2017 – A Year In Review

I’m sitting here, relaxing on my couch (as is my custom for the time being) and reflecting on what 2017 entailed for me in my infertile world. Roller coaster is pretty cliché, but the most accurate way to describe the up and downs and stomach-knotting feelings.

It started off as J² and I were finally able to proceed with fertility treatment once again after the tumultuous 2016 year. My RE wanted to perform a HSG. HSG stands for Hysterosalpingogram. It’s a procedure where a catheter is inserted through the cervix and dye is injected, x-rays are taken to see in the fallopian are opened. For most women, it will be mildly uncomfortable. If your tubes are blocked or if the shape of your cervix makes things like this difficult, you may experience more pain. I took some Ibuprofen and was fine. Many doctors offer Valium, but I didn’t take it. I’ve actually never taken Valium so I am unaware of how it would affect me. My doctor talked me (J² had to wait outside) through the whole thing and it lasted maybe 5 minutes. My doctor was very experienced in this procedure and that helped ease my mind.

My tubes were clear. Add that to the what’s not wrong with me category. So what the hell is wrong with me? It’s the stick that so many infertiles beat themselves with. Of that, I am not an exception.

We decided to try a few more IUIs. I would call at the start of my cycle and we were going to do Femara, FSH injections, and a trigger shot. That was the plan. Anyone else hear Mother Nature laughing?

We took a quick trip to Vegas to relax before being bombarded with hormones.

While there, I found out it was the Year of the Rooster. I was born in the 1981. So that meant it’s was my year, right? 

When we returned home I waited for my cycle. About a week later, I wasn’t feeling well. So I broke down and took a pregnancy test. Guess what? Serious! It was positive! I was pregnant! Without meds. That happens? After 14 years? It was my year! Hear that laughing again?

Well, maybe not laughing.

I won’t go into detail in this post but three week later, having both my RE and OB confirm it (on J²’s birthday no less). We lost this baby, also. I was scheduled for a D&C the following Tuesday (this was on a Friday).

The next couple of months as I waited for my body to return to, well, as normal as it could get, we decided to so some testing. First, J² and I had the karyotype testing done. The results came back as normal. So our chromosomes looked good. Next, I did the Recombine CarrierMap genetic screening. Those results showed that I was not the carrier of any tested disease (they test for over 300 diseases).

We weren’t ready to give up yet. In June we did an IUI. That failed. We had a discussion with our doctor about moving on to IVF. In the meantime, we did another IUI in July. That failed.

So….on to IVF.

I had more blood work done. Another OAR assessment. This showed my AMH had dropped from 9 to 6. Still high though. Because I was straight stimming, meaning I was not taking birth control to suppress my cycle, I had to wait for my cycle to begin. This was the end of August/beginning of September.

Between the egg retrieval and transfer, we took another short vacation to Vegas in October. I finally got to see “o.” It was nice to unwind and have fun and not think about what had happened and what was to come.

In November, the transfer was done. In November, I had a positive beta.

In December, I got to go to my family Christmas party, pregnant. In December, I had my first Christmas, pregnant. I celebrated (or chilled on the couch) New Year’s Eve, pregnant. I called J² my designated drinker.

Overall, 2017 was crazy. And as happy as I am to be carrying one of our embabies, I am also happy that 2017 ended on a better note than the past 3 years.