The Womb Warrior: Wordless Wednesday: Sparklecorn

Wednesday, August 10, 2011

Wordless Wednesday: Sparklecorn

My BlogHer '11 Experience - Mere shadows
against the sparkly backdrop of woman & blogger power!

The Sparklecorn '11 cake! A variety of perspectives at BlogHer '11.
Photo by Aurelia Cotta.

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Timeline

The Romance:

10/2003 – Met on an internet dating website

12/2003 – First date

8/2004 – Moved in together

7/2005 – Got engaged

9/2006 – Got married

8/2007 – Started trying to conceive (TTC)

Discovering Infertility:

8/2008 – Started infertility testing: Bloodwork, semen analyses. Discovered male factor infertility (MFI). Wacky Wicketeer spent next several months with urologist trying to discover cause and fix it. None found.

10/2008 – Hysterosalpingogram (HSG) clear

The Year of the IUIs:

5/2009 – Went to first fertility clinic, met with Reproductive Endocrinologist (RE). More useless fertility tests.

8/2009 – First Intrauterine Insemination (IUI) = BFN

11/2009 – Second IUI = BFP

The Year of Loss:

1/2010 – First pregnancy loss

3/2010 – Started TTC again = BFP

5/2010 – Second pregnancy loss

7/2010 – Recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) tests. All normal.

8/2010 – Started TTC again

9/2010 – Changed fertility clinics. Met with new RE.

11/2010 – More tests. Diagnosed with mild/moderate Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS). Started Metfor.min

12/2010 – Started Birth Control Pills (BCP) in prep for In Vitro Fertilization (IVF)

The Year of False Hope:

2/2011 – Multiple hormones and meds in prep for IVF

3/1/2011 1:45 AM - HCG trigger injection

3/2/2011 - Egg Retrieval (19 eggs retrieved, 8 mature, 5 succesfully fertilized)

3/5/2011 - 5 embryos biopsied to test for genetic competence

3/7/2011 - 1 genetically competent, female embryo transferred

3/15 & 17/2011 - BFNs; IVF #1 Failed

5/2011 - Started BCP in prep for IVF #2

7/2011 - Saline ultrasound, most painful experience of my life, results normal

8/2011 - Multiple hormones and meds for IVF #2

8/29/2011 - Intralipid IV therapy

8/30/2011 10:30 PM - Trigger injection

9/1/2011 - Egg Retrieval (11 eggs retrieved, 7 mature, 5 successfully fertilized)

9/4/2011 - 5 embryos (one 9-cell, two 8-cell, one 7-cell, and one 5-cell) cryogenically preserved

10/2011 - Multiple hormones & meds in prep for Frozen Embryo Transfer (FET)

11/2011 - 5 embryos thawed, 1 survived to transfer, BFN; IVF #2/FET #1 Failed.

The Year of Reclaiming My Life from Infertility

1/2012 - 7/2012 - Stopped TTC, focused on improving my mental health and losing weight.

10/2012 - After Dad and Stepmom's divorce, stepped in as Dad's primary caregiver as needed.

11/2012 - Decided to do DEIVF.

12/2012 - Spontaneous pregnancy!

Another Year of Loss

12/2012 - Father-in-Law died.

1/2013 - Diagnosed likely missed miscarriage; Confronted burglars trying to break into my house; DH ends up in emergency room while out of town-kidney stone; Friend dies.

2/2013 - Physical miscarriage occurs. Decide DEIVF now too risky for us.

3/2013 - Step in as paternal grandfather's primary support system.

4/2013 - Discover Dad is hallucinating; Check Dad into hospital for evaluation.

5/2/2013 - Dad dies.

6/2013 - Family friend dies.

New Opportunities

7/2013 - Merlin the Cat adopts us.

8/2013 - 9/2014 - Lots of grieving, international travel, new projects, and a new career

10/2014 - Beginning the Adoption process