International Comment Leaving Week April

Happy ICLW. This is my third time participating and I always enjoy it. It's an interesting way to look at the passing of time (which can be difficult while pursuing fertility treatments). It does tend to put things in perspective and make it feel like time does pass faster than you realize. 

To catch you up on my story here is the quick version: 

*Started seeing a RE after 1 month of trying due to high testosterone levels. Diagnosed with anovulatory PCOS in Aug 2010. Large cyst found. Put on BCP's to shrink.

* Oct had laparoscopy #1 to drain the cyst after BCP's didn't do jack. The cyst was located on my left fallopian tube. HSG found both tubes blocked. Decided to pursue IVF in Jan. 
*Did preliminary testing for IVF in Dec and found the cyst was back.

*Jan 2011 Lupron for 2 weeks and found out I was pregnant during suppression check.

*Feb 2011 ultrasound reveals growth stopped at 6 weeks. D&C and laparoscopy to remove cyst. Left tube removed due to benign tumor.

*April 2011 Clomid 50mg and IUI. 1 Dominant follicle on the left hand side (no tube), 2 smaller follicles not likely to mature. Did IUI anyway.

 I am currently in 2ww with little hope of success for this cycle. My RE said an egg can transmigrate to the other tube, but I'm not holding my breath. I also ended up getting really depressed on Clomid, even though it was a low dose. 

I am wondering if you did IUI's, would you recommend someone else do them? What are your experiences? If you are long past this point and could do it over, would you still do IUI's? I am looking forward to any and all input.


So for something fun I found this on another blog and decided to fill it out. It is similar to the ABC's about yourself, but infertility related.

A. Age when you started TTC: Liz - 26  W – 28.   We waited almost a year after getting married to start trying and it took A LOT of convincing on my part. My hubby is just finishing his doctorate this May and was SUPER reluctant (to say the least) to try without having a way to contribute financially. 

B. Baby Dancing or Sex: We don't use either term. We call it lovin' around here! The nurse at my RE's office calls it "relations" and it always makes me think of Bill Clinton and seems like a strange term to use. 

C. Children wanted: I used to say 3, but now I would take even 1! I really don't like the only child mentality, so I hope we don't end up with one. One is better than none though!

D. Dogs/Cats/Fill in Children: Two dogs and a cat. One dog we adopted from my parents and the other we got as a puppy. We call her our neurotic first child and joke that we made all of our mistakes with her (I wish). 

E.  Essential Oils/Vitamins/Snake Oils: I take high doses of Vitamin D (5000 IU's/day). We don't get much winter sun here in upstate NY and I think it helped me to ovulate on my own a few times. 

F. Fertility Meds I’ve taken: Lupron for 2 weeks in preparation for an IVF that ended up getting cancelled due to a surprise pregnancy, Provera and Clomid (not a huge fan) most recently. 

G. Gain: Not sure, I avoid the scale these days. I don't think much, but I'm not at my ideal weight anyway. I have also gained an appreciation for passing time and a total lack of fear for needles. Some days I think I might be becoming a masochist about needles. 

H. HSG (Hystosalpingogram): One while I was asleep for a laparoscopy. Results indicated both tubes were blocked but I ended up pregnant 3 months after so not so blocked after all. My RE thinks it would be redundant to repeat now since I was able to get pregnant. Some days I question that judgement. 

I.  Infertile Pet Peeves: When people announce that they "weren't trying but they weren't not trying either." I honestly don't understand this. To me you are either preventing pregnancy or not, therefore, trying or not trying. There is no grey area in my book.  

J. Job title: Speech-Language Pathologist. I work with children aged birth - 5 but never end up with children on my caseload much younger than 2. 

K. Kid’s names you’re afraid will be taken by the time you can use them: Don't really worry about it. The big question in our house is to V or not to V. My hubby is number IV, but I am hoping we have girls so we don't have to deal with this issue. 

L. Length of time TTC: 9 months all of which have been under the care of a RE. We didn't try for a year before seeking help due to high hormone levels. I am really glad we sought help right away since we obviously needed it. 

M.  Miscarriages: One in February after a surprise pregnancy. We went in for our 8 week ultrasound and they couldn't find a heartbeat and there was no growth since the previous ultrasound. It is hard to see that pregnancy as a good thing since it didn't end up being successful. 

N. Number of times you’ve switched OB/GYNS, REs, FSs: None. I have been with this RE since last August and have been pretty pleased. He is always very thorough and spends lots of time with us when we go for appointments. I considered switching recently with my experience with the IUI, but the only other choice has a 2 month wait to get in. 

O. Ovarian quality: PCOS makes for lots of cysts but not sure about egg quality. Could have been the reason for the miscarriage, but we really don't know. 

P. POAS or wait for AF: Definitely POAS. It's funny because the amount of money I spend on the tests is dependent on how optimistic I am. If I don't feel very optimistic I buy the Dollar Tree ones so as to not waste too much money. 

Q. Quote from an obnoxious fertile: "I feel like I have been pregnant forever."  

S. Sperm: W is an overachiever in this area. For our IUI his count post-wash was 320 million with 97% motility. This was after we had some lovin' the previous morning since I thought they would cancel the IUI. The guy in the andrology lab and the nurses were all complimenting his sperm. You should see him beam when I mention it : )

T. Time you tried naturally: Ummm one month without the RE and we haven't really tried without intervention since. 

U. Uterus quality: Everything is in tip-top shape. No issues found on the sonohysterogram. 

V. Vagina: Umm, fine as far as I know. It certainly has been viewed by enough people at this point. 

W. What baby stuff do you already have?: Too much considering there is no baby. I work with little kids and people are always offering me things that I can't turn down because "maybe we'll use that some day." Also, I own too many toys since I use them for work. I am a snob about toys though and play with certain toys with the kids I work with that I would never give to my kids. I hate crappy plastic toys that make a lot of noise. 

X.  X-tra X-tra Hear all about it! How many people know the ins and outs of our crazy TTC journey?  The complete story? Only my MIL, a mom of one of the kids I work with, and a good co-worker friend are in on the most recent updates and drama. My parents and FIL know about the miscarriage and surgeries.

Y. Yearly Exam (do you still go in even though someone sees your lady parts most months?: I've been meaning to ask if this is necessary. I mean, they check it all out pretty often and I had "cultures" and a pap smear done in Dec in preparation for our IVF cycle. 

Z.  Zits: Thanks PCOS for adding to the fun! I tend to break out around the time of my period, but nothing too noticable or bad. I have some tinted acne cream that works wonders. 

So now you’ve read mine.  What are your IF A to Zs.