I'm new to this, as you can see. But I felt it was time to get a lot of these thoughts in my head out and into the ether. Maybe my thoughts might speak to someone else - I know I spend a lot of my time searching blog posts and forums trying to find someone, just one person, who may be going through the exact same thing as me. Turns out, none of us are going through the exact same thing. We can all sympathise, understand and feel connected, but anyone going through IVF or any kind of assisted reproductive technology is going through it on their own - our own terms, schedules, drugs, feelings. We're going through it on our own - but I guess we''re not alone, which hopefully counts for something.
I want to avoid too much jargon and acronyms on this blog. I know I read others and I think, even I don't understand what all of them mean, so I'll try and keep it simple.
So, a little about me. My husband and I are 35. We started trying to conceive almost 4 years ago. We've been together for 16 years and married for eight, and we are - as cliched as it sounds - truly best friends and very much in love. We spent the first 12 months hoping for the best, trying to be healthy, visiting a naturopath and taking vitamin supplements. I never felt it was a sure thing. For some unknown reason I never expected it would just 'happen'. Tests from the naturopath revealed I have hypothyroidism - a deficiency of the thyroid gland meaning it doesn't produce hormones correctly. A possible fertility problem, but take some Thyroxine medication, and you'll be fine. And you also have low Anti Mullerian Hormone (AMH) - the test that suggests you may have low numbers of eggs. We took our results to a fertility clinic and were told this means we need IVF - its like you're only 31 but your eggs could be 40. I didn't really respond too well to this and found the idea of not creating a baby on our own the most horrible thing. I was determined and took the next 12 months to do everything right - acupuncture, natural supplements and herbs, even Emotional Freedom Therapy to deal with some underlying anxiety issues I have. Twelve months passed and through much counselling and consulting we returned to the clinic to start Intra Uterine Insemination (IUI) as I insisted there must be more options before IVF. John's sperm didn't respond well to the 'washing' technique they used so that was out. We went through some ovulation induction rounds of drugs and then decided we had to move onto IVF. Four failed embryo transfers, three egg collections, and most recently Comparative Genomic Hybridisation (CGH) testing to determine if we have abnormal embryos - and here we are. I'll talk again about this testing in another post. It's quite raw at the moment and perhaps I've said enough for now. Thanks for listening.
I want to avoid too much jargon and acronyms on this blog. I know I read others and I think, even I don't understand what all of them mean, so I'll try and keep it simple.
So, a little about me. My husband and I are 35. We started trying to conceive almost 4 years ago. We've been together for 16 years and married for eight, and we are - as cliched as it sounds - truly best friends and very much in love. We spent the first 12 months hoping for the best, trying to be healthy, visiting a naturopath and taking vitamin supplements. I never felt it was a sure thing. For some unknown reason I never expected it would just 'happen'. Tests from the naturopath revealed I have hypothyroidism - a deficiency of the thyroid gland meaning it doesn't produce hormones correctly. A possible fertility problem, but take some Thyroxine medication, and you'll be fine. And you also have low Anti Mullerian Hormone (AMH) - the test that suggests you may have low numbers of eggs. We took our results to a fertility clinic and were told this means we need IVF - its like you're only 31 but your eggs could be 40. I didn't really respond too well to this and found the idea of not creating a baby on our own the most horrible thing. I was determined and took the next 12 months to do everything right - acupuncture, natural supplements and herbs, even Emotional Freedom Therapy to deal with some underlying anxiety issues I have. Twelve months passed and through much counselling and consulting we returned to the clinic to start Intra Uterine Insemination (IUI) as I insisted there must be more options before IVF. John's sperm didn't respond well to the 'washing' technique they used so that was out. We went through some ovulation induction rounds of drugs and then decided we had to move onto IVF. Four failed embryo transfers, three egg collections, and most recently Comparative Genomic Hybridisation (CGH) testing to determine if we have abnormal embryos - and here we are. I'll talk again about this testing in another post. It's quite raw at the moment and perhaps I've said enough for now. Thanks for listening.
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