My Infertility Story

At age 35, I decided I wanted to have another baby. My first son was in his teenage years, and I was missing the baby stages. I knew forty was going to come quickly, and I wanted to have another child before hitting the big 4-0.

I was running out of time, well, because my doctor told me those exact words. I remember the day like it was yesterday; she said: "you need to go home and start working on this, your age, your endometriosis issues, and the fact you only have one fallopian tube are all against you."

Hearing those words from her made my heart sink. I wanted this so badly, and the fact that I had all these things against me was eating me up inside.

No, I was not born without a fallopian tube. I had to have it removed because it was blocked due to endometriosis. I had been having abdominal pain for years, and we could not figure out what the cause was. Especially around period and ovulation time, I was in pain. So much discomfort and would find myself crawled up in a ball with a heating pad on my stomach. Some days I could not even stand as the pain was so bad.

In 2015 I ended up having to go in for a laparoscopic procedure where they removed a left ovarian cyst, left fallopian tube, that had formed adhesions. They said I had extensive intramuscular endometriosis, and my appendix had adhered to my pelvis. There were implants scattered throughout my entire pelvis. But the good news was that my right fallopian tube was fine, but having only one fallopian tube reduces your chances of getting pregnant by 50%.

So, my doctor suggested I see an infertility specialist. In 2016 I had started going to Boston IVF, where they were fantastic, and I started infertility treatments right away. I was nervous because this was all new to me, but I wanted a baby and was going to do whatever I had to do.

Before starting the first cycle, there were a bunch of tests that I had to go through. There were many blood tests, ultrasounds, a Hysterosalpingogram test, and a Sonohysterogram test. I will provide a link at the end of the blog for you to check out what these tests involve.

I do remember them being somewhat uncomfortable, but I was able to make it through with anxiety medication. My anxiety is pretty bad, so I needed something to calm my nerves.

My first cycle was November 22, 2016, and went until November 28, 2016. They had me on Lupron, Gonal F, and Menopur.

Many shots in my stomach to prepare for my egg retrieval.

Egg retrieval date was around December 5; this is when they remove my eggs from my ovaries. I was put to sleep and did not feel a thing. But the days following, I felt as if I was kicked in the stomach numerous times. They told me to rest, drink Gatorade, and take it easy for a few days until I felt better. This part was probably the most uncomfortable of all, for me, anyway. I just felt very sore for a good week afterward. They were able to retrieve a good amount of eggs, and we decided to have one transferred and freeze the remainder of the embryos.

December 10, 2016, ended up being my transfer date. It was a reasonably quick process. They transferred one embryo, and I went home and was told to rest. I had a pregnancy test scheduled but ended up getting my period and felt very discouraged.

I honestly felt defeated and sad. After going through that entire process, and the result was not what I had hoped it was, it was hard to deal with. Many mixed emotions. But I knew I had to try again.

A month goes by, and I was ready to start my second cycle of IVF.

January 22, 2017, through January 31, 2017, this time around, I only had to take Estradiol and aspirin, thankfully no injections in the stomach this time around. My embryo transfer date was February 10, 2017, and this time they put in 2 frozen embryos. February 21 st, 2017, I found out I WAS PREGNANT!

Boy, was I excited. Well, I had a bunch of different emotions going on all at once. I had a feeling something was different when I was crying hysterically one minute and then laughing the next.

Because of what I went through, I wanted to be extra careful during this pregnancy. And throughout the entire pregnancy, I had to go to the doctor's office every Friday to get a very uncomfortable shot in my buttocks. Called Makena. Makena is a progestin medication that is used to prevent preterm birth.

In the end, everything turned out great. I did go into labor a bit earlier than expected. The last Makena shot that I had gotten, I went into labor that following weekend. I had a baby boy via C-section at 37 weeks. He was healthy and perfect in every way.

My little guy is now 2-years-old, and I wanted to share my IVF and endometriosis experience. If any women out there experience any pain during your periods and ovulation time, it might be something more, and you should have it checked out. Luckily they caught my endometriosis in time.

For those who do not know what endometriosis is: According to Mayo Clinic:

Endometriosis is a disorder in which tissue similar to the tissue that forms the lining of your uterus grows outside of your uterine cavity. The lining of your uterus is called the endometrium. Endometriosis occurs when endometrial tissue grows on your ovaries, bowel, and tissues lining your pelvis.

I am very grateful to both my Obgyn doctors and Boston IVF. Without them, I would not have my perfect little guy!

You can read more about IFV here:

https://www.bostonivf.com/getting-started/my-first-fertility-tests/