Infertility Resources and FAQ |
What you are about to read is a very personal journey that we took beginning June 2011. We share this in the hopes, not that you agree with all the decisions we made in faith to grow our family, but that you might better understand our desire to adopt from the experiences we have had. We ask for your kindness and understanding as we are humbly transparent about our experience.
Our Fertility Journey
It all began some time ago.... (told from Rachel's perspective)
March 2010: We moved from our 1 bedroom apartment into a 3 bedroom townhouse, where we would feel more comfortable raising a family. However, I was still in the middle of finishing my Master's Degree, so we waited a little while longer before pursuing a family.
May 2011: I finished my Master's Degree. We prayerfully decided it was time to pursue having a child. As soon as my Master's was finished, I went into plan mode.
June - November 2011: We tried to conceive and I was convinced it would work the first time out. I couldn't tell you why. I keep track of EVERYTHING and when I realized I wasn't pregnant, I deflated a little. Months added up and we decided to see my gynecologist, where he ordered two blood tests for me and a semen test for Jon. My tests were fine. Jon's tests were not fine, but could have been due to illness. They needed to be repeated in December.
December 2011: Jon's repeat test had same results. The gynecologist suggested a fertility doctor from this point on.
January 2012: We met with the fertility doctor where, due to our medical insurance, we had limited options for coverage. He suggested trying more natural methods with the help of monthly blood tests and ultrasounds and instructions of when to time intercourse.
March 2012: After 3 cycles of no results, the doctor put me on a low dose of Clomid to try and get my body to release more eggs. More nets = more targets = more possible goals.
April 2012: I went to the fertility doctor on my monthly visit, but this time, it was a different doctor, as mine was on vacation. He sat me down and said "You have less than a 1% chance of conceiving naturally. Has anyone suggested that your husband see a urologist?" Later that day, I received a call that the fertility doctor wanted to do an IUI THE NEXT DAY. This turned out to be unsuccessful. However, due to the new doctor, Jon went to a urologist who determined he had a varicocele and it needed to be fixed via outpatient surgery. The surgery was a success and needed to be completed for Jon's overall health in addition to fertility issues. We had to wait 3 months before the effects from the surgery would even begin to be seen in our fertility (sperm has a life cycle of about 74 days)
August 2012: "Natural" cycle. (No drugs). Not pregnant.
September 2012: Natural cycle with Clomid. Not pregnant.
October 2012: Natural cycle with Letrozole. Not pregnant.
November 2012: Mental health break. The process began to wear emotionally on both of us. It had been a year since first seeing a health care professional about our fertility struggles.
December 2012: IUI #2 with Follistim. Not pregnant.
January 2013: IUI #3 with Follistim. Not pregnant.
February 2013: IUI #4 with Follistim, however the procedure was canceled due to doctor error.
March 2013: Birth control pills to start IVF cycle #1. IVF cycle included: 10 days of fertility drugs to stimulate ovaries, egg retrieval where I went under anesthesia, egg fertilization, transfer of embryos, and two weeks of progesterone shots in my backside. It's not an easy or fun process.
April 2013: IVF #1 with 3 fertility drugs (Follistim, Menopur, and Lupron). 2 embryos survived and then were transferred.
May 2013: Every week after the transfer, I had to go in for blood work to ensure that my hormone levels were appropriate. The second week would include the pregnancy test. I received a call that I was pregnant!
May - June 2013: My hormone levels were up and down and the doctor expressed minor concern. On the day that Jon came with me to my weekly appointment expecting to hear the heartbeat for the first time (according to the doctor), we got the sad news. The pregnancy wouldn't last. Pregnancy #2 ended in miscarriage at 7 weeks, 3 days due to a Blighted Ovum.
July 2013: IUI #5 with Follistim. Not pregnant.
August 2013: Switched doctors and immediately went into IVF #2. 6 embryos survived, 2 transferred, 4 frozen. Not pregnant.
September 2013: FET #1 with 2 embryos transferred. Not pregnant. We had two frozen embryos left. We decided to wait for our final round as we had now gone two years straight of fertility treatments.
August 2014: FET #2 with last 2 embryos transferred. I got a call on my first day back at school that it was positive!
September 2014: Once again, my hormone levels indicated that the pregnancy would not sustain. I had a miscarriage at 7 weeks, 3 days. Do you recognize those numbers? It was the EXACT date I miscarried nearly 18 months prior. At this point, with no embryos left, we decided to end our fertility journey.
July/August 2018: We found out we were pregnant my first cycle after getting pregnant with Ben in 2015. Sadly, at 10 weeks, pregnancy #4 ended in miscarriage.
March/April 2019: Through a series of phone calls to the OBGYN after some odd symptoms, we discovered I was pregnant with baby #5 (and possibly #6. That's a whole other story). After a month of tests, I miscarried pregnancy #5 at 9 weeks.
March 2010: We moved from our 1 bedroom apartment into a 3 bedroom townhouse, where we would feel more comfortable raising a family. However, I was still in the middle of finishing my Master's Degree, so we waited a little while longer before pursuing a family.
May 2011: I finished my Master's Degree. We prayerfully decided it was time to pursue having a child. As soon as my Master's was finished, I went into plan mode.
June - November 2011: We tried to conceive and I was convinced it would work the first time out. I couldn't tell you why. I keep track of EVERYTHING and when I realized I wasn't pregnant, I deflated a little. Months added up and we decided to see my gynecologist, where he ordered two blood tests for me and a semen test for Jon. My tests were fine. Jon's tests were not fine, but could have been due to illness. They needed to be repeated in December.
December 2011: Jon's repeat test had same results. The gynecologist suggested a fertility doctor from this point on.
January 2012: We met with the fertility doctor where, due to our medical insurance, we had limited options for coverage. He suggested trying more natural methods with the help of monthly blood tests and ultrasounds and instructions of when to time intercourse.
March 2012: After 3 cycles of no results, the doctor put me on a low dose of Clomid to try and get my body to release more eggs. More nets = more targets = more possible goals.
April 2012: I went to the fertility doctor on my monthly visit, but this time, it was a different doctor, as mine was on vacation. He sat me down and said "You have less than a 1% chance of conceiving naturally. Has anyone suggested that your husband see a urologist?" Later that day, I received a call that the fertility doctor wanted to do an IUI THE NEXT DAY. This turned out to be unsuccessful. However, due to the new doctor, Jon went to a urologist who determined he had a varicocele and it needed to be fixed via outpatient surgery. The surgery was a success and needed to be completed for Jon's overall health in addition to fertility issues. We had to wait 3 months before the effects from the surgery would even begin to be seen in our fertility (sperm has a life cycle of about 74 days)
August 2012: "Natural" cycle. (No drugs). Not pregnant.
September 2012: Natural cycle with Clomid. Not pregnant.
October 2012: Natural cycle with Letrozole. Not pregnant.
November 2012: Mental health break. The process began to wear emotionally on both of us. It had been a year since first seeing a health care professional about our fertility struggles.
December 2012: IUI #2 with Follistim. Not pregnant.
January 2013: IUI #3 with Follistim. Not pregnant.
February 2013: IUI #4 with Follistim, however the procedure was canceled due to doctor error.
March 2013: Birth control pills to start IVF cycle #1. IVF cycle included: 10 days of fertility drugs to stimulate ovaries, egg retrieval where I went under anesthesia, egg fertilization, transfer of embryos, and two weeks of progesterone shots in my backside. It's not an easy or fun process.
April 2013: IVF #1 with 3 fertility drugs (Follistim, Menopur, and Lupron). 2 embryos survived and then were transferred.
May 2013: Every week after the transfer, I had to go in for blood work to ensure that my hormone levels were appropriate. The second week would include the pregnancy test. I received a call that I was pregnant!
May - June 2013: My hormone levels were up and down and the doctor expressed minor concern. On the day that Jon came with me to my weekly appointment expecting to hear the heartbeat for the first time (according to the doctor), we got the sad news. The pregnancy wouldn't last. Pregnancy #2 ended in miscarriage at 7 weeks, 3 days due to a Blighted Ovum.
July 2013: IUI #5 with Follistim. Not pregnant.
August 2013: Switched doctors and immediately went into IVF #2. 6 embryos survived, 2 transferred, 4 frozen. Not pregnant.
September 2013: FET #1 with 2 embryos transferred. Not pregnant. We had two frozen embryos left. We decided to wait for our final round as we had now gone two years straight of fertility treatments.
August 2014: FET #2 with last 2 embryos transferred. I got a call on my first day back at school that it was positive!
September 2014: Once again, my hormone levels indicated that the pregnancy would not sustain. I had a miscarriage at 7 weeks, 3 days. Do you recognize those numbers? It was the EXACT date I miscarried nearly 18 months prior. At this point, with no embryos left, we decided to end our fertility journey.
July/August 2018: We found out we were pregnant my first cycle after getting pregnant with Ben in 2015. Sadly, at 10 weeks, pregnancy #4 ended in miscarriage.
March/April 2019: Through a series of phone calls to the OBGYN after some odd symptoms, we discovered I was pregnant with baby #5 (and possibly #6. That's a whole other story). After a month of tests, I miscarried pregnancy #5 at 9 weeks.