I literally can’t even believe the title of this blog post. “Pregnant” isn’t really a word I ever thought I’d get the chance to use. Even when I, myself, was pregnant, I’d use that word ever so cautiously.
One in eight women will struggle to get pregnant and 7.4 million women will receive fertility treatments in their lifetime. Insane, right?! I’m closing NIAW with my story of infertility in hopes to #flipthescript during NIAW 2018.
A little history for y’all incase you’re new to my page. My husband, Matt, and I wed in 2012. Almost immediately, we started trying to start a family. After a year of no positive ovulation tests or pregnancy tests, we saw my OB. I was diagnosed with PCOS and also needed laparoscopic surgery to remove my left Fallopian tube.
After taking some time to heal, in 2014 we began fertility treatments. First, it was three months of clomid. I was finally ovulating so I thought for sure getting pregnant wouldn’t be an issue. Wrong.
After Clomid didn’t work, we met with my RE, at Advanced Fertility Centers of Chicago. In May 2014, we would attempt three IUIs that would also fail. Our insurance covered fertility treatments 85%, so we had no reason to not do IVF. We knew it gave us the best chance of becoming parents, even though the whole process seemed overwhelming and terrifying.
Matt and I started our first IVF cycle in November 2014. Not once did it ever cross my mind that it wasn’t going to work, I just knew it would. And it did. We got pregnant on our first IVF cycle, which is surprisingly rare, but sadly we lost our first pregnancy. Matt and I would go on to do nine IVF embryo transfers, using fifteen embryos. I have done five egg retrievals and poked myself 610 times with injections. Of our six pregnancies, we lost them all.
I knew I wanted to be open about our story from the beginning. I wanted to raise awareness and help those also struggling. Since going public in 2014, I can’t even begin to explain how much all the other women I have connected with have helped me. I’m so proud of this community and am honored to be a part of it.
Tomorrow, our surrogate is 18 weeks with our little baby girl. Almost half way there! Many days this doesn’t seem real. To see where we are, from where we started, how much we have been through, blows my mind. We never lost sight of our dream. It’s the most incredible feeling, seeing our family building come to fruition. We are blessed. We are grateful.
Thank you all for your part in our journey. Thank you all for helping raise awareness for infertility. Infertility is real, it’s raw, and it’ll make you a warrior. I went through all my worst days only to pick myself back up, to prove how strong I am. And I’m damn glad I kept getting up.
Our Journey To Three 