The Bumpy Road...a Recap

I promised to recap our journey from beginning to where we are today. Part of the reason I want to do this is to share with those who don't know our entire story and what we have gone through to get to this point. Also, I kind of want to know if I can remember it all...ha! My hope is that if anyone out there is going through this same journey (which I do not wish upon anyone) that they can find comfort and hope in knowing that there are others out there who have made it through! I have been super blessed to come in contact with a few people who have been down this road and it was so comforting to know that others have gone before us and made it through to the other side! The idea for this blog even came from another couple who chronicled their journey through infertility by blogging. So for those of you who don't know our story...here's the rundown..

***Warning, I will be talking about medical procedures and some things that may be uncomfortable to read...you have been warned!***

March 2006
Derek and I got married! One of the most difficult days of my life...but that is another story. At this point, we knew we wanted kids, but had no definite plans about trying.

October 2006
Derek and I decided that we would stop preventing pregnancy. If it came great, if not that was ok. Not necessarily trying, but not stopping it either!

November 2006-January 2008
My periods never were regular during this time, but Dr. Adams, my OB-GYN, wanted me to be off birth control for an entire year before we talked about infertility treatments. Somewhere in here I was diagnosed with poly-cystic ovarian syndrome, PCOS, which means I had more follicles in each ovary than the normal person. PCOS is the #1 cause of infertility today. Women with PCOS usually do not ovulate which results in infertility.

January 2008-November 2008
Dr. Adams decided to try me on Clomid, which helps stimulate ovulation. This was my first attempt at fertility treatments. She recommended trying 4 cycles of Clomid and would do a blood test to check to see whether I ovulated each month. This treatment was recommended before she would refer me to a fertility specialist. I did not ovulate at all with Dr. Adams, so she referred me to Dr. Sutliff at Shannon.

January 2009
In January, I had my initial consultation with Dr. Sutliff. He put me on metformin for 3 months, and then wanted to re-evaluate me after the medicine began to work. I found out that Dr. Sutliff liked to do things in cycles of 3!

April 2009
Went back to Dr. Sutliff after being on metformin for 3 months. Thankfully, I had lost quite a bit of weight with metformin and Weight Watchers. Dr. Sutliff recommended that we have Derek's sperm checked and my tubes X-rayed. He also had me put back on Clomid for 3 cycles. Derek's sperm check was great and my tubes were fine.

May 2009
After checking my tubes, I found out that I had ovulated this cycle. We were thrilled and couldn't wait for the pregnancy test to see if we were pregnant. After our first test was negative, we were OVER-JOYED to find out that we were pregnant! We found out the week before school got out and felt that God had finally answered our prayers. Almost immediately after finding out, I started having a miscarriage.  We were devastated, to say the least. We had no idea why this was happening after trying for so long. Our hearts were crushed.

June 2009-August 2009
After the miscarriage, I made the decision to quit coaching and move to Lake View to just teach. Derek and I also bought my grandmother's house and began the process of remodeling to make it in to our home.
Continued taking Clomid...no success

September 2009
Dr. Sutliff went in and did a laparoscopy where he drained my ovaries and removed some endometriosis. I had to rest for 3 months afterwards

January-February 2010
Tried in-uterine insemination, IUI for the first time. This process involved Derek giving me injections for the first time. We survived the injection process (barely) and then went on to the insemination process, which involves placing sperm, through a catheter, directly by the tubes to wait for the egg to drop (which is caused by another injection).  We were very optimistic about the process, but it was also unsuccessful. After this procedure, we decided to take a break from fertility treatments for awhile and enjoy some time to ourselves!

July 2010-October 2010
We decided to try IUI two more times, since Dr. Sutliff believed in trying things 3 times before moving on. Both times were unsuccesful. Dr. Sutliff referred us to the San Antonio Fertility Center for a consultation.

November 2010
We had our initial consultation in San Antonio where we met with Dr. Martin. Dr. Martin did an exam and looked through all of our charts. He recommended in-vitro fertilization and felt that it would be very successful in our situation. Dr. Martin wanted to begin in January, but we opted to wait until the summer because we wanted to get our money saved up and due to missing school.

Summer 2011
Instead of doing in-vitro, Derek and I decided to take a much needed vacation. We planned a trip to Jamaica for one week at the Sandals resort. Much of our decision was due to Derek becoming the new head basketball coach at Grape Creek and also the need to get away after the long fertility process. The trip was exactly what we needed to renew our spirits and relax! We also wanted to have more time to get our finances in order, savings together, and work on paying off Derek's student loan. Best decision ever!

March-April 2012
Derek and I decided that Summer 2012 would be the summer of in-vitro! We set up another consultation with Dr. Martin in San Antonio for the week of Spring Break. Dr. Martin was able to get things set up for us to start the in-vitro process. We both had to get lots of blood work and tests done, signed our lives away in medical waivers, and then I had a saline hysterogram to check my uterine lining. All of the tests came back great and Dr. Martin said we are ready to get started. We decided to wait until my May cycle to begin, instead of April, so that we would be available to drive back and forth to San Antonio with school being out.

So that pretty much describes our journey in a nutshell. We are extremely excited to be at this point in the journey, ready to move forward with this process. While this was not at all our plan for this process, I cannot say enough how thankful I am for the lessons we have learn and the bond that Derek and I have formed. We are closer than I ever thought possible and are so thankful that we have been blessed with 6 great years of life together. We know that whatever God has in store for us next, will be according to his plan. It has taken me a long time to get to this point in this journey, but I am at peace at whatever comes next! I hope that all of you reading will commit to joining us in this prayer journey, because there is no way that we could go through this process alone.
Sorry this was so long, but hope it helps!

Trying my hand out at blogging...

I have been wanting to start a blog for a long time now, and finally decided that it was time to take the plunge. Since Derek and I got married six years ago, our life has been a whirlwind of teaching, coaching, changing homes, and working on my masters. The lessons we have learned and the adventures we have had have been some of the best days of our lives. Our lives has been blessed in so many ways, primarily in the growth of our relationship as husband and wife. I am blessed beyond belief with the most AMAZING husband in the world. He is rock-solid, patient with me, the sunshine that brightens even my darkest days. God has been faithful in so many areas of our lives, providing a home, jobs, family, and friends that are as close as family.

However, we are still (patiently) waiting for the biggest blessing of our lives...a baby! Our journey to parenthood has been one of the hardest, most frustrating struggles that either of us has ever experienced. This struggle is one of my main reasons for starting this blog: to be able to share this journey with my friends, family, and others who may be struggling with infertility. My goal is for this to be an avenue to share information, prayer requests, and other news with those who will partner with us in this journey as we move into the next step. I plan on doing a recap blog on our previous steps and attempts up to this point in the near future. My hope and desire is that in reading this blog, you will join with us at lifting up our next attempt in prayer to our Father. I know that our (future) children will be the most prayed for, hoped for, and longed for children that have ever been brought into this world. And my hope is that after they are with us here on earth, that you will continue to lift them up daily in prayer. Every blessing you pour out, I turn back to praise...

Thanks for reading! I hope not to ramble too incredibly much!