hard time we were having getting pregnant, who told us two things...don't try so hard, and get a priesthood blessing for both of us. We did so. The blessing again promised us we would become pregnant.  A month later, as we were preparing to do the final test the doctor ordered (testing to make sure the tubes weren't blocked) we found out we were pregnant with Matthew...HURRAY!  

Fast forward to the time he is a year old, we decide its time to try for another.  We tried again for another year, with no luck.  This time we decided to take our test results from three years earlier and go to a fertility specialist.  We found out extra information from him, that my hormone levels are in the right range, however, they are in a reverse order than most women's are (one is usually higher than the other). He says this may be an indication that most times I am producing an egg, but occasionally I may not be.  Other than that the tests look good. We do have to get the tube testing done, however. He also said by 18 months 95% of couples can conceive, which means there is a problem somewhere. Michael's condition was discussed and we talked about the option of surgery.  We had looked into and read about it, but didn't know how much it would help which is why we really decided to go to a fertility specialist. He said the surgery would help us up our chances by 15%, sounds like a good number, however when you compare it with the test results, it would not be enough to make the expensive surgery worthwhile.  I don't remember exactly what he said but something like in a normal male 65% of the sperm are good enough to make it to an egg, in our case it is only 14%, so if you add the 15% to that, it is still only 29% and is still far below normal.  So we decided to forgo the expensive surgery option.  
 Next issue, the tube testing we did not do. We know there is at least one tube open because Matthew is here (hurray!), we don't know about the other. If it is not, again decreases our chances of becoming pregnant.   So knowing all this I really realize Matthew was indeed a miracle!  Its not impossible for us to get pregnant, but it is highly improbable.  

Solution?  After looking at the results from testing, we have decided to go with three rounds of IUI, artificial insemination.  This is the least expensive option (but even this adds up!) and also a good fit for us.  We feel good about going forward with this option.  What happens is I have to be on Clomid, HcG, and Progesterone (one of those is a needle to the stomach). I have to track everything closely, as soon as I get a positive ovulation test we run to the doctor the next day or two and do the insemination.  It is about $350 a time.  After 3 month trying, if it doesn't work, we do some more thinking, testing, and see if there are other options for us.  (next option is IVF I think, but at 10,000 not sure if we want to do this or not, especially since it does not necessarily work).  

We are hopeful, and hoping for success, and yes we got another priesthood blessing :).  We are so grateful that we have adequate savings, as the insurance covers only some testing.  We will have payed $250 for the first doctors visit, $170 for an ultrasound, around $166 for these medications, This is almost 1,000 which is not including everything just the things  we know so far, and I know there are more ultrasounds to come.  Without our savings we would never be able to afford any of this on Michael's salary! (we barely make rent..ha ha!) So we are truly blessed and grateful for that money we decided to start saving early on (although we thought we were saving for Michael's schooling and living expenses).  Doing this has enabled us the freedom to attempt to grow our little family, and we are very grateful!  

We are thankful for the many prayers on our behalf.  We will feel we will get pregnant again, but when that time is I don't know, nor how that will occur.  It has been a struggle at times going through this, but it is nice to talk to many other couples who have been there and are currently going through similar issues.   We will keep this updated as we get more news about testing, etc. Thanks again for your support and prayers, they are appreciated!!