We are going to be a family of SIX soon! Check out my Trying to Conceive page posts called “Post X from TTC section” (X meaning #1-#4) for more details.

Notice over to the right there is a new page called “Trying to Conceive”, I added this to keep everyone who wants to know about our TTC journey informed without having updates on my main page. The updates, when I add them, will be on the bottom of the page. I will probably only have updates once a week or less, unless something big happens.

Due to lack of posting, I am deleting the Trying to Conceive page and putting all the posts on the main page.

—————-
Now playing: David Bowie - The Jean Genie
via FoxyTunes

Six days of spotting later I have still not started my period and I had a negative blood pregnancy test this afternoon, I will call Monday to see if the doctor will order me some Provera to start my period. I am on day 52 of this annovulatory cycle from hell.

I finally started spotting, which means I am due to start soon, which means we can start the clomid soon and hopefully the IUI and with any luck maybe soon be expecting!! If it works the first time, Matthew can expect a little brother or sister as an early birthday present! And I would get another great early birthday gift, just like the one I got in ‘05! The odds are low, only about 20%, but one can hope, right??

Today Bobby and I went to visit my OB/GYNs office to learn more about starting intra-uterine insemination (IUI) next cycle. As soon as I get my period I will call the office to get my Clomid ordered, a very mild fertility medication. As soon as I get a positive Ovulation Prediction Kit (OPK) I will call the office to schedule insemination.

The only thing that is stopping me now is that I am late, probably because I don’t think I ovulated last month, the 2nd time since January ‘06, figures it would be the month I want my period early. I am starting to get crampy, hopefully it is not just wishful thinking.

Oh, I almost forgot, I am also getting a hysterosalpingogram (HSG) around cycle day 5-7. I had this done back in 1999 and although it was somewhat uncomfortable (I mean it IS dye being inserted into the uterus and fallopian tubes though a catheter) it was nothing that I cannot handle and has a side effect of slightly increased fertility for a few cycles.

Today I went in to have my first ever acupuncture and wow did it feel neat! I feel energized and relaxed and calm; like I have a new lease on life as dramatic as that sounds. I read a bunch of research the other day on the effects of acupuncture on unexplained infertility and decided to call the acupuncturist that works with all the doctors around town that do IVF and booked an appointment with her office. If anything I feel like I am doing something to aid in conception since nothing else seems to be working. I also asked him to poke me in the weight lost area to give me a little more motivation to start working my butt off, literally.

I also got my lab slip for my HSG today, I am not quite sure where to get that done but I will call on Monday to make an appointment with the Nurse Practitioner to start down the road towards assisted reproduction, with IUI being the short term goal.

It is no secret that I have suffered from secondary infertility for a number of years. Bobby and I started trying to get pregnant again when Christopher was 6 months old in July 1998. In early 1999 I started seeking help from the OB/GYNs on base at Ft Hood and kept getting little or no help. Bobby had surgery to fix his problems, but we still could not get pregnant. In 2000 we finally got a referral to a Reproductive Endocrinologist after being turned away from several doctors who could not help us. In 2002-2004, while Bobby was overseas in Korea and Iraq, I got on birth control pills to help regulate my cycles when he was gone.

I have PCOS, Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. This is an endocrine disorder that causes a plethora of symptoms, such as high testosterone and estrogen, weight gain, ovarian cysts, male hair growth & hair loss, heart disease, infertility, menstrual problems (irregular, infrequent or absent) and many many more problems. Right now there are several treatment options, such as insulin controlling medicines like Metformin, or Birth Control Pills to mask the symptoms. There are other surgical options or medicine therapy, but the above two are the most common.

The biggest heartbreak of infertility is how unfair it all is… my insurance will cover 100% of Viagra, birth control pills, surgical sterilization, abortion (all with a copay between $15-30), yet just for the initial consult with a Reproductive Endocrinologist I am looking at $700 out of pocket. Each visit after that would cost almost as much and I could be looking at being seen as many as 4-5 times in a single month. Also, why is it abusive parents, drug addicts and people who do not want children can pop them out right and left, where moms like me are lucky to have any at all.

In June 2004, 2 months after getting off of birth control pills, I learned I was pregnant for the second time. Matthew was born 10 months later, healthy, happy, and without complication. We started trying for #4 in August 2005 without any success. Because we just cannot afford advanced treatment from a Reproductive Endocrinologist, or even an OB/GYN we continue to just pray and hope that it will happen again.

If you are also suffering from infertility, be is primary, or secondary and in the Chicago or Naperville Illinois area, I urge you to seek treatment through a Reproductive Endocrinologist like Dr. Randy Morris at Chicago IVF. You do not have to suffer in silence, there are treatment options out there to help you achieve your dream!

*This is a sponsored post.