NIAW #talkabouttrying ❤️

It’s National Infertility Awareness Week and I would like to encourage everyone to #talkabouttrying. I’m sharing our story below to contribute. If you or someone you know is going through infertility, share your story with your family, friends, or even a stranger that can understand the struggles. Every time this hashtag is used, Ferring Pharmaceuticals will donate $1 to RESOLVE: The National Infertility Association. This organization is front and center advocating for infertile couples, making sure laws are passed and studies are available that allow couples to carry out their wishes of starting a family through IVF.#TalkAboutTrying

Everyday this week I will post a quote, inspirational blog, or bible verse I have found to help me get through the tough days.

Our story:

We have been on this emotional journey of trying to begin our family for 28 months now with unexplained infertility. Isn’t that the most frustrating thing to not have answers? I know that frustration comes with anything, not just infertility. In our wait we have been through so many ups and downs. The first year we started with no worries. A lot of our friends had young children and we poured our love into them day in and day out. I loved (and still love) watching Nathan’s eyes sparkle as he plays with kids. I knew we were ready! I was done with college and after a lot of prayer I had made the decision to not pursue Grad School. It was time to start a family. I mean, we both had stable careers that we knew we could see a long future in. Why wouldn’t we? Boy were we ready and we went into it so excited saying “Okay God, we are buckled up and ready to get on the parent wagon. Let’s do this!”. The first year went slow and as months went by we began to worry. At 10 months I reached out to my Gynecologist and had nothing more than a therapy session with him as I cried about how worried I was and how unfair it was to watch everyone around me receive the very gifts I had religiously been praying for. He handed me tissues as he told me that God has a plan for everyone and he had perfect timing for everything. He assured me that sometimes these things just take time, and our time would come. He told me we would make a follow up appointment after it had been a full year of trying on our own. I wanted more... I wanted answers! Sure enough that year mark came quickly. We began the first steps of getting tests and procedures ran on us both. Great news came back with normal results. I felt relief, and he started us on Clomid. His confidence of the medicine working restored my confidence. I just knew that all we needed was a little boost and it could happen. Three months later and still no luck. He felt like we needed more, he told us about a fertility procedure called Intrauterine insemination or IUI. We moved to a gynecologist that did them in Conway. We weren’t ready for a fertility specialist yet and all the dollar signs that come with that. She kept us on the Clomid and we tried our first IUI. So so soo much hope. I remember getting that positive ovulation test in the middle of the day at work and praising and praying the whole way to the doctors office. An IUI was something that seemed so fool proof. We thought “this HAS to be what works for us, it just has too.” Unfortunately that failed so she wanted to do an exploratory surgery called a laparoscopy. She said she didn’t have any concerns and wasn’t looking for anything particular, more or less just looking around to see if there is anything abnormal that we wouldn’t be able to see on ultrasound. Cool, let’s do it to it then! Dr. Lawerence held our hands and prayed for guidance during the surgery, and asked God to help her find and heal anything keeping us from conceiving. Words can’t describe how much trust and hope I had during that moment. I knew we were in the right hands and on a good path. She found and removed mild endometriosis during that surgery. We tried 3 more IUI’s that failed. We were broken, tired and so we called a break to let go and just let God. That is what everyone says will work, you know the good ole’ “relax and it will happen”. If you have a friend struggling with infertility, please refrain from those words. When you say these words we know you mean well but you are not only placing blame on us, but also minimizing the heartache that we are feeling throughout all this. Receiving those words resemble swallowing vinegar. It’s just hard. After our several month hiatus from trying, nathan had to begin working out of town during the week so we have had to continue on a “not really trying path” since our time together is limited. We felt like those months that he was away working would be the perfect time for me to see a fertility specialist and have some additional tests ran. During those tests and labs we found out that I have a mild heart shaped uterus. Doctor says this is nothing to worry about and should not be an issue for us. All of our labs came back within the normal limits but for the first time we found out that some levels were at the bottom of the “normal range” and could afford to be improved. That was good information and now we have our maw and paw pill holders and take a whole pharmacy of vitamins haha. We were placed on a new medication called Letrozole. Last month was my first month on that. Though it was yet another unsuccessful month, I will say I know this medicine is working better for me than the Clomid had. Not this month but next, we plan to try one last IUI with our new Fertility doctor. If that fails we are going to move on to In Vitro Fertilization (IVF). That’s where we are and that’s our story! We have chosen to be open on our journey for many reasons. The outpouring of support and prayers we receive from all of our family, friends, and even complete strangers have been more helpful than I will ever begin to explain. One thing I have been told by those close to me is how surprised they are at how strong and positive I have been through this storm. Y’all- that strength and positivity wouldn’t be possible without God, without my rock of a husband, and without my friends. All those prayers that have been sent up for us have been felt. We may not have received our miracle yet, but I promise you we are blessed. We are blessed with love and peace. We are blessed to have made so many new friends that are going through the same motions. We are blessed to know that God is with us and he hears our cry indeed. I could build a house with the amount of negative pregnancy tests, create a lake beside it with the amount of tears I’ve cried, and probably send ourselves on a luxurious vacation with the money we’ve poured into this journey. BUT... It’s all going to be so worth it when our time finally comes!! ❤️

#ourstory #ourjourney #talkabouttrying #NIAW #iam1in8 #ivfresearch #flipthescript #infertilitysucks #infertilityawarenessweek