Welcome to, The Storks Landing where I hope you will find everything your looking for but if you don't please email me and I will see what I can do about adding the content your looking for! Below you will read my personal story regarding my journey towards getting pregnant. I have chosen to share my story because after months of trying to conceive and feeling like the only person in the world who couldn't get pregnant I began to read and listen to other woman's conception stories and I realized I am not alone. If you are pregnant already then congratulations! But if you are like me and still waiting for that dam pee stick to be positive you are not alone! I understand the frustration, the sadness, the endless hopefulness, and the resentfulness. My only advice is (and I should take this myself) do your best to remain stress free, think positive, surround yourself with good people, don't give up hope, and don't forget to live the life you have right now. Below you will find my personal story. Feel free to email or comment with any questions.
I have been trying to conceive for one year, six months, and two days and this morning I took my third dose of Clomid, a fertility medication used to increase the hormones required to stimulate a woman's ovaries to release an egg. I was advised to take 100mg of Clomid once per day (approx $70.00 for ten tablets) for five days starting on day five of my cycle (day one is the first day of your period). Theoretically this should cause me to ovulate on day 14-16 of my cycle which takes the guess work of when I am ovulating this month out of the equation which is a relief.
It is a relief because my cycles are so unpredictable that its near impossible to determine when I am ovulating which means my course of action thus far is to "baby-make" every other day for an entire cycle (my cycle is anywhere from 28 days to 54 days). I have tried the ovulation predictor kits but the kind I purchased are hard to read. I would like the Clear Blue Fertility Monitor but they are expensive ($150 - $300) and so as of yet I haven't made the big purchase. After trying the ovulation predictor sticks for two months and realizing that I ovulate anywhere from day 14 to day 28 I gave up on peeing on a stick every day.
After eleven months of "unsuccessful tries" I went to my doctor and asked to be referred to a specialist. In Canada a doctor will refer you to a fertility specialist if you have not conceived after one year of trying. While we were waiting for the referral to go through my doctor sent my husband home with a kit to collect his sperm and some specific instructions. The instructions were as follows;
- Don't have sex or self pleasure for one week leading up to providing your "sample" (as instructed by the elderly receptionist)
- Call the fertility lab in the morning to confirm they are receiving "deposits"
- Your sample must be received before 9am but no later then 20 minutes after...."putting" the sample in the provided cup
- Please label the cup with the required information
After waiting for almost three months I called to see if a fertility specialist had accepted me as his/her patient only to learn that they referred me to a OB and not a fertility specialist so it was another few weeks before I finally got an appointment.
During my first consultation I had an pap/internal exam done and my doctor asked me a variety of questions regarding my monthly cycles (pain, frequency, etc) and frequency of sexual intercourse. My initial exam was fine and I was scheduled for a HSG (Hysterosalpingogram) test to determine if I had blocked fallopian tubes. I was very nervous for the test and I was advised to take a few Advil for pain management. The test itself is moderately painful but not unbearable. If you have painful periods I can compare it to the worst period you have ever had. I recommend you have someone available to drive you home after the procedure and take the rest of the day off to rest and relax. The great thing about this procedure is that you get the results right away and mine were fantastic. There was no evidence of a blocked tube or any problems with my uterus. The last thing I waited on before receiving my prescription for Clomid was a variety of blood tests to check my hormone levels (which were fine).
I am still very frustrated at not being pregnant after one year, six months, and two days of trying but I am also very thankful that there is nothing medically wrong with me (other then irregular periods). I am hopeful (but trying to think about it to much) about taking Clomid and I hope it is successful on the first try!
I think some of the hardest things about going through infertility issues is not knowing why your not getting pregnant, being worried something is wrong, worried that if nothing is wrong then what the heck is the problem, feeling like everyone in the dam world is pregnant (I never noticed so many pregnant people until I was unsuccessfully trying), and clenching your teeth and smiling while people tell give you the following advice;
- Just stop trying and it will happen (well no if I don't have sex I won't get pregnant and if I am having unprotected sex then yes I am "trying" to get pregnant
- Just stop thinking about it and it will happen (you try not thinking about it when you have to keep track of when you get your period, which days to start taking your meds, which days to stop, which days to have sex to ensure egg and sperm will meet, then all the long days afterwords waiting to get your period or a positive pregnancy test
- It will happen when its meant to (yes I get that, I even believe that but its really aggravating when you tell me that with your giant baby bump in my face!)
Well that's my whole story to date and if their is any change I'll be sure to tell you soon!
Congratulations or good luck depending on who you are!
Best,
Lindsey
