AmyC (aka Ames)
TTC #1 edd 9/19/01

It's hard to believe that I am even writing this story!!!
Here goes!!! First I want to thank all the wonderful ladies on this site,
and to MommaKath for creating the site.
Without it, I would have/will be lost.

I started ttc last May00. I have had endometriosis since I was about 11. I am now 27. I suffered my whole life with it. I was constantly taking different birth control pills, and when I was 23 I had my first lap surgery. After the surgery I did Lupron. Then a year and 1/2 later, had another surgery. I was never more depressed. I had then started the Depro-provera injection to help me, once again. I had my last shot in Jan 00. After that, we decided no more shots, we would try to ttc once the Depo was out of my system. I was already going to an RE for help. Nothing happened until May 00. I had no AF until then. I started clomid shortly after, with temping. I was Oing.

After 4 cycles of clomid and hcg, nothing happened. The RE wanted us to do IUI. I did that, and it failed. I had a chemical pg that month. The next month, which was December 00, I was taking a break from any meds. I had to, because my RE's office was closed due to Christmas. I was to start injections and IUI in Jan. During the month of December, I started cd 1 on 12/15/00, I took, 1 baby asprin, 2 vitex herb, alfalfa from AF to O, and prenatal vitiams. On 12/27/00 which was cd 13, I woke up the sorest BB's. This was O day. I had never had sore BB's on O day, ever!!! And we had been bding all week :) The sore bb's were getting worse everyday in dpo land. I thought it was really weird. My temps were low, but then started climbing up .1 every day until they hit 99.1. It looked like an up hill mountain. My CM was strange too. It was almost kind of egg white looking and very stringy. Never had that before either. On 10 dpo, Idecided to test, because my temp went up to 99.0 that day...it was early to test, but I was taking a chance. I did the test, rested it down on the sink, and washed my hands. Before I was even done, it was a strong postive!! I took 4 more HPTS that day all postive within a minute. The next day was a Sunday, and I went to the RE for my beta..it came back at 41!!!! It has been climbing up up up ever since. Everything is looking very good!!! I have my worries about the endometriosis, but I am trying everyday to push it out of my head. But the doctors said everything is doing exactly what it should.

I got pg when I wasn't trying so hard. I just bded that whole week, and took some herbs. I never thought I could do it on my own. The doctors always said it would be very difficult to do this with out medication or assistance.

They were wrong.
+++++thoughts to us all, and God bless!!!!!
Amy

Hi.

A lot has changed since I have been on the web site.
Anyway, I am 13 weeks pregnant,

My husband and I were suppose to start artificial insemination but I had a cyst on my ovaries so my infertility specialist said we had to wait until next month to begin.

Well, 2 weeks later we got pregnant with no drugs.
It was totally amazing.
We are extremely happy.
Thank you, for your support.
Kelly

Posted By: alyson, 32 y/o, finally pg w/#1
Tuesday, 16 January 2001, at 10:16 a.m.
After TTC for 28 months we're finally pg w/#1 (m &l)

On Christmas morning I starting having abdominal pain. By the next morning it seemed to be located just on my right side. Everyone thought it was my appendix. I went to a clinic where I was told I was pg. I nearly fainted - that was the last diagnosis I was expecting. But of course, due to the pain, they were concerned about it being an eptopic pg. I was sent to the ER, where they discovered that I had a 5cm x 4cm corpus luteum cyst on my right ovary. They also saw a 3 week old gestational sac on the left side of my uterus.

Since then I've alomst come out of my shock. I've had another u/s done which shows a normal pg, and the cyst has now split into 2 - I'm not sure what that means. I still get pain on my right side, but only occasionally and not nearly as severe.

The main reason for my posting is this: According to both u/s I've had, I'm farther along than my BBT chart determined. According to the u/s technician and the doctors, I conceived *no later* than December 7th - my BBT chart said I didn't even O until December 14th. One of the nurses I work with had been telling me previously that it's being discovered that women may be O'ing sooner than they think, and that when we're ttc, we should start BDing right after AF is finished.

Another weird thing... My fertile lunar phase was December 6 - 9th... almost too strange!!
Ladies you can order your Lunar Fertility Charts here!

So I just want all you ttc'ers out there to keep your chin up. December was the month I would have bet money on that I *wasn't* pg (just because of our BD timing). I had nearly given up on ttc, had started drinking one cup of coffee each morning and just said "whatever happens, happens". And it happened!

alyson
EDD 09/01/01

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Hi,

I am 28 and dh is 26, he checks out fine, thank goodness. I quit bcp in summer 99 and nothing happened. 11 months passed with only one period. So we tried provera and clomid for 5 cycles, which resulted in 3 O's, lots of unpleasant side effects but no pg.

On Dec 5th 2000 I got af and 3 days later I had my first appt with a TCM practitioner. He said I didn't need acupuncture as it apparently only helps if you have it regularly and I lived a long way from the practitioner. But he prescribed my a tubful of ground herbs that I took in hot water twice a day as a kind of tea. It tasted revolting but it was worth it. After only 11 days of taking the tea, I ovulated. Incredible with my track record! But unlike my previous 3 clomid ovulations, it occurred without me being aware of it because my typical signs (sore breasts and twinges) weren't there. It was a painfree ovulation this time!

About 3 weeks after beginning the herbs I took my basal temperature (just to check if I had O'd) that I realised I had. I was amayed that I had a high temp because although the practitioner prmised me that my periods would resulme within 3-7 months, this was 11 days!! With hindsight I remember seeing ewcm at New Years but didn't think there was enough for O to be immenent.

I continued to track my temps and this morning I took an htp. I got a positive result almost immediately and my husband and I have been in shock all day.

We were both thrilled that I O'd this cycle, and so quickly but we can hardly believe our luck that we got a positive result on our first natural cycle, even if we have been trying for 18 months.

I have great faith in TCM and I hope that this will encourage someone to think about it for themselves. I have heard countless success stories and I truly believed that the herbs would help me but I never expected to be blessed so quickly.

I think my due date is the 23rd Sept 01, no doubt I will find out soon enough.

Best wishes and GOOD LUCK to you all,
Samantha

Acupuncture information

Well I've been waiting to feel a little more confident about this pregnancy before I wrote my success story but now feels right. I am 7 weeks, 5 days today and had an ultrasound last week and we saw the heartbeat! I go in to see an OB next week and after a check in w/RE he will officially release me to her care.

My story: I am 37 y/o ttc#1 for 11 months. I had a mc about 9 years ago w/ another relationship. Dh and I have been married for two years and both wanted to have children. I thought it might take some time given my age (though Dh is only 31!) so I did some research and found this wonderful site. I started prenatals, decaf green tea, robi and then switched to alfalfa and had much better results, kept my butt in the air for 30 min, used OPKs and nothing. I decided not to wait and after 6 months I went to see an RE. I had an HSG and bloodwork and thankfully all came out fine. Dh also had an SA and the results were not as good. He had low motility and moderately low count. He takes meds for Adult ADD and we wondered if that might be the reason. More research and Dh went on a C, E, L-arginine, and multi-vitamin regimin and motility went up! We kept trying but month after month ----HPTs!! I stopped testing because it was too painful. RE decided to put me on 50mg clomid even though I ovulated because he said it might give me a stronger ovulation. We did our first IUI on Dec. 11th and Dhs post wash count was only 8 million w/65% motility so they could only inseminate me w/ 2.4 million. I knew I shouldnt get my hopes up and I figured we would have to go two or maybe three cycles w/IUI. Fast forward to Dec. 22nd and Dh and I are Christmas shopping at the Mall. I am tired and notice that my bbs feel sore. I NEVER get that before af. We decide to buy a test and we go home to test but I'm gearing up for a --. Well I take the test and whadya know a +++. This was 14dpo and it was faint but there. I waited until Christmas morning to test again and this time it was clearly ++. I used two EPTs and then put them on the Christmas tree and woke up Dh! My only other symptoms were cramps in the middle of the night 8 and 9 dpo. I also had af type cramping but af never showed. Aside from some tingly nips I had no yellowish cm, no nausea (I have that NOW), no frequent urination. It wasn't until the end of my 6th week that I've started to feel ms and tired. We are very happy that we had such luck w/ our first IUI given the low count but as RE said, even during "normal" intercourse only two or three million make it up to the uterus. I am considered "high risk" and I know I'm not out of the woods but I am happy and I know how much success stories meant to me when I was trying. I hope my story gives some hope to you elder and wiser ttcers and those dealing w/male factor.

+++++++++++++++++++THOUGHTS FOR you ALL!
francesca, 37 y/o, 7weeks, 5 days.
clomid/IUI success. Edd 9/04/01 --

Hi! I just wanted to thank you for the information I received on this site.

I tested positive with a HPT this morning for our first baby!!!!!
I can't explain how happy I am. I have been temping and charting
for almost 4 months and have been TTC for almost 6.
I had a high prolactin level for awhile and wasn't ovulating.
Too bad I didn't find this site before I took the medication my GYN prescribed
(it made me sick). Anyway, even though my levels returned to normal,
I was told that b/c my dh's motility rates were low (30-40%),
we would have to conceive through IVF, and I was told to have an HSG and endo biopsy.
Lucky for me, I decided to changes doc's as I thought it was weird she didn't
recommend that we try on our own now that I was ovulating regularly.
So, we decided to relax, I continued to chart, and I began taking
Vitex, EPO and Green Tea.
My cycles immediately became shorter
(from 38 to 28), and it looks like it worked
after only one month of the herbs.

Because I have enjoyed reading everyone's stories,
and loved the details, I thought I'd give you mine.
I took Vitex from the date of my last period through today (500 mg.),
pre-natal vitamins, Green Tea every night and EPO for about 4 days before o date.
I tried the Robi, but it made me sick. I had no EW fluid!!!
We bd'ed 2 days before I actually o'ed.
My dh got sick and we couldn't bd closer to the o date.
I wasn't expecting to o for another week, so we weren't even trying.
For once, we bd'ed for fun. For some reason though, I did put my legs behind my head :)
(a friend recommended so I thought I'd try even though I didn't think we bd'ed at the
right time).

My temps have been a lot lower since Vitex
(I don't know if that is the reason).
Momma Kath here...the lower levels are probably due to higher estrogen levels!
Pre-o temps ranged b/w 97.1 and 97.5. The rest are as follows:

cd 16 - 97.7 (O date) (no EW)
• 17 - 97.7
• 18 - 98.0
• 19 - 97.7
• 20 - 97.9
• 21 - 98.5
• 22 - 98.2
• 23 - 98.1
• 24 - 98.1
• 25 - 98.1
• 26 - 98.3
• 27 - 98.5 (HPT Positive!)

I never did have EW fluid. I was mostly creamy and white.
My only advice is to follow your instincts and get rid of a doctor
who isn't making any sense. Try the Vitex and Green tea,
and don't worry too much about the fluid.
Some people just don't have EW every cycle.
Finally, bd when you least expect it and have fun!
I didn't think it would happen, but it looks like it has!!
Thanks for all of the stories, advice and help!
This site is truly wonderful!

After 11 months of ttc, we finally got 3 positive hpt's this morning!!!
I cannot believe I'm even writing these words! I'M PREGNANT!!!!

I have endometriosis and just had my laparoscopy and HSG this cycle. I thought for sure it was a dud cycle, so I drank on New Years and at my Company Party. Whoops! We bd'd 5 days before ovulation, so I thought that there was NO way that it would have happened this month. So when my period was late, I just assumed it was b/c of my surgery. I had your hpt's in my drawer and decided to take one (thinking I was just wasting it!). Within seconds I had 2 lines! So I went out and bought an EPT and First Response.... also positive! :o)

I'm guessing my edd is towards the end of September (25-30)??? Thank you so much for all the information I've received here!

KrissyP
Baby #1

P.S. According to the Shettles Method, it's probably a girl! :o)

KimB 29y/o
TTC#1 after 2 1/2 years
EDD: 10-1-01

So much has happened in the past years
that I can't even believe
I am here writing this story.
Thank you to all previous success stories
that gave me the encouragement to keep my spirits up.
I highly recommend reading TCOYF for any beginners.
It has all the information you need.
I also suggest reading the success stories
to keep you going along the way.

My story is long but here goes:
2 1/2 years ago I quit taking bcp after 11 years.
I visited 2 family doctors that wasted my time
and would have me still temp. charting to this date.
I decided to pursue a well known OBGYN in my area.
He cancelled on me three times (that took up about 2 months).
I pursued another OBGYN and she cancelled on me twice
(another month wasted) and then she went on bed rest.
TIP: Don't pick a pregnant doctor.
Finally found my doctor only 5 months ago.
You may think the timing doesn't add-up but
in-between each let-down I took a few months
off because I was frustrated.
The procedures I have had done include an MRI
for a possible brain tumor because my probating
level was so high (46). There was no tumor and my
probating level returned to normal.
I did not have to take any meds
for the prolactin problem. I had an HSG
(slightly painful but well worth it)
that detected polyps in my uterus and a fibroid tumor.
I had an outpatient surgery to remove the polyps because
they were crushing my right fallopian tube.
The fibroid remains because my doctor wanted to do
the least amount of manipulation as possible.
She said it shouldn't bother the chances of getting pg.
My husband also went through all the testing-he was fine all along.
After that was all done, I began Chlomid because I ovulated too late
in my cycle-usually cd19-21 on a 28day cycle.
This created a luteal phase problem because even if
an egg was fertilized it wouldn't have enough time to implant.
My first month of Chlomid was 50mg and I took it on cd5-9.
I then waited one day and began bding every other day.
I O'ed on cd14.
I also took Robutussin every day until O.
I continued to temp but my temps were crazy from the Chlomid-
I could though detect my ovulation drop on cd14.
The Chlomid gave me hot flashes and I got a little cranky but that was it.
10dpo I started noticing all the blue veins in bbs.
It was like a road map. 14dpo I took a hpt at 4am because I couldn't wait.
We could hardly see a line but then again we could hardly focus because
it was so early in the morning. 15dpo I took another hpt and the line
was darker but still faint.
16dpo I took another test and it was positive again.
My dh thinks I'm crazy because I would still be taking tests if I could.
So here I am pg on my first round of Chlomid. I'm sure the combination
of the surgery and the Chlomid was all it took.
Besides being a little tired, I feel great. It has taken me so long
to get to this point that I'm still in shock that
it's actually my turn to write.
If it happened to me after all this then it can happen for you too!

I had some really bad times with doctors
and I read on this site that if you're not comfortable
with your doctor or the timeline they
set then you should seek out a new doctor.
That was great advice for me!
I had been temping for
almost a year and was ready for the next steps-
without a good doctor I would not be here.
You have to take your fertility
into your own hands and educate yourself as much as possible!

I wish you all the best of luck and
have ++++++thoughts for the discouraged!!!!

My due date is October 3rd.
Wow... I can't believe I'm saying that : )
I have to thank this website
and all its visitors
for helping me get here.
I thank God as well that although I thought he had tuned me out for awhile... must've been listening and just waiting and preparing for the right time. I never posted here much... but read often. The times I did post... I was greatly encouraged.

Here are some tips I picked up from you guys: Baby aspirin, Robi, green tea, vitamins, and legs up in the air after BD for 20-30 minutes ( of course, I kept them up for at least an hour just to be sure :) ... the things we do!!!! My Dh definitely had a few jokes for me about laying in such a unique position. Hey it worked!!! Who gets the last laugh??? (ha,ha,ha)

Another tactic I got from some of the success stories was to basicly lighten up!!!! I was BDing with Dh like it was a task, an assignment, etc. Don't get me wrong... I enjoyed it.. but didn't feel it deep down in my soul. Have you ever just made love to the one you love and expressed each and every single emotion within the act and as it to a close you feel your heart exposed and you feel light??? ( Thus the phrase: 'On Cloud Nine' ). Well you shouldn't lose that and wrongfully replace it with urgency. Keep the fire alive... concentrate on that more than anything first. The main ingredient for childmaking is love ... without it the rest won't work. Trust me. So... do what you must health wise and scientifically... but don't forget about feeding your spirit, as well as your heart. Don't make this a mission.... make it a cruise. Sometimes it hard to see such a long journey of frustrations as a cruise... If you took a cruise around the world you wouldn't be back in a day. So enjoy what you can out of it... especially bonding with Dh!!! I hope this helps or makes sense... I certainly with like to give back to at least one person what you all have given me. Which was... "hope". God Bless and baby dust to all **** Love, Mimi

I can't believe it,
but I am pg the first month of trying
your herbal supplements! I took the
Red Raspberry, Vitex, EPO and FSO.
I also used Robitussin and baby aspirin.
My doctor told me that I may need to see an RE,
but I wanted to try some of these natural approaches first.
I am so glad that I waited and gave these things a try.
I had no side effects at all.
I am now approaching the 6 week mark
and tested + very early with your
TTC Store HPT. I found out about 10 days earlier
than I did with dd.
I was only about 9 dpo.
Thank you very much for the help.

Cindy K.

Posted By: Mairi
Wednesday, 31 January 2001, at 3:02 a.m.
TWO LINES from the Pumpkin Patch!!!!
OMG!!!!!!! 12dpo and TWO LINES!!!
I had a feeling that this may be the month.
Symptoms have been sore bbs from 3 dpo,
triphasic temps and an implantation spot around a week ago.
Yeahhhh! It's taken us around 19 months and two rounds of Clomid.
I took baby asprin for the first time this month and Robi.
Perhaps that made the difference. DH cried...we both did.
Anyway, sorry so long, but had to share.
Lots of +++++++++ to the rest of the ladies
in the pumpkin patch and to you all.
Mairi,
Sydney, Australia. :)

AmyB, 29 years old, ttc#1 for 2 years DH, 27 years old

I am so excited to be writing my success story. These stories have helped me so much through the times when I felt sure it would never happen for us. Here is our story:

At 27 I went off birth control pills to try and conceive. We had been married for over a year and we figured if it happened we would be good. After 6 months pill free I wound up in the emergency room with a ruptured cyst. Doubled over in pain and bleeding profusely my GYN told me just to lay down and not worry, this was somewhat common. After another ruptured cyst 2 months later (with severe pain)- I sought out a fertility specialist. And I found the greatest one ever! Dr. Francisco Batres, Little Rock AR.

But anyway, the specialist said my left ovary was huge and something had to be done before I could get pregnant. I was crushed. He placed me on birth control for a few months - it never went away. He felt it could be a dermoid tumor (that is a scary word) or an endometioma. The latter one would be the better one to have. I had to have a pelvic cat scan and drink chalky nasty lemonade. I had dye shot in my, and I had blood work done several times. It was a VERY STRESSFUL time waiting to find out if it was indeed a tumor or not. I wound up having a lap that turned into 3 days in the hospital for me. I had endometriosis and they had to cut me open to get all of the mess cleaned up. I had no idea, other than the 2 ruptured cyst. Luckily it did only turn out to be endometrioma and not a tumor!!! I took Lupron for 4 months (in Arkansas in the middle of the summer- HOT!)- I went through menopause completely. It was really a drag. I was sooooooooooooo hot all the time.

Finally my period came back and we started trying. After several months and nothing I was so discouraged. Everyone around me was popping up pregnant and that seemed to be all anyone ever talked about. I was very down about it. I started to avoid get togethers with our friends because all anyone talked about was their pregnancy and how they felt and blah, blah, blah. I felt guilty for feeling this way but I couldn't help it! My DH was even starting to get down about it, trying not to let me see it but c'mon- when a guy asks you "did you start?" - you can be pretty sure he is anxious for you NOT TO.

Anyway, I returned to the specialist and he put me on Clomid- 50mg, and some other stuff. We did IUI that month. I was so pumped up and I just knew this was the month!! DH went with me on a Sunday a.m and I was inseminated. I tried not to get excited but I could not help but daydream about teling my parents and friends...I had made at least 3 eggs - which scared me, triplets??? Oh my gosh!!

But guess what - my period came and I cried and cried and cried.

The next month my dern ovary was sooooooooooooooo over worked from fertility drugs and enlarged that the RE told me to rest. He gave me a fancy predictor kit and told me if I should surge- which wasn't likely than to call him. I did my kit, and finally a surge. DH gave me a sample and off I went to the Dr. for IUI. Which he did but he couldn't tell if I O'd or not. Not until the blood work. I thought it was a total wash!

I drank wine and beer and lifted heavy stuff, and traveled on business and drank about 50 diet cokes. One night I felt my period coming on and I cried and cried. My husband held me in bed in the dark and assured me that it was going to be O.K. We even scheduled a weekend getaway to LasVegas for February so we could party and be glad we were still young and crazy and footloose and fancy free. Just the two of us.

Well... I kept feeling like I was going to start and nothing... Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday. I was 5 days late. I went to the Dr. on Tuesday and gave them my urine cup. They called me and DH back and announced our pregnancy with hugs and congratulations. It was great. All my numbers look great. My due date is around Oct. 6, 2001. I feel pretty good. A little Tired and my boobes are about to fall off!! I am serious!

But my advice to others is... don't even think that you will feel different around 14dpo. I just knew I was going to start. I had all the signs. I used to read into everything and think "oh, I bet I am pregnant and I just know it, my boobes seem more sore, I see blue lines, I am so tired..." and then I would start. It was awful the way I talked myself into it. It seems like the first month I just said "to hell with it" it happened. Weird huh.

I also quit taking Ibuprofen which I was a junkie about and that was when I conceived. My dr. told me it messes with your hormones. Well,crap, I took IB all the time.

Symptoms: Cramps like a period- pulling, just coming on soooo strong, and then check undies- NOTHING. Breast tenderness but all over, not just in the normal AF spots

I think that is about it. Best of luck to all and thanks for the support! It helped me so much.

how wonderful I think TTC web site is.

I'm not a regular visitor, but the support is terrific.
I'm 38, ttc 3yrs. We did clomid for 4 months and IUI for three.
By December I'd had enough heartache so we took a month off.
No temps, no robitussin, no opt, nothing
and that's when it happened. Go figure.
I'm now 9 weeks pg with horrible nauseau
which everyone says is good.
Hopefully this one will stick.
I miscarried around the same time in 2000.

Thank you again Momma Kath.
I for one appreciate what you've done for all of us.
Suzanne

I have been a part of the ttc club for a while. Last Sept. (2000) I finally accomplished the goal after 11 months of trying. Then at 12 weeks we lost our baby. My 1st cycle after that was a LONG and crazy one. My cycle started on Nov. 8th but I never O'd until Dec. 28th. Amazingly we conceived! We lost that baby as well in a very early m/c. I ws 16 dpo. After that we decided to call it quits. I could not handle the thought of going through another loss. My sweet dh took me to a bed and Breakfast to get some much needed r&r. We were not on protection. This was my first cycle and I was not able to take that step yet. Anyhow I knew I was fertile. After being so aware of my body and it's signs for so long I didn't need a thermometer to tell me I was Ovulating. We had a wonderful weekend, hot tub and all. (they say hot tubs are bad on the little swimmers).

I knew when I should expect af's arrival. Well that date came and went. At 15 dpo I took my temp to see if I should be expecting her. It was 98.7 I knew then something was up. I tested with the ttc hpt (that I had won)and got a ++. It did not come up in the 3 minutes but at 10 minutes it was obvious. I went back to bed and cried in my dh's arms. I was scared to death! I called the dr and had a beta done that afternoon. Since I went in late I would not get the results til the following morning. I slep from 10-1 that night and was up for the rest! The news was good. Beta was 113 at 15 dpo. After having 2 m/c we had just gotton over the first hurdle. I am thankful for this pg for however long it will be. I pray to God daily several times to grant us the chance to raise this child to love and serve him as we do. This has been a wonderful time, but is scary and stressful as well. I quit on ttc but God had a plan for us. Sometimes removing ourselves from the saga of ttc is just what we need. At least that is the case for me.

Thanks for reading my success story. Feb. 17th 2001 and am 5 weeks today!

Tamera

Momma Kath,
you asked earlier if i was going to post a success story. i didn't feel quite confident yet, but i guess i feel better about it now so here goes...

When I decided I wanted to have children my biggest hurdle was my husband. He had a vasectomy in 1992 and he didn't really want children. I spent a whole year trying to convince him that they weren't all that bad. Having a young nephew helped, because he got to spend time with him and realize that it wasn't so horrible after all. He finally said yes on Thanksgiving Day 1999. His reversal surgery was 19 February 2000 and I was expecting to get pregnant right away. I even bought a little toy stork and hid it away so that I could give it to him the day I found out I was pregnant.

Then reality hit us. It wasn't going to be that easy. The semen analyses were initially good but got worse over the summer. I tried two IUI's without drugs with my gyn, but neither worked. In the fall DH quit his job to start his own company (with friends) and we didn't have any extra funds to afford more IUI's or a specialist. The SA numbers didn't get too much better over the fall until December 2000. Then, for some unknown reason, his count jumped back up. Still no pregnancy. In January 2001 I was very depressed. We both had colds during O and did some BD but didn't expect anything. I was more and more depressed every day. DH said that we should make an appointment with an RE and we would find money to pay for it later. Obviously just waiting for it to happen naturally wasn't working, and he didn't like to see me upset all the time. He is so wonderful. I was expecting AF on Thursday or Friday and was going to call and make an appointment as soon as she showed up.

For some reason I felt compelled to do a HPT on Wednesday, maybe just because they were there. I woke up early and did the test. After five minutes there was nothing so I went back to bed. The test says not to read it after 30 minutes so I felt obligated to check it again after 25 so I could have my good cry and call the RE later. There was a very faint line. I woke up DH and showed him the test in case I was seeing things. He saw it too. That night I was chatting with a friend/GP and he told me I could come in the next morning for a blood test. That was 8 February 2001. After turning into a complete basket case the nurse finally called back at 6:30. She said she stayed late just to pester the lab because she knew I couldn't wait until tomorrow to find out. It was 36 at 14 dpo. I was really pregnant! It has been over a week since then and I still can't believe it. Just under a year after the reversal it finally worked. I still ask DH to pinch me, which he is all too happy to do :)

Cleo EDD 18 October 2001

Dear Momma Kath

I cant say I am a success, but after over a year of trying to conceive, I am now 11 weeks pregnant.

My DH is 43 and I am 31. We started trying in November 1999. After 6 months of ovulating kits, we finally went to a Ob/GYN who specializes in Infertility. In August of 2000, I found out I had a slightly elevated prolactin level, and DH sperm count was below normal. Not super low, but low enough. Our option was IUI. So began the Clomid, the sonagrams, the Parodel, and the Profasi shot. After 4 failed IUI, the next step was injections. At the end of November 2000, I decided I wanted a break. No more drugs, no more IUI, just wanted a break from the whole fertility thing. I was suppose to go on b/c pills, but I decided against those as well. My husband and I enjoyed ourselves, indulged in coffee and wine, did alot of BD without the fertility thoughts hovering over us. I then went to visit my mother in Israel for a few weeks. The day I landed, I started to feel nausea. I thought maybe I caught something on the trip. I was also about 6 days late. I thought it was just jet lag and my cycle being all messed up. Final ly, after being 16 days late, my DH suggested I take a PG test. I was like, well, it will eliminate that at least, so I could go to the Dr. Well, to my most welcomed surprise, I got a ++++++ result. I didnt believe it, so I went to my Dr, who did a blood test. It was ++++!! I even got to see my little sweetie on the sonagram. I was 7weeks.

I didnt do anything right, I wasnt doing any fertility. I think I just relaxed, and it happened. I was finally receptive to conceiving. But, I cant tell you how many times over the past year I came to this site to hear other stories of women who after much challenge became pregnant. I want a woman to read this, and know, yes, it can happen. Even after all the medical treatments, and them saying, you may never conceive, it can and will happen. I didnt temp, and I couldnt even remember the last day of my last period, thats how much I let go. I am due 9/14/01. I wish everyone much success on their road to babyhood. It will happen, just keep hoping and dont stress over it. Easier said then done...I know. But it happened to me, I know it will happen to others.

My prayers to all

Rachel H. Texas

I conceived my first month on clomid!! Couldn't believe it....here is how we did it.

Dh was told after SA that viscosity was thick and dr suggested robitussin (one little cupful a day) so Dh did that for 6 weeks. I took clomid 50-mg days 5-9. Got a + opk on day 14 We DTD days 10,13,14 and 16. Put my legs up for 1/2 hour afterward and also DTD with my feet on his shoulders.(although not the most comfortable position!! haha) My EDD is 10/27/01 and I am 5 weeks today. Praying all goes well but so far so good. I hope this helps....I read anything I could get my hands on and the success stories really kept my spirits up as we had no success for a year +.

+++++ thoughts to everyone....
Larissa