Corey and I found out we were infertile in February 2014. And man did it suck. In December 2013 we went to my PCM (general doctor) and told her how we had been trying to get pregnant since August 2012. She recommended us to a fertility doctor in Nashville and away we went. Our first appointment was in January 2014, about two weeks before Corey headed off for training in Ft. Huachuca, AZ to switch his job from infantry to UAV operator.
The doctor outlined the tests we would have to go through to test our fertility levels and see if we could pinpoint the reason we weren't pregnant. Corey had one simple test to perform the following week before he left and I had three tests that would happen over the next three weeks. Two of my tests were simple things for blood work (which is actually never simple for me since I have this whole fear of needles thing) and then the last one was more invasive involving anesthesia and an exploratory element.
All of this was a bit rough for me to endure without Corey, but thank goodness it didn't take long for the test results to come in. However, I would have to find out the results sans Corey. Thank God for good friends like Carla who are willing to hold your hand through a meeting you're both very unsure about. Anyway, Carla and I headed to Nashville to talk to the doctor so he could tell us what he found out. In the most basic terms I can put this, here is what the doctor told us:
- I have a severe hormone imbalance
- I produce waaaaay too much of one hormone and barely enough of the other.
- This means that my hormones aren't preparing the egg properly every month when I ovulate.
- Corey's count, while actually a high number, does not have very many "live" swimmers, therefore aiding the improper preparation for an egg to become a baby.
- These two things together make pregnancy on our own nearly impossible.
Given all those things the doctor told me about the different options we had to get help to become pregnant. These options included a lot of medications for me to take (some by needle), medications for Corey to take, and a toooooon of trips back and forth to the doctor in Nashville. Corey and I were adamant from the beginning that if we were infertile we did not want to take those routes. It is a very personal choice for everybody, but I knew that I wouldn't be able to handle the amount of bloodwork, shots, and medication I would have to take, without having constant meltdowns and I didn't want the process of bringing a baby into this world to be riddled with that kind of stress. (side note: that's just me! I know other people who can and have handled IVF and other similar treatments like champs and I have sooooo much respect for them.)
Now this all happened with Corey gone, and we both had a chance to process individually and again together 5 months later. It is something that still gives me a sharp pang when I realize I'm not pregnant each month, and something that I think will always be in the back of my mind. However, it has just sped up our arrival to adoption. Corey and I had discussed adoption for at least one of our children some day, probably later in life, and now we just get to experience this sooner than we had thought and perhaps even more than once. It's been nearly two years since we have learned the full extent of our circumstances and we are ready to begin the journey to finding our precious baby. There's a reason for everything (this has become our favorite saying since Corey joined the army) and we are sooooo excited to experience this all together and to share it with all of you.
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