Tuesday, September 10, 2013

Our Journey to Baby V - Part 3

We had to wait 3 months for the coil to set in my tube to close it. We decided that we would try conceiving semi-naturally with aid of Femara. I do ovulate on my own, however, being down one tube, I could use the extra help to encourage ovulation on my left side or both sides. We tried with no luck for 3 months starting July 2012.

Come September 2012 we were back at the doctors office discussing yet another round of IVF. Like I mentioned previously I am considered a poor responder so they tested my AMH level and sure enough it was beginning to drop. AMH gives a rough idea on the amount of eggs a woman has left in her body based on the hormone level that comes back. My number had a significant drop since my last IVF. This only made me feel like I was running out of time. My eggs were literally expiring. 

October 11th, 2012 I was diagnosed with hypothyroidism. My number was literally a decimal point over. I started meds right away and luckily they start working right away because I started my IVF cycle on October 30th, 2012 with the Lupron long protocol again starting up with 2 injections of Lupron a day. On Novemeber 3rd I started stim injections of Bravelle and Menopur. Everything was going smoothly, lots of action going on in my ovaries, more so that before. 

On November 16, 2012 we had our egg retrieval and we got 10 amazing eggs!! A number I was soo very proud of!! My ovaries had got a lot bigger this time and my Estrogen level was indicating that I was at a higher risk for hyper-stimulation of my ovaries, which luckily I did not get! But recovery was super slow and painful to say the least. 5 of my eggs were fertilized, the other 5 just didn't take and 3 of those 5 were ready for transfer. On November 19 we had 2 sweet grade A embryos transferred. I was carrying twins!! A whole new cloud nine ready for an instant family! On November 29th I started to spot and sure enough the cycle had failed yet again. 

Now we were mourning the loss of what could have been yet again, and mentally I was over seeking further treatment. How much more can we possibly take? Our hearts shattered once again, and this time it took a lot longer to put away the pieces. We went back to our RE for follow up post ivf and he just couldn't figure out why it wasn't working, recommended genetic testing - which we were opposed to. So finally I ended the appointment with asked for a script for clomid. He luckily agreed, but really didn't see it working. February 2013 we decided to take a more natural path, which was highly recommended by others, so we booked an appointment with a naturopath. I had never believed in naturopaths and no offence to others but I had kind of assumed it to be hocus locus medicine. We took a vacation to Jamaica to get away from everything for a bit, although I guess you can't really get away from your own body! 

February 25, we drove just over an hour to this naturopath, had my blood tested and he wasn't surprised that we couldn't get pregnant. My B12 and Folate wasn't being absorbed into my blood cells. My blood cells trough the microscope were all blown apart. He also found some yeast which prompted the yeast cleanse for 30 days. I started B12 and folate supplements, along with supplements for the yeast cleanse. You all know how I felt with the yeast cleanse, if not you can check back on it. March 25, we went back had my blood retested and my blood cells were perfect aside from some malnutrition, but what can you eat on a yeast cleanse? He recommended staying yeast free until we became pregnant but, we knew that wasn't going to happen. However I was 15 pounds down and watched what and how I ate. 

I managed to drop a total of 36 pounds, had a script for Clomid that we tried May 2013 and sure enough on June 1st I had a positive home pregnancy test! M and I were on cloud 9! I retested again on the 2nd and it was negative? Straight to my RE's we went and found it to be true, we were no longer pregnant. Our doctor doesn't believe in false positives, and figured something was working! He doubled my clomid dosage and had me start it that day instead of waiting for my period. He called it a  random start cycle. My doctor hates clomid and for him to do this, meant he noticed a change with my cycle, he had a sudden hope we hadn't seen. We monitored this cycle to see how I was responding and we had 2 amazing eggs developing nicely. On June 16 my blood work indicated ovulation. I received a call from my RE's office and it turns out my AMH was plummeting and I needed to come in and discuss my options. I was in no rush to have this conversation with my doctor or to hear any more bad news, so I put it off. On June 28 I took a pregnancy test in the middle of the day with just a cheap test and it was positive. Of course because of last month I didn't believe it! 

I will wrap up our journey to Baby V here and the rest of our journey will develop in the first trimester recap, and then weekly bump dates. 

Thank you all for your support it means soo much!! If my story can help anyone in any way, even if its just encouragement to never give up on a dream you have worked soo hard at, that you want soo bad!! 

5 comments:

Julie @ The Smitten Mintons said...

I took an unexpected blog reading break this summer so I just saw that y'all are expecting!! Ashley, I am so thrilled for you! Congratulations!!!!

Sarah said...

What a ride! Thanks for updating us! So happy for you ;)

Jessica and Stephan said...

I can't believe all the ups and downs you've gone through to get to this point! I'll keep praying for you, hubby and Baby V! :)

Congratulations again!

Nicole @ Haute Runner said...

Wow- what a journey it has been. Reading this makes me so happy that you are finally where you are. It really is a miracle.

I saw a naturopath the first time we were trying. I found it quite helpful and therapeutic. Who knew acupuncture could be so relaxing!

Hilary said...

Wow, I can't believe you went through all of that without it showing in your blog. Can't wait to hear the rest, though! :-)

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