About

I live with my wonderful husband and our much adored cat in Seattle. We were married at 35 and became pregnant relatively quickly.  But that pregnancy ended at about 6 wks. It wasn’t until that first miscarriage that we knew how badly we both wanted children.  Less than a year later we were pregnant again. But that pregnancy ended in  about  the 6 or 7th week. We have yet to hear a heartbeat.

After the second miscarriage we found our way to a fertility clinic and started doing the tests. I’m pleased to report my husband’s sperm is alive and well.  In fact he got a A+ on that report card. 70 million per square inch or ml (Zoiks, mix that w/ Barry White) and active and nicely formed. My tubes are clear, ovaries functioning, womb the right shape. All systems go.

But a year went by with no more pregnancies. And that was a year of timed sex. Ovulation tester kits, Basil temperatures, acupuncture, naturopaths, and a little astrology from a helpful relative. What we have is what they are calling ‘unexplained infertility’.

Something that should have taken 3 margaritas was suddenly taking an army of Dr.s and costing a fortune. 

We upped the anti and tried Clomid and IUIs. One month I had 8 mature follicles and they almost  didn’t want to go through with the scheduled IUI. It didn’t seem fair. 70 million sperm and 8 ready follicles. Like shooting fish in a barrel, you’d think.  I was certain we would be pregnant. They counseled me about the dangers of multiples. By that, they mean Octuplets.  But still no pregnancy. Another month we repeated the process with 7 follicles and still no result.

So here we are on the road to IVF. A place I never thought I would go. It’s expensive and there are needles. And there’s no guarantee.

But I have two friends with IVF babies and they are beautiful.  Strange days indeed when the majority of babies you know are test tube babies.

But here’s to hope. Perhaps I too can teach my body to be mammalian with pharmaceuticals. The goal is breast feeding a cuddly little baby.