My time trying to conceive was an experience of growth for me.
I dealt with repeated disappointment and discouragement, went through testing,
poking, and prodding (I am now an unofficial pin cushion)
and watched many of my friends and family conceive effortlessly.
I know that many of you out there have struggled longer and
even more difficult roads. I know how it feels
not to know if it will really happen.
I don't know if any of you will relate to this, but,
I always felt that it was going to happen,
while at the same time feeling that maybe it was never going to happen.
What really helped me in the end was learning to listen to myself
and try to do what was best for me.
In the end, I tried to focus on my great husband and
realize that I already have a miracle just by having him in my life.
I tried to accept that,
while I was going to do my best and try everything that I knew to do,
I actually have very little control over the outcome.
This may sound weird, but, when we finally did conceive,
I actually said to myself, OK universe, I'm ready,
bring on whatever you've got in mind for me.
I think maybe when we were trying at first,
I was so fearful that it would not work out,
that maybe I was not ready.
But, I don't know for sure.
In the end it is just a miracle from God.
I hope and pray for all of you that you get your miracle very soon.
If it can happen for me,
it can happen for you, too!
I really, truly believe that.
Best Wishes!!
Jennifer

After 3 years and 3 losses I finally get to say I'm PG and everything looks great! This was my 1st round of Clomid after completing all the infertility testing. After conceiving 2 healthy children effortlessly, everything changed. I was DX with mild PCOS and low progesterone. DH's SA came back excellent! 198mil, great morph and motility too. I took 50mgs Clomid days 5-9 unmonitored. My OPK was super +++ on cd14, and O was cd15.

We BD the night of cd14, and the morning of cd16. My temps after O just kept going up and up! Then on 9dpo they spiked 5/10 and stayed. On 10dpo my software gave me the triphasic mess! age and I tested that morning with Equate. I sat there the whole 3 minutes and watched intently. LOL After 1 minute there was nothing, and the disappointment set in. Then at 2 minutes I began to see a line. When the 3 minutes were up I had a nice clear bright pink line! I tested again that afternoon with Equate and it was a BFP too and much darker than the mornings with FMU. I was completely in shock! I had all my usual PMS symptoms, and thought for sure AF was on the way. On 8dpo I got the weeps (as usual) and on 9dpo I started having that "AF is about to start flowing at any minute" feeling. I blamed my awesome chart on the Clomid.

And the night before I tested all my dreams were watching all these PG tests turn +++. LOL!

I tested again in the AM of 11dpo with Equate and FMU. It was a BFP too and much darker than the previous two. Went in to my RE/OB and their urine test was BFP.

I finally heard the Dr say "you are PG, ! congratulations"!

Well, as for my symptoms and signs:

She was my 5th pregnancy in 4 years, 2 were blighted ovums and the other 2 were too small to tell due to fibroids. I had a myomectomy.

I used all the recommended herbs including guaifenesin syrup and baby aspirin - for approximately 5 months and pregnancy was achieved.

Thank you so much.

Linda H

My husband and I tried to have a baby for over a year w/out success.
I started taking 50mg of clomid for 3 cycles no luck;
upped the dosage to 100mg and we got pregnant
our little boy will be 2 next week.
I started taking 100mg this year and after the 6th cycle
we are pregnant again and couldn't be happier.
My best advice is to be patient and
let it happen too much stress and fretting over not getting pregnant
the first time will prolong the agony.
Trust in God and it will happen -
it did for me twice now.

Barbara

PS I was 35 when I had #1 and am 37 now with #2 - so age is irrelevant

I finally feel comfortable submitting my success story now that I am 12 weeks pregnant after IVF #3. I am writing so that others may feel inspired to keep trying after the many long disappointments associated with TTC.

We started trying to start our family over three years ago after being married then for 5 years. Like most people, we had spent the first years of our marriage trying to avoid pregnancy while getting established in our careers. Once we started actively trying to get pregnant, we thought it would happen quickly. Everyone in both our families was very fertile and seemed to get pregnant by just thinking about it. I was 28 and my spouse 26. After 1 year of trying unsuccessfully, I consulted my GYN. She told me I was too stressed out and with time and having sex more, it would happen. Of course, we blamed ourself at this point and thought we were too stressed with life and work to have a family and that we needed to relax. We made a point to eat healthy, exercise regularly and I even took yoga classes. We felt good but still no pregnancy. Then a friend who had just gotten pregnant on clomid gave me her left over medications. She told me how she had taken it, and I decided that it could only help even though I was ovulating every month and had very regular periods.

Believe it or not, we got pregnant that very month. We were elated and thrilled. We unfortunatly told lots of people when I was about 5 weeks pregnant and miscarried 1 week later. I saw a diffent OB/GYN at that time who felt that the clomid was not the answer to my problem and suggested at that point that we see a reproductive specialist.

My first appt with the infertility specialist was 2 yrs into our fertility struggles. After testing and exams we were found to have unexplained infertility, and he said we probably would get pregnant on our own with lots of time but again there was no guarantee. He said a normal couple has about 15-20% chance of pregnancy any given month but our number was around 3%- pretty depressing. We decided that we would try artificial insemination for 6 months then move on to IVF. Needless to say, after all the inseminations did not work we started the IVF process. I was very excited to finally be doing something that so dramatically increases our chances- now our odds were 40-50 % that we could get pregnant. My first cycle was a breeze. My husband was great about giving my shots and I tolerated all of them well ( except that stupid PIO). We got 8 eggs and all fertilized. We decided to transfer 3 and freeze the remaining 4 that had continued to grow and develop.
The 2 week wait was the worst as I had every pregnancy symptom in the book and just felt strongly that it had worked. On the day of the blood draw, we found out that yes it had worked but our first beta was low at 69, and in my doctors experience he liked to see the number over 100 at this point. He said again our odds were 50/50 that this pregnancy would work. We went in 1 week later for U/S and saw a very tiny gestational sack that only measured around 4.5 weeks. I started bleeding the very next day. We again were devestated, and I felt like this was never going to work and started to consider adoption or not having children at all. Three months later, with renewed motivation we then tried a frozen cycle and amazingly all 4 embryos survived and we decided to transfer them all. Again the dreaded 2 week wait and for some reason did not feel very optimistic this time. Our pregnancy test was negative. I hit an all time low and did not think I would ever feel normal again.

After what seemed like forever, 4 months later we decided to try IVF fresh cycle again. I vowed to myself I would be positive and make this time work. I stimulated very well this time and they retrieved 26 eggs! Compared to my last fresh cycle, I was miserable this time. I was so bloated and distended and gained about 10 pounds in water weight on my gut. However, I felt that this time was the ticket. All of the eggs fertilized and we transfered 3 pristine embryos on day 3. I had 2 massages a week and stayed very calm. I followed my doctors advice and my own instincts by sleeping alot and totally avoided all caffeine, alcohol and anything else that I thought might harm the embryos inside me. After a long 2 week wait, our test was positive! And the beta was so high, the office thought it was likely twins. We were just cautiously thrilled and hoped for the best at our U/S in 1 week. Sure enough there were 2 sacs and everything looked good. At an U/S 2 weeks later we saw 2 heartbeats - we prepared ourselves for twins.

Unfortunately, I started spotting a few days later and an U/S confirmed that 1 of the HB had stopped and that fetus has stopped growing. The good news was that the one fetus that was still alive had a great heart rate and was growing very well. Naturally, the disappointment was strong about the loss , but I tried to concentrate on the fetus that was growing and doing well instead of getting negative again.

We had another U/S 2 weeks later and saw the one embryo doing well and actually moving and kicking inside of me. It was a thrilling moment. The other sack was now empty. We were very sad to lose one of the babies but felt so happy and lucky that one was doing so well. Now I am 12 weeks pregnant and very optimistic that this is going to result in a baby for us. I just want everyone to know that things can work out. I know that not everyone will get pregnant with assisted reproduction but a good majority will. I am so thankful that we have this technology available to us to give us hope, and with time the techniques will get better and better so that one day maybe no one will have to go through the uncertainty and miserey of not being able to get pregnant.

Whatever happens, the TTC journey changes people in ways that you never imagined.
We know this will make us better parents in the end because of all we have been through to get here.
When my children are mature enough-
I want them to read this story so they can understand how badly they were wanted.
I hope this story helps anyone who reads it and needs to be inspired to keep trying.

This site is amazing!

A great way to learn from others going through the same thing as you are.

I didn't feel comfortable talking to friendsor family so this site was priceless.
I went off bcps in November 01 and we didn't try until January.
But (I realize now) in January and February we were trying way too early
because I didn't realize I have a 33 to 35 day cycle,
plus I still hadn't learned about the Day 14 ovulation myth.
I never took notice of my cycle before bcps,
I just knew it was regular.

March we tried a few times each week,
but I think I had a short luteal phase that month
as my cycle only lasted 29 days.
I don't know for sure because I didn't start charting
until April (after buying and reading the best book ever...
Taking Charge of Your Fertility).
April and May we hit ovulation dead on with bd'ing
(ovulated on day 21 in April and 20 in May) but nothing.
I know this doesn't seem like a long time,
but we'd been trying since January at this point
and I was getting antsy because it took my mom 2.5 years
to get pregnant with me and I was
wondering if I would follow in her footsteps.

So in May, I decided to take things up a notch.
Here's what I did...drank more water.
Took a baby aspirin on cd 4,7,9,11,14 and 16,
drank a cup of raspberry tea on cd 14 and 15,
took two tablespoons of robi on cd 16 and 17
and drank a cup of carrot juice on cd 15.
Two days before o I got a full body massage.
I didn't notice more cm, but I definitely noticed some egg white.
And when we bd'ed, I came each time and lay in bed
for at least fifteen minutes or overnight.
By 5 dpo, I felt a loss of appetite and a bit bloated.
My bbs felt heavy and had blue veins showing.
My cm was a yellowish tinge.
My temps were a bit different this cycle.
Slow rise from 97.3 to 97.5,
then two days at 97.7 and then a jump to 98.2 at 4 dpo.
It stayed around there until 10 dpo when it went up to 98.4.

That night I went out with people from work and had a chicken stir fry. I woke up at 1 a.m. and started vomiting and having diarrhea. This lasted all night and the next day. I was thinking... "Is this how bad the morning sickness is?" I got my husband to come home for lunch with a pregnancy test and it came out positive! At 11 dpo. Wasn't expecting my period for four more days! We are thrilled. Doc says the vomiting and diarrhea was probably a gastro thing. I feel much better today. My temps went up to 98.6 on 11 dpo and 98.9 (my highest ever) on 12 dpo.

Had a blood test to confirm and my hcg was 39.
In the first seven days post conception they say
hcg can be 5 - 50 and about 100 by missed period so hopefully
it is on the rise.
Thanks for all your support.
Looks like we'll have a bundle of joy visiting on March 12, 2002.
Baby dust to all.

sk

I'm 24 years old (25 next month) and this is my first angel. I just found out this morning I'm pregnant!!! I tried not to make this too long, but the main thing I wanted anyone who reads this and is trying to conceive is DON'T GIVE UP. I haven't had a real long road, but quite a bumpy one. It has been about 7 months since I began ttc, but only 5 cycles. I have had very irregular periods. I charted this cycle just to see if I could make anything of it. I o'd about 2 WEEKS after I actually thought I had. I thought I o'd two weeks earlier because of tenderness in my breasts and pains in my uterus and sides - I was WRONG. Ladies it is so important to chart. It wasn't going to tell me ahead of time when I was going to o, but I learned so much, and if I had never ovulated and didn't chart, I would have never known it, because like I said I had symptoms - I thought. Anyway a little over 2 weeks! ago I went to my doctor and told her how discouraged I was and how irregular everything was (I hadn't o'd yet and my temps were everywhere, so I assumed I was annovulatory). I just felt lost and hopeless! She did a blood test and found that my estrogen AND progesterone levels were low and prescribed clomid. Well..... I'm glad I didn't rush to get the prescription filled, because....I'm pregnant!!!!!!! Two days after going to see the doctor, my temp rose out of nowhere, and I guess DH and I timed it just right. I truly at that point wasn't timing anything. I was ready for AF to come so I could go ahead with my clomid - total shock!!!! I wasn't even going to test today but I knew that IN CASE by a miracle I was pregnant - I needed to get started on progesterone supplements. I took the test and got in the shower - I dreaded being disappointed again with another -. From across the bathroom I saw two lines walked slowly to the test looked at it and the box over and over again in! disbelief and just shook all over. I'm soooo happy!!!!

The only different symptoms I had this month - and I'm not sure that some of these really are pregnancy symptoms are: Burping a lot (like people do when they get too full), I had major pressure cramps if that makes sense - like AF cramps but even less pleasant and they hurt worse if I sat in certain positions. Really - I felt like my uterus was coming out! It felt like a bad pulling sensation. I felt those cramps, too, if I stretched too far when I woke in the morning. I also had really sharp quick pains in my right eye! Weird I know. Other than that - I had the usual: tender bbs, back aches, regular AF cramps along with the other. Infact, I think I had more "pregnancy" symptoms in the past months when I didn't conceive!

God Bless you all and my prayers are with you. My friends kept telling me that His time would be right and that is so true.

I can't believe I'M writing a success story and I pray that all of you will be able to do the same really soon.

++++++++++++ thoughts to you all!!!! ~*~*~*~*~*~*

Chris and Lil' Munchkin