But I am pleased to say it would appear as though we are finally going in the right direction. After 7 years trying to start our family we have finally decided to take a stab at IVF. It has taken 4 years for me to feel comfortable going this route. It's a very emotionally and physically draining process not to mention a lot of money.
Why have I chosen to add this to my blog you ask? Having a family has always been our dream. Our infertility struggle was never kept a secret on purpose, but since it's often taboo to talk about it, it wasn't something we screamed from the rooftops. Most of our family and friends know and have been awesome (thanks!) I also told several people because they were being totally ignorant and I was tired of listening to people complain about their kids, or how much being pregnant sucked, or how they were pissed that they got pregnant, but not on the schedule they had planned. Most people don't think about conceiving being a problem, unless you or someone you know had difficulty. 15 -20% of the population has some form of infertility, but few talk about it. Having to listen to people on a daily basis complain about things you would give ANYTHING to be experiencing is enough to put someone over the edge. It likely didn't get through to them, but I felt better.
Some people mean well and say things like "just relax" or "stop trying so hard" or "just get drunk" ... yep, that will do it. All of a sudden all my hormones will level out, and my ovaries will say "wow, she's relaxed and drunk, let's all get together and work now". Ummm ... no, it doesn't work like that. How about "just adopt, then you'll get pregnant" ... hmmm ... seriously, it's not that easy to adopt, and frankly, if you saw the application and the process, you would seriously wonder how anyone qualifies to adopt. I give a lot of credit to those that achieve a family through that process, as it's not an easy one. I can't say we won't do that, we have considered it, and even been to a meeting about it, but we aren't there yet.
So where are we? After many years, many tests, surgery and procedures, we have been told IVF is our best chance. So last July we made the commitment to move forward. Fast forward 8 months and we are finally starting the process itself. Today is Month 1, Day 3 (M1D3) and I will be starting the birth control pill. What?? Ok, I spent many years taking it to NOT get pregnant, why am I taking it to get pregnant? Apparently this calms my ovaries so all my little eggies will grow at the same rate. I will apologise now to my male friends that read this ... I will try not to talk too much about my girlie bits so that I don't scare you, but brace yourself, there will be mention of a "dildo cam" later in the process and I don't want you running screaming from the room.
I plan to document the next 2 months probably more for my sanity that anything else. This will likely be very stressful and hopefully this will give me a release. Hopefully it will also give some insight into what people are willing to do to have a family.
Since we are so early in the process, it could be stopped at any time if tests come back off, or any number of things don't go as expected. It will take about 6 weeks from now until we hopefully have embryos, and another 2 weeks after that before we know if we will be pregnant. And saying that, being pregnant does not guarantee a "take home baby".
So let's start the journey...
Our Clinic: Markham Fertility Centre
Our treatment: IVF with ICSI
Here's the first pic of my meds, it will be more exciting when I start the injections. Maybe not for Matt, who may have to give me some LOL.
In addition to this, I have also been taking a B12 supplement, a prenatal vitamin and metformin (a diabetic medication to help with my PCOS).
Tomorrow will be a big day, as I have an educational session, my baseline ultrasound and a semen sample freezing to book .. weeeee really exciting eh??
Recap:
M1D3
Current Status: birth control suppression
Expenses:
Medications: $27.03
Procedures: $0
Parking: $0
Total Cost to Date:$27.03
Out of Pocket Cost:$0
No comments:
Post a Comment