First let me start by telling you my name and a little bit about myself. I am Elizabeth Brown. I am 34 and married to Jeremy Brown. We have been married for almost 2 years, together for almost 8, and have been trying for a baby for over a year now. I am an Art Director for a national fashion retail chain. I am obsessed with food - cooking it, eating it, taking annoying pictures of it, posting about it and I even had a blog about it at one point.
Now that we have all that out of the way, Ill tell you why I'm here....
We want more than anything to have a baby and we'll do anything to make that happen. I have had 2 failed IUI's (inseminations), 1 successful IVF (in vitro fertilization) cycle that unfortunately ended at 22 weeks with a miscarriage, and am preparing for a new FET cycle (frozen embryo transfer).
This blog is about my fertility journey. I hope that it helps me and maybe helps someone else who might be going through it too.
For now - Let's go back to the beginning.
At the age of 24 I found out I had PCOS, poly-cystic ovarian syndrome. It was the explanation for all the awful hormone issues I had spent all of puberty and my adult life going through. Between 24 and 27 I had 2 D&C's. I was also in a car accident in 2006 - after 3 days of not being able to go to the bathroom or stand up on my own I decided to go to the ER. There we discovered that I ruptured a cyst on my left ovary and flipped the ovary behind my uterus. We also found out that the pain I felt was a hemorrhage from the accident. I was instructed to see my gynecologist immediately and a day later I was in surgery to have the cyst removed.
In November of 2008 I met Jeremy. Still one of the best days of my life. I was in the middle of switching to a new birth control/hormone method, NuvaRing, to help with my PCOS when we started dating. Apparently during all of this I got pregnant. Since I had no real signs of pregnancy and had been using a new ring each month to prevent a period, I was completely unaware of what was happening.
I had lost my job in January 2009, at the height of the recession. I was living at home with my parents and on unemployment. In June I went to a Planned Parenthood for my annual exam and to get a refill on my birth control. She had me pee in the cup and asked if there was any way I was pregnant. I literally laughed at her and said, "NO WAY! I have been on the NuvaRing since February and I haven't allowed myself a period since then." She chuckles and leaves the room. She comes back moments later with this look on her face -- panic. She tells me I'm wrong - and that I'm definitely pregnant. I'm in total shock. She examines me and tells me that it looks like I'm about 17-18 weeks. YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!!!! How did this happen, how did I not know!??? WHAT AM I GOING TO DO!!??? All I have ever wanted my whole life was to be a mom but I know that with no job, no home of my own, in a new relationship - OH GOD WHAT IS HE GOING TO DO!? After considering everything - knowing all the options and talking it over with Jeremy and my mother. I decide that I want an abortion and that this is not the right time for me.
I had been drinking and smoking cigarettes and smoking pot, I had no prenatal care, I wasn't taking care of myself... what kind of start is that for a baby!?? I just knew it was the right choice. We had to go to Austin and at almost 20 weeks I aborted my first child. I still know it was the right choice - but I still think about that baby. How I would have a 2nd grader right now, what they might have looked like, what my life would be like right now! Even after all that I know that was the right choice for me then and now. We stood together, it made us stronger, and we have no regrets.
In the first year of us dating we went through so much. Losing my job, the pregnancy, he had to have major back surgery, he ended up having to change positions at work because of the time off he took... It was a stressful year. But the best part was that we stuck it out - and realized that we were better together.
Fast forward 2 years later I was diagnosed with Hypothyroidism. A little less than 2 years after that, March 15th 2013, he asked me to marry him. On September 28th, 2013 we were married.
On January 1st 2014 we made appointment for the doctor and decided to try for a baby. We went to see my primary for physicals and started to try to conceive naturally!
With PCOS the biggest issue is that you don't ovulate - you have LOTS of follicles in your ovaries but none mature and release. I described it two ways: 1) It's like Willy Wonka - Everyone is eating chocolate but no one is getting a golden ticket. Or 2) Its like a frat house party that never ends and calling the cops doesn't even get them to leave! Either way - we know the goal is to get me to ovulate!
In May we went to see an OB and tried clomid to see if it would mature a follicle enough to release an egg on its own -- No go and tells me we need to see a fertility specialist.
This is where the real journey begins.
