KB's amazing journey...

Okay , no depressing info about me not being pregnant today, I have a special treat for everyone! A little while ago, my online support system, Miss KB told me the wonderful news that she had finally gotten pregnant. I was so happy and excited for her and her husband, I was a tad jealous of course but I was a little surprised at how thrilled I was for them, even my husband got excited at the news! I was just plain old delighted that KB had finally gotten that little miracle she (and her husband) much deserves. Even though we have never met I feel a strong bond with KB that I know is totally unique. Only friends who are both dealing with infertility would have the relationship that we have. Her amazing news absolutely made me feel like if she can do it, I can do it, and I know that you will all feel the same. So here is KB’s story, with a nice happy ending that she earned every little bit of!

Through email, I spoke with Kay Bee and she had asked me to write our story of infertility, but with a happy ending. And I will go ahead and apologize for length; I never can get stories out in a timely manner. I am sure you are probably thinking (because I know I did), “ugh, why would I want to hear about another pregnant person”, because trust me, I have been there and it is depressing, frustrating and it often gave me a feeling as if I was getting farther away from ever having a baby. However, there were a few special occasions in which I was given a sense of hope when hearing someone was pregnant and actually felt pure joy for that person (not that I was not happy for others, it was just hard). But for some reason, whether it is through blogs or people I know going through infertility, whenever I heard their treatments had succeeded, that they defeated the odds, it gave me nothing but pure hope that it would work for us too and joy that their pain had ended. After all, those of us that are going or have gone through infertility know that the baby we all will have eventually was hard earned! It was not an easy road, but now looking back at our journey I would not trade a month, tear, or treatment (except for the cost!). I know that probably also sounds crazy. In fact I remember someone telling me they felt this way after they were pregnant and I laughed and could not believe it. But trust me again, those pure raw emotions you may be feeling on a daily basis (you know the anger, sadness, frustration, depression, and just feeling crazy feelings) are still very raw to me and close to me. In fact, sometimes I forget that I don’t have to feel those anymore and somehow they sneak back up until I remind myself it is okay now and remembering what we went through is a good thing. But now that I am pregnant (which I promise I will get to in a second) I feel as if it is something we worked hard for, went through hell for and deserve. I feel as if we are even more appreciative and more excited than I ever would have been if we had gotten it “easy”. And for some odd reason, all that we went through just seems to all be okay. So, I guess what I am trying to say is I still get how you feel and I know your pain and I know you probably don’t believe me or like to hear this, but it will be okay and once it is, your road will be a part of your character. After all our worst experiences create our best character.

I went off BC in Dec. of 2008 thinking that my husband and I would just “not be careful” and we would get pregnant. After all, at the time I was only 25 and in good health and never gave thought to what laid ahead of us. We figured it would take a while, and we were okay with that but we figured we would just leave it up to God. Well, within 3 months I gained 20 lbs, got acne like I was in puberty again and my period never came. I did not think anything of it, just a side effect of stopping the pill after 9 years. Something deep down told me to go to the doctor but I am fairly stubborn so I ignored that gut kick reaction. Time went by fast and I was busy with work and we were building a house (and I was busting my butt to get the lbs off!) and so I just ignored the fact I had gotten 2 periods within almost a year. I started natural herbal treatments on my own, did the OPK sticks and the oh so pleasant charting. My g-o-o-g-l-e keys on my computer quickly became worn down. So in Oct. of 2009 I went back to my OB and I was diagnosed with PCOS. I was very confused because I did not have many of the symptoms; I guess I was considered “skinny PCOS” whatever that means! After a strict diet, meds, and working out a lot I thought my period would return. I also stopped opk’s and charting..it was a bad way to start each day. But my period did not come back until I used a combination of metformin and clomid. Oh my good friend Clomid. We ended up sharing 7 months together…7 months of hot flashes, crazy visions, and terrible mood swings! Out of those 7 months, I ovulated 4 times and used the HCG shot all those times and had the ultrasounds and blood work each month. We also did IUI one of the last months on Clomid. My 5th month of using Clomid my husband and I switched to an RE..aka my savior! He quickly said he did not think I had PCOS (which instantly I was relieved but also angry that I had gotten so depressed over a false diagnosis) and he thought I had a problem with my hypothalamus..so my brain was not working correctly which caused my cycle to be off and me not to ovulate. He gave us 2 more months on Clomid, which the last I did not ovulate at all. I was devastated this cycle but it was nice to sort of “take the month off”. I felt semi normal. After this cycle, we had decided, with our RE’s advice, it would be smart to move on to injectables. Now, part of me was excited to try something new, but part of me was hopeless and figured it would never work. I was also scared because he said if his diagnosis was correct, I would be pregnant within 3 months. And if I was not pregnant, something else is wrong that he is missing it and I would need surgery most likely to find out what they were missing. At this point we were thousands of dollars into this and emotionally drained so we figured if it did not work we would take time off. When doing gondotropins (injectibles) it is an intense process. Blood work and ultrasounds every 4-5 days, a shot every day, and 2 HCG shots (trigger and booster). This month was my ultimate low of low. I cried every day and was just negative about it working. It was taking a serious toll on me. It probably also did not help that within 3 months I had about 7 friends get pregnant and about all of them tried no more than 2 months! I felt very isolated and depressed. Thank God for my husband. I can’t even put words to what he was to me during this. He was more than a support system, even though he too was in pain. One thing that this entire journey did was bring us closer. He understood my pain, dealt with my moods, and held my hand through it all. Everyone needs someone and I hope you too have that someone whether it is your husband, best friend, mom, or anyone. I can’t thank him enough.

Well, back to our “journey”. After my progesterone blood work the first month of injections (I used Follistim), my progesterone was a 9. I was so upset because most months on Clomid, except the last month, it was 21 or higher. My ultrasound also showed that I had 3 eggs and we carefully timed IUI and the trigger shot. So needless to say I was confused and felt more hopeless than ever. Well, a long 2 weeks after that I was able to take a HPT, which I was dreading because I just knew it would be negative and I would cry and go through the roller coaster all over again. But somehow, it was positive! And at that second, all the tears I ever shed all became okay. I am now currently almost 9 weeks. I am taking provera, a progesterone suppository, to keep from miscarrying. It is a very nerve racking 9 weeks, but we are close to the clear. I have had 2 ultrasounds and recently was turned over to my regular OB (which my husband I were both kind of sad about). I think I cry every day in disbelief and get extra emotional whenever we get to hear the heartbeat.

I have been where you are right now. Please hang in there and please never give up! It just takes finding the right Doctor and right treatment. Injections were our miracle drug. If you are frustrated on Clomid, I suggest anyone ask their dr. about it! If you are interested in any dosages I did or anything like that email Kay Bee and she can give you my email. You all are in my prayers every night. And I find prayer does work. God Bless You All!