Yesterday, I had my second monitoring appointment to check to see how well the Clomid and injections grew my follicles. (This is all to get me to start ovulating. See more about why I’m doing all this here.) I was incredibly nervous. I started to think about all the “what ifs.” What if there are too many follicles? What if there aren’t any at all? What if my lining is too thin? The ultrasound tech started with my right ovary. There were about 15 small follicles but nothing over 7 mm. I need at least one follicle over the size of 18 mm in order to trigger ovulation. I was disappointed that nothing was there. Then I started worrying there wouldn’t be any on my left ovary either. The tech searched and searched with the wand but couldn’t find my left ovary. She switched to the external wand and after more searching, found my left. She zoomed in and measured a beautiful 20 mm follicle. Whew, relief! She found one other one that was decent size: 15 mm.

After the ultrasound, I met with my doctor to discuss the plan. She said everything was looking great and I’m exactly where she wants me to be. The plan was to inject myself with an HCG trigger shot tonight to induce ovulation and then to have sex tonight. I told her my husband and I were on the fence about whether or not to do IUI (interuterine insemination — this is where sperm is injected into the uterus), instead of trying to conceive the old fashioned way. I asked her, “Should we give it our all and pay for the IUI this cycle or save the money for injections next cycle and only do timed intercourse for now?”  She said, “I’m always thinking about this cycle and giving it our all. I think you should do the IUI this cycle and we can worry about next cycle later. But then again, it’s easier for me to say that sitting in this position. Still, if you were my daughter, I would tell you to do the IUI.” So, go big or go home, right?  We are scheduled to for an IUI tonight and IUI #2 on Friday. Come on, Team Erwin!

Did you do fertility treatments? How did you decide which treatments and procedures to have done?

My name is Kristy. I’m 26 years old and have been trying to conceive my first child since August of 2011. I have been married for over three years and have a nine-year-old stepdaughter. I am a daily poster on The Bump Trying to Get Pregnant and Trouble Trying to Get Pregnant message boards. Just a little background on my medical history. I am physically disabled due to a benign spinal cord astrocytoma (tumor) they found when I was five years old. Unfortunately, it caused a mess of other problems for me, including mobility issues, scoliosis, nerve damage, and a whole lot more. I’ve had a total of 17 surgeries (three tumor removals, two leg lengthenings with several re-breaks of bones in between, foot reconstruction, and many others) . I have definitely gone through hell and back but I fully believe that all of these challenges have prepared me for the struggle I am facing now.

Over a year ago my husband, Rich, and I trashed the birth control after visiting and speaking with each of my eight doctors to make sure it was okay for me to physically carry and have a child. I’ve always wanted to be a mom and I wasn’t going to let my disability or medical conditions get in the way of that. I wasn’t ovulating so I decided to call my OB — I call him Dr. Vajay for obvious reasons. He ran several tests and diagnosed me with PCOS (Polycystic Ovary Syndrome). He would always say, “We will get you pregnant. I just have a feeling it’s going to take a little bit longer for you to get there.” Truer words have never been spoken, Dr. Vajay. After that, he sent me off to the infertility clinic. I’m currently on my 5th round of Clomid and five days of injections into the stomach. I never thought it would take so much to get pregnant but I’m willing to do poke myself with needles, drive to tons of monitoring appointments and pay a ton of money to get there. I will have a child one day, whether it’s one month from now or three years from now. I’m never going to give up until I have a sweet little baby in my arms.

So now you know a little about my history and where I am on the roller coaster of trying to conceive. I look forward to sharing my thoughts, pictures, disappointments and how I handle this crazy ride in future posts. I’m incredibly open so feel free to ask any questions. Thanks for reading!

Have you struggled with fertility? How did you get through it?