Shakira
Subject: We're Pregnant!
I'm 32 and DH is 35. We've been married 7 years,
TTC 5 years.
Oct. '98 DH underwent an operation for variocele.
While his count kept going up to an acceptable
level, we were nowhere near pregnant and I was
getting more and more frustrated and anxious with
each occurrence of AF. So in July of this year I
convinced my DH that we needed to see an RE.
After going through the battery of tests, blood work
on day 3, day 21 and it seemed anytime I had
blood to give (were they secretly working as Red
Cross volunteers?), an HSG and finally an
endometrial biopsy that showed that I had LPD
(luteal phase defect). While my RE thought that
this was great news, because we now knew the most
possible problem and how to treat it, I regarded
this news with mixed emotions. How could there be
something wrong with me??? My mother had given
birth to me exactly 8 mos. 2 weeks from her wedding
day and considering I was two weeks early, my
parents wasted no time and had absolutely no
problem. The same could be said for all my female
relatives, one even conceived while on birth
control! Why me?!!!!!
My treatment was to be put on progesterone
suppositories, to be taken twice a day so that my
lining would thicken enough to receive a fertilized
egg. After this did not work, I became
frustrated again. The doctor put me on Clomid,
hoping for a combination of treatment to increase
our chances of conception. No luck and I started to
feel like my time was really running out.
Here we were doing everything we could and still no
results, so I called up and asked my doctor if
we could undergo IUI in the next cycle. He agreed
and prescribed Clomid again.
I went through all the motions (I can still remember
the vile taste of the tablets) and on
schedule my DH produced his 'boys' on the morning of
Oct. 15th (approximately 1 year from his
variocele surgery). We went directly to the
doctor's office where I was ushered into the usual
examining room awaiting my deposit. Apparently my
cervical tract was more curved than the doctor
had expected and he had to switch to a more flexible
catheter in order to navigate into my uterus.
The only thing I took that morning was some mild
painkiller and really experienced no discomfort
or pain. My DH came in afterward to help me wile
away the required 1/2 hour after the procedure.
Interestingly enough, I really had no time to think
about what we had just done. We live in South
Florida and that very day were hit with an
unexpected hurricane. We even experienced some mild
flooding in our house. My husband was also moving
his business and I was helping out (trying not
to lift anything too heavy). For the two weeks
following the IUI we were very busy. I know that
you're supposed to take it easy, but now I wonder if
that may not be hindering conception. I'm
not saying that you should go jogging every day, but
some activity would not be a bad thing.
On the day of the blood test I felt like I was
floating above my body. I felt like if I were
really aware of what was happening that day then the
inevitable pain would be that much more
devastating. When I finally spoke to the nurse, the
first thing I said to her was 'Do I really
have to hear this?' and she replied that 'You may
want to.' I was really glad to be sitting down.
I made her confirm three times and she generously
did - my results were positive.
Never knowingly having been pregnant, I didn't know
how I was supposed to be feeling physically.
Except for my breasts becoming very tender, I really
didn't experience any of the telltale signs.
I'm now in my ninth week (since ovulation) and I've
waited this long to share my good news and
some baby dust because I know how uncertain it is to
determine a viable pregnancy this early on.
This week we saw our baby and we saw his/her little
heart beating. He/She also has two arms and
two legs and was wriggling around in his/her little
sac. It was the most thrilling moment of my
life and I'm thankful everyday for this blessing.
I know there are couples out there who have gone
through so much more and are still trying. To
those brave, wonderful people, please keep hope.
While you may have heard it over and over again,
try to relax and not to make conception the focus of
your life. It will happen. Lots of happy,
positive thoughts to all of you. Thank you so much
for the support, even though you may not have
been aware of it, the postings on this site are like
a life line.
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